The Entrusting of His Body
Pastor Rex Deckard
Calvary Apostolic Church
Mark 15:42 And now when
the even was come,
because it was the
preparation, that is, the day
before the sabbath,
43 Joseph of Arimathaea, an
honourable counsellor, which
also waited for the kingdom of
God, came, and went in boldly
unto Pilate, and craved the
body of Jesus.
44 And Pilate marvelled if he
were already dead: and calling
unto him the centurion, he
asked him whether he had
been any while dead.
45 And when he
knew it of the
centurion, he gave the
body to Joseph.
46 And he bought fine linen,
and took him down, and
wrapped him in the linen, and
laid him in a sepulchre which
was hewn out of a rock, and
rolled a stone unto the door of
the sepulchre.
When Jesus died, the
divine nature left the
human body and He “gave
up the ghost (spirit)”
During the three days
between His death and
resurrection, He did not
rest. Ephesians 4:8-10
reveals that,
8 Wherefore he saith,
When he ascended up on
high, he led captivity
captive, and gave gifts
unto men.
9 (Now that he ascended, what is
it but that he also descended first
into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above
all heavens, that he might fill all
things.)
As God, Jesus departed
from His body when He
died on the Cross. He
returned to it, when He
raised up His body on the
third day.
John 2:19 Jesus answered
and said unto them,
Destroy this temple, and in
three days I will raise it up.
The amazing thing, is
that He entrusted His
body to His disciples.
This was the body that God
took on at Bethlehem, the
body that represented God’s
presence among man, the body
that shed blood to wash away
our sins-
And He entrusted His
body to His disciples
Paul later on draws a
specific analogy between
this body of Christ, and the
Church
Romans 12:5 5So we,
being many, are one
body in Christ, and
every one members one
of another.
I Corinthians 12:27
Now ye are the body
of Christ, and
members in particular.
But the body is
entrusted to the
disciples!
Pilate gave the body to
Joseph of Aramathea,
because he was an
honorable (faithful) man.
Luke 23:50 says,
and he was a good man,
and a just:
The Church is not given to
the most talented, educated
or well placed. It is
entrusted to good and
faithful men and women.
The definition of
success, in this body, is
faithfulness.
Moreover it is required in
stewards, that a man be found
faithful. I Corinthians 4:2
The next thing we see, is
that Joseph of Aramithea
craved the body. He longed
for the body, as a priceless
treasure. Another Gospel
says he begged for the
body.
The Lord wants us to love
and desire this body of the
Church. The church is not
fortunate to have us, we are
fortunate to have the church.
The Church is not something
to abuse, or treat carelessly.
The Bible tells us that
they tenderly wrapped
the body, and
prepared spices.
The body cost both Joseph and
Nicodemus, something.
Mark 15:46 And he bought fine
linen, and took him down, and
wrapped him in the linen.
They bought linen, spices and a
tomb. They also gave their
reputations as members of the
Sanhedrin. The body cost them a
great deal.
Joseph and Nicodemus anointed the
body.
John 19:39 And there came also
Nicodemus, which at the first came
to Jesus by night, and brought a
mixture of myrrh and aloes,
Without proper care, a dead body
would began to decay and
decompose.
When the body of Christ- the
Church- is not anointed, then the
process of decay begins.There is
nothing deader, than when a
Church is dead.
They also carried the body, (and
in the process of carrying the
body, there was blood that
covered them.)
God wants us to be responsible to
carry His body.
Joseph placed the body in
his own tomb, that he had
hewn from a rock.
Matthew 27:60 And
laid it in his own new
tomb, which he had
hewn out in the rock
He did this because either


He wanted the body to be in the
place where he planned to stay
forever, among his loved ones or
He knew that this was just a
temporary arrangement, because
Jesus only needed a tomb for 3
days
Joseph and Nicodemus
knew that the body was
to be reunited with the
Spirit.
We have been entrusted
with His body for now, but
He is soon to return, and
His body will be united
with Him!