THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST'S BURIAL

Invocation
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.   
 
Scripture 
Colossians 2:9-15 
9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.


Devotion - Luther on the Gospel of Christ's Burial (modified and edited by Pastor Packer)

Take it to heart so that you believe Christ has thereby redeemed, freed, and preserved, you from sin, death, and the devil.

It is not enough to know just the historical facts of Christ's death and burial, you need the power and the fruit of history. In Christ’s tomb all our sins are covered up and buried with Him.  Take it to heart so that you believe Christ has thereby redeemed, freed, and preserved, you from sin, death, and the devil.

For just as He took all our sins with Him to the cross and bore them in His body on the tree, so also He took all our sins with Him into the tomb, indeed we are buried with Him through baptism. He took into the tomb with Him not only the cloths and linen shroud in which His body was wrapped but also the whole world’s sin, damnation, misery, fear, affliction, and peril, and he covered and buried it all so that it might not harm those who believe in Him.

This means you must make a distinction between His tomb and the tomb of all others because no one else was buried for you and your sins!

A. We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)

If Christ has died and been buried for me, then there is nothing lacking: all my sin, misery, and affliction are buried with Him. Therefore, my heart is confident and unafraid. Even if temptation and affliction shall come, my heart hopes without any hesitation in my Lord Jesus Christ, who has buried all my sin and affliction.
And this is why His tomb and burial are so carefully described – so that we may support, fortify, and strengthen our faith in this article so that we are comforted amid temptation and affliction.

It is a Holy tomb: because all of our sin, misery, wretchedness, death, and damnation lie buried in it and because it makes our own graves holy.

So you can say boldly: “In this tomb lies all my sin and iniquity.”

It is the means through which all our sins have been blotted out and condemned.
Christ’s tomb is also salvation and blessing, for it is attached to faith and is an article of faith on account of the Word of God.

So if Christ’s tomb is regarded as an external thing, apart from the Word and faith, then it is evident that the tomb is a tomb, cloths are cloths, ointment is ointment. But if Christ’s tomb is regarded in the Word with faith, then it is evident that the one who lies in the tomb is Christ, who through His death and tomb has overcome, slain, and buried all our sins.

And this is why His tomb and burial are so carefully described – so that we may support and strengthen our faith so that we are comforted amid temptation and affliction. So we confess:  “In this tomb lies all my sin and iniquity.” 

Collect
O God, creator of heaven and earth, grant that as the crucified body of Your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with Him the coming of the third day, and rise with Him to newness of life, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. ​