Matthew 27:59-60

“When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock…”

I don’t think Joseph expected Jesus to rise again. I don’t think Joseph had planned to temporarily bury Jesus in his expensive, private and specially hewn tomb. Joseph had given his privately designed grave to Jesus because he wanted to honor the body of Jesus. Jesus was dead. Am not sure Joseph expected some special benefits from God for doing this. To him, it was just the right thing to do, irrespective of what others thought and regardless of the personal cost to him.

This is how to honor Jesus. Even when there seems to be nothing for you to personally gain from serving Jesus, give Jesus your very best. Even if it appears that you are losing something very precious, giving it to Jesus, even a dead Jesus, is a sign of great honor. We must not deal with Jesus for personal gain. We must look for opportunities to sacrifice for Jesus without expecting anything in return. We must be willing to go the extra mile to honor our Master who has done so much for us. Jesus deserves to be honored by our very best.

“Lord Jesus, You deserve to be honored by my very best. You deserve to receive all that I had specially reserved for myself. All I have is Yours, and I commit to using them to honor You, without expecting any blessings in return, because they are Yours anyway. Amen.”