Dear Christian friends:

Tonight our text is Luke 23:52-53. "Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid."

What do you think about the death of Jesus? Do you value it? Do you like to hear about it and sing about it? Would you rather come here on Easter? I suspect that most of us do not value the death of Jesus as we should. Why?

We misunderstand the death of Jesus. Often we think of Good Friday as a day of sadness or mourning. Black paraments and sad songs. Detailed death scenes and darkness from 12:00 to 3:00 etc. We think God is punishing us in Jesus.

We think God wants us to feel sad only for one or two days then on Easter we can smile again. But, God doesn't want us to be sad on Good Friday. He wants us to be happy and rejoice. He wants us to value and respect the death of Jesus like Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph asked for Jesus' body, took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and place it in a tomb.

We can respect Jesus' death too! His death was not an accident but He died according to God's beautiful plan. Pilate and the Jews did wrong, but served God's plan.

"Let the earth now praise the Lord,
Who has truly kept His word
And at last to us did send
Christ, the sinner's help and friend."
(Hymn, Let The Earth Now Praise The Lord, verse 1)

But, we like to hurry through Good Friday and get to Easter. Many of our members don't care to come and rejoice on Good Friday. You can see that.

Very wisely our ancestors decided to call this Good Friday! It is a Good day, a beautiful day. Our salvation is finished.

Perhaps the real reason why we don't value the death of Jesus is because we don't care about death. We never want to think about death, our own or someone else's. Who likes to go to a hospital or funeral?

We spend much money to postpone death (doctors etc.) and to hide it (embalmers are very skilled). Flowers help too. So, we hide death and quickly forget about it. Jesus' death too?

Why? Because when we think about death, it forces us to think about the purpose of our life here on earth. We are forced to ask ourself these questions: Why am I here? Who gave me life? What does He want me to do with my life?

Many try to avoid living for God. Death is really the call of God to His stewards to give an account. If you are a good steward you need not fear death.

The wonderful thing about Jesus' death is that we are reconciled with God. (Colossians 1:21-22) If we value the death of Jesus it means salvation and life in Jesus Christ. Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

So value it!

Amen.