When Christ cried out from the cross, “It is finished,” He had completed the work that His Father had given Him to do. Christ’s burial was His last step of humiliation, and we can clearly see His glory in His burial as it connects to His death and resurrection.

First, Christ’s own Word testifies of His glory. Psalm 16:10 says, “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,” which means that His body would not stay in the grave. We also read in Isaiah 53:9, “He made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death,” which reveals the glory Christ received in a proper and honorable burial. Christ’s burial fulfills an Old Testament type, which Christ refers to in Matthew 12:10: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” His burial reveals the fulfillment of every­thing the temple pointed to; consider Christ’s remarks after cleansing the temple in John 2:19, 21: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up ... He spake of the temple of his body.” Christ’s burial fulfilled His own prophetic Word.

Second, Christ’s glory shines in His burial since it is a testimony that He really died. Our Heidelberg Catechism poses the question, “Why was He ‘buried’?” and gives the answer, “His burial testifies that He really died.” It was a convincing testimony of the truth that Christ satisfied the justice of God against sin! Christ truly died; the body and soul of our blessed Lord were separated for three days and three nights as a glorious stage for the almighty work of God in raising Christ from the grave.

Third, the nature of Christ’s burial testifies of His glory. The Roman practice was to either leave the body to be devoured by animals of prey or at best cast the bodies into a common grave without a proper burial. Yet Christ was anointed for His burial and received a proper and honorable burial by His friends: a rich man, an honorable man, and women who stood as witnesses and mourners. Although time was short for Joseph and Nicodemus, God through His providence granted that His law would be fulfilled: “His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God)” (Deut. 21:23). Although Christ died and made His grave with the wicked, He was with the rich in His death (Isa. 53:9).

What comfort can we find in the burial of Jesus? First, the certainty of His full satisfaction of sin needs to be our primary comfort. Disobedience merited death, and the reality of death is the grave. Therefore, in Christ’s death all the sins of His people are paid and are buried with Him as we read in Romans 6:6, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed.”

Our second comfort is that Christ sanctified the grave. Death is our final enemy; to the natural mind it is victorious, since we become dust. Yet Christ humbled Himself to the very dust of death to take its sting away from His people. He was buried but rose again so that we may praise our glorious Redeemer who has given us the victory over the grave. “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Cor. 15:55).