It looked like Jesus’ enemies had finally won. There could be no doubt that He had died – even if the blood loss from the scourging and the suffocation he suffered on the cross hadn’t killed Him, the Roman soldier’s spear thrust certainly would have done it. And as Jesus died, so did the hopes and dreams of so many of His followers, those who had looked to Him to establish Heaven on Earth. All that was left was to give Him a proper burial, which Joseph of Arimathea proceeded to do.

And maybe that’s the way you feel today – hopeless and helpless. Maybe you’re caring for loved ones who the doctors say will never get well. Maybe in spite of your best efforts, you’ve come down with this mysterious, capricious virus. Maybe you’re worried about our political situation, or you’re wondering how you’ll make ends meet. Maybe you’re in the dark, and you just can’t see how God could possibly be at work in such scary, confusing times.

Well, even before Jesus rose from the dead, there was plenty of evidence that God was, in fact in charge of all the events surrounding His suffering and death. For when the Roman soldier thrust his spear into Jesus’ side, he was only fulfilling what the prophet Zechariah had spoken hundreds of years before: “When they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him” (John 19:37; Zechariah 12:10). And David predicted that Jesus’ legs would not be broken when he wrote Psalm 34: “He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken” (John 19:36; Psalm 34:20).

And as Jesus died between two criminals, and as Joseph of Arimathea was the one who provided a tomb for Jesus, we can set yet another ancient prophecy fulfilled – this time from Isaiah: “And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth” (Isaiah 53:9). And in the same chapter, Isaiah tells us why all this had to happen to Jesus: “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one – to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6).

Yes, the prophecy-fulfilling death of Jesus proves that God was not only in control even during the worst injustice in all of human history. It also shows that God is able to bring the greatest good even out of the greatest evil. For just as in the death of Christ all who trust in Him find forgiveness of our sins, who can doubt that God can bring something good, even out of ice storms and pandemics and political gridlock? Even when things are at their worst, how can we doubt the power and the love of the One Who gave up His Son for us?

John 19:31-42 (ESV)

31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.
32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him.
33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.
35 He who saw it has borne witness– his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth– that you also may believe.
36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”
37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”
38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body.
39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.
40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.
41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.