Ballast in Our Belly

He died. There is simply no getting around that terrible, wonderful fact of history.

In a very interesting little verse, Mark 15:43 tells us, "Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus." You get the idea this kind-of-almost, maybe disciple of Jesus literally took his courage in hand and went to see the Roman governor (who was surprised the Nazarene had died so quickly). With permission given, Joseph and his friend, Nicodemus, take the broken and most definitely dead body away to bury - probably in one of their own tombs.

There is no doubt about it. Jesus was dead. He didn't faint, and He certainly didn't fake it. He was simply and very tragically, stone-cold dead. The bigger question is how He ended up that way.

Throughout history, people have blamed various villains. The Jewish hierarchy has certainly come in for its share of blame - unfortunately, that judgment is often extended to the entire people group. Pilate doesn't get away unscathed. His paranoia certainly made the whole situation possible. Of course, Judas has gone down in history as a major player in what happened. There is something especially cruel about a disciple betraying his master with a kiss.

Still, there is something more to the story.

In Acts 4:26-28 we read, "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed -- for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place."

All the men mentioned above only did whatever God's hand and His plan had predestined to take place.

In other words, the death of Jesus did not catch God the Father unprepared. He wasn't surprised by what happened. Instead, He was in control of everything that occurred.

Jesus understood the prophecies. In Matthew 21:42 He quoted Psalm 118, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'"? Jesus repeated the words of Psalm 35:19 when He declared, "But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: 'They hated me without a cause.'" In addition the Scriptures revealed that Jesus would be pierced, but none of His bones would be broken (Psalm 34:20, Zechariah 12:10).They also showed he would be betrayed by a close friend for thirty pieces of silver (Jeremiah 19:1-13; Zecharias 11:12,13).

Contrary to the words in one of the last songs in Jesus Christ Superstar, Jesus was not taken by surprise. He had been expecting this outcome all along.

Yes, tomorrow we have the hope of the resurrection. However, today we have the hope of His death. Not just the hope of our salvation (because of the price He paid), but also the hope that God is in control even when all the power of Satan seems to be at its greatest. Nothing gets past the Father. There are no "Whoops!" experiences with God. He is here and active, even when we feel like He is silent.

Christians need some "ballast in their belly" if they are going to make it through the waves that will crash against them during this life. Knowing God is there - even as the greatest injustice in history takes place - should be an encouragement to those of us trying to keep our heads above water.