Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me

Good morning. After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and he granted permission. So he came and took away His body. Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 100 pounds weight. Remember that myrrh was one of the gifts that the magi brought when Jesus was a baby. Also notice that he had 100 pounds of spices. Normally one does not have that much just lying around the house. Since most likely he was older, he may have been storing it up for when he himself was going to die. Or perhaps while Jesus was hanging on the cross, he went to the merchants and purchased it, because there was no time to do so after Jesus died prior to the beginning of the Sabbath. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. My Bible says that these were thin strips like bandages. In the other Gospels it mentions a shroud - a large sheet. This is why the shroud of Turin generates so much interest. It is supposedly the burial shroud of Jesus. It has been examined by experts, and so far they believe that it is not old enough to have been the one for Jesus. The Catholic Church in Turin, Italy brings it out for display every so many years. When my friend and I were in Europe, we drove to that church to try to see it. It had been on display, but we missed it. It was in a silver “box” hanging from the ceiling for protection. We did get to see a replica of it. It was extremely impressive. It did look like the photos you may have seen of the real one. It would be very easy to believe that Jesus had been in it, and that the impressions on the shroud were created when He rose from the dead. Father thank You that no matter what may be true about the shroud, Jesus is not in the tomb – He is risen!