They took his body down.
With the roughest of hands.
Took out the nails from his wrists
Removed the crown from his hair.
Oh no our Lord God, they took his body down dead.
Some thought, He could have been someone great
If he only would have stuck to carpentry.
How fitting that one who spent their life working with wood
Would die on a cross, made of wood.
The cross was messy.
The cross was filthy
The enemies came to examine it and thought it was disgusting.
They thought to discard it
Because they thought what good is a cross filled with blood

Then the enemies of God stepped back
And announced, We are gathered here today to bury a man.
They said he was King of the Jews
Now he is King of the Dead
It was a eulogy given by those who despised him.
Those who wanted him dead
There were also mourners.
The disciple who Jesus loved, now had to take care of Mary.
She could not be comforted.
Like Rachel at Jesus’ birth, she would not be comforted.
Because she was the modern Rachel
But instead of dying in childbirth.
She had to watch her grown son die on the cross.

They asked for people who knew him to speak
Peter came up and gripped the pulpit
So hard you could see the insides of his hands on his hands
Shaking so much he could not control himself
His head was bobbing up and down
Peter wailed, I betrayed him!
Because I thought I could be stronger than I was
I wanted to stay by him
But I feared exposure
I feared death
I feared that he might be right about who I really was.
So I did not speak
I pray he is in a better place
Because my life will never be the same.
There was intermittent clapping.
Peter cried out, Stop, stop!
You are all hypocrites!
You killed an innocent man!
We are all guilty!
God forgive us all!

The enemies said, Now is the time for the wake
I know that normally the wake is before the funeral
But we have to view the body
That never rose again.
Everyone got up to look at where Jesus body lay
But there was no body
No body.
It was bodiless.
And the enemies were mystified.
How could there be a ****** cross
And no body.
Unless……
Mary and Peter grinned
There was hope

The enemies thought in horror
He said that his body would be raised in three days
They asked a servant, What day is it
The servant replied, The third day.
Oh no.
The enemies started to run around frantically
One yelled out, This cant be happening!
We must escape!
Then someone walked in
The people did not even hear the doors open
And the enemies of Jesus gasped.
Some were pale
Some said I can’t breathe
Others fainted.
That someone was Jesus

Jesus walked to the front.
And told them, This funeral is over.
Because by the blood of the cross
There is redemption.
You thought you threw the cross away
But now everyone who believes in me
Will pick up the cross and live for me.
Don’t look for someone's dead body
Because I am alive.
You wanted to bury God
And put me in the grave
Then all of the followers stood proudly.
Jesus waved his hand across the aisles
Here is my Body.
Broken for above.
No grave can bury it.
Jesus then turned and left the funeral proceedings
And the disciples walked out in confidence
Ready to tell the world the good news.