Under the surface

Luke 23:50-54

The Burial of Jesus

Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning.

And so the earth lies silent

The last nail has been hammered

The last jeer has been shouted

The wood that hoisted him high

has been splintered

accompanied by the tearing

of the temple curtain.

The heavy tombstone

has been rolled into place.

Silence reigns.

But that silence conceals

something so incendiary

just waiting to burst into life.

The tomb becomes a womb

from which life will explode

when the time is right.

In the desolation

and in the darkness

God wrestles new life into being.

But for now,

The silence of the rock-hewn tomb.