1 THE BURIAL OF JESUS Luke 23:50-56 Christianity stands or falls by the death and resurrection of Christ. The early church saw these two pivotal events as one. It is, therefore, somewhat understandable why many have overlooked what is sandwiched between these two great events: the burial of Christ. Yet each evangelist (Mt 27:57-66; Mk 15:42-47; Lk 23:50-56; Jn 19:38-20:9) and Paul (1 Co 15:4) provide considerable space in their writings to this event. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF JESUS’ BURIAL Some may wonder why Paul, in summarizing the Gospel—the death and resurrection of Jesus—brings in the seemingly incidental aspect of His burial? He describes the Gospel as: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Co 15:3-4). Why didn’t Paul define the Gospel more succinctly with the statement that “the Gospel is the death and resurrection of Christ”? JESUS WAS TRULY MAN The attention brought to the burial of Jesus is important for several reasons as we shall see, but first and foremost Paul, in his treatise on the resurrection (1 Co 15), is emphasizing the fact that Jesus was truly human—He was truly man as well as God. His body was real and He died as others died physically. Such an emphasis was crucial because history shows that in the early centuries it was the heresies that denied Jesus’ humanity that were most prominent. FULFILLED PROPHECY IN BOTH TESTAMENTS The attention to Jesus’ burial also shows God’s concern for every detail in the life and death and resurrection of our Lord. The testimonies of Joseph of Arimathea (Mt 27:57-60), the two Mary's (Mt 27:61) and the chief priests and Pharisees (Mt 27:62-66) each plays a crucial role in the burial of Jesus by validating the truthfulness of Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God. More than 700 years earlier Isaiah, the prophet, had prophesied: “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death, though He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth” (Isa 53:9). The last part of the book of Isaiah 52 (13-15) and the entire chapter of Isaiah 53 is devoted to the death of Christ:

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He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering (v. 3) He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows (v. 4) He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities (v. 5) The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him (v. 5) By His wounds we are healed (v. 5) He was oppressed and afflicted (v. 7) He was led like a lamb to the slaughter (v. 7) By oppression and judgment He was taken away (v. 8) He was cut off from the land of the living (v. 8) He was stricken for the transgression of God’s people (v. 8) A Rich Man’s Grave

Instead of being buried with criminals, as others were, He was buried in a rich man's tomb. The type of death He suffered (crucifixion)—the death of the worst kind of criminals— meant that, as far as those who condemned Him were concerned, He was to be buried with executed criminals. Instead, Jesus was buried with the honor of a “rich man’s grave.” Joseph of Arimathea gave Jesus an honorable burial by placing His body in his own tomb. This was undoubtedly an act of love growing out of his awareness that he had been forgiven much (Lk 7:47). Thus the fulfillment fitted, but also transcended the prophecy. Buried for Three Days and Three Nights Another prophecy that finds its fulfillment in the account of Jesus’ burial is His own prophetic words: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Mt 12:40; see also Jnh 1:17 and Mt 12:40) The Old Testament depicts the Messiah as One who would suffer (Ps 22; Isa 53) and rise from the dead (Ps 16:9-11; Isa 53:10-11). These two prophecies clearly refer to the burial of Christ and attest to the accuracy of biblical prophecy. Joseph of Arimathea Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Jesus and put it in his own new tomb: “

Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good And upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action.

3 He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid” (vv. 50-53). Joseph of Arimathea was from Arimathea, of the tribe of Benjamin (Mt 2:18), and lived in Jerusalem. He was an upright member of the Sanhedrin (who had not agreed with their decision to put Jesus to death). He was a member of the great Sanhedrin (v. 50) and, from the accounts given of him by the evangelists, we learn that he was a man of the greatest respectability. He now acted more honorably than Jesus’ disciples who had fled the scene in fear. Matthew also points out that Joseph was a “rich man” (Mt 27:57) This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus even though it was the custom for the bodies of crucified criminals to be left on their crosses to rot or be eaten by wild animals. The Jews, however, did not want such horror displayed during the Passover season, and the Romans were known to grant the corpses to friends or relatives for proper burial. The Women The women came. Mary of Magdala, Joanna, Mary the mother of James (Lk 24:10) and probably Salome (Mk 16:1), although some think that this was only a surname of one of these Marys. And they prepared spices and ointments to embalm Him: “It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how His body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment” (vv. 54-56). The Sabbath was lit with the candles which the Jews light just before six in the evening, when the Sabbath commences. The same word is used for the dawning of the day (Mt 28:1). The Jews always lit candles on the Sabbath; and it was a solemn precept that, "if a man had not bread to eat, he must beg from door to door to get a little oil to set up his Sabbath light." The night of the Sabbath drew on, which the Jews were accustomed to call “the light.” The women came. They were Mary of Magdala, Joanna, Mary the mother of James (Lk 24:10) and probably Salome (Mk 16:1), although some think that this was only a surname of one of these Marys. In the hours of crisis it is often people like Peter, who had sworn loyalty to Jesus with self-confidence and grand gestures, who disappoint, and it is the secret and quiet followers of Jesus, like Joseph, Nicodemus, the women and others who do not hesitate to serve Him in love . . . at a great cost."

4 Jesus is buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea (vv. 50-56). The fact that they embalmed Him (v. 56) is evidence that they had no hope of His resurrection the third day. The Jews, as well as the Egyptians, added spices to keep the body from putrefaction, and linen was wrapped about every part to keep the aromatics in contact with the flesh. From John 19:39-40, we learn that a mixture of myrrh and aloes of one hundred pounds' weight had been applied to the body of Jesus when he was buried. A second embalmment was intended (Lk 23:56; 24:1), but because of the need to get the body interred before the Sabbath, they simply did not have time to complete the embalming in the first instance. The fact that they rested on the Sabbath day shows the reticence of His followers. Although Jews were allowed to work on the Sabbath if it were necessary for the burial of the dead, the washing and anointing had to be done without moving a limb of the dead person. Because the Jews had put Christ to death under the pretence of His being a malefactor, it would not have been prudent or safe to appear too interested in doing so, and therefore they rested on the Sabbath. Jesus’ body was laid in a tomb hewn out of a rock, where no one had ever lain before. Tombs like this were very expensive. It was quite a sacrifice for Joseph of Arimathea to give his up . . . but Jesus would only use it for a few days! In all likelihood the body of Christ would have had the same burial place with those of the two robbers as “He was numbered with the transgressors,” and suffered with them; for then He was a sacrifice, bearing the sin of the world in his own body on the tree; but now the sacrifice is offered, the atonement made and accepted, and he is no longer to be enrolled with the transgressors, and, according to a prophecy delivered nearly seven hundred years before that time, He is to have the burying place of a “rich man” (Isa 53:9-10). If Jesus had been buried in the common burial ground of the criminals, His resurrection could not have been so distinctly remarked, because the chief priests would never have thought of sealing the stone there, or setting a watch. Now that the body was taken care of by a friend, they felt it was necessary to use such precautions in order to prevent the imposter (deceiver) from having His disciples “steal the body” (Mt 27:64). Matthew points out that Joseph “rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb” (Mt 27:60). Some believe that this tomb was cut down into the rock, perpendicularly from the surface; and that the big stone referred to covered over the entrance to it. The stone, no doubt, was intended to secure the place as much as possible (Mt 27:64).

5 It is ironic that by seeking to fulfill their own vicious counsels, the religious leaders were in fact serving the great cause of Christianity (Mt 27:63) since everything depended on the resurrection of Christ. If it did not appear that Jesus rose from the dead, then the Christian religion was false, and no atonement was made. This was the reason it was necessary that the chief priests made use of every precaution to prevent a deceiver, that the resurrection of Christ might have the fullest evidence to support it (Mt 27:60). The religious leaders said Jesus had declared that “after three days I will rise again” (Mt 27:63). This statement was probably taken from Jesus’ saying, “I will destroy this manmade temple and in three days I will build another, not made by man” (Mk 14:58). If so, they destroyed, by their own words, the false accusation they brought against Him to put Him to death; then they perverted the meaning, now they declare it. As often is the case, the wise are taken in their own craftiness. Neither the devil nor his servants speak truth unless they expect to accomplish some bad purpose by it. In Jesus' case, a man named Joseph, from Arimathea, asked special permission from the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate to take possession of the body. Pilate granted the chief priests and Pharisees permission to post a guard of Roman soldiers to keep watch (Mt 27:65; see also 28:4,11-12), just as the Jews had a corps of troops, consisting of several companies, as a guard for the temple (Ac 4:1). It is likely that, since Pilate did not wish to kill Jesus in the first place, he was more than happy to accommodate Joseph. Joseph took the body down, cleaned it, wrapped it in a linen cloth, laid it in a newly carved tomb and rolled a rock in front of it. Not only was the sepulchre made secure by posting a guard of soldier, but also by placing a seal on the stone (Mt 27:66). Whereas the guard was to make sure that the disciples would not steal His body, the seal (which was probably the seal of the governor), was to prevent the guards from being corrupted so as to permit the theft. So everything was done which was humanly possible and prudent to prevent a resurrection. Jesus’ burial, like other events in the life, death and resurrection of our Lord, holds great significance. It gives further evidence that Jesus was and is who He claimed to be—man. The fulfillment of His own prophecy that He would be buried for three days and Isaiah’s prophecy that He would be buried in a rich man’s grave give even further evidence that Scripture is true. The eyewitness testimonies of Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” (Mt 27:61) also show that biblical prophecy can be trusted wholeheartedly. These two women, who stayed with Jesus through His crucifixion and left for a time on the Sabbath day, came back that third day possibly hoping against hope that what He said might become reality. Their faith was honored by God who allowed them to be the first to witness the greatest event in all of history. While the disciples were reluctant to believe what these women said (Lk 24:6-12), and while Thomas was reluctant to believe when he heard from the other disciples who had seen their risen Lord (Jn 20:24-25), these women were firsthand witnesses to spread the Easter message.

6 The burial, then, attests to the fact that through eyewitness testimony and fulfilled prophecy God vindicated Jesus Christ as His Son. APPLICATION Joseph of Arimathea (who started out as a “secret disciple” in fear of his fellow Jews), is an encouragement to us all because he shows us that even though our faith may be weak in our earlier walk with God it can grow until we, like Joseph, are willing to risk everything to honor Jesus. The two Marys are an example to all of us that when God’s message may seem unrealistic, we too can hope against hope and believe God for the miraculous.