Saturday, April 11, 2020
Burial rituals
John 19:40
“Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.”
As I was writing this yesterday, Good Friday, the global death toll from this novel coronavirus known as SARS Caronavirus-2 crossed the grim milestone of 100,000. In the United States, the total number of deaths is pushing hard toward 20,000. And in ground zero, New York City, COVID-19 has taken a 5,700-deaths bite out of the big apple. New York State has more COVID-19 cases than any country in the world.
Normally, about 12 dead people in New York, who are unclaimed, are buried each week on Hart Island using prisoner labour. COVID-19 has now increased that number to at least 12 per day. That means 12 people buried each day without weeping relatives or a burial ritual of any kind. While there are still some regular funerals going on, all over the world we have had to halt much of the traditions and rituals around inhumation.
There is a curious funerary tradition practised by some in Guyana where I live. On the day of the funeral, someone buys and brings a bottle of perfume or cologne which they spray on the body lying in the casket. They leave the bottle in or on the casket and as other mourners come by, they each take up the bottle and spray some of the fragrance on the body. We don’t know how this tradition got started or what is the basis or belief associated with it. Research is ongoing.
Perfuming the body for burial, is, however, not peculiar to Guyana, it occurs in many other traditions and places around the world, and in a variety of cultures and religions.
In the time of Jesus, there was a burial tradition where the body was anointed with fragrant oil as part of the preparation for embalming. When Jesus’ body was taken down from the cross, John 19:39-40, we see that Nicodemus, the guy who was on the night move, organised a mixture of fragrant spices and had the body prepared according to the customs of the time.
The burial of Jesus, like His trial and His death sentence, was caught between two legal systems, two belief systems, and two traditions. There was the Jewish and there was the Roman. Jesus’ burial was further complicated by the issues related to the burial of executed criminals.
For the Romans, the funerary rites afforded to a person was in part a function of that person’s status in society. In the earliest of Roman times, the body was washed then displayed, before cremation. In later times, including the time of Jesus, the Romans were practising inhumation.
The Romans, however, refused the right of a burial to convicted criminals. This complicated the matter for Jesus. Crucified criminals were often left to rot up on their crosses as a sign to those who would commit crime. Some believe that Golgotha, the place of the skull, John 19:17, was so named because of the skulls and bones that were the remains of preciously executed criminals.
The only way out for Jesus was that the Romans, apparently, were prepared, especially on the eve of special occasions, to allow relatives to take and bury the bodies of the crucified criminal rather than leave them to the mercy of carrion birds.
But Jesus was a Jew and the Jews extended the right to a proper burial to everyone including criminals. This tradition can be seen all through the Old Testament and seems to be rooted in Deuteronomy 21:22-23. However, there were limitations on the extent of the funerary rights and privileges for the executed convict.
Jesus’ disheartened and terrified disciples and relatives vanished once He died, and the body was left on the cross in the 3 o’clock afternoon sun. The Romans, in keeping with their laws and traditions, would have just as well left Jesus there to rot in the sun and be food for the birds. The Jews, however, now that their tormenter was dead, were quite ready to observe Jewish law and asked that steps be taken to have the bodies taken down before Sabbath, John 19:31.
It is here that the Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus show up, seize the opportunity, and as it were, saved the day. One of them had to ask for his relative’s body and the other had to have the species ready for the burial ritual to be performed. This was as far as they could get in the time left before sundown and with the few hands that were available.
The incomplete ritual didn’t matter though because, when the women got the courage and returned to finish the job on Sunday morning, Jesus had risen and left the tomb, Luke 24:1.
Thousands of these COVID-19 dead, not just the unclaimed, will be put down without their burial traditions whatever those might be. Many who can claim their dead are unable to carry out the rituals and traditions anyway because of the rules of physical distancing and lockdown. It’s hard enough not being able to say goodbye in the accustomed way, but funerary traditions usual contribute to closure. For thousands of families, this closure will not come for at least a generation.
Our task is to share the experience of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection with everyone afflicted or affected by COVID-19. We must especially share this with those relatives of the deceased. For, in the end, we know that we could skip rituals and tradition if we have a relationship with the risen Jesus who himself was caught between traditions.
Think on these things:
- What are the burial rituals in your culture?
- Do you know anyone who has died of COVID-19?
- What would you say tomorrow to relatives of anyone who dies of COVID-19?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would learn to ignore tradition and share Jesus now.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
Notes:
- Photo credit: Notes: Coffins of people who have died from coronavirus are seen in the church of the Serravalle Scrivia cemetery in Alessandria, Italy, March 23, 2020 REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo
- For this Easter weekend, there will be 5 daily devotionals, Burial Rituals is the third.