[Northbrae Tunnel] Station 13 & 14: The body of Jesus is taken down from the Cross and is laid in the tomb

Scripture tells us that Joseph of Arimethea was the one who took Jesus down from the cross and with Nicodemus asked the authorities for his body so they could bury him and lay him in the tomb. This was a courageous act as it would have identified them as Jesus’ followers. Yet, they were willing to do it because of their love and devotion, their care.

As we think about the tomb and look toward the tunnel just blocks from our church building, we are reminded of the tunnels all over the world, between the US and Mexico, between Israel and Palestine, and Palestine and Egypt that are built because there is a hope of freedom, a need to escape violence or just a need for clean water as is the case in Gaza. Too often, these tunnels become tombs when they collapse.

How do we care for the bodies of the world, in which Jesus himself is embodied? Epworth, as a community of latter-day believers, courageously faces and seeks to attend to all that befalls the physical bodies of the community. Whether this is illness or death, the community cares for bodies within the community and beyond—in suffering and in death, and witnesses to the life everlasting. 

Stations 13 and 14: The body of Jesus is taken down from the cross and Jesus is laid in the tomb