For I
delivered unto you first of all that which I
also received, how that Christ died... was
buried, and that he rose again the third day
according to the scriptures: - 1 Corinthians
15:3-4
The very earliest summary we have of the
Christian message contained an explicit
reference to Jesus's burial. The
Apostle Paul, writing to Christians in
Corinth about twenty years after Jesus's
death, summarized the basic Christian good
news in this way:
For I
delivered to you... that he (Jesus) was
buried... in accordance with the scriptures.
(1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
Why did the earliest Christians, and
then why did the writers of the Gospels,
consider it so important to mention the
actual burial of Jesus? To put the question
a different way, what does "and that he
was buried" add to the essential
Christian message? For one thing, it
prepares the way for the affirmation of the
resurrection. To say that Jesus died and was
raised without mentioning His burial could
lead to a misunderstanding of the story.
One might think that Jesus was immediately
brought back to life from the cross or that
He was immediately jettisoned to heaven.
"And that he was buried" eliminates
these options and explains the place from
which Jesus was raised. But, more
important by far, the mention of the burial
of Jesus makes it absolutely clear that
Jesus really died on the cross - He died for
whosoever will.
Adapted
from:
https://depree.org/life-for-leaders/why-the-burial-of-jesus-matters