Study of John: Burial...

 7 Therefore Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. John 12:7

God told me to talk about burial in our study of John.

For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. Matthew 26:12

So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. John 19:40

The custom of anointing for burial

In both ancient and modern Jewish practice, the body is ritually washed (in a process called tohorah) after death before being wrapped in a shroud. 

The Shroud of Turin is a rectangular linen cloth comprised of flax.

but in ancient tradition, the body was also anointed with oils and sometimes wrapped with aromatic herbs such as olive, laurel, palm and cypress to help fight the effects of the rapid decomposition that occurred in the Mediterranean heat.

The two things as the old saying goes that are for certain are death and taxes.

Death will come one day for us.

So, let's look at the differences between burial then and burial now.

We do much of the same thing when we die today, we clean the body and instead of being wrapped, we are reclothed with clothes we picked, or our family picks out. Instead of oils, they use embalming fluid. 

We bury people in graves and coffins. They used to be buried in tombs, caves to be exact (could not exactly get an answer if they are still buried in tombs today.). From what I looked up there were no coffins used wrapped up and laid to rest only.

We are buried in the ground today back then they were above ground or built like a stone building.

So, they put a lot of importance on burial (death) at least back in Bible times. What does that mean for us and what does God have for us in talking about burial?

Think about it and we will continue tomorrow with this subject burial...