18. Burial

Now is the Lamb of God the Victim, slain
And hanging lifeless on the tree of shame
As would appear to mortal eyes, yet now
His soul its journey makes to Sheol’s realm
To bring good news to those now waiting for
Release from capture and their prison bring
To destruction, no more to hold them hence
But offer them eternal life upon
The shores of Paradise instead of life
Most drear, most unrelenting tedium.
His soul its journey makes, yet now his corpse,
A lifeless, bloodied, tangled, deformed mess
Still hangs upon the cross as evening comes
With no-one to remove it from its snare
And burial dignified afford to it.
Now come events that in accordance with
The will of Yahweh, He to resurrect
His one and only Son, begin to take
Their course according to Yahweh’s design;
Joseph, native of Arimathea
And Nicodemus, secret disciples
Came unto Pilate for to ask that they
Might take the lifeless body of the Lamb
Of God down from the cross and burial
Accord to it, to keep the Sabbath law
And give the corpse an end more dignified.
Joseph addressed Pilate, saying to him:
“The prophet Jesus, whom you crucified
This day, hangs lifeless on the cross. No more
The breath of life lives in His tortured flesh,
No more can utterance from His lips come forth
To speak the truth of God, therefore we now
Do ask you that we take our leave and place
His body in a tomb that has been hewn
From rock within a garden close at hand.
It is against our laws that he should stay
Upon the cross upon the Sabbath Day.
Therefore we beg you, let us take him down
And give Him final rest most dignified.”
And in reply, did Pilate answer them:
“No credence can I give to your request,
For punishment as has been passed would not
An instant death accord the criminal
But length of days until all life is wrought;
Fair warning to all those who pass on by
To keep our laws and fear the justice which
By Caesar’s own divine decree does make.
It is impossible to believe all
You say, yet I shall make inquiries from
My own soldiers, wait here for my return.”
Pilate, still disbelieving what he heard
Approached the centurion and did ask:
“This Jesus who was crucified this day,
According to the Council members here
Is dead upon the cross, how can this be
When crucifixion means prolonged torture
According to Caesar’s divine decree
For all to keep the peace and justice fear
When wrongdoers their deeds are uncovered
And with their lives the penalty must pay?
Now tell me, is this man alive or dead?”
And in reply the centurion said:
“Excellency, I witnessed for myself
The final words that came from this man’s mouth
As final breath was expelled, and his life
Like dust and ashes scattered in the wind.
Remember, Pilate, that you had Him scourged
With flagrum fierce to cut into his flesh
By forty tearing blows save for the one,
To force a bloody river on the ground,
whence his life, starting on its journey and
Depleted of its source began to wane
More quickly than for those who, spared the lash,
Hang there for what seems an eternity
And longing for their release hour by hour.
Teased out is their life as in length of days
Yet for this man whose lifeblood long was shed
Before the cross its victim claimed, barely
Could stand upon the road to Calvary
Under the weight of that same crossbeam which
His hands were nailed to, causing yet more streams
Of crimson to flow until such a time
That life gave up on him. That man is dead.”
Pilate, returning to the disciples,
Said unto them: “My soldiers attest to
The death of Jesus, therefore I grant you
Leave to take down the body of this man
From Roman gibbet and to lay it where
As is most seemly for your custom, go
With soldiers who I shall order to help
You with your task, be quick in what you do,
I wish to hear no more about this man.”
Light fading fast, to Calvary’s hill there came
Joseph and Nicodemus with the guard
Unto the cross where lifeless hung the Lamb
Of God, most piteous was the sight forlorn,
A sight too hideous to behold for those
Who followed him in secret, now their tears
In silent droplets fell onto the ground
Yet keeping their grief at a distance from
The others who began to remove from
Those sacred hands and feet the cruel nails,
With clasps and hammers did wrench forth those shards
Of metal, freeing both the arms and hands
Of Him who by those same arms showed the love
Of Yahweh God in sending Him to die
As final sacrifice for human sin
Yet willing was he thence to undergo
The punishment reserved for humankind
And take our place, such was this love divine.
And for those feet that walked the ground to bring
Good news of peace and salvation for all,
Freed were they too from Hell’s high wooden frame
The body given to the disciples
To wrap in strips of linen cloth and bathed
In myrrh and aloes, solemn ritual
Of Jewish burial custom, then did they
Remove the body to the garden close
At hand wherein the new tomb had been hewn
By Joseph, he with Nicodemus laid
Inside that tomb upon a rocky slab
The body of the Lamb of God to rest
From human endeavour. Within the tomb
Sang they a final dirge in reverence
To Him whom they did follow in their hearts
Believing in the resurrection which
Had been proclaimed by those sweet lips to all
Who by their faith would Paradise receive
In timeless everlasting peace and joy.
The custom now complete, a stone was rolled
Against the entrance to the tomb to give
A final closure to the savagery
Of the events so bravely borne, now done.
Watching close at hand, Mary Magdalene
And Mary, mother of Joses did keep
Their vigil reverent, then did return
To prepare spices and perfumes but kept
Their distance for the Sabbath which had now
Begun its own vigil of silent rest
On human busyness, so they remained
Obedient to the rite and unaware
Of events which would surpass all that they
Could in their minds imagine come to pass.