Gone!

John 19: 38-42 v 38b “When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away.”

Joseph of Arimathea asked permission to take Jesus’ body down. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away. Following Jewish burial custom, they wrapped Jesus’ body with the spices in long sheets of linen cloth. The place of crucifixion was near a garden with a grave that had never been used before. They laid Jesus there.

When someone you love dies the first few hours and days require you to get on with the job of the burial. Letting people know that the person has gone, arranging the funeral. Reading any last notes that the person left behind. With a heaviness inside you, you do the things required. We see Jesus’ followers doing the same thing. It takes time to adjust to the loss. For some it takes years for the heaviness of loss to lighten a little. To be able to appreciate the love offered by those around you. Your life has changed and will never be the same again. Today we feel the sadness of Jesus, gone!

Prayer: Heavenly Father who gives life and death, as we mourn with you this day for the loss of your son, we remember those we too have lost and are gone from us. Amen.