“The Tomb Occupied”

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Friday: 3:00 to 6:00 P.M.

The Burial of Jesus – (27:57-66)

The enemies of Jesus have done their last and worst to the Son of God. “From the moment of His dying, none but tender hands touched Him, and from the moment of His burial none but loving eyes saw Him” (Morgan, Electronic Edition). There are two parts in this portion of our study. The first tells us the story of Jesus’ burial (27:57-61). It is one of those rare instances that is recorded by all four of the Gospels (Matt. 27:57, Mark 15:43, Luke 23:51, and John 19:38). The kindness of Joseph of Arimathea stands in stark contrast to the bitterness that engulfed the enemies of our Lord. Early the next morning the enemies of Jesus would gather together and approach Pilate with a plan to prevent the disciples from stealing the body and then propagate some kind of story of a resurrected Christ (27:62-66). We will study the last part of chapter 27 under the headings, The Tomb Occupied (27:57-61), and The Tomb Guarded (27:62-66).

The Tomb Occupied (27:57-61)

It is Friday, sometime after 3:00 in the afternoon. How long the Lord hung on the cross following His death is not revealed. According to Deuteronomy 21:22-23 the body of a criminal could not remain hanging all night; it had to be taken down and disposed of before sunset. The time constraints were doubly important because in less than three hours the Sabbath would begin. According to Roman law, the relatives of a criminal might claim his body for burial, but if it was not claimed it was simply left to rot until the vultures or other wild animals dealt with it.

“And when even was come, there came a rich man from Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple: this man went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus” (27:57-58). Mark tells us that he was “a councillor of honorable estate” (Mark 15:43). Luke adds that he was “a good and righteous man” and that “he had not consented to their counsel and deed” (Luke 23:50-51). Few men in the Bible have been honored with the designation “good.” I was particularly impressed with Coffman’s comments on this man Joseph:

In times of distress and danger; God has frequently raised up a Joseph. When Israel was threatened with famine, when Herod the Great would have slain the infant Christ, and then again when the helpless body of our Lord was upon the cross, there stepped forth upon the stage JOSEPH. The awful storm was at the full, the enemies glorying in their triumph, supposing Christ was out of the way forever; but in that hour came JOSEPH! There is a well of consolation in the fact that God always raises up a man at the required time. Peter and Thomas might flee, but Joseph will appear. The few remaining women may gaze helplessly from afar, but an honorable councilor will rise up. The darkness may obscure the sun, but stars hitherto unseen will brightly shine (Coffman, Electronic Edition).

The circumstances leading up to Pilate’s permission for Joseph to take the body of Jesus are a remarkable example of how God intervened in this whole affair to bring about His purpose. It had been prophesied regarding the Messiah that His bones would not be broken (Psa. 34:20). Additionally, Zechariah prophesied, “they shall look unto me whom they have pierced” (Zech. 12:10). Normally Pilate would have let the criminals hang on the cross until they died naturally or had been consumed by wild animals. John tells us that the Jews, because it was the Preparation, asked Pilate that the legs of the victims be broken in order to hasten their death, and then be taken away (John 19:31). Little did those Jewish leaders realize that they were actually helping to fulfill the prophecies set forth in those two Old Testament passages. The soldiers broke the legs of the two who had been crucified with Jesus, “but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was deal already, they brake not his legs” (John 19:33). With the full assurance that Jesus was dead, Pilate “commanded it [the body of Jesus, TW] to be given up” (27:58) to Joseph of Arimathaea, thereby fulfilling one of the most amazing prophecies surrounding the death of our Lord.

The next three verses (27:59-61) are filled with tenderness and respect for the Lord. There are five action words in Matthew’s record that deserve a closer look. First, it is said that Joseph “had taken the body” (27:59). Our English translates the usual word for “take” (‘lambano’), yet I cannot help but detect a touch of kindness and tenderness that surrounds the actions itself. Here was a wealthy man, a “good man,” who had not consented to the things that had happened that day. I do not think he was coerced, compelled, or in any other way forced to surrender his tomb for the Savior; it must have been an act of love, much like that of the woman who broke the alabaster cruse to express her love for the Savior and prepare Him for burial (Mark 14:3-9).

Having taken the body of our Lord off the cross, Matthew tells us he “wrapped it in a clean linen cloth” (27:59b). This would have been no little task. Joseph, with others assisting, “took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen clothes with the spices” (John 19:40).

Matthew then tells us that Joseph took the body, “And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock” (27:60). With the same tenderness and affection demonstrated in taking the body of Jesus off the cross, Joseph now lays that body in the tomb. I have been told that as human remains were slowly recovered from ground zero of the 9/11 attacks, every discovery brought with it a moment of solemn pause in respect for the dead. With tenderness and respect for the dead, the necessary bags would be brought to the location, and the workers would, with tenderness and compassion, place whatever small part of some human body they had discovered, into the bag/container, and for a brief moment, pause in their laborious task, and provide a prayer, or a salute, or simply stand in silent awe. No doubt Joseph of Arimathaea demonstrated the same kind of respect in taking the body, preparing it for burial, and then placing it in his tomb. I do not get the impression that he wanted notoriety, or applause, or even the least bit of recognition, yet because of what he did, the name of “Joseph of Arimathaea” would be etched in history as the man who provided a tomb for the Lord.

Once Joseph had wrapped the body, and laid it in the tomb, in a gesture of finality, “he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed” (27:60b). Thankfully, the story does not end here.