Burial

Burial
Matt. 27:59-60

59 And [kai] when Joseph [Ioseph] had taken [lambano] the body [soma] , he wrapped [entulisso] it [autos] in a clean [katharos] linen cloth [sindon] ,
60 And [kai] laid [tithemi] it [autos] in [en] his own [autos] new [kainos] tomb [mnemeion] , which [hos] he had hewn out [latomeo] in [en] the rock [petra] : and [kai] he rolled [proskulio] a great [megas] stone [lithos] to the door [thura] of the sepulchre [mnemeion] , and departed [aperchomai] . KJV-Interlinear

59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61 And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave. NASB

Mark 15:46
46 And Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. NASB

Luke 23:53-54
53 And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. 54 And it was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. NASB

John 19:39-42
39 And Nicodemus came also, who had first come to Him by night; bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. 40 And so they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been laid. 42 Therefore on account of the Jewish day of preparation, because the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. NASB

Several people took part in the preparation and burial of Jesus' body. A second member of the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus, Jn. 7:50, who also, in secret, followed Jesus Christ's teachings, was present. Several women (plural) were present. These would be the same women who watched the Cross from a distance, and remained at the cross after all these things had taken place.

John wrote the longest account of these events, and since he was at the Cross with Jesus' mother, Mary, we can assume that they would not simply go away until Jesus had been laid to rest.

So we should have a picture of what is going on and who is present. The women and John as well as probably some other onlookers, remained at the Cross, probably wondering what was going to happen now.

Joseph went to Pilate and received permission to take the body and bury it. Nicodemus assisted Joseph. Nicodemus already had a significant quantity of body rubs and oils for the preparation of the dead, in the custom of the day.

These two men came to the cross, probably gave the release order to the soldiers who were standing guard over the three dead men. Joseph and Nicodemus would have brought a cart most likely and a ladder, or they used something to climb up to the body and wrapped some form of temporary clothing around it, and then un-nailed the feet first, then removed the crown of thorns from His head (or perhaps did that first), then removed the nails from the hands, and then they would have released the ropes which bound Jesus to the cross, and then lowered Him down onto the cart, or whatever their mode of transportation was.

We can assume that they did not simply throw Him over their shoulder and then carry Him off. They were both rich men, so they would have some form of transport and even perhaps their own servants assisting. The body would have been taken to the garden where Joseph's grave had already been carved out of the stone wall, and there they washed off the body of the blood, sweat, and dust that had accumulated on it.

Then they prepared the body with the oils and perfumes they brought and then wrapped it in the clean linen cloth. And then laid it in the grave. They would have exited the tomb and then rolled the stone across its face. It probably took several people to roll the large stone into place.

The two Mary's remained behind to ponder and to probably find closure for themselves. All this happened so fast. It was just the previous night when they all sat around the dinner table eating and conversing and listening to Jesus' words. And in what certainly seemed like a blink of an eye, He was arrested, tried, and executed. The shock and violence of it all, even if one was expecting it, would be overwhelming, and difficult to take in on such a short notice.

In Lev. 23:9-11, the details of the Feast of Unleaven Bread teach that the day after the 'normal' Sabbath, which, Sabbath, will be on Saturday, so this refers to the next day which is Sunday, the ritual of the First Fruits is performed where in the priest waves an ear of corn before the Tabernacle. This teaches the resurrection of the Messiah, the first of many to be risen. Thus the First Fruits ritual.

Jesus' body is now in a grave alone. He was not tossed into a common grave, such that one could argue over who will rise up. He is in a tomb of rock, with only one entrance and exit. And a large stone door is rolled across its face making it difficult to open unless there are several strong enough to roll it away. The tomb is in a reasonably public area in a public garden, though it was an area designated for tombs. So most likely many who were passing by the Cross would have seen the activities of Jesus' burial.

His death is a certain fact. Having been beaten, scourged, crucified and pierced through the heart, and then the preparation of and the placement of the body into the tomb, gives proof that Jesus did die physically. The stage is now set for the very first resurrection in history, and the victory of Jesus Christ over both sin and now death.

His body is now in the grave. His spirit is making its way to Torments to declare victory and then on to heaven to be with the Father. His soul is currently in Paradise, visiting the many believers who had died since the time of Adam, and had been patiently waiting for this moment. Jesus was and will be the only person who had His entire essence divided up and residing in the three different places. When we die, our soul and spirit remain together, inseparable, and we go immediately to be with the Lord in heaven. Our physical body of course remains behind, discarded as it were.

We can only imagine the huge celebration in Paradise when Jesus finally arrived there. The long wait is now almost over. There will be a huge procession, a parade, going off to heaven and to a new Paradise, but that is not quite yet. That is still a few weeks off. What remains now is the passing of three days and three nights, and then Jesus' soul will leave Paradise, and be rejoined with His spirit, in a new resurrection body, His original body will be transformed, and then He will leave the tomb completely resurrected, never to die again. The victory of the Cross will then be strategically complete. The tactical victory of the angelic conflict will come at the Second Advent.

The women, John, Joseph, and Nicodemus, have finished their work. There is nothing more for them to do. The tomb is closed and now we wait.

But we will see in tomorrow's study, the enemies of Christ are never satisfied. They are going to try to prevent the resurrection, but more on that tomorrow.

Subscribe Daily Bible Study Mailing List Receive Daily Bible Studies directly into your inbox.