April 08, 2012

Christ Alive!

It is difficult for us to understand the gloom of that first Easter Sunday morning. Hope? Gone. Dreams? Shattered. The Future? Bleak and full of despair. A small group of women walked through the streets of Jerusalem. Their dismal journey took them to the burial tomb of a dear friend. What they found at the end of their walk gave new birth to hope. For them, and for all who follow them, we celebrate that hope this Easter morning.

Burial Practices in the First Century

Devout Jews have always taken seriously the pronouncement God made to Adam: "For dust you are and to dust you will return" (Gen. 3:19). So, when Jesus died on the cross, his followers took his body down and prepared it for what they expected to be an eternity in the grave. What did a typical ancient Jewish burial look like? How would it have compared to the burial of Jesus? Let's find out by examining what we know of ancient Jewish burial customs in this week's article.