Read Mark 15 and Romans 6:3-4.

We gather tonight on a solemn occasion. The reason it is solemn is because it is a night when we remember Jesus Christ being nailed to the cross. He died at a place called Golgotha, which means “Place of a Skull.” That’s quite the name for a place. I wonder what kind of skull they were referring to when they named it “Place of a Skull.” You probably aren’t wondering. You know. You’ve been on the trails and up in the woods and happened upon the skulls of dead animals – deer, elk, coyotes. You don’t name a place after something like that. It’s too common. But if it was a human skull you found? That’s something to remember.

A dead human body ought to be buried. It should not be left out in the open to rot and deteriorate, and to be seen by all. Golgotha, the “Place of a Skull”, probably had seen a lot of that kind of thing. But a human body, including the skull, ought to be buried. We need closure.

After King Saul was killed in battle, the Philistines cut off his head and then hung his body on the wall of a nearby city. His body was left there to rot – to be seen by all. Saul’s exposed dead body announced that Israel’s king had been defeated and shamed. But the Bible tells us some brave Israelites took courage and took King Saul’s body down and buried it (1 Samuel 31). That was good. Human bodies should be buried. We never hear what happened to King Saul’s decapitated head. For me, the story is satisfying – but not perfectly so – because of Saul’s skull. What happened to it? But we do get partial closure. They buried what they could.

The people at the foot of Jesus’ cross, at the “Place of a Skull”, didn’t let anything improper happen to Jesus’ body. His body wouldn’t be left out in the open to rot and be picked at by birds. It wouldn’t be abused or mutilated. No, Jesus’s body would be buried. The Sabbath was coming. It would be a stain on Israel to leave the body unburied.

So Joseph of Arimathea, a good Jew, gathered his courage and asked Pilate if he could bury the body of Jesus. I think Joseph was a valiant Israelite – brave. Pilate agreed to Joseph’s request, and Joseph took down the body of Jesus, wrapped it in a linen shroud, and laid it in a new tomb. Joseph rolled a stone over the front of the tomb. The two Marys saw all of this.

And that’s what we remember tonight. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was dead and buried. It would have been about this time of day, right around dusk, when all of this was taking place. And the people went home. They at least had some closure. This was especially so because the Sabbath was starting. It was a day of rest. In our own culture, we used to mark tombstones with the letters R.I.P. – rest in peace. People would mark the graves of their loved ones with those letters – R.I.P., carved into stone. Jesus, rest in peace. Israel, rest in peace.

It’s a solemn thing, like this night.

Throughout history, Christians have found it important to note Jesus had been buried. Not just dead, but buried, too. The most ancient creed we have, dating back at least to the fourth century, is known as the Apostles’ Creed. It starts like this, “I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born from the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried.” Jesus’ body was buried. The early creed says so. Remember it.

Even more important than the Apostles’ Creed is what the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. Paul’s was a “creed” that’s actually in the Bible. It starts like this: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

I suppose it is important to know that among the things that happened to Jesus was that He was crucified – and buried. We get a certain amount of closure to know a person who has died also has been buried. That’s the end of the person – Dead and Buried. It’s over. I once watched a family in the green mountains of East Kentucky bury the matriarch of their family. They dug her grave by hand in the family cemetery. They lowered her casket by hand. And they buried her by hand – one shovelful of dirt at a time back into the grave. It was closure.

That reminds me of you. To the Roman church, the apostle Paul wrote: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death …” Paul said if you have put your faith in Christ and gone down into the waters of baptism, you were buried, too. You were baptized into His death. You were buried with Jesus by baptism into death.

It gives us quite the picture, doesn’t it? You put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You believe in Him. You trust Him to forgive all of your sins and to bring you back into a right relationship with God. You trust Him to remove your filthy garments and to make you white as snow – holy and pure. So you wade out into the lake, or you step down into the baptistry. The pastor stands in the water with you. The pastor already had his own burial. This is about you. It’s time for you to be buried. And the pastor takes courage, like Joseph of Arimathea, and he buries you with Christ. You are plunged down into the water. Humans can’t live down there. You can’t breathe in the water. It’s the end – Dead and Buried.

It’s closure. A good church knows it when it is time to bury a person. The old man just couldn’t keep going in his old ways. He just couldn’t keep up the charade of self-determination and self-acceptance. At some point, he just gave up. Living like that is just too hard. Round and round a person goes. Sin after sin. No satisfaction. No peace. No joy. No love. No hope. That old woman just couldn’t keep it up. The wear and tear of life was just too much. The bitterness and worry was too much.

She died. He died. The church knows. And we buried them. The old has gone …

It’s closure. Don’t you want to bury the old, dead, sin-stricken man or woman? And not just part of him or her but the whole thing, head to toe? The word “baptism” in Greek means to dip, immerse, or submerge. The whole thing gets buried. You’re plunged down into the water. Dead and Buried. It’s over. Your sins are forgiven, paid for by Christ on the cross. By faith, you aren’t a slave to sin and death any longer – because you were buried with Christ by baptism into death. By faith, you were buried in His death. That’s good news on a solemn evening.

And what was it again that Paul said? “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that …” Ah, there’s more. But that’s a sermon for Sunday. You’ll have to come back then for the rest of it.