Matthew 27:57

Mat_27:57-60

There came a rich man of Arimathaea.

Joseph of Arimathaea

I. The burial of Jesus by Joseph and his friend is an interesting illustration of faith. He accepted the evidence that Jesus was Christ. The popular fury had not affected his faith. Calm and dignified in his faith, he respectfully makes his request to Pilate. When we believe with all the heart we shall not be hindered by great difficulties from professing Christ.

II. In the conduct of Joseph we have an illustration of moral courage and decision of Christian character. It exposed any man to loss of reputation to favour one who was subject to crucifixion.

III. The conduct of Joseph is an illustration of the power which ardent love for Christ has on the life and conduct. Here was the secret of his courage, the hiding of its power. He loved Christ.

IV. The grace of God can prevail over hindrances to faith and Christian zeal in the characters and circumstances of men. It is remarkable that the two men who performed this courageous act were men once timid and cautious. God can place us in circumstances where our faith can suddenly acquire the force of years. We naturally like men at once to declare for Christ, like the morning star which glows in the sun-rising. Some are like St. John, constant from first to last.

V. The reward which Joseph had for his conduct. There in his tomb life and immortality were brought to light. The builder of the Pyramids is not to be compared for fame to the owner of that tomb. Every one of us has his own peculiar opportunity of showing his attachment to Christ. (T. Adams, D. D.)

The burial of Jesus

There has been no time to get a bier, or it is felt that the distance is so short that it is not needed. That body, however, has the best bier of all-the hands of true affection to lift it and carry it across to the new tomb which waits to receive it. The feet let us assign to Joseph, the body to Nicodemus, and that regal head with those closed eyes, over whom the shadows of the resurrection are already flitting, let us lay it on the breast of the beloved disciple John, who, possibly, was present standing with the Galilean women. The last service which Jesus ever needed at the hands of men it has been their privilege to render. For this service shall we not honour them, and forget that they were once secret disciples? Yea, verily; what they thus did for the Lords burial shall be told for a memorial of them, wherever this gospel of the kingdom is preached. (Dr. Hanna.)

A remarkable funeral

I. The corpse-It is the body of Jesus.

II. The undertaker-A rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph.

III. The preparations he made for the burial-He first begged the body, etc.

IV. The time of the funeral-Evening.

V. The mourners-No hired ones. (American Horn. Review.)

The burial of Jesus

I. This sepulchre.

1. Its situation-in a garden. Preaching of a new life arising from decay and death. In all human gardens of domestic and social joy, there is death.

2. It was a new tomb. The true consecration of the great world-sepulchre.

3. It was a rich mans tomb. Jesus has been in many rich mens homes and hearts since. Yet the aim of many rich seems to be, to bury Jesus-fashion, form, etc.

4. Hewn out of a rock. The strength of the tomb collateral proof of genuineness of resurrection.

II. The mourners.

1. Their characters suggestive.

2. Their number very small-a mere handful. More rejoicers than mourners. Very few of the disciples, but He is present at the death of every disciple.

3. Their grief intense. The Magdalene had lost her Saviour; the Virgin her Son; the rest a dear Friend.

III. The interment.

1. Hurried.

2. Costly. More was spent upon Jesus at His burial than at any time before.

3. Vigilance of His enemies; they cannot leave even His sepulchre alone. The seal and the guard. Their unintended testimony to the reality of the resurrection.

Learn:

1. Christ entered the grave to rob it of its gloom.

2. Rejoice in a living Saviour-not hide Him out of sight. (J. C. Gray.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL NOTES

Mat_27:57. Even.—The first or early evening. See Deu_21:23; Jos., B. J., IV. Mat_27:2. Arimathæa.—Generally identified’ with Ramathaim-zophim, on Mount Ephraim, the birth-place of Samuel (1Sa_1:1), the site of which is not certainly known. Joseph.—A member of the Sanhedrin (Luk_23:50). Disciple.—He must undoubtedly have absented himself from the meetings of the Sanhedrin when Jesus was condemned. See Luk_23:51 (Carr).

Mat_27:58. Begged the body.—It was the Roman custom to allow the bodies to hang upon the cross till they wasted away, or were consumed by the birds of prey. But should friends request the bodies to be taken for interment, the request could not be refused (Meyer). A concession was made in favour of the Jews, whose law did not suffer a man to hang all night upon a tree (Deu_21:23) (Carr).

Mat_27:61. The other Mary.—The mother of James and Joses (Mat_27:56).

Mat_27:62. The next day.—On the morrow (R.V.). After sunset on Nisan 14. Preparation.—The “preparation” (Paraskeuè) was a technical term, not, as is sometimes said, in reference to preparing for the Passover, but, as in Mar_15:42, to a preparation for the Sabbath. Josephus, Ant., XVI. vi. 2, is decisive on this point (Plumptre). Several reasons have been assigned for this roundabout way of describing the Sabbath day. Bengel suggests, because St. Matthew did not choose to call the Jewish Sabbath any longer “the Sabbath.”

Mat_27:64. Until the third day.—The phrase is worth noting, as indicating the meaning which the priests attached to the words “after three days.” They were looking for the fraud which they anticipated as likely to be attempted at the beginning of the third day from the death (Plumptre.) By night.—Omitted in R.V. Error.—Better, deceit, to connect the word, in English as in the Greek, with the “deceiver” of Mat_27:63 (Plumptre).

Mat_27:65. Ye have a watch.—A guard (R.V.). See also R.V. margin. The verb may be either indicative or imperative. “The guards had already acted under orders of the Sanhedrin, with Pilate’s consent; but probably they were not clear about employing them as a night watch without Pilate’s express authority” (Brown).

Mat_27:66. Sealing.—Probably effected by drawing one or more ropes across the stone and fastening either end to the rock with wax or cement of some kind (Plumptre). Setting a watch.—The guard being with them (R.V.). What is meant is that the priests were not content to leave the work to the soldiers, but actually took part in it themselves (ibid.).

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mat_27:57-66

Total eclipse.—The mystery attaching to the death of the Saviour does not interfere with its truth. Difficult indeed to account for, it is a fact impossible to deny. This is shown us very convincingly in the words which come next. A like in the behaviour of His friends, on the one hand, and in the conduct of His enemies, on the other, ample evidence is given us here of the absolute certainty of His death.

I. The behaviour of His friends.—The behaviour, in the first place, of one special friend at this time. A certain man of substance (Mat_27:57) and standing (Mar_15:43), known as Joseph of Arimathæa, was in Jerusalem at this time. A sincere disciple of the now crucified Jesus (Mat_27:57), he appears yet to have been in such a position (Mar_15:43) as to have had ready access to the governor’s presence. He goes to him accordingly, and asks permission to take down the body of Jesus. After due investigation by the centurion (Mar_15:44-45), Pilate consents, and gives the requisite orders for having the body committed to Joseph’s care. Convincing proof, therefore, that in the eyes of all three, it is now a body without life. Neither would the centurion have certified, nor Joseph asked, nor Pilate consented, had any one of them had any doubt on this point. The behaviour, next, of those who assisted this chief friend at this time. Under his supervision these (doubtless) willing assistants wrap a fair linen cloth with reverent care round the body of Jesus. With equal reverence and care they next lay it in a new sepulchre (Mat_27:60), which Joseph had caused to be prepared for himself in the solid rock of that spot. After which they proceed, with at least as much care, to close that sepulchre up; a stone of such apparently unusual magnitude being used for that purpose, that it had to be “rolled” to its place notwithstanding the lateness of the hour (Mat_27:57), and the consequent need of the most urgent despatch (Mat_27:60; Luk_23:54). In all these steps, therefore, they give us both indubitable and progressive evidence of two things of capital importance in connection with the reality of His death; the one being that these persons were all themselves convinced of the reality of that death, and the other that no appearance whatever in a contrary direction (had there been such in existence), could possibly have escaped their notice whilst taking such steps. To them, in a word, if He had not been dead, the fact must have come out. By them, notwithstanding, He is treated as dead in everything that they do. The behaviour, lastly, of certain other friends who, in all this, sat by (Mat_27:61). If they have not personally assisted, they have fully acquiesced, in all they see done. They go away, indeed, to show this (see Luk_23:56) in a way of their own. To them also, therefore, the proper place now for the body of Jesus is the place of the dead. Their breaking hearts, also, that would have hoped if they could, have no doubt of His death.

II. The conduct of His enemies.—Their conduct, first, in waiting on the governor. After the burial of Jesus, on “the next day,” the “chief priests and Pharisees” (Mat_27:62) “came together” to speak to Pilate about Jesus. But their manner of doing so is widely different from what it had been only a short time before. To their apprehension little is now left of Jesus but the memory of His words (see Mat_27:63). And even this memory appears to them to be deserving of attention only in connection with other men’s acts. Only if the disciples of Jesus were to adventure on “stealing His body away,” and on “saying” afterwards “to the people” that “He had risen from the dead” would there be cause for alarm. In that case, no doubt, the “last error”—as they spake of it—would be “worse than the first.” But, excepting that, they know of nothing now which has to be feared. As one so undeniably dead do they now speak of Jesus in the governor’s ears! Their conduct, next, in watching the sepulchre of Jesus proclaims just the same thing. Pilate’s almost contemptuous reply to their request for a “guard” is all they wish for in other respects. “Take the guard you desire. Go to the sepulchre. Make everything safe” (Mat_27:65). They go accordingly, and endeavour to do so in every conceivable way. To the security of the huge stone already closing its mouth, they add that of a seal. To this security they add a third, securer than both. A company of Roman soldiers is stationed there as a guard. A guard to do what? To prevent that “seal” from being tampered with; that stone from being removed; that dead man’s body being taken away. Could there well be a louder proclamation of the undoubted reality of Christ’s death? Verily, if these things do not mean this, they mean nothing at all!

In this remarkable succession of proofs we seem to see not a little:—

1. Of the hand of God in the course of events.—We know what the resurrection of Christ now is to the church. On that great reversal depends the reversal of all that we grieve over or fear. Without assurance of this there is neither faith nor hope for the believer in Christ. See such passages as Act_1:22; Act_25:19; 1Co_15:14; 1Co_15:17; 1Pe_3:21, etc. But how can there be certainty of the reversal of an evil, without previous certainty concerning the evil itself? How recovery without previous loss? How restoration without previous destruction? How rising again, except out of the grave? And how could proof of this be better accomplished than by that singular accumulation and clearness and variety of evidence of which we have now taken note? Who could deny what Pilate, and the centurion, and Joseph and his companions, all knew to. be true? Or how could even the priests dispute what they had so loudly proclaimed? And is it not reasonable to think, therefore, yet further, that in such a condition of things, the hand of God may be traced? We certainly believe as much in regard to the superstructure of the resurrection? Why not, therefore, in these circumstances, of this its foundation as well?

2. Of the hand of God in the structure of Scripture.—Not only did the things noted prevent denial for the time. The record we have of them was also such as to prevent it for the future. We ourselves now can see from this account of them the absolute certainty of Christ’s death, and so, as it were, the stability of that foundation on which our whole hope is erected. And this evidence we have, also, which is very much more, in the most natural possible way. If there is everything forcible from this point of view, there is nothing forced, in the story before us. No one can suspect the writer, any more than in the parallel cases of Mat_9:24; Luk_7:12; Joh_11:17; Joh_11:39, of having put this evidence in. All the more reason, therefore, is there for believing that it has come in through a greater Hand than his own.

HOMILIES ON THE VERSES

Mat_27:57. The rich disciple.—He is rich:—

I. In means.—Some are rich in money only. How poor are they!

II. In silence.—Had the courage to hold his tongue. How few regret that they kept silence!

III. In patience.—Valuable the hostility and salutary the fear which leads a man in silence to spin the silken thread of patience, waiting for the kingdom of God.

IV. In courage.—Mark says he went boldly and begged the body of Jesus. The result of silent patience is surprising might.

V. In service.—Timely, distinguished, unique, essential, personal. Did he, unaided, draw the nails, wrap the body, carry it to rest? Nicodemus carrying his hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes. Heroic burden-bearers. He is rich:—

VI. In praise.—Thy daring devotion in the darkest hour has brought thee imperishable renown.—H. T. Miller.

Joseph of Arimathæa.—

I. Cared more about the sepulchre for the dead Christ than service to the living Saviour.—Nothing heard of Him till now. Rich Christians often more careful about ceremonies than true work and the true spirit.

II. Cared more about the silent body than the speaking lips of Jesus.—Hence did not confess and follow the living Redeemer.

III. Though late in the field as a public confessor, His influence was exerted most usefully for the church.—A poor and influential suppliant would have been spurned by Pilate. The wealth of Joseph was his shield. The rich man’s well-constructed tomb furnished opportunities to both foes and friends for testing the reality of the resurrection.

IV. Rich Christians have their uses.—Their influence often protective, and their wealth sustaining to Christian institutions, etc.—J. C. Gray.

Mat_27:59-60. Christ’s deep humiliation.—

I. The deep humiliation of the Lord Jesus, from the time of His death to His resurrection. He continued in the state of the dead for a time, which was the lowest step of His humiliation, and the deepest abasement of the Son of God.

II. Why our Lord continued in the state of the dead, and under the power of it, for a time.—

1. That the types and prophecies relative thereto might have their accomplishment.

2. To ascertain the reality of His death and resurrection from the dead.

3. That He might fully satisfy the demands of the law and justice of God for our sins.

4. That He might conquer death and the grave in their own territories (Hos_13:14).—Anon.

Mat_27:62-66. The guarded sepulchre.—

I. The precautions used to secure the tomb.

II. The advantages derived thence to the cause of Christ.

III. Some general deductions from the subject.—

1. How vain the counsels of the ungodly!

2. How happy are they who have God on their side!—C. Simeon, M.A.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

ELEVENTH SECTION

THE BURIAL. THE SEPULCHRE SEALED

Mat_27:57-66

(Mar_15:42-47; Luk_23:50-56.)

57When the even [evening] was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple [who had become a disciple of Jesus]:81 58He went to Pilate, and begged [asked for] the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commandedthe body82 to be delivered. 59And when Joseph had taken the body, he83 wrapped itin a clean linen cloth, 60And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre [tomb],84 and departed. 61And there was Mary magdalene,85 and the86 other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.

62Now the next day [But on the morrow, τͅῆ δὲ ἐπαύριον], that followed the day of the preparation [παρασκευή, Friday],87 the chief priests and Pharisees came together untoPilate, 63Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, Afterthree days I will rise again. 64Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night,88 and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error [deceit] shall [will] be worse than65the first. Pilate said89 unto them, Ye have [Ye shall have] a watch: go your way, make it as sure [secure] as ye can [know how, ὡς οἴδατε].90 66So they went, and made the sepulchre sure [secure], sealing the stone, and setting a watch [together with the watch, μετὰ τῆς κουστωδίας].91

ΕXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Synopsis.—John introduces this account by a statement of the motives that led to it. The Jews come, in the first place, to Pilate, requesting him to have the bodies removed, and thereupon Joseph of Arimathea entreats the governor to allow him to take the body of Jesus. Nicodemus is, according to John, associated with Joseph, and provides the spices for embalming. Mark and Luke characterize Joseph of Arimathea more exactly than Matthew. Special prominence is given by our Evangelist to the two Maries,—Mary Magdelene, and “the other” (the mother of Joses, according to Mark): they are represented, here as seated opposite to the grave. The sealing of the sepulchre (Mat_27:62-66) is related by Matthew only.

Mat_27:57. When the evening was come.—The first or early evening, the day’s decline; because the bodies must have been removed before the evening arrived, Deu_21:23; Josephus, De Bell. Judges 4, 5, 2.

There came a rich man.—1. De Wette: He came into the prætorium. 2. Meyer: He came first to the place of execution to go thence to the prætorium. 3. He came to the little company of female disciples upon Golgotha, and advanced into their midst, proclaiming himself as a disciple. “A disciple, but secretly for fear of the Jews,” says John. Luke: “A counsellor, a good man and a just. The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them; … who also waited for the kingdom of God.” Mark: “An honorable counsellor, who also waited for the kingdom of God.” Matthew gives the prominence to his wealth: “A rich man,” referring undoubtedly to Isa_53:9, according to the Septuagint translation, Καὶ δώσω τούς πονηροὺς ἀντὶ τῆς ταφῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοὺς πλουσίους ἀντὶ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ. The following translation is indeed free, but is agreeable to the context: They had appointed Him a grave with the despised; and among the honored (עָשִׁיר, did He obtain it) in His death.—The first occasion of this step of Joseph was probably his fear that the Jews might remove the body in some disgraceful manner; for the circumstances related Joh_19:31-37 had preceded. Faith, however, shot a ray of hope, in all probability, through Joseph’s mind, and operated along with this feeling of veneration, and his desire openly to confess the name of Christ.

Of Arimathea.—“Commentators are divided between Rama in Benjamin (Jos_18:25) and Rama (Ramathaim) in Ephraim (1Sa_1:19, Samuel’s birthplace). For the latter, indeed, the form speaks decisively; but the addition of Luke, πόλεως τῶν ’Ιουδαίων, according to 1Ma_11:34, does not harmonize.” De Wette. See “Ramah” in Winer [and other Bibl. Encyclop.].

Named Joseph.—One Joseph is appointed to take care of Jesus in His infancy, another to provide for His burial. Quite analogous, there was an Old Testament Joseph, who had the task of providing for the Jewish people in its infancy in Egypt; and to him corresponds the Josephus who has prepared the historic resting-place for the expired Israelitish nation in his books (Antiq., De Bello Jud., etc.). The name Joseph (יוֹסֵף) means, according to Gen_30:24 : “he adds” (Increaser); for another explanation, see Gesenius. He was βουλευτής, a member of the Sanhedrin, Luk_23:50; not (as Michaelis supposed) a councillor of the little country-town Ramathaim, nor (according to Grotius) a town councillor of Jerusalem. Lightfoot makes him to have been a priestly temple-councillor; but that is probably the same as a Sanhedrist. According to the ecclesiastical tradition, he is represented to have belonged to the seventy disciples, and to have been the first who preached the Gospel in England (the rich man, the guardian-saint of a rich people; just as the Magdalene, the repentant sinner, is the patron-saint of France). For other traditions, see Evangelium Nicodemi, p. 12, and Acta Sanct. Mart. 2:507. He was evidently, like Nicodemus, one of the secret disciples of Jesus, who came forth and publicly confessed their faith after the death of the Lord. Μαθητεύ ειντινι, to be the disciple of some one. He was a follower of Jesus, and hence he had not consented to the murderous counsel of the Sanhedrin; and this holds good, of course, regarding Nicodemus.

Mat_27:58. He went to Pilate—He ran the risk, says Mark.92 He was exposed to more danger from the Jews than from Pilate, because this act was a confession of his faith. “It was the Roman custom to allow the bodies to hang upon the cross till they wasted away, or were consumed by the birds of prey. Plaut. Mil. glor. ii. 4, 9; Horat. Epist. i. 16, 18.93 But should friends request the bodies to be taken for interment, the request could not be refused, Ulpian 48, 24, 1; Hug, De cadav. punit. in the Freiburger Leitschrift 5, p. 174.” Meyer.—That the body be delivered (to him). Meyer is in favor of retaining the second τὸ σῶμα, the repetition having a certain solemnity.

Mat_27:59. He wrapped it in a clean linen cloth.—Bengel: Jam initia honoris. Not a shroud, nor a garment (Kuinoel); but winding sheets, linen clothes, Joh_19:40, in which the body was wrapped (Meyer). It was probably an entire piece at first, and was afterward divided for the purpose of rolling. This idea occurs to us from the object to be attained: the pieces of linen must be wrapped around the limbs in such a way as to enclose the spices, which had been powdered to be employed for embalming. The first, temporary anointing, and the intention of a second and more formal embalming, are both unnoticed by Matthew. But that the body was anointed, is self-evident; and the second formal anointing, which Mark and Luke declare to have been proposed by the women after the Sabbath, is not excluded by the merely temporary act. By the first anointing, they sought simply to preserve the body; by the second, they wished to fulfil the ceremonial requirements, for which no time remained upon Friday evening. Therefore, upon the first occasion, they made a profuse, but simple use of costly substances (myrrh and aloes); and the women would find no difficulty in buying before and after the Sabbath, upon the Friday evening before, and the Saturday evening after, from six o’clock, such quantities of these spices as appeared necessary to their womanly desires for the great burial: see Luke and Mark.

Mat_27:60. In his own now tomb.—“It was a great disgrace among the Jews if any one had not a burying-place of his own; and so it came to be considered an act of charity to bury neglected dead bodies. Josephus mentions as among the abominable deeds of the Zelots and Idumeans, that they left their dead unburied.” See Friedlieb, p. 169. The statement of John, that the tomb was in a garden near the place of the crucifixion, and was chosen on account of the necessary haste, is not contradictory of the statement that the grave was the property of Joseph.94 It must have been exactly the location of his newly-formed family-tomb that led him to propose his grave, and yield it up as an offering.

In the rock.—With the article. In that particular rocky district of Golgotha. The Jews placed their graves outside their towns. It was only kings and prophets (and priests, indeed, no less) who might be interred inside the walls. Commonly, these graves were excavations, or grottoes in gardens, or in spots planted with trees; sometimes natural caves; often, as in this case, expressly hewn out (a costly method), and sometimes built up. These tombs were sometimes very roomy, and provided with passages. The sepulchres were either made with steps downward, or placed horizontally; while the particular graves inside were hollowed out, either lengthwise or crosswise, in the Walls of the tomb. For more particular accounts, consult Winer (art. Gräber—Graves), and Schultz, Jerusalem, p. 97.95. The new rock-tomb of Joseph, and the hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes (myrrh, a resin from the myrrh-tree of Arabia and Ethiopia; aloes, a precious, fragrant wood; the pound, the Attic litra, five and a half ounces less than our pound), which Nicodemus presented, are expressions of that sacrificing renunciation with which now these two disciples advanced into view, after that the death of Jesus had awakened them to life. Holy rivalry!

He rolled a great stone.—A natural method of closing the mouth of the tomb. “In the Talmud, such a piece of rock, employed to shut up a sepulchre, is called גֹּוֹלָל, roller.”

Mat_27:61. The other Mary.—She was mentioned in Mat_27:56, and is the mother of James and Joses, the wife of Alphæus; and Mark (Mar_15:47) accordingly says, Mary [the mother] of Joses, as the best and most codd. read. Codex A. reads there ἡ ’Ιωσήφ Wieseler infers from this reading, without sufficient warrant, that she was the wife or daughter of Joseph of Arimathea.—Were there sitting.—It is only Matthew who states this glorious fact; according to Mark, “they beheld where He was laid.”

Mat_27:62. That followed the preparation.—The παρασκευή is the day of preparation for the Sabbath, Friday, on this occasion the first day of the feast; and hence the day which followed was the Sabbath, or Saturday, the second day of the Passover. Wieseler holds the expression was chosen, because the first day might have been called also σάββατον Meyer says: “The name is explained by the fact, that παρασκευή was the solemn designation in use among the Christians to distinguish the Friday of the crucifixion.” It is extremely noteworthy, that the Jews hold a council and hurry to Pilate upon the Sabbath morning, and that too the great Sabbath of the feast. Kuinoel: “Lex mosaica inierdixerat operam manuariam, ut et judicii exercitium, non vero ire ad magisratum, ab eoque petere aliquid, prœsertim cum periculum in mora esset.”

Mat_27:63. After three days.—De Wette: “Jesus had never declared that openly and before strangers.” Still He had told it to the disciples, and not as secret teaching, but to be published. [Joh_2:19; Mat_12:40.] Probably Judas had given them the more exact statements.

Mat_27:65. Ye have a watch!—That is: Ye shall have a watch! Your petition is granted. Official, and perhaps discontented laconism. But it cannot moan, Ye have yourselves a watch (Grotius), of whom ye may make use, the temple-guards; for that view is opposed to Mat_28:14.

As ye understand.—Not, “as sure as you can;” or, “as appears to you best;” or, “if that is possible;” but, “as ye understand that,” according to your meaning of securing. He places the guard at their disposal; the employment of the men, the guardianship or guarantee for Christ’s continuance in death, which they wished him also to undertake, that he will leave to themselves; and they are to employ this force to attain the end they had in view, especially the insuring of the tomb as long as it may be necessary. In this instance, again, Pilate kept not his conscience pure, and preserved not his civil power unimpaired,—giving a guard because of a religious question.

Mat_27:66. Sealing the stone.—A string was stretched across the stone, and sealed to the rock at both ends with wax [upon which was stamped the official seal of Pilate].

The assertion of Meyer, that this sealing of the grave, which Matthew records, belongs to the unhistorical traditions, does not need here a lengthened refutation.96 But the following points furnish materials for an answer:—1. Jesus had certainly declared previously, that He would rise upon the third day. 2. The grave might be sealed, without the women coming to know it upon the Sabbath. 3. The Sanhedrists could not have taken the body of Jesus into custody, because Joseph had previously obtained it. Besides, it was their interest to affect carelessness regarding it. 4. The seduction of the guard to give a false testimony, and the silencing of the procurator, correspond in every point to the character of the world; besides, it is not said that the soldiers brought their false report to Pilate, rather the opposite. 5. It is quite natural that Matthew, according to the character of his Gospel, should be the writer to report this historic transaction, as he did the corresponding history of the resurrection, Mat_28:11-15.97 It is still less worth while to deal with the assumption of Stroth, that this is an interpolation. This statement simply proves, that the critic could not grasp the meaning of the passage. For the remainder, see Mat_28:11.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Regarding the early occurrence of death in our Lord’s case, consult the author’s Leben Jesu, ii. 3, p. 1619. One of the reasons why death appeared at so early a date, was that the dying body hurried forward to its transformation. To this, the phenomenon, Joh_19:34, had already pointed; for the resurrection of Jesus was at once resurrection and glorification. In the death of Jesus, the great mystery of death is glorified.

[Different opinions on the death of Christ: 1. It was His own voluntary act, by which He separated in the full vigor of life His spirit from His body, and placed it, as a deposit, in His Father’s keeping. 2. It was the act of God the Father, in answer to the prayer of the Saviour. 3. It was the natural consequence of His physical sufferings, and occurred so early (after six hours, instead of the usual twelve or more of sufferings on the cross), either on account of the extraordinary intensity of His agony of body and mind during the trial in Gethsemane and on Calvary, or by a sudden rupture of the heart. These views may be combined, by supposing that the Saviour hastened His death by a voluntary self-surrender which the Father accepted. The passage, Joh_10:17-18 should be carefully considered in this connection. The resurrection, too, is represented on the one hand, as Christ’s own act, to whom the Father has given to have life in Himself (Joh_2:19; Joh_5:26; Joh_10:17-18; Act_1:3; Rom_1:4), and, on the other hand, as the act of His Father (Act_2:24; Act_2:32; Rom_4:24; Rom_6:4, etc.). Consult on this subject, W. Stroud: The Physical Cause of Christ’s Death, Lond. 1847; Samuel J. Andrews: The Life of our Lord upon the Earth, New York, 1863, p. 550 ff.; the various Commentators on the Gospels, and Lange’s profound suggestions in the Doctrinal and Ethical Thoughts to Chap, Mat_28:1-10, nos. 7 and 8.—P. S.]

2. Along with the death of Jesus, the courage of the New Testament confessors begins to manifest itself. To this confessing band belong the sorrowing women who (according to Luke) follow the cross-laden Lord, the centurion beneath the cross, also the two hitherto-secret disciples, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Under this head, also, must we notice the fact, that the two Maries continue sitting alone over against the Lord’s tomb, in that awing and affrighting spot.

3. One of the striking ironies of God’s judgment may be observed in the circumstance, that the members of the Sanhedrin are forced to go upon the morning of the paschal Sabbath to the sepulchre of Jesus, for the purpose of sealing the stone, because the dead Christ allowed them no rest. In that anxiety we may see the effect of the words of Judas, and of the Lord’s prediction of His resurrection. Upon this morning of the feast, it was no formal meeting of council they held: the most decided enemies of Jesus consulted among themselves, and then dropped in singly, as if by accident, to make their request to Pilate: and thus there came to be a kind of priestly council in the governor’s palace, to which the Evangelist here alludes. It was alleged by these priests, that the disciples might come and steal away the corpse; and this lying assertion reveals to us, how well prepared they were for any emergency, even the worst But, beneath all this disguise, they were the prey of fear, and the real motive was terror. Influenced by a monstrous, superstitious belief in the power of the seal of Jewish authority, and of a Roman guard, they imagined themselves able to shut up in the grave the possibility of a resurrection by Jesus, the divine retribution, a result of that resurrection, and, above all, their own wicked fears. And so they desecrate the great Passover Sabbath by their restless occupation, seeking to secure the grave of Him whom they had accused and condemned for His miracles of love wrought on ordinary Sabbaths. The disembodied spirit of the Jewish law must wander around the grave of Jesus upon the most sacred Sabbath of the year. In that act we have the last expression of their abandonment to the Gentiles of salvation through a Messiah; and also the strongest expression of the folly they manifested in their unbelief. By means of a priestly seal, and a borrowed military guard, they desire to secure in a permanent tomb the spirit and life of Christ, the spirit of His past, present, and future, as if all were a mere deception.

4. But in the meantime98 the spirit of Christ’s life is laboring in the depths of the grave and the under world or Hades. The germ of humanity and salvation was bursting into new life in the earth, and also in the heart of the disciples; in the former, saved from death, in the latter, from apparent despair.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The quiet Sabbath; or, the death-rest of Jesus in its twofold efficacy: 1. It institutes the sabbath of redemption in the disciples’ hearts; 2. it institutes the godless labor of wicked fear in the enemies’ camp.—How friends and foes are busied about the dead Christ: 1. The friends; 2. the foes.—The revival of the disciples, a presage of His resurrection.—How through Christ’s death His secret disciples obtain the power to confess Him openly: 1. Now they feel their full guilt; 2. now they see the world’s full condemnation; 3. the perfect vanity and wretchedness of the fear of man; 4. the perfect glory of the sacrificial death of Christ.—Joseph of Arimathea or, the wonder how, in spite of all, the rich enter the kingdom of heaven.—The sacrifice of Joseph.—The offerings of the male and female disciples.—The Church at the holy sepulchre.—How Christ’s love changed the women into heroines, beside the grave.—How the younger disciples meet the older always at Christ’s grave.—The Lord’s convulsing death, by which lambs become lions like Himself, the Lion of the tribe of Judah.—The import which that evening-seat over against Jesus’ grave has for us.—The quiet Sabbath, and the quiet grave.—The burial of believers a sermon.—The grave of Christ amidst all the world’s graves: a transfiguration of the same.—The Jewish method of burial in its difference from the heathen sepulchre, a prophecy which has been fulfilled in the grave of Jesus.—The interment of mankind, a picture of their religion,—1. Among the heathen; 2. the Jews; 3. the Christians.—Christ’s grave has changed the impure Jewish grave into a consecrated Christian grave.—The isolated graves of Judaism, and the Christian churchyard; or, the sleeping are gathered together by Christ—Gethsemane, and the holy sepulchre; or, the garden of struggle converted into the garden of rest—Paradise and the accursed earth, Golgotha and the garden of the grave and the resurrection; or, the old and the new world.—Priests and Pharisees in their ever-abiding dread of Christ, whom they imagined they have killed.—The means by which the slaves of the letter think to imprison in the grave the spirit and life of Christ: 1. Cunning pretences; 2. antiquated seals of authority; 3. borrowed guards.—The illusion which the foes of Jesus make of the truth of His life and efficacy: 1. The illusion: (a) they make Christ a lie; (b) a destructive lie; (c) a double deception. 2. The result of this illusion: (a) they become deceptive opponents of His life; (b) of His redemption; (c) of His resurrection.—How the old Sabbath fanatics desecrate the second, the great Sabbath of God.—They went and secured the grave with guards, and sealed the stone.—The old yet ever-new history: legalism becomes the servant of the kingdom of darkness.—The self-annihilation of the authority of the old world, making itself the minister of the Wicked One: 1. The self-annihilation of the power of the church-seal (the bull); 2. the self-annihilation of the power of the soldiery (in conflict with the Spirit of Christ).—The sacred corn-field upon Golgotha, between Good Friday and Easter.—Christ is dead to live for ever,—1. In the heart of God; 2. in the depths of His life; 3. in the bosom of humanity; 4. in the centre of our hearts.

Starke:—As God watched over His Son, and revealed His care visibly, so will He guard and take care of Christ’s members (in death).—Canstein: Riches and a high position are undoubtedly accompanied with dangers; 1Co_1:26; yet God has his own among the noble and wealthy, 1Ki_18:12-13.—He who employs his wealth to God’s glory (upon Christ’s body, His Church, servants, members), has made a good investment—Bibl. Wirt.: In the most bitter persecutions, and greatest apostasy, there are many steadfast disciples who confess Christ and serve Him —Nova Bibl Tub.: Faith grows in trial; and he who acknowledged Christ but secretly daring His life, dared to solicit Him boldly after His death.—Osiander: Those often become cowardly and despairing, who were at first bold and fearless; and vice versa,—Cramer: God’s Spirit is mighty and wonderful, and can quickly make a heart where there is none.—God often draws out the hearts of the high to glorify Himself, and rejoice his people.—Osiander: We should bury our dead honorably, and testify in this way openly, that we believe in the resurrection of the dead.—Zeisius: The burial of Christ, the rest of our bodies.—The guard, and the sealing of the grave, must become testimonies to the resurrection.—Wilt thou do good to Christ, do it to His people.—We may still show love to Christ in the persons of His poor members.—True love loves still, after death.—True faith never lets Christ escape; if faith sees Him not with the eyes, still she keeps him, His cross and death, in her heart—Quesnel: Death cannot extinguish a friendship which God’s Spirit has instituted, and Christ’s blood has cemented.—The will’s extreme wickedness has united to itself extreme blindness of perception (in so far as they sought by a foolish proposal to remove the truth of the resurrection, while they only served to confirm it).—The wicked are like the restless sea, their evil conscience gives them no rest, Isa_57:20-21.—Zeisius: No human power prudence, or cunning, can hinder God’s work, Psa_25:3.—The issue was a condemnation of themselves, and a glorification of Christ.

Heubner:—By Joseph’s example we are taught to honor the dead, especially when we had known them.—The body, too, is to be honored: it is the garment of the soul.—Many hands were employed in burying Christ, and with what tenderness and love!—Christ’s rest in the grave, the type of the soul’s spiritual sabbath.—Tarry lovingly by the graves of your loved ones.—Whosoever loves Jesus, is lost in the contemplation of His death.—Teach thyself to bury thy life Jesus.—They wish to prevent His resurrection, and they must establish unwillingly its certainty; at the outset they proclaim the secret of the resurrection, and, permitting their knowledge of the true meaning of the “destruction of the temple” to appear, they punish themselves thus for a false accusation.—As often as a man strives against God, against the truth, he strives against himself, and prepares shame and difficulties for himself.—The more men seek to bury the memory of the truth, the more it appears.—In their slanders, men give the key to their discovery and detection.

Braune:—Who had believed that any one would have come now to the cross? But, behold, two rich men come, members of that Sanhedrin which had rejected Christ!—Their hearts forced them; they acted under the impulse of a new spirit.—The fear of man is overcome.—The new grave, in which no man had been laid; as He rode into Jerusalem upon an unused colt. And shall His Spirit make His abode in an old heart?—The friends who acknowledged the Lord when covered with shame, are the Christian types of those who believe in virtue when all the world ridicules it.—The guards have one object in common with the friends of Jesus, that the bodies be not changed, and that so the resurrection be all the more certain.—The disciples forget the words of Jesus regarding the resurrection, His enemies remember them (Reason: the sorrow of the one, the fear of the others).—They would prevent a deception, and they themselves practise a deception.—These liars and murderers fear the disciples are liars.—What is done in God’s strength and spoken in His Spirit, appears to view and stands fast.

Gerok:—The sacred evening—stillness upon Golgotha: 1. The quiet rest of the perfected Endurer. 2. The quiet repentance of the convulsed world. 3. The quiet labor of the loving friends. 4. The quiet peace of the holy grave.—Kuntze:—The burial of Jesus manifests to us,—1. The believer’s courage; 2. love’s power; 3. truth’s seal; 4. the mourners consolation.—Wolf:—Looks of comfort toward the grave of Christ.—Brandt:—The burial of Jesus Christ,—a work of, 1. Grateful acknowledgment; 2. holy love; 3. praiseworthy courage; 4. a work causing the deepest shame to many.

Footnotes:

[81]Mat_27:57.—[Dr. Lange reads with Lachmann the passive form ἐμαθητεν́θη, which is sustained by Codd. C., D., and Cod. Sinait., instead of the lect. rec.: ἐααθήτενσε (to be one’s disciple), which has the majority of uncial MSS., including the Alexandrian and the Vatican, in its favor. Lange regards the former as more significant and emphatic: Joseph was overpowered. Tischendorf and Alford adhere to the received text. As to the use, Tischendorf remarks in his large edition: Utriusque usus exempla in promptu sunt, nisi quod prius (the active form) apud antiquos ut Plutarchum invenitur, posterius (the passive) apud recentiores tantum. See Stephan. Thesaur. Meyer and Alford regard ἐμαθητεν́θη as a correction after μαθητευθείς Mat_13:52.—P. S.]

[82]Mat_27:58.—Codd. B., L., and Fritzsche omit τὸσῶμα. [So also Cod. Sinait., but the great body of authorities are in favor of it. Do Wette and Alford explain the omission from regard to elegance, since τὸσῶμα occurs thrice in Mat_27:58-59. Conant renders: that the body should be given up. Lange inserts in parenthesis ihm, to him: dass der Leichnam (ihm) ausgeliefert würde.—P. S.]

[83]Mat_27:59.—[Or in the precise order of the Greek: And taking the body, Joseph wrapped it, etc., καὶ λαβὼν τὸ σῶμα ὁ Ἰωσ. ἐνετύλιξεν, κ.τ.λ—P. S.]

[84]Mat_27:60.—[The same word should be used in this verse, either sepulchre or tomb, for the Greek μνημεῖον, especially as the second with the article refers to the first.—P. S.]

[85]Mat_27:61.—[Better with Conant and others: And Mary M. was there, to bring out more plainly the demonstrative ἐκεῖ.—P. S.].

[86]Mat_27:61.—The article ἡ is omitted in Codd. A. and D., but sustained by most witnesses.

[87]Mat_27:62.—[ΙΙαρασκενή, in the Jewish sense, is the day of making ready for the sabbath, or sabbath eve, i. e., Friday, Matthew 10; Mar_15:42; Luk_23:54; Joh_19:14; Joh_19:31; Joh_19:42; Joseph. Antiq. xvi. 6, 2 (ἐν σὰββασιν ἢ τῇ πρὸ ταύτης παρασκευῆ), also called προσάββατον, Mar_15:42. Compare the German Sonnabend for Saturday. The day of the English Version should be put in italics, as in Joh_19:42, or omitted altogether. Here Tyndale and Cheke render the word: Good Friday, which is true enough, but goes beyond the term which is general. The Genevan Version adds: Preparation of the sabbath. The Rhemish N. T. retains the Greek after the Vulgate: Parasceve, which is unintelligible to the English reader. The best is to put Friday on the margin.—P. S.]

[88]Mat_27:64.—The addition νυκτός is poorly sustained. [It is cancelled by the critical editors, and may have been inserted from Mat_28:13, where it is genuine. Lange puts it in small type in parenthesis.—P. S.]

[89]Mat_27:65.—Codd. A., C., D. read δέ after ἔφη; it is probably an addition, and weakens the significant decision of Pilate.

[90]Mat_27:65.—[So Syriac, Vulgate, Beza, Castalio, Scrivener, Conant, etc. Alford: “As ye know how, in the best manner ye call.” Οἴδατε is not quite equivalent to δύνασθε, as ye can, or are able. The English Version in Mat_7:11 literally renders οἴδατε, know how. Lange renders: wie ihr’s versteht. See his Exeg. Note in loc.—P. S.]

[91]Mat_27:66.—[The watch procured from Pilate aided them in securing the tomb and setting the stone. So Wetstein, Meyer, Scrivener, Conant, Lange. The preposition μετὰ signifies the means whereby they secured the tomb, as in Luk_17:15; Act_5:26; Act_13:17, and in Thucydides 8:73—P. S.]

[92][Not: Luke, as the Edinb. edition falsely reads. The English Version renders Mar_15:43 : “Joseph of Arimathes went in boldly unto Pilate” (Vulgate: audacter introcivil); but the Greek is more expressive: τολμήσαςεἰσῆλθε Luther and Lange: er wagte es, etc.—P. S.]

[93][“Non pasces in cruce corvos.” The Jewish custom, as the contrary, was to take down the bodies of the crucified before sunset and to bury them, ἀναστανρωμένους πρὸδύντος ἡλίου καθελεῖν καὶ θάπτειν Joseph. De Bello Jdg_4:5; Jdg_4:2. This shows the superior humanity of the Jewish compared with the boasted Græco-Roman civiliazation.—P. S.]

[94][It is not likely that the body of a crucified person could be laid in a new tomb, ἐν ᾧ οὐδέπω ον̓δεὶς ἐτέθη without the previous consent of the owner. Matthew alone relates that it was Joseph’s property, but all the Evangelists mention that it was a new tomb. Jerome in loc. says that the tomb was new to prevent the enemies from saying that some other person had arisen: “In novo ponitur monumento, ne post resurrectionem, cœteris corporibus remanentibus, resurrexisse alius fingeretur,” But not satisfied with this, he adds: “Potest autem et novum sepulchrum Mariœ virginalem uterum demonstrate.” Other fathers likewise draw a parallel between the new tomb from which Christ arose to everlasting life, and the Virgin’s womb from which He was born to earthly life. Similarily Wordsworth, following the doubtful patristic and scholastic notions of the miraculous birth through the closed womb: “Christ rose from the new tomb, without moving away the stone. He, who, as a man entered life through the closed gate of the Virgin’s womb, rose to immortality from the sealed sepulchre.”—P. S.]

[95][From the Gospel narratives concerning the sepulchre of Christ, we may infer with Alford a d others: (is that it was entirely new; (2) that it was near the spot of the crucifixion; (3) that it was not a natural cave, but an artificial excavation in the rock; (4) that it was not cut downward, after the manner of our graves, but horizontally, or nearly so, into the face of the rock. The last seems to be implied, though not necessarily, in προσκνλίας λίθον μέγαν τῆ θν́ρᾳ τον͂ μνημείον—P. S.]

[96][I regret to see that Meyer adheres to this view in the fifth edition of his Commentary on Matthew which has just appeared and reached me (Aug. 29, 1864). Otherwise the valuable commentaries of this accurate, honest, and conscientious scholar, which occupy now the first rank among philological or strictly grammatico-historical commentaries, present a steady progress of improvement in every successive edition since they were first begun thirty years age. The first volume, which appeared in 1832, contained the first three Gospels in one moderate volume and was considered almost rationalistic, the fifth edition of Matthew alone, published in 1864, forms a respectable volume of 623 pages, and is not only much more thorough in a scientific point of view, but also far more decidedly Christian in tone and spirit (compare the touching preface), and much nearer the standpoint of evangelical orthodoxy.—P. S.]

[97]“Against the opponents of this history, see particularly the work of the late, little-known Counsellor Brauer in Karlsruhe: ‘Pauleidolon Chroneicon, oder Gedanken eines Südländers über europäische Religionschriften Aufklärungsschriften, etc., Christianstadt (i. e., Frankfurt a[illegible] Main, 1797);” Heubner.

[98][Not; in spite of all, as the Edinb. edition mistranstes unterdessen,—P. S.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 27:57-66.

Jesus Buried And Remaining In The Tomb

Found also in Mar 15:42-47; Luk 23:50; Joh 19:31-42.

Before the interment comes the proposition of the Jews (John) to break the legs of the three crucified persons, which was usually followed (Edersheim) by giving them a death-stroke. The object of the proposition was that they might die and be removed before sunset, when the great Sabbath of the Passover week would begin. The soldiers were surprised to find Jesus dead already, as persons usually remained alive on a cross more than twenty-four hours, and sometimes even for three days; and one of them pierced his side with a spear, bringing out blood and water. John appeals to this as seen by himself, probably because it proved that Jesus had a real human body, in opposition to the Docetic notions referred to in 1Jn 4:2; 2Jn 1:7, and that he was really dead.

I. Mat 27:57-61 The Burial

Luther : "From this conclusion of the history of our Lord’s passion we see what the death of our dear Lord Christ has effected, both with his friends and his enemies. The enemies become unquiet and fearful, and evidently fall deeper into sin. But those who love the Lord Christ, although they are feeble, fearful folk, are yet through the death of Christ consoled and confident, and venture now upon what before they would not have dared to think about." We see that the Father, who appeared to have "forsaken" Christ, is exercising a special providence over his death and interment, with reference to his speedy resurrection. His bones were not broken like those of the robbers, nor his body flung into a public receptacle, but while "numbered with transgressors" he "was with the rich in his death"; (Isa 53:9-12) his tomb was in a conspicuous place, was occupied by no other body, closed with the government seal and guarded by Roman soldiers.—When the even was come, towards sunset, which at that season would be about 6 P. M. A rich man of Arimathea, a place not otherwise known. The name is obviously formed upon Ramah, ’high place,’ dual Ramathaim, the name of several cities in Palestine. Luke says it was "a city of the Jews," which probably means of Judea. Eusebius and Jerome ("Onom.") held it to be the Ramathaim of 1Sa 1:1, which was Samuel’s birth-place, apparently a few miles northward from Jerusalem; the Sept. calls this place Armathaim, and Josephus ("Ant.," 5, 10, 2) Armatha. The fact that Joseph was rich explains his owning grounds near the city, and also adds importance to the marks of respect he paid to Jesus. Mark and Luke say he was "a councillor," i. e., a member of the Sanhedrin, and Luke adds "a good man and a righteous—he had not consented to their counsel and deed." John says, "in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb." Joseph may have stood in his garden, which perhaps occupied a slope of the hill on whose summit the crosses stood (see on "Mat 27:32"), and his eye falling on the unoccupied tomb, he determined upon his course. Who also himself was Jesus’ disciple (compare on Mat 5:1), John adding "but secretly, for fear of the Jews." He the more readily became a disciple because (Mark) he was "looking for the kingdom of God." Went to Pilate, Mark adding "boldly." It required courage to offer so much honour to one whom his associates of the Sanhedrin had sentenced for blasphemy, and who had died an ignominious death. He had shrunk from declaring himself a disciple, but now, when all the world had turned against Jesus, he came out boldly. As the execution was by the Roman authorities, their permission was naturally required in order to take charge of the body. The Romans often left the bodies of crucified persons on the cross till they decayed or were devoured by birds of prey, just as in England and the American colonies bodies used to be hung in chains; but the law of Moses required that a dead body hung on a tree should not remain over night, as it would defile the land. (Deu 21:23) Josephus says ("War," 4, 5, 2),"The Jews are so attentive to the rites of sepulture as to take down even those who have undergone the sentence of crucifixion, and inter them before sunset." Begged. Asked is the exact meaning, not ’begged,’ as in Com. Ver. Mark relates that Pilate wondered if he had died so much sooner than was common with the crucified, and sent to ask the centurion in charge. This message (though the distance was small), and the various purchases, took a considerable part of the time between three and six o’clock, and made it needful to act promptly, and fortunate that "the tomb was nigh at hand" (John). Commanded the body to be delivered, not requiring money, as was so common when favours were asked from the Roman governors. (Act 24:26) Mark says in effect, "made a present of the corpse to Joseph." ’The body,’ after ’commanded,’ is wanting in several of the best early documents, and was easily added from the preceding sentence.—It was, perhaps, some little comfort to Pilate to see respect shown the remains of one whom he had so reluctantly yielded to an undeserved punishment.

Took the body, Mark and Luke ’took down,’ which was the "descent from the Cross," so often represented in pictures. They of course washed off the stains of blood. Wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, which Mark mentions his purchasing. John adds, "There came also Nicodemus, he who at the first came to him by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight." The hundred pounds (probably of twelve oz. each) could be easily borne by two servants. In the funeral procession of Herod the Great, five hundred domestics and freedmen bore spices (Josephus "Ant," 17, 8, 3; "War," 1, 83, 9). A rabbinical writing says (Wet. on John) that at the funeral of Gamaliel the elder, a proselyte burned more than eighty pounds of balsam.—Nicodemus doubtless recalled with deep emotion, as he aided in taking down the body, what Jesus had said in their conversation of three years before: (Joh 3:14). "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." —The linen cloth, in consequence of their haste, was probably not torn into many narrow strips, as in the case of Lazarus, (Joh 11:44) but into several pieces, and these are called cloths (plural) in Joh 19:40, Joh 20:5-7 Luk 24:12. There was also a napkin, or as we should say, handkerchief, (Joh 20:7) probably put under the chin and tied over the head, so as to keep the features in position. (compare Joh 11:44) In his own new tomb. It was a special honour to occupy a new tomb, like riding the ass’s colt, "whereon no man ever yet sat," see above see on "Mat 21:1"; and all the more that it was the tomb of a wealthy member of the Sanhedrin. Compare Isa 53:9. Which he had hewn out in the rock (Mark and Luke likewise), a better kind of tomb than a cave, (Joh 11:38) less subject to dripping water, and to decay of the walls. The rock tombs now found around Jerusalem usually present a number of recesses in the walls, each large enough to hold one body. Rolled a great stone, too large to lift; compare Mar 16:3, and below Mat 28:2. This was designed to keep out beasts and birds of prey, and petty thieves. The Talmud (Keim) often mentions the golal, ’roll-stone,’ in describing interments. One large tomb now exists, half a mile or so north of the city, which has a circular stone, like a millstone on edge, cut from the solid rock, with the channel in which it revolves (see engraving in Clarke on Mark, or Hovey on John), and originally furnished with a secret fastening, doubtless in the hope of keeping out robbers, who might plunder the spices, costly linen, jewelry.—Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre; compare Mat 27:56. Luke adds that they "beheld the tomb, and how his body was laid," so that they knew whither to go on the next morning but one. They would naturally keep at some distance (Mat 27:55) while the body was preparing for the tomb, and thus might not know how amply Nicodemus had anticipated them in providing spices; or, they may have wished to complete a process which they knew had been hastily performed.—Com. Ver. quite confounds two Greek words, both signifying a tomb. The difference is of no great practical importance, but they ought to be kept distinct, as in Rev. Ver., which consistently gives ’tomb’ in Mat 27:52 f., 60, and so in Mat 8:28, Mat 23:29, and ’sepulchre’ in Mat 27:61, Mat 27:64, Mat 27:66 and Mat 28:1, and in Mat 23:27, Mat 23:29; so in the other Gospels.

II. Mat 27:62-66. The Sepulchre Sealed And Guarded

This is narrated by Matt. alone. Next day, etc.; Rev. Ver., the morrow, which is the day after the Preparation. The Preparation usually meant the day of preparation for the Sabbath. This curious circumlocution for the Sabbath may have been used (Plump.) because the term ’Sabbath’ would in this case have been ambiguous, as the day of the crucifixion was itself observed as a Sabbath, being the first day of a feast. The chief priests and Pharisees. The chief priests were at this time mostly Sadducees, and so the two parties were uniting in the matter. Compare Mat 21:45, Mat 22:16, Mat 22:23, Mat 22:34. We remember, literally, we remembered, at some time since the crucifixion. That deceiver. They can now assume that he was a deceiver, (compare Joh 7:12) since he has been put to a disgraceful death. The world is much disposed to judge character by circumstances and outward results. After three days I will rise again. The present tense (Rev. Ver.) gives an assured fact, compare Mat 2:4, Mat 26:2 . There is record of his predicting this in Mat 16:21, Mat 17:23, Mat 20:19. We do not know how the rulers learned that he had made such a prediction; possibly from Judas, when he first came to them. (Mat 26:15) How can we account for the fact that the rulers remembered, while the disciples seem to have forgotten the prediction? It is probable that the latter regarded the whole idea of the Messiah’s being killed and rising again as something figurative. Peter, James, and John, being directed to tell no man of the Transfiguration "save when the Son of man should have risen again from the dead," were accustomed to "question one with another what the rising from the dead should mean." (Mar 9:9 f.) They could not believe that the glorious King Messiah would be literally killed and literally rise again. Compare on Mat 17:9. Men are much disposed to "interpret spiritually" when the literal sense conflicts with their fixed opinions. If taken as only meaning something figurative, the prediction would he more readily forgotten, till the literal fulfilment brought it to mind. So the angels said to the women, (Luk 24:6) "Remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying that the Son of man must.., the third day rise again." The rulers, on the other hand, when they heard of such a prediction, would think of it only in a literal sense, and so they remembered it.

After three days has been insisted on by some as showing, here and in Mar 9:31 (correct text), that Jesus must have lain seventy-two hours in the tomb, which they suppose to be confirmed by ’three days and three nights’ in Mat 12:40. But the only natural way to understand ’after three days’ in the mouth of Jew, Greek, or Roman, would be (compare on Mat 26:2) to count both the first and the last day, so that it would mean any time on the third day. The phrase ’on the third day’ is employed in seven independent statements about our Lord’s resurrection; (1) in Mat 16:21; (and Luk 9:22) (2) in Mat 17:23; (and Mar 9:3, common text) (3) in Mat 20:19; (and Luk 18:33) (4) in Luk 24:7; (5) in Luk 24:21; (6) in Luk 24:46; (7) in 1Co 15:4. There is then an apparent conflict between these seven statements and Mat 12:40, while the other expression, ’after three days,’ distinctly sides, according to known usage, with the former, and is indeed parallel in Mar 9:31 (correct text) to the former in Mat 16:21 Luk 9:22, and in Mar 10:34 to Mat 20:19 and Luk 18:33; compare here also Mat 27:64 with 63. Now ’the third day,’ so often used, cannot possibly mean after seventy-two hours, while the single statement ’three days and three nights’ can be understood as meaning three onahs or night-day periods of twenty-four hours, any part of such a period being counted, according to the Talmud, as a whole onah (see on "Mat 12:39"). There is therefore no propriety whatever in saying that our Lord remained in the grave seventy-two hours. And the narratives show that it was in fact a very small portion of one day, all of a second, and less than half of a third day.—Lest his disciples come. By night is given in none of the earliest manuscripts and few of tile early versions, and was obviously added from Mat 28:13. Ye have a watch, or take a guard (margin, Rev. Ver.). The Greek is ambiguous, and either the indicative or the imperative idea will suit the connection, the former being somewhat more probable. Make it as sure as you can. As sure as ye know (how to do), is a more literal translation (margin, Rev. Ver.), and would indicate such measures as they understood and actually proceeded to take. So they went, not probably a Sabbath day’ s journey, though in their present mood that would not have restrained them. Setting a watch, or as Rev. Ver., the guard being with them. The guard were present and united with the rulers in sealing the stone; and then of course remained to watch the sealed tomb. (Compare Mat 28:11) To break a seal fixed by government authority would be a high crime, bringing condign punishment. (Compare Dan 6:17) A cord was probably drawn across the stone which closed the door, and its ends were fastened by seals to the walls. This labour was contrary to all the Jewish ideas of Sabbath observance, and would be performed by the chief priests and Pharisees only in some extraordinary emergency, even as they had on the first day of the feast condemned the Saviour and secured his execution. We may suppose ("Bib. Comm.") that they had expected Pilate himself to take all these steps, and when he simply authorized them to do so, they could not draw back. It is difficult to suppose they did the sealing after sunset, when the Sabbath was ended, for that would not be ’on the morrow’ (Mat 27:62) after the crucifixion and interment.

Homiletical And Practical

Mat 27:57. Joseph of Arimathea. (1) A member of the Sanhedrin, who had refused to go with the current. (2) A man of high official and social position, who at a crisis was ready to risk all. (3) A wealthy man, whom the governor would listen to, and who could offer the most honourable burial to the body of the crucified. (4) A man who looked for the kingdom of God and knew it when he found it. (5) A disciple of Christ, whose timidity we must not judge harshly, since be came out so grandly at last. —Henry: "Worldly wealth, though it is to many an objection in religion’s way, yet in some services to be done for Christ it is an advantage and an opportunity, and it is well for those who have it, if withal they have a heart to use it for God’s glory."

Resting from his work to-day,

In the tomb the Saviour lay;

Still be slept, from head to feet

Shrouded in the winding-sheet,

Lying in the rock alone,

Hidden by the sealed stone.

Let me hew thee, Lord, a shrine

In this rocky heart of mine,

Where, in pure embalmed cell,

None but thou may ever dwell.

Myrrh and spices will I bring,

True affection’s offering;

Close the door from sight and sound

Of the busy world around;

And in patient watch remain

Till my Lord appear again.

—T. Whytehead, 1842.

Mat 27:66. Chrys.: "They who seized him when living, are afraid of him when dead. And yet if he had been a mere man, they had reason to have taken courage. But that they might learn, that when living also he endured of his will what he did endure; behold, both a seal, a stone, and a watch, and they were not able to hold him."

John A. Broadus, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (American Baptist Publication Society, 1886) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

THE INTERMENT

Mat 27:57-61; Mar 15:42-47; Luk 23:50-56; Joh 19:31-42. “Then the Jews, in order that the bodies may not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, since it was the preparation (for the day of that Sabbath was great), asked Pilate that they may break their legs, and take them down. Then the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first, and the other one who had been crucified along with him.” It seems that the soldiers had a veneration for Jesus, as they passed Him by after breaking the legs of the one, going on to the third, and returning to Him, as He was in the middle. “And having come to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs; but one of the soldiers pierced His side with his spear, and blood and water immediately came out.” Roman law was terribly rigid, taking the life of a soldier for apparently trivial delinquency in duty. Hence the soldier felt it important to be sure that He was dead before he consented to intermit the verification of the order given to break their legs. Consequently he plunged the spear into His heart, thus making sure that He was dead. The Bible is a wonderful book, never relaxing its ipse dixit. If you are going up to heaven to live with Jesus, you must walk in His footprints by way of Gethsemane, the judgment-hall, and Calvary. This wicked world will plunge the spear of ridicule, contempt, and persecution into your side. Jesus died so dead that He did not feel this awful cruelty. Lord, help us to do likewise! Let me die so dead

“That no desire shall rise To pass for good or great or wise, In any but my Savior’s eyes.”

The entire constituency of salvation came out of the Savior’s side in the blood and the water. The blood redeems and sanctifies; the water regenerates, nourishes, and purifies. Hence you have the true works of grace represented by the water and the blood.

“Let the water and the blood, From Thy wounded side which flowed, Be of sin the double cure:

Save from wrath, and make me pure.”

O what a pity the millions run after the priests, who at best are nothing but saved sinners, forgetting that they need nothing but the blood and water flowing out of the Savior’s side! Then fly for a sale retreat in His clefted side.

“And the one having seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he speaks the truth, in order that you may believe.” You see from this that John was an eye-witness of all he wrote in his Gospel. The same is true of Matthew; while Mark is believed to have served Peter as an amanuensis, receiving his narrative from the senior apostle; Luke being the amanuensis of Paul. Hence the literary culture manifested in the latter, and the straight, solid, flinty truth in the former.

Luk 23:54. “And it was the preparation day, and the Sabbath drawing nigh.” Vv. 50-52: “Behold, a man by name Joseph, being a senator, a good and righteous man, who was not consenting unto their counsel and deed, from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who also himself was waiting for the kingdom of God; he, having come to Pilate, begged the body of Jesus.”

Mar 15:44-46 : “And Pilate was astonished if He was already dead, and calling a centurion, asked him if He were dead a long time. And learning from the centurion, he delivered the body to Joseph. And purchasing linen, and taking Him down, he wrapped Him in the linen, and placed Him in a sepulcher which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone to the door of the sepulcher.” Mat 27:59-60 : “And Joseph taking the body, wrapped it in clean linen, and placed it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. and rolling a great stone to the door of the sepulcher, departed.” Luk 23:53 : “And taking it [the body] down , he wrapped it in linen, and placed it in a hewn sepulcher, where no one had ever been laid.” Joh 19:38-42 : “After these things, Joseph from Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, and having been concealed on account of the fear of the Jews, requested Pilate that he may take the body of Jesus. And Pilate permitted him. Then he came, and took the body of Jesus. And Nieodemus also, the one having in the first place come to Jesus by night [John 3], came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about one hundred pounds. Then they took the body of Jesus, and wrapped it in the linen, along with the aromatics, as it is customary to the Jews to embalm. And in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulcher in which no one was yet deposited. Then they placed Jesus there on account of the preparation of the Jews, because the sepulcher was nigh.” Luk 23:55-56 : “And the women following along, who had come with Him from Galilee, saw the sepulcher, and where His body, was placed; and turning away, they prepared aromatics and myrrh; and they kept the Sabbath according to the commandment.”

a. Such was the punctilious rigor with which the Jews kept the Sabbath that they postponed the completion of His embalmment till the day of sacred rest had passed away; however, in order to expedite the embalmment as much as possible, they procured the materials on Friday evening, so that, all things being ready, they may proceed at the early dawn of the incoming week, and perfect the work begun on the preceding Friday by Nicodemus and Joseph.

b. I passed through the city of Ramlah, in the Plain of Sharon, on the road from Jerusalem to Joppa. Though, like other cities in that land, it went into utter desolation, in the last few years it has been colonized by Jews, who have made it very prosperous, like all of their colonies in that land. It now contains eleven thousand inhabitants, and is growing rapidly. This is said to be the ancient home of Nicodemus and Joseph, by whose kindness our Savior received a royal interment. John says they were secret disciples of Jesus on account of the fear of the Jews. This is an instance in which we see the power of death signally revealed, as these two great and good men never publicly confessed Him during His life, but when they saw Him die, covered with shame and popular contempt, calumniated as a malefactor (and not only executed in the most disgraceful method, such as hanging in this country, but, in order to augment His ignominy, actually crucifying Him between two robbers, thus proclaiming to the world His identity with the worst criminals), they became more courageous than ever before, coming out boldly, and Joseph furnished a valuable new sepulcher, hewn out of the great, precipitous rock at the base of Mount Calvary, and Nicodemus brought one hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes, both very costly, and especially the former, which was not native in Palestine, but transported from Arabia Felix; and the latter, though indigenous, was rare and costly. Thus these two wealthy theologians actually favored Him with a royal interment. This courageous public intervention on the part of these men, who were so prominent in the Theocracy, really warrants the conclusion that their faith had received a wonderful impetus during those memorable hours when the powers of darkness dominated earth and hell, and heaven veiled her face in sable night rather than behold the awful tragedy. If the trend of things at that time had continued, both of these men would have been executed as accomplices in the treason, heresy, and imposture with which Jesus was charged.

c. Down at the base of the skull-shaped summit on which our Lord was crucified, as here specified, there is a garden, and in it there is a sepulcher hewn out in the perpendicular rock, really constituting a part of Mount Calvary; and in that sepulcher there are three tombs, cut out in the solid stone. As it is said that the tomb in which they deposited the body of Jesus was new, no one ever having been laid in it, therefore we conclude that the one of these three which looks newest was the identical tomb in which the body of our Lord was laid. As this is the only sepulcher in that garden, we conclude that it is the identical one honored by containing the crucified body of our Lord.

d. The fine linen with which He was wrapped was made in Egypt, and used by kings for underwear, the Tyrian purple constituting their external robes. Thus we see our Lord received a royal burial in every respect. O how contrastive with His humble and lowly life, having no temporal estate, no money, no living, no home, not as much as a place to lay His head, thus vividly symbolizing the glorious victory won by His expiatory death, and at the same time adumbrating His brilliant royalty in His second coming!

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chapter 20

The Third Day- Mat_27:57-66 - Mat_28:1-15

Now that the atoning work of Christ is finished, the story proceeds with rapidity to its close. It was the work of the Evangelist to give the history of the incarnate Son of God; and now that the flesh is laid aside, it is necessary only to give such notes of subsequent events as shall preserve the continuity between the prophetic and priestly work of Christ on earth which it had been His. vocation to describe, and the royal work which, as exalted Prince and Saviour, it still remained for Him to do. We need not wonder, then, that the record of the three days should be quite brief, and of the forty days briefer still.

This brevity is a note of truthfulness. The old idea of deliberate falsehood having been quite given up, reliance is placed, by those who wish to discredit the gospel witnesses, on the suggestion that the records of the resurrection are the result of fancy crystallising into so-called fact. But not only was there no time, between the death of Christ and the latest date which can be assigned for the writing of the first Gospel, for the process of crystallisation, but had there been such a process, the result would have been very different. Had fancy, and not observation, been the source, how comes it that nothing is told but what came within the range of actual vision? Why is there not a word about Christs. entry into Paradise, or descent into Hades? What a fruitful field for fancy here!-yet there is not even a hint; for it is not from anything in the Gospels, but solely from a passage in one of the Epistles, that the doctrine of the descent into Hades has been derived. There is not a word or a hint of anything that passed in the unseen; a plain statement of what was done with the body of Jesus is absolutely all. Clearly it is not myth, but history, with which here we have to do.

THE EVENING OF THE FIRST DAY Mat_27:57-61

Day was passing into evening when Jesus "yielded up His spirit"; for the early evening, according to the Jewish reckoning, began at the ninth hour. It was probably some time after this-perhaps towards the later evening, which began about the twelfth hour (six oclock)-that Joseph of Arimathea thought of claiming the body to give it honourable burial. Why should such a duty have fallen to a stranger? Where were the eleven? Had none of them so far recovered from their fear? Where was Peter? might not his penitence for the past have impelled him to come forward now? Where was John? He had taken the mother of Jesus to his own home; but why did he not come back to see what he could do for the sacred body? How can they all leave this tender office to a stranger?

It may be thought by some sufficient answer simply to say, So the Lord willed it, and so the Scripture was fulfilled which intimated that He Who had died with the wicked should be "with the rich in His death"; but is there not more than this to be said? Is not the disappearance of the eleven and the coming forward of the two secret disciples (for as we learn from the fourth Gospel, Nicodemus-another secret disciple-appears a little later on the scene) true to human nature? Let us remember that the faith of the eleven, while much superior to that of the two, was from the nature of the case exposed to a counter-current of feeling, of which neither Joseph nor Nicodemus could know anything. They had committed themselves and their all to Jesus, as Joseph and Nicodemus had never done. The consequence was that when the terrible tempest broke on Him, it came with all its force on them too. But Joseph and Nicodemus had not as yet ventured their all-had not, it would appear, as yet ventured anything for Christ. They were looking on at the storm, as it were, from the shore; so they could stand it, as those who were in the very midst of it could not. They could stand beholding. Not having made themselves known, they were not exposed to personal danger, hence were in a position calmly and thoughtfully to watch the progress of events. We can imagine them first looking towards Calvary from afar, and then, as the darkness favoured a timid approach, drawing nearer and nearer, and at last coming within the spell of the Divine Sufferer. As they witnessed His patient endurance, they would become more and more ashamed of their half-hearted sympathy, ashamed to think that though they had not consented to the counsel and deed of the rest, {Luk_23:51, Joh_7:50-51} they had not had courage to offer any serious opposition. They would feel, as they thought of this, as if they shared the responsibility of what must now appear to them an awful crime; and so, looking to Him whom they had pierced, they would mourn; and, brought at last to decision by His death, {Joh_12:32} first Joseph, and after him Nicodemus, came out boldly, the one asking for the body of Jesus, the other joining him in those tender and reverent ministrations which all that was best in them now constrained them to render.

The sad duty hastily, but tenderly and fitly, done, a great stone is rolled to the door of the sepulchre, and they depart. But the sepulchre is not deserted yet. What are these figures in the dusk, these women that advance as the others retire? While the two men were busy they have been keeping at a discreet and respectful distance; but now that all is silent at the tomb, they draw nearer, and though night is coming on apace, they cannot leave it, and the story of the long day ends with this pathetic touch: "And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre."

THE SECOND DAY. {Mat_27:62-66}

It was the Jewish Sabbath. The Evangelist for some reason avoids the common designation, preferring to speak of it as "the day after the preparation"-whether it was that he shrank from mentioning the Sabbath in such a connection, or whether it was that the great event of the preparation day had such complete possession of his mind that he must date from it, we shall not attempt to decide.

This is the only record we have of that Sabbath day except that St. Luke tells us that on it the women "rested according to the commandment." But the enemies of Jesus could not rest. They were uneasy and troubled now that the deed was done. They could not but have been impressed with the bearing of their Victim, and with all the portents which accompanied His end. It was natural, therefore, that words of His, which when reported to them before had not seemed worth noticing, should come back to them. now with fateful force. "After three days I will rise again" was what He had often said. "What if He should rise? we must see that He does not." It would never do, however, to confess to such a fear; but they may get all needful precautions taken by suggesting that there was danger of the disciples stealing the body, and then saying that He had risen. On this pretext they get a guard from Pilate, and authority to seal the sepulchre. Having thus made all secure, they can sleep in peace.

THE MORNING OF THE THIRD DAY Mat_28:1-15

The women, having rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment, knew nothing of what had been done at the tomb that day, so, as they set out before daybreak on the third morning, they only thought of the great stone, and wondered how it could be rolled away; but when they came, the sun just rising as they reached the spot, they found the stone already rolled away, and an angel of the Lord at the tomb, so lustrous in the livery of heaven that the keepers had quailed in his presence and were powerless to interfere. The awe with which the sight would naturally inspire the women also was mingled with joy as they heard his kindly greeting and sympathetic words. Altogether worthy of an angel from heaven are the words he is reported to have spoken. There is first the tender response to their looks of dread-"Fear not ye," as if to say, These others well may fear, for there is nothing in common between them and me; but with you it is different; "I know that ye seek Jesus, Which was crucified." Then there is the joyful news: "He is not here; for He is risen, as He said": and as he observes their look of half-incredulous wonder he kindly adds, to let their sight be helper to their faith, "Come, see the place where the Lord lay." Then he gives them the honour of carrying the glad tidings to the other disciples, and assuring them that the Divine Shepherd will meet them all in Galilee, according to His word,

At this point we encounter one of the chief difficulties to be found in St. Matthews record of the resurrection. There are indeed several particulars in this Gospel, as well as in the others, which it is difficult to fit into a connected account embracing all the facts; but as every person of even moderate intelligence knows that the same difficulty is met in comparing various truthful accounts of any great event in which details are many and complex, it is only the most unreasoning prejudice that can find in this an excuse for doubting the credibility of the writers. Rather is this feature of the records a distinct note of truthfulness; for, had it been easy to fit each fact into its exact place in all the other accounts, we should have heard from the very same doubters, and with far better reason, that there was every sign of its being a made-up story. All the four accounts are brief and fragmentary; there is evidently no attempt whatever to relate all that took place, and we should need to know all in order to form a complete picture of the entire series of events which glorified the first Easter Day. We must therefore be content with the four vivid pictures given us, without insisting on what with our imperfect knowledge is perhaps the impossible task of so combining them as to have one great canvas embracing all the details in each of the four.

The account before us is the briefest of all, and therefore it would be especially out of place in dealing with this Gospel to attempt to fill up the blanks and construct a consecutive history of all that took place on that eventful day. But there is one point with which it is especially necessary to deal in considering St. Matthews account of the resurrection-viz., the prominence given to the appearance of the Lord to His disciples in Galilee-whereas in the fuller records of the third and fourth Gospels, not Galilee, but Jerusalem and its vicinity, is the region where He makes Himself known.

Those who are anxious to make the most of this difficulty are much disappointed to find the ninth verse {Mat_28:9} in their way. Wishing to prove a sharp contradiction, as if the one said the Lord appeared only in Galilee, and the other that He appeared only in Jerusalem and its neighbourhood, they are naturally vexed to find one of the Jerusalem appearances actually mentioned here. The attempt has accordingly been made to discredit it; but in vain. It stands there an unquestionable part of the original text. So we must bear in mind that St. Matthew not only does not assert that it was only in Galilee that our Lord appeared, but he expressly mentions one appearance in Jerusalem. On the other hand, while St. Mark mentions no appearance in Galilee, he does mention the Lords promise to meet His disciples there, and leaves it distinctly to be inferred that it was fulfilled. St. Luke, indeed, makes no mention of Galilee at all; but there is abundance of room for it: for while he occupies almost all his space with the record of one day, he tells us in the beginning of his second volume {Act_1:3} that Christ "showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." St. John also confines himself to what took place at Jerusalem; but in the interesting appendix to that Gospel there is a striking account of a meeting with the eleven in Galilee-evidently not the same one which is recorded here, but another of the same, affording one more specimen of meetings which were no doubt frequently repeated during the forty days. It is abundantly evident, therefore, that there is no contradiction whatever.

Still the question remains, Why does St. Matthew make so little of what the others make so much of, and so much of what the others make so little of? In answer we might first ask whether this was not in every way to be expected and desired. If, as evidently was the case, there were manifestations of the risen Lord both in the south and in the north, and if we were to have several accounts, was it not desirable that one at least should make it his specialty to bring into prominence the appearances in the north? And if so, who could do it more appropriately than Matthew the publican of Galilee? The favour shown his own northern land had most deeply impressed his mind. It will be remembered that he passed over entirely the early Judean ministry recorded by St. John, and rejoiced in the Galilean ministry as the dawning of the new Day according to the words of ancient prophecy. {Mat_4:14-16}

Furthermore, there is every reason to suppose that it was not till they met in Galilee that the scattered flock of the disciples was gathered all together. The appearances in Jerusalem were to individuals and to little companies; whereas in Galilee it would seem that He appeared to as many as five hundred at once; {1Co_15:6} and though the Lord appeared to the ten (Thomas being absent), and again to the eleven, before they left Jerusalem, it is not to these occasions, but rather to the meeting on the shore of the lake, that we look for their fresh commission to address themselves again to their work as fishers of men. This will appear more clearly if we bear in mind our Lords sad reference, as the crisis approached, to the scattering of the flock, and His promise that after He had risen again He would go before them into Galilee. {Mat_26:31-32} We have here, then, {Mat_28:7} a repetition of the same promise, "He goeth before you" (as the shepherd goes before his flock) "into Galilee," where all the scattered ones shall be gathered round the Shepherd once again, and thence sent out as under-shepherds, {see Joh_21:15-17} to gather in the rest of the flock that are scattered abroad.

The conduct of the chief priests and scribes (Mat_28:11-15) is the natural sequel of their futile attempt to seal the sepulchre. It is in vain to raise the objection, as some do, that it was too clumsy a device for men so astute; for what else could they do? It was indeed a poor evasion; but, baffled as they were, no better was possible for them. Let the critic say what better expedient they could have thought of, before he assigns its poverty as a reason for discrediting the story. That St. Matthew, and he alone, records it, is sufficiently accounted for by the fact that, his being the first written Gospel, and moreover the Gospel for the Jew, it behoved him to deal with a saying "commonly reported among the Jews until this day"; while its being recorded by him was a sufficient reason why no further notice should be taken of it, when there was so much of greater importance to tell.

Looking back on this very brief record of the great events of Easter Day, nothing is more striking than the prominence of the women throughout. It is a note of the new dispensation. It must have been very strange to all the disciples, and not least to the author of this Gospel, that woman, who had been kept so far in the background, treated almost as if her presence would pollute the sacred places, should, now that the veil was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, not only enter into the sacred presence of the risen Lord as the equal of her brother man, but should be there before him, -that a womans eyes should be the first to see Him, a group of women the first to receive His loving welcome and to fall in adoration at His sacred feet. Yet so it was. Not that there was any partiality. "In Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female." It is not a question of sex; it is a question of love and faith; and it was because the love of these women was deeper, and their fidelity greater, than that of any of the men, that they had this honour. Had the love of John been as all-engrossing as that of Mary of Magdala, he would not have had to wait for the Easter tidings till she had come to tell him. It is not a question of faith alone, but of faith and love. The womens faith had failed them too. It was with no hope of seeing a risen Lord that they had gone to the tomb-it was with spices to finish the embalming of His dead body; but their love, love stronger than death, even in the wreck of faith, kept them near, and so it was that, when light first broke from out the darkness, they were there to see.

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

Mat 27:57. Ὃς καὶ αὐτὸς, κ.τ.λ., who also himself, etc.) As well as those pious women.—ἐμαθήτευσε, was a disciple) and was anxious to make disciples.[1215]

[1215] Beng. takes ἐμαθήτευσε here not only in the intransitive sense, He was a disciple, but in the transitive sense, He made, or wished to make disciples, as in ch. Mat 28:19; Act 14:21.—ED.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_27:57. Ὀψίας δὲ γενομ.] the so-called first or early evening, just before the close of the Jewish day. Deu_21:22 f.; Joseph. Bell. iv. 5. 2. See also Lightfoot, p. 499.

ἀπὸ Ἀριμαθ.] belongs to ἄνθρωπος πλούσιος. Comp. μάγοι ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν, Mat_2:1. The other evangelists describe him as a member of the Sanhedrim; an additional reason for supposing him to have resided in Jerusalem.

ἦλθεν] namely, to the place of execution, as the context shows, and not to the praetorium (de Wette, Bleek), to which latter Mat_27:58 represents him as going only after his return from the scene of the crucifixion. Arimathia, רָמָתַיִם with the article, 1Sa_1:1, the birthplace of Samuel (see Eusebius, Onom., and Jerome, Ep. 86, ad Eustoch. epitaph. Paul. p. 673), and consequently identical with Rama (see on Mat_2:18); LXX.: Ἀρμαθαίμ.

καὶ αὐτός] et ipse, like those women and their sons, Mat_27:56.

μαθητεύειν τινι] to be a disciple of any one; see Kypke, II. p. 141 f. Comp. on Mat_13:52. He was a secret follower of Jesus, Joh_19:38.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 27:57-66 . Burial (Mar 15:42-47 , Luk 23:50-56 ). ἦλθεν , etc., there came (to the place of crucifixion, the centre of interest in the preceding narrative) a man (unknown to readers), rich (this fact put in the forefront by Mt. εὐσχήμων βουλευτής in Mk. On εὐσχήμων Phrynichus remarks that the vulgar take it as = rich, or in good social position, while the ancients took it as applying to the noble or symmetrical. Mt. may be following vulgar usage, but also with an eye to Isa 53:9 : “with the rich in His death”); from Arimathaea (Ramathaim Zophim, 1Sa 1:1 ); the name Joseph , and the relation to Jesus that of a disciple ( ἐμαθήτευσε , which, if the correct reading, is an instance of the use of this verb in a neuter sense. Cf. Mat 13:52 , Mat 28:19 , Act 14:21 ).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Christ is buried, not privately or by stealth, but by the governor’s consent by a famous man, in a place not far distant, in a new sepulcher, so that it cannot be doubted of his death.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 57. When the even] This must have been about three o'clock, or a little after; for our Lord having expired about three o'clock, Mt 27:46, and the Jewish passover beginning about four, it was necessary that Joseph, who would not fail to eat the passover at the usual time, should have obtained and buried the body of Christ some time before four o'clock. But such was the general consternation, occasioned by the prodigies that took place on this most awful occasion, that we may safely conjecture that nothing was done in order, and perhaps the passover itself was not eaten at the usual hour, if at all, that day. See at the end of the preceding chapter.

A rich man] He was a counsellor of the great Sanhedrin, Lu 23:50; and, from the accounts given of him by the evangelists we learn that he was a man of the greatest respectability. He now acted a more honourable part than all the disciples of our Lord. He was of Arimathea, or Rama, in the tribe of Benjamin, Mt 2:18, but lived ordinarily in Jerusalem, as being a member of the great council.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(57) A rich man of Arimathæa.—The place so named was probably identical with the Ramah of 1Sa_1:19, the birth-place of the prophet. In 1Sa_1:1 the name is given in its uncontracted form as Ramathaim-zophim, and in the LXX. version it appears throughout as Armathaim, in Josephus as Armatha, in 1Ma_11:34 as Ramathem. It was a city of the Jews, in the narrower sense in which that word meant the people of Judæa (Luk_23:51). The site is more or less conjectural, but if we identify the Ramah, or Ramathaim, of 1Sa_1:1 with the modern Nebby Samuel, about four miles north-west of Jerusalem, we have a position which sufficiently fits in with the circumstances of the history. Of Joseph we are told by St. Mark (Mar_15:43) that he was “an honourable counsellor,” i.e., a member of the Sanhedrin, and that he was looking for the kingdom of God; by St. Luke (Luk_23:50-51), that he was “a good man, and a just” (see Note on Rom_5:7 for the distinction between the two words); by St. John ( Joh_19:38), that he was “a disciple, but secretly for fear of the Jews.” He was apparently a man of the same class and type of character as Nicodemus, respecting our Lord as a man, admiring Him as a teacher, half-believing in Him as the Christ, and yet, till now, shrinking from confessing Him before men. For us the name has the interest of being one of the few New Testament names connected with our own country. He was sent, it was said, by Philip (the Apostle) to Britain. There, in the legend which mediæval chroniclers delighted to tell, he founded the Church of Glastonbury; and the staff which he stuck into the ground took root and brought forth leaves and flowers, and became the parent of all the Glastonbury thorns from that day to this. We have to place the piercing of the side, narrated by St. John only (Joh_19:31-37), before Joseph’s application.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

57. Arimathea] is generally identified with Ramathaim-zophim, on Mount Ephraim, the birth-place of Samuel (1Sa_1:1), the site of which is undetermined. Many authorities place it much nearer to Jerusalem than the position indicated in the map, p. 28.

Joseph] From the other two Synoptic Gospels we learn that he was “an honourable (Mark) counsellor (Mark and Luke),” i. e. a member of the Sanhedrin. Like Nicodemus, he was a secret disciple of Jesus, and must undoubtedly have absented himself from the meetings of the Sanhedrin when Jesus was condemned. He “had not consented to the counsel and deed of them” (Luke).

An ancient but groundless legend has connected Joseph of Arimathæa with Glastonbury, where, it is said, he built of osier-twigs the first Christian Church in England.

57–66. The Entombment

Mar_15:42-47; Luk_23:50-56; Joh_19:38-42

Mat_27:62-66 are peculiar to St Matthew. St Mark notes the wonder of Pilate that Jesus was already dead, and the evidence of the centurion to the fact. St John mentions the co-operation of Nicodemus—like Joseph, a member of the Sanhedrin, who “consented not to the deed of them;” who brought “a mixture of myrrh and aloes about a hundred pound weight.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He went to Pilate,.... To his house where he lived, and went in, as Mark says, Mar 15:43, boldly; not being ashamed of Christ crucified, or afraid to own him, and show his respect to him as dead, though he knew he should incur the displeasure, reproach, and persecution of the Jews:

and begged the body of Jesus; which could not be taken down and interred, without the leave of the Roman governor; and which was generally granted to the friends of the deceased, when asked; otherwise they were buried in places (l) appointed for such persons,

See Gill on Mat 27:33. And this would have been the case of Christ, had not Joseph craved his body; and which he did, to prevent its being abused by the Jews, and interred in such an ignominious manner:

then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered; to Joseph, after he had understood by the centurion that Jesus was dead, which he at first could not tell how to believe, and marvelled at it,

Mar 15:44. Joseph might the more easily obtain his request, as he was a person of character and riches; and because Pilate himself had a good opinion of Jesus, and of his innocence, as well as his wife was much in his favour: so that Joseph had no difficulty to obtain the body of Christ; but as soon as he asked, he had the favour granted, and orders were given to the centurion and his soldiers, to deliver it to him,

(l) See Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 6. sect. 5, 6. Maimon. Hilch. Sanhedrin, c. 14. sect. 9.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

57 When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple:

Ver. 57. A rich man of Arimathea] Not many such; ‘tis well there are any. Joseph was a counsellor, a senator, one of the Sanhedrim or Seventy Seniors. Christ finds friends in the most tempestuous times and unlikely places; as in Ahab’s and Nero’s court. Some good Obadiah, or Onesiphorus, to seek out Paul the prisoner, and refresh his heart. Serena the Empress, wife to Dioclesian, that bloody persecutor, was a Christian, and a great friend to the true religion. So was the Lady Anne (wife to our King Richard II), a disciple of Wycliffe; whose books also she conveyed over into Bohemia her country, whereby a good foundation was laid for the ensuing Reformation. John of Gaunt showed himself a great favourer of Wycliffe. The like did the Elector of Saxony for Luther. George Marquis of Brandenburg, in a meeting of the Emperor and States at Augsburg, zealously professed that he would rather kneel down presently in the presence of them all, and yield his head to be struck off by the executioner, than deny Christ and his gospel. Scultet. Annul.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When the even was come - That is, some time after three o’clock in the afternoon. Before this, the Jews had besought Pilate that the legs of those who were crucified might be broken and the bodies be taken down, that they might not remain on the cross during the Sabbath. The soldiers, coming to Jesus for that purpose, found that he was already dead, contrary to their expectation. A soldier, however, thrust a spear into his side, and there was furnished the fullest proof that he had expired. See the notes at Joh 19:31-37.

A rich man of Arimathea - It is uncertain where Arimathea was. There were several cities of that name in Judea. It is commonly supposed to be the same as Rama. See the notes at Mat 2:17. Luke says that this was a “city of the Jews,” and it is probable, therefore, that it was in the tribe of Benjamin, and but a short distance from Jerusalem. This man sustained a high character. He was an “honorable counsellor, who also waited for the kingdom of God” Mar 15:43; he was “a good man and a just” Luk 23:50; he had nobly set himself against the wicked purposes of the Sanhedrin Luk 23:51; he was a disciple of Jesus, though he was not openly his follower, because he feared the Jews, Joh 19:38.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

When it was evening, &c. St. John tells us, (Chap. xix. 31.) that the day on which Jesus died, being the day of preparation, (literally, the parasceve) that is the Friday or eve of the great sabbath, to wit, of the sabbath-day, which happened in the week of the paschal solemnity, the Jews desired of Pilate that the bodies might not remain on the crosses on the sabbath-day, but that they might be taken away. Some soldiers were sent for this purpose, and broke the legs of the two others that were not quite dead; but perceiving that Jesus was dead, they broke not his legs, but one of them pierced and opened his side with a lance or spear; and with such a wound, as would have deprived him of life, had he not been already dead. The divine Providence permitted this, to make his death more certain and undoubted. --- Joseph, a disciple in private, now encouraged by the miracles which had happened, went bodily to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. St. Mark says, Pilate wondered, when he heard he was dead; and having been informed of the truth by the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. Nicodemus also, who is called a prince of the Jews, (John xxx. 1.) came to bury our Saviour, bringing with him a mixture of myrrh and aloes, to embalm the body, as they did. (Witham) --- The evangelist does not call Joseph a rich man out of vanity, or to inform us that Jesus had persons of distinction among his followers, but to shew why Joseph in preference to any other went to beg the body; for being a nobleman, he could obtain easier access to the governor of Judea than any of the other disciples, who were chiefly poor illiterate fishermen. (St. Jerome) --- The town of Arimathea is placed on the maps about eighteen or twenty miles north-west of Jerusalem.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Mark hath it, Mar 15:42-47, And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus. And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. And he bought fine linen and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.

Luke hath it, Luk 23:50-54, thus: And behold there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good man, and a just: (the same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them); he was of Arimathea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before laid. And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.

John reports it with some additions, Joh 19:38-42; And after this Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day: for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.

All four evangelists (as we see) repeat this history, one supplying what is wanting in another towards the completeness of it. Nor must we think it is for nothing so punctually related; much depended upon the world’s satisfaction in the truth and certainty of his death, burial, and resurrection, they are three great articles of our faith. We have therefore here punctually described his burial, with all the circumstances of it. As it is with us, so it seems it was with them.

The bodies of those who died as malefactors were taken to be in the power of the magistrates, to dispose of as they pleased, though they were ordinarily granted upon petition to their friends and relations. The person who begged the body of our Saviour is described to us by his name, Joseph; by his city, Arimathea (there it seems he was born, or had his mansion house, though he resided in Jerusalem); by his quality, both his more exterior quality, and his more interior qualification. As for his outward quality, Matthew saith he was a rich man. Mark saith he was an honourable counsellor. Luke also calls him a counsellor, but had not consented to the counsel and deed of them, that is, of them who had examined and condemned Christ: whether he was a member of the Jewish sanhedrim, or of Pilate’s council, (though the last be not probable), or had been a counsellor formerly, but now was not so, is hard to determine; but his quality doubtless made his access more free to Pilate. He went in boldly to him, saith Mark; his quality in the city, and his love to Christ, both contributed to this boldness. For his more inward qualifications, Matthew and John both tell us he was a disciple, one that had learned of Christ, though John tells us, it was secretly for fear of the Jews. Among the chief rulers many believed on him, Joh 12:42.

As bad as that set of rulers was which now ruled the Jewish affairs, (and a worse could not be), Christ had some disciples amongst them, as well as afterward in Nero’s court: these, for fear of the Jews casting them out of the synagogues, durst not openly own Christ, but secretly loved him. Joseph and Nicodemus were two of them. And to let us know what the disciples of Christ are, and should be, this Joseph is described by Luke to be a good and a just man; by Mark, to be one who waited for the kingdom of God; a believer, one who, believing what Christ had said, both concerning his kingdom of grace and glory, lived in the expectation of it. This man begs of the governor the body of Christ. Pilate wondered that he should be so soon dead, but inquiring of the centurion, and hearing that he was dead, he commands that his body should be delivered unto Joseph.

The manner of the Jews was, neither to have gardens nor burying places within the city, but without the wall; it should appear that this Joseph had a garden place without the city, and near to the place where Christ was crucified, and in that garden he had cut out of some great stone a sepulchre for himself. Matthew calls it his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock. The other evangelists do not call it his own new tomb, only Luke and John observe it was a sepulchre in which none ever before was laid. So as when they found him risen from the dead, they could not say it was some other body, for there was no other body in the tomb. But before they laid in the body, both Matthew and Mark observe, that Joseph wrapped it in fine linen, and John further addeth, that they embalmed the body; to which purpose it was that Nicodemus (that ruler who came to Jesus by night, of which we have the story, Joh 3:1-36, with whom our Saviour had a discourse about regeneration) brought the mixture of myrrh and aloes, of about an hundred pound weight; John adds, as the manner of the Jews is to bury, not ordinarily, but persons of greater note, whose estates were such as they could bear such an expense. This was the beginning of honour done unto Christ, after that he had passed through his lowest degree of humiliation.

Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, that is, the wife of Cleophas, of whom we heard before, stayed to see where he was laid, and took their seats over against the sepulchre. Luke saith, Luk 23:55,56, The women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day, according to the commandment. It seems they sat but a little while (as Matthew saith) right over against the sepulchre, but went home, and prepared spices and ointments to embalm him, but would not do it on the sabbath, which was now beginning, thinking that it would be time enough upon the first day of the week. Matthew saith, that Joseph rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

57. Even — The old word for evening. Arimathea — This was probably Rama-thaim Zophim, lying a few miles west of Jerusalem. Joseph was a believer, though a timid one, in Jesus; but at this crisis he dismisses all fear, and goes boldly forward to claim the holy body. As a “noble counsellor,” that is probably, a member of the Sanhedrim, his request would have weight with Pilate; and, as a “rich man,” he could afford an honourable tomb. Thus, according to prophecy, “they appointed him his grave with the wicked, but he was with the rich man after his death.” Isa_53:9, Hengstenberg’s translation.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 57-61. The burial of the body of Jesus. (Mar_15:42-47 Luk_23:50-56 Joh_19:38-42)

When the even was come. This was what was called the first evening, the time between the ninth hour, or three o"clock, and sunset, and the great sabbath would shortly be beginning. It was the Roman custom to leave criminals hanging on the cross for days, till their bodies were devoured by birds and wild animals; the Jewish Law enacted that when bodies were penalty suspended, they should be taken down and buried before night, (Deu_21:22, Deu_21:23) that the land might not be defiled. Tomorrow (beginning at sunset), being a specially solemn day, as combining the sabbath and the Passover celebration, the Jews were particularly anxious that the crucified bodies of our Lord and the two robbers should be taken away and put out of sight before the sabbath began. To effect this object, they went to Pilate, and begged him to put an end to their sufferings by the sharp, short process of breaking their legs. St. John"s account must be referred to for this and the result of the soldiers" examination of our Lord. There came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus" disciple. He is further said to have been "an honourable counsellor," i.e. a member of the Sanhedrin, "a good man and a just, who also waited for the kingdom of God, and had not consented to the counsel and deed" of the rest of the rulers. "It was divinely appointed," says the Ven. Bede, "that Joseph should be rich, in order to have access to Pilate, for no mean man could have access to the governor; and that he should be a just man, in order to receive the body of our Lord." This man"s native place was Arimathaea, a town with much probability identified with Ramathaim-Zophim of 1Sa_1:1, which lay in Mount Ephraim, and was the birthplace of the Prophet Samuel. That he was "a rich man" naturally gave him some influence with Pilate, and joined with his position as a Sanhedrist, made his request more likely to be granted. "One Joseph was appointed by God to be guardian of Christ"s body in the virgin womb, and another Joseph was the guardian of his body in the virgin tomb, and each Joseph is called a "just man" in Holy Scripture" (Wordsworth).

Vers. 57-66. The Lord"s grave.

I THE BURIAL.

1. Joseph of Arimathaea. He was a rich man and a counsellor. Like Nicodemus, he believed in Christ; but, like Nicodemus, he had not had the courage to avow his convictions. His rank, perhaps, and his riches had kept him back. It was hard for a man in his position to espouse the cause of the despised Prophet of Nazareth. He had, perhaps, absented himself from the council at which the Lord was condemned. He would not take part in that awful crime, but probably he had not dared to oppose it openly. Yet, notwithstanding his timidity, he was a good man, and a just; he waited for the kingdom of God. (Luk_23:50, Luk_23:51) God judges more tenderly than men. We are apt to condemn a man wholly when we see one great fault in him. God sometimes sees sincerity, a real yearning alter truth and goodness, where we refuse to see anything save the one obvious defect. And now Joseph shook off his weakness. The Lord"s majesty in suffering confirmed his wavering faith. He was ashamed of his cowardice. He had not done his best to save his Master. He would at least honour him now, cost what it might, he went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus. It was a brave deed. Friends of martyred Christians again and again brought the death of martyrdom upon themselves by doing the like. But Pilate commanded the body to be delivered, he had washed his hands before consenting to the Saviour"s death. Perhaps he thought that respect for the lifeless body might help, like that poor outward form, to atone for his guilt.

2. The sepulchre. The holy body was to receive no more indignities. It was not thrown, as the chief priests had probably expected, into some dishonoured grave with the two malefactors; it was not left to the eleven, who could provide only some poor interment. He was "with the rich in his death." Joseph and Nicodemus, both rich men and honourable, cast aside their shame and their fears. They took the sacred body from the cross with reverent care, wrapped it in clean and fine linen, with the costly gift of myrrh and aloes brought by Nicodemus, and laid it in Joseph"s own tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock. Thus they confessed Christ before men. While the eleven were still overcome with terror and despair, these two men, who had been so fearful, shook off their fears, and showed openly their reverence for the Lord. They feared neither the fierce anger of the Jews nor the ceremonial defilement which would keep them from the Passover rites. The cross of Christ could make the timid brave. He was laid in a tomb hewn out of the rock. The rocks about Jerusalem are full of tombs. The whole world, indeed, is one vast cemetery. Countless multitudes of the dead he everywhere around us. Christ hath hallowed the grave by himself resting there. We may be well content that our poor bodies should be where his sacred body lay. Only let us seek first to be buried with him by baptism unto death; let us seek to realize in our inner souls that burial with Christ of which holy baptism is the token and the pledge a burial out of the reach of the defiling touch of sin, in the rock where the allurements of sin cannot penetrate, if that spiritual burial is with Christ.

3. The women. Mary of Magdala and the other Mary were sitting over against the sepulchre. "Seest thou the courage of these women?" says Chrysostom; "seest thou their affection? seest thou how they continued faithful unto death? Let us men imitate these women, and let us net desert the Lord in the hour of trial.

II THE SEALING OF THE TOMB.

1. The fears of the chief priests. The awe of the last hours of the Crucifixion was still upon their souls. The Lord was dead, but they could not rest, not even on the sabbath. Even on that holy day they came with the Pharisees to the Roman governor; they shrank not from telling him their fears and from asking his help. They knew of the Lord"s prophecy of his resurrection on the third day, though they perverted it for their own ends. Some of them were present when he said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." They may have heard from Judas or others something of his more distinct predictions; they would prevent the fulfilment. The body was safe, hidden in the rock; they would keep it there.

2. The guard. Pilate haughtily dismissed them. it was their business; he would do nothing more for them. They had a guard. Probably there was a small body of soldiers put at their disposal to keep order during the Passover celebration. "Go," the governor said sternly, "secure it as you best can." "So they went and made the sepulchre sure, scaling the stone, and setting a watch." So all through that sabbath day, and all through the night that followed, the Roman sentries paced up and down before the sealed stone. And now the chief priests felt secure. The Lord"s body lay still and. lifeless in the sepulchre; his own followers had laid it there. They had tended it with reverent care; but they had me thought, no hope of a resurrection. They had forgotten the Lord"s words; they understood them not. They never seemed able to realize what he told them from time to time of his approaching sufferings and death, and of the glory that should follow. They laid the sacred body in myrrh and aloes; they rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre. The chief priests completed the work; they sealed the stone; they set there an armed guard; they knew that the Lord"s disciples, few and. terrified as they were, would never dare to encounter those dreaded Roman soldiers. They had succeeded in accomplishing their awful sin; and, if their consciences allowed them to sleep, they slept that night securely.

LESSONS.

1. We must not judge men hastily. Joseph, once so tearful, showed holy courage at last.

2. The Lord was buried. Let us not fear the grave.

3. His burial has a lesson for us. We are buried with him by baptism unto death. "How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein"?

4. The wicked may exult in the seeming success of their designs; but the Lord reigneth.

Vers. 57-61. The burial of Jesus.

We may consider this in relation to all the persons concerned Jesus himself, Joseph of Arimathaea, Pontius Pilate, and the Marys.

I JESUS SUBMITTING TO BURIAL. Jesus himself had departed. It was only the deserted house that was now left. Still this was the body of Jesus, and the burial of it had a significance in regard to the spirit that had once inhabited it.

1. The burial proves the death of Christ. If he had risen immediately it would have been said that he had never died at all that he had only fainted. But that in his state of exhaustion he could have been torn down from the cross and sealed up in a tomb without receiving any nourishment; that he could then have come forth and walked about with no traces of suffering upon him, all this is simply impossible.

2. The burial completes the humiliation of Christ. It is an humiliation for the body to be handled by others as lifeless clay, and then to be laid in the tomb, put out of sight as a dreadful thing, soon to become repulsive and loathsome. Christ"s body never saw corruption; but it was humbled to the grave.

II JOSEPH BEGGING THE BODY OF JESUS.

1. This reveals his true discipleship. Joseph was a rich man in a high position. It was highly dangerous for such a man to avow himself a Christian. But the privilege of burying the body of his beloved Master encouraged him to run the risk. We are best known as Christ"s by what we will do for him, especially when our service involves sacrifice.

2. This also reveals the tardiness of his confession. It was a late avowal. Why had not Joseph owned his faith during the lifetime of Christ? He was too like those who build the tombs of the prophets. His courage was real, but it was half spoilt by the fact that it was not manifested when it would have been most valuable. How many opportunities of Christian service are missed by delay in coming out openly on the Lord"s side! It is well to treat the bodies of our departed friends with respect; but this is a small service compared with the help and love we could show them during their lifetime. The Josephs who can only bury a dead Christ are not of the stuff out of which apostles are made.

III PILATE SURRENDERING THE BODY OF JESUS. The miserable man should have protected the life of the Prisoner whom he knew to be innocent. His surrender of Jesus to death at the clamour of the Jews was more than an act of weakness, it was treason against justice. Now it is too late to save the life of the Prophet of Nazareth. The awful crime has been committed, and it can never be undone, Through all the ages it will brand the name of Pilate with an indelible mark of ignominy. Yet the governor will make a little concession. A friend of Jesus especially as he is rich and influential may have the lifeless corpse. Thus we see men who are false to their real duty and the sacred trust that is laid upon them showing a reasonable kindness in small things. But this cannot atone for their great, black wickedness.

IV THE MARYS AT THE TOMB. Sorrowful and loving, they sit and watch by the tomb. It is all they can do for their Lord, and they cannot bear to leave him. Their faithful love is rewarded. To them is given the first news of the Resurrection. Cleaving to Christ will be rewarded by many a surprise of joy. From the very tomb new hope will come to those who hold faithfully to him. W.F.A.

Vers. 57-66. The treatment of the body of Christ.

The body of Christ is mystically taken to represent his Church. (see 1Co_10:17 Eph_4:16 Col_1:18) In this figure the fact is strongly set forth, viz. that Christ takes home to himself whatever treatment his Church may receive. (see Pr 19 Mat_25:35-46 Act_9:1, Act_9:4, Act_9:5) This also applies to individual members. And agreeably to this analogy, what was done to the literal body of Jesus is suggestive of the treatment he also receives as he is represented in his followers. The actors may be described as

I THOSE LOVINGLY SOLICITOUS FOR HIS HONOUR.

1. Christ has disciples, secretly so through fear.

(1) Joseph of Arimathaea was a "rich man" and yet "Jesus" disciple." Things impossible with men are possible with God. (see Mat_19:23-26) "Judge nothing before the time.

(2) He was an "honourable counsellor," a member of that wicked Sanhedrin that condemned Christ, but "he had not consented to the counsel and deed of them." In difficult circumstances he was true. He was "a good and righteous man, who was looking for the kingdom of God". (cf. Mar_15:43 Luk_23:50) Genuine honour is the associate of goodness and righteousness. These come to us through Christ.

(3) Yet he had been a disciple "secretly through fear of the Jews." Probably he had been converted by his friend and fellow ruler, Nicodemus, and his timidity was in keeping with the caution which prompted Nicodemus to visit Jesus under the cover of "night". (see Joh_3:1, Joh_3:2) Note: There are family likenesses in spiritual relationships.

(4) But he did not allow his timidity to involve him in the wickedness of the council. He doubtless gave his voice as well as his vote against their Crime. It was he probably who cross examined the suborned witnesses, making their disagreement too apparent for the comfort of the priests. (see Mar_14:56, 59) In his protest he probably took some such line of argument as that of Gamaliel on a subsequent occasion. (see Ac 6)

2. They will show kindness to his body.

(1) The righteous soul of Joseph was grieved at the indignities to which it had been subjected, and at the earliest opportunity he went to Pilate and asked for it. tie then proceeded without loss of time to remove it from the accursed tree. (see Act_13:29) He had it decently swathed in linen, and laid in his own new tomb which he had hewn out in the rock. His friend Nicodemus laid in with it "a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight". (see Joh_19:39) Then, rolling a great stone to the door of the tomb, they departed. God can find fit instruments for his work. His providence had reserved these two secret disciples for this solemn duty. Secret disciples are more generally employed in rendering service to the body of Christ, or material interests of his Church.

(2) God honours the faithfulness of his secret disciples by encouraging and strengthening their faith. Had Joseph listened to the promptings of human prudence, he would have hesitated to interfere for the body of Christ, lest he should be brought under suspicion, incapacitated for doing good, perhaps utterly ruined. Probably his timidity had been removed by the prodigies at our Lord"s death, working in him a stronger conviction that Jesus was the Messiah. Now he went "boldly" to Pilate. (Mar_15:43)

3. Thereby they advance the interests of his truth.

(1) The riches and honourable station of Joseph are mentioned, not only because of the influence they would have with Pilate, but to show the fulfilment of the words of Isaiah, "And his grave was appointed with the wicked, but with the rich man was his tomb". (Isa_53:9, Lowth"s translation) His grave would have been with the malefactors had not Joseph interposed. How infallibly the providence vindicates the truth of God!

(2) See here also an admirable Divine propriety. It was proper that the grave of Jesus should be borrowed, because the grave is the heritage of sinners. (see Job_24:19 Psa_146:4) It was proper it should be new never tainted with corruption, for in no sense should the Holy One see corruption. It was proper that the cavil should be obviated, as if the body of Christ had been resuscitated by touching the bones of some prophet. (see 2Ki_13:20) Christ"s burial takes off the terror of the grave, and we may now be buried with him.

4. Christ has disciples who openly confess him.

(1) The women were at the tomb. There was Mary of Magdala. She was a respectable woman, out of whom the Lord had cast seven devils, whose power over her was probably her affliction rather than her crime. She is without warrant confounded with the woman who was "a sinner," but whose name is not mentioned. There was "the other Mary," evidently "the mother of James and Joses," mentioned in ver. 56, who appears to have been a sister of the mother of our Lord. There was also Salome, unless "the other Mary" and Salome are the same, which is doubtful. (see Mar_16:1) Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod"s steward, appears to have been there too. (see Luk_24:10) The mother of our Lord had probably at this time been taken to the home of John. (see Joh_19:26, Joh_19:27)

(2) These noble women had followed Jesus, some of them at least from Galilee, were ever ready to minister to his temporal necessities, were present at his crucifixion, and here they are again at his burial. They are in the posture of mourners, and so testify to his innocency, for the Jews had forbidden to show any external marks of mourning at the burial of malefactors. They had heard the Lord speak of his resurrection, but probably interpreted him in some figurative sense. But though their faith was confused and unsettled, their love was strong. Where love is there is everything; and it will all come out as the ways of Providence unfold.

(3) These women were there gratefully to witness and commend the kindness of Joseph and Nicodemus. And after the men had retired, they went into the city just before the setting in of the sabbath, to purchase spices for the embalming of the body as soon as the sabbath should have passed. Their love was constant. (cf. Mat_26:12, Mat_26:13)

II THOSE MALICIOUSLY ANXIOUS TO DISCREDIT HIM.

1. Notice the villainy of the rulers.

(1) See it in their guilty fears. The kindness of the friends of Jesus gave him a tomb; the malice of his enemies would keep him in it. Should he rise again his blood will be upon them. They cannot forget the raising of Lazarus. Resurrections are terrible things to the wicked, especially of those murdered by them for their testimony to the truth. (see Rev_11:11) If the disciples of Jesus had lost all hope, his enemies had not lost all fear. The fears of the wicked should encourage the hopes of the good.

(2) See it in their nervous promptitude. They are with Pilate soon after Joseph had left him. The morrow after the preparation was just after six in the evening. The celerity of hatred is only exceeded by that of love.

(3) See it in their sycophancy. They were "gathered together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said." Pilate is "Sir," Jesus "That deceiver." What an outrageous inversion of propriety! "The malicious slanderers of good men are commonly the most sordid flatterers of great men." (Henry).

(4) See it in their unscrupulousness. They had often quarrelled with Christ for doing works of mercy on the sabbath, they hesitate not themselves to be busied with a work of malice on it. Neither do they hesitate to procure soldiers to mount guard upon it. Again they say, "We remember," etc. Thus these base hypocrites made it evident that they well enough knew that the words of Christ, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up," referred to "the temple of his body," when they perverted them at the trial. (cf. Mat_26:61)

2. See how Providence rebuked it.

(1) By their confession it was publicly known that Jesus had uttered the prediction that he should rise again the third day. The prediction, then, was not read into the narrative after the event of the Resurrection. They were anxious "until the third day," because he had "said while yet alive, After three days I rise again." Note: The mode of computation was that which still obtains in the East. "After three days" means "until the third day.

(2) They relied upon the seal and the guard. The seal supplied the place of a lock. It was in use as anciently as the time of Daniel. (see Dan_6:17) The sepulchre was cut into the rock, so had but one entrance, which was not only blocked by a great stone sealed, but guarded by sixty soldiers. The disciples could not possibly "steal him away." Their case rendered the evidence of the Resurrection all the more convincing.

(3) "So the last error," etc. The devil never speaks the truth but when he intends to promote some evil purpose by it. The rulers were true prophets against their will Little did they imagine that the measures they adopted would in the most powerful manner contribute to the result they dreaded. There is neither might nor council against God; (see Act_5:23 Act_16:23)

III THOSE WHO AFFECT INDIFFERENCE TO HIS CLAIMS.

1. Pilate affected a haughty indifference.

(1) He conceded the body of Christ to the request of Joseph. He wan the more willing to do so, having found no fault in Jesus at his trial.

(2) He also conceded the guard to the request of the rulers.

(3) He leaves the watch to the priests, not caring to be seen himself in such a thing. "Make it as sure as ye can," looks like banter.

2. The soldiers of the watch were mercenaries.

(1) They guarded the tomb because they were paid to render obedience to command. Can a man reduce himself to the condition of an automaton?

(2) When they took the bribe of the rulers to conceal the resurrection of Christ and give publicity to a lie, they acted as free agents.

(3) There can be no neutrality in relation to Christ. To affect it cannot be innocent. Every age has its Pharisees, who make the written Word of God a sealed book, perverting the letter and denying the spirit. (cf. Rev_22:10) "Do thou hinder the resurrection of thy sin; seal it down with strong purposes, solemn covenants, and watch it by a wakeful, circumspect walking" (Gurnall). J.A.M.

Joseph"s opportunity.

The entire forsaking of our Lord"s apostles and disciples has not been sufficiently considered. It must have been one of the sorest ingredients in his bitter cup of woe. Not one of them came into any relation with his suffering time. They must have been wholly bewildered by their fears. They left their Master to the tending of strangers, if he had any tending at all. But we may do honour to Simon of Cyrene and Joseph of Arimathaea, who found their opportunity.

I JOSEPH"S WEAKNESS IN NOT ACKNOWLEDGING CHRIST BEFORE. Whatever allowances we may be able to make for him, it certainly was a weakness it always is a weakness to try to be a secret disciple. Joseph was placed in very difficult circumstances. He was a member of the Sanhedrin. He must have known of the schemes of the high priest"s party. His soul must have revolted against them, and yet he dared say nothing. He was not strong man enough to brave opposition. He was a timid soul; but, like timid souls, he could on occasion do a strangely brave thing. "Spirit was willing, but flesh was weak.

II JOSEPH"S COURAGE IN ACKNOWLEDGING CHRIST AT LAST. For in going to Pilate, as a known member of the council, to beg the body of Jesus, Joseph declared himself. Pilate would quite understand that he cared for this "Enthusiast." And Joseph was obliged to do this publicly, so the news of his request would be spread abroad; and our Lord"s enemies would not be satisfied until they found out what had become of the dead body. This act of Joseph"s, we may be sure, made him a marked man henceforth in the council. He confessed Jesus by his act.

III JOSEPH"S ONE ACT IN THE SERVICE OF CHRIST. It was precisely the thing which only a man having the authority and the wealth that he had could do.

1. Christ"s body had to be saved from insult, and not one of his disciples dare advance to claim it. If it had been left to the Romans, it would have just been flung, with the other bodies, into the common pit, or burned in the valley of Hinnom. Joseph did this good service he saved it from desecration.

2. Christ"s body ought to have the honourable burial of a king, and the kindly tending of loving hands. Joseph provided both. Gentle handling, reverent preparing, tender carrying, loving burial in his own new tomb. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When the evening was come - That is, after three o'clock; the time from three to six they termed the evening. Mark xv, 42; Luke xxiii, 50; John xix, 38.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The Burial of Christ.

The burial of Christ:

v. 57. When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple.

v. 58. He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered.

v. 59. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,

v. 60. and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher and departed.

v. 61. And there was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulcher.

In the time of trial and greatest danger, when the chosen apostles of the Lord failed in their loyalty, some of those that had secretly clung to Him were made manifest. It was now the first evening according to the reckoning of the Jews, the time just preceding sunset, toward six o’clock. The bodies of such as were hanged were not permitted to remain on the cross until the next day, which began with sunset, Deu 21:22-23. Therefore Joseph of Arimathea, or Ramathaim Zophim, 1Sa 1:1, a rich counselor of the Jews, a member of the Sanhedrin, who had not voted in favor of Christ’s death, made the necessary arrangements for the burial of his Master. He secured permission for obtaining the body of Jesus from the governor, after which he took down the body of the Lord from the cross with the aid of Nicodemus, Joh 19:39, wrapped it in a new linen burial-cloth, and finally deposited it in his own new tomb, a grave hewn into the rock in his own garden. Jesus, in His death, received all the honors which the prosperous Jews expected for themselves, far more than He had ever been accustomed to during His life, Isa 53:12. It was a fine token of veneration and affection, and teaches some lessons. "That is, then, the fruit of the death of Christ the Lord, that the weakest, most fearful hearts come forward without dread or fear, confess Christ, bury His body, which was hanging there in all dishonor, with all signs of respect, in order to testify to the Jews, the high priests, Pilate, and all enemies of Christ that they regard Him as the Son of God, and thus glory in Him, hope in His kingdom, and are full of comfort even now that He is dead and every one is of the opinion that His career is definitely ended. For that is what Mark and Luke mean when they say that Joseph waited for the kingdom of God, that is, he hoped God would by this man organize a new kingdom on earth, forgive sins, give the Holy Ghost and eternal salvation. For that is really what the kingdom of God means, as it is promised in the prophets to be organized by Christ or the Messiah. We should also note the example of Joseph, who had ordered his grave to be made while he was still living. From which it is evident that he did not forget his last hour, as people generally do. For every one makes all arrangements for this earthly life, as though we should stay here forever. But those that fear God rather consider their whole life here upon earth as a pilgrimage, where there is nothing continuing, but where we must always be looking forward to the true fatherland. Thus pious Joseph also did. He was rich and a respected citizen of Jerusalem, yet his thoughts were ever centered: Here there is nothing continuing, thou must finally be buried. And therefore he has a grave prepared in his garden, where he otherwise took his pleasure, where he intended to look forward to the joyful resurrection with all saints, through the Lord Jesus Christ. " While these last rites were being performed for the beloved Master, and a heavy stone was then being rolled before the door of the tomb, two of the faithful women, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, sat opposite the sepulcher, mourning the loss of their Lord and their Friend, but taking careful note of everything that was done.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Here we have an account given of our Lord’s funeral and interment in the grave; such a funeral as never was since grave were first digged. Concerning which, we have these particulars observable:

Observe, 1. The preparatives that were made for our Lord’s funeral; namely, the begging and perfuming of his dead body; his body could not be buried, till by begging it was obtained of Pilate; the dead bodies of malefactors being in the power and disposal of the judge. Pilate grants it; and to manifest their dear affection to their dead Lord, they wrap the body in fine linen, with spices to perfume it. But what need of odours for that body did not want them, yet the affections of his friends could not with-hold them.

Observe, 2. The bearers that carried his body to the grave, or the persons concerned in solemnizing his funeral, Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus, two rich men, and two secret disciples.

1. They were rich men, senators, honourable counsellors; and so that prophecy was fulfilled. He made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death. Isa 53:9.

2. They were good men as well as rich men, disciples though secretly, for fear of the Jews. Grace doth no always make a public and open show where it is. As there is much secret riches in the bowels of the earth, which no eye ever saw, so there may be grace in the heart of a Christian, which the world takes no notice of. We never hear any news of Joseph of Arimathea till now; yet was he eminently rich, wise, and good; a worthy though a close disciple. Much grace may be where little is seen. Some gracious persons cannot put forward, and discover themselves, like others; and yet such weak Christians, perhaps, when a trial comes, shall stand their ground, when stronger run away. We read of none of the apostles at Christ’s funeral; fear had chased them away, though they professed a readiness to die with Christ: But Joseph and Nicodemus appear boldly for him.

Let it be a caution to strong Christians, neither to glory in themselves nor to glory over the weak. If God desert the strong, and assist the weak, the feeble shall be as David, and the strong as tow.

Observe, 3. The mourners that followed the hearse; namely, the women that followed him out of Galilee, and particularly the two Maries: A very poor train of mourners, a few sorrowful women. Others are attended to their graves by their relations and friends; but Christ’s disciples were all scattered, and afraid to own him either dying or dead. Our blessed Lord affected no pomp or gallantry in his life, and it was no way suitable either to the end or manner of his death. Humiliation was designed in his death, and his burial was the lowest degree of his humiliation.

Observe, 4. The grave or sepulchre in which they buried him; it was in a garden. As by the sin of the first Adam we were driven out of the garden of pleasure, the earthly paradise; so by the sufferings of the second Adam, who lay buried in a garden, we may hope for an entrance into the heavenly paradise. It was in a sepulchre hewn out of a rock; that so his enemies might have no occasion to cavil, and say, that his disciples stole him away by secret holes, or unseen passages under ground. And it was in a new sepulchre, in which never any man was laid, lest his adversaries should say, it was some other that was risen, or that he rose from the dead by touching some other corpse.

Observe, 5. The manner of our Lord’s funeral, hastily, openly, decently celebrated. It was done in haste, by reason of the straits of time, the preparation for the passover caused them to be very expeditious; the sabbath was approaching, and they lay all business aside to prepare for that.

Learn hence, How much it is our duty to dispatch our wordly business as early as we can towards the end of the week, that we may be the better prepared to sanctify the Lord’s day, if we live to enjoy it. We ought to remember that day before it comes, and to sanctify it when it is come.

Again, Our Lord was buried openly, as well as hastily; all persons had liberty to be spectators, that none might object there was any fraud or deceit used in or about his burial. He was also interred decently, his body wrapt in fine linen, and perfumed with odours, according to the Jewish custom, which used not to unbowel, but embalm, their dead.

Observe, 6. The reason why our Lord was buried, seeing he was to rise again in as short a time as other men lie by the walls; and had his dead body remained a thousand years unburied, it could have seen no corruption, having never been tainted with sin. Sin is the cause of the body’s corruption; it is sin that makes our bodies stink worse than carrion when they are dead. A funeral then was not necessary for Christ’s body, upon the same accounts that it is necessary for ours.

But, 1. He was buried to declare the certainty of his death, and the reality of his resurrection; and for his reason did God’s providence order it, that he should be embalmed to cut off all pretensions. For in this kind of embalming, his mouth, his ears and his nostrils, were all filled with spices and odours, so that there could be no latent principle of life in him; being thus buried, then, declares him to be certainly dead.

2. He was buried to fulfil the types and prophecies that went before concerning him. Jonas’s being three days and three nights in the belly of a whale was a type of Christ’s being three days and three nights in the heart of the earth; and the prophet Isaiah said, He made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death. Isa 53:9. Pointing, by that expression, at this tomb of Joseph’s, who was a rich man; and the scripture cannot be broken.

3. He was buried to complete his humiliation; They have brought me to the dust of death, says David, a type of Christ. This was the lowest step he could possibly descend in his abased state; lower he could not have been laid, and so low his blessed head must be laid, else he had not been humbled to the lowest.

4. He went into the grave, that he might conquer death in its own territories and dominions. Christ’s victory over the grave causes his saints to triumph and sing; O grave, where is thy destruction? Our blessed Lord has perfumed the bed of the grave by his own lying in it: So that the pillow of down is not so soft to a believer’s head, as a pillow of dust.

Observe, lastly, Of what use the doctrine of Our Lord’s burial may be unto us.

1. For instruction; here we see the amazing depths of Our Lord’s humiliation. From what, to what his love brought him; even from the bosom of his Father, to the bosom of a grave. Now the depth of his humiliation shows us the fulness and sufficiency of his satisfaction as well as the heinousness of our transgression.

2. For consolation against the fears of death and the grave. The grave received Christ, but could not retain him. Death swallowed him up, as the fish did Jonas, but quickly vomited him up again; so shall it fare with Christ mystical as it did with Christ personal; the grave could not long keep him, it shall not forever keep us; as his body rested in hope, so shall ours also; and though they see corruption, which they did not, yet shall they not always lie under the power of corruption. In a word, Christ’s lying in the grave, has changed and altered the nature of the grave; it was a prison before, a bed of rest now; a loathsome grave before, a perfumed bed now. He whose head is in heaven, and need not fear to put his foot into the grave.-Awake and sing, thou that dwelleth in dust, for the enmity of the grave is slain by Christ.

3. For imitation; let us study and endeavour to be buried with Christ, in respect of our sins: I mean, Buried with him into death. Rom 6:4. Our sins should be as a dead body, in several respects.

Are dead bodies removed far from the society of men? So should our sins be removed far from us. Dead bodies in the grave spend and consume away by little and little; So should our sins daily.

Will dead bodies grow every day more and more loathsome to others? So should our sins be to ourselves.

Do dead boodies wax out of memory, and are quite forgotten? So should our sins, in respect of any delight that we take in remembering of them. We should always remember our sins to our humiliation; but never think or speak of them with the least delight or satisfaction; for this, in God’s account, is a new comission of them, and lays us under an additional guilt.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [CXXXIII. D. Jesus Found to Be Dead].

CXXXIII. THE CRUCIFIXION. Subdivision D. JESUS FOUND TO BE DEAD. HIS BODY \line BURIED AND GUARDED IN THE TOMB. aMATT. XXVII. 57-66; bMARK XV. 42-47; cLUKE XXIII. 50-56; dJOHN XIX. 31-42.

d31 The Jews therefore, because it was the Preparation, that the bodies should not remain on the cross upon the sabbath (for the day of that sabbath was a high day), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. [According to rabbinical writing a few hours before the Sabbath were called the Preparation; but afterwards the term was applied to the entire day preceding the Sabbath. The Romans left the bodies of criminals hanging upon the cross until beasts and birds of prey, or putrefaction, removed them. But the Jewish [733] law forbade that a body should hang over night; for a dead body was accursed, and so the day following might be polluted by the curse which attached to it ( Deu_21:23, Jos_8:29, Jos_10:26; Jos. Wars iv. 5. 2). The context suggests that the Jews had grown lax with regard to this law on account of the trouble of obtaining the consent from the Romans required to carry it out. But as the Sabbath in this instance was that of the passover week, and as they were ready enough to do anything to show that Jesus was an extraordinary criminal, they asked Pilate that their law might be observed. Instead of killing the criminals, they broke their legs, which rendered recovery impossible, since putrefaction almost immediately set it.] 32 The soldiers therefore came, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with him: 33 but when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: 34 howbeit one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side [to insure death in case they might be mistaken], and straightway there came out blood and water. 35 And he that hath seen hath borne witness, and his witness is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye also may believe. [Many able men have argued learnedly that this flow of blood and water was evidence that Jesus died of a ruptured, or literally broken, heart; but they confess themselves involved in difficulties, for it is hard to reconcile the idea that Jesus died a voluntary death with the idea that he died of any natural cause whatever. Can anything be at once natural and supernatural? However, John's asservation that he was an eye-witness of this shows that he attached importance to it. To him the body of Jesus gave evidence that it differed from other dead bodies. We enter with hesitancy the realm of symbolism, knowing how flagrantly it is abused, but we offer this as a suggestion. Jesus died for our sins, and his death was therefore to provide a means for the cleansing of sin. But, under the terms of his gospel, sins are visibly and physically washed away by water, and invisibly and spiritually by blood ( Heb_10:22). Now, since both these means were seen [734] by a faithful witness to issue from the side of our crucified Lord, contrary to the ordinary law and course of nature, we have additional reason to believe that things out of the course of nature, namely, the cleansing of sin, etc., were accomplished by his crucifixion.] 36 For these things came to pass, that the scripture might be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. [ Psa_34:20.] 37 And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced. [ Zec_12:10. Even after his death divine power went on fulfilling the prophecies concerning Jesus. He hangs upon the cross as one of a group of three, yet, in the twinkling of an eye, he is separated from the other two by the fulfillment of a brace of prophecies which point him out as the chosen of God.] 38 And after these things bwhen even was now come, because it was the Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, cbehold, athere came a rich man from Arimathaea, ca city of the Jews, anamed Joseph, bof Arimathaea, cwho was a councillor, bof honorable estate, ca good and righteous man 51 (he had not consented to their counsel and deed), bwho also himself was looking for the kingdom of God; awho also himself was Jesus' disciple: dbeing a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews [ Joh_12:42, Joh_12:43], a58 this man bboldly went in unto Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. dasked of Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus [Joseph's town has been variously identified with Ramleh in Dan, Ramathaim in Ephraim ( 1Sa_1:1), and Ramah in Benjamin ( Mat_2:18). It was a fulfillment of prophecy that the one who buried Jesus should be rich ( Isa_53:9). It is strange that those who were not afraid to be disciples were afraid to ask for our Lord's body, yet he who was afraid to be a disciple feared not to do this thing]: b44 And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead [instances are cited where men lived one whole week upon the cross, and men rarely died the first day]: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while [735] dead. 45 And when he learned it of the centurion, aThen Pilate bgranted the corpse to Joseph. acommanded it to be given up. dand Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took away his body. 39 And there came also Nicodemus, he who at the first came to him by night [ Joh_3:2], bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. [Myrrh was a resin and the aloe was pulverized wood. Both were aromatic-- Psa_45:8.] a59 And Joseph bbought a linen cloth [a sindon--see Act_5:6. The spices were wrapped between the folds of the linen in order to partially embalm the body. Thus two members of the Sanhedrin unite to bury Jesus, each showing his reverence in his own way: Joseph by buying a sindon instead of cheaper cloth, and Nicodemus by a wonderful wealth of spices--twelve hundred ounces. Possibly the heart of Nicodemus smote him for his tardiness in honoring Christ, and he desired to appease his conscience by giving the Lord a royal burial-- 2Ch_16:14.] 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden [belonging to Joseph]; and in the garden a { ahis own new tomb which he had cthat was bwhich had been chewn in stone, bout of a athe rock: dwherein was never man yet laid. cwhere never man had yet lain. [To the sindon Joseph adds the honor of a burial in his own tomb. The unused state of the tomb is mentioned to show that there is no shadow of doubt as to whose resurrection opened it.] 54 And it was the day of the Preparation, and the sabbath drew on. d42 There then because of the Jews' Preparation (for the tomb was nigh at hand) they laid Jesus. aand he rolled a great stone to bagainst the door of the tomb. aand departed. c55 And the [736] women, who had come with him out of Galilee, followed after, and beheld the tomb, and how his body was laid. a61 And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, bthe mother of Joses asitting over against the sepulchre. cand beheld the tomb, bwhere cand how his body was laid. 56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. And on the sabbath they rested according to the commandment. [As Jesus died about three o'clock in the afternoon, and as all work had to stop at sunset, which was the beginning of the Sabbath, Joseph was much hurried in his efforts to bury Jesus. The context, therefore, shows that our Lord was not completely embalmed by him. The body of Jesus might have been kept elsewhere until after the Sabbath; but because the tomb was near it appears to have been used temporarily, and the preparation of spices by the women shows that even that part of the burial was not, in their estimation, completed. This unfinished burial led the women back to the tomb early on the first day of the week, and thus brought to the disciples the glad news of the resurrection without any needless delay.] a62 Now on the morrow, which is the day after the Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees were gathered together unto Pilate [This was not the whole Sanhedrin, but members of it. When did they come to Pilate? Meyer, Cook, etc., say that the Greek word translated "morrow" precludes any other idea than it was after daylight Saturday morning, but Michaelis, Paulus, Kuinoel, etc., say that they came Friday night, and we think their view is correct. The word translated "morrow" also means "the next day." As the Jewish day began at sunset, we know of no other Greek adverb by which Matthew could have expressed the beginning of a day. Had it been the Sabbath morning there is no reason why Matthew should not have said so. By mentioning, instead, the Preparation, he draws the mind back to what we would call Friday night. It is highly improbable that the Jews would leave the tomb of Jesus unguarded for one whole night. Their gathering thus to Pilate in the shades of evening presents a gruesome picture], 63 saying, Sir, we remember [737] that that deceiver said while he was yet alive, After three days I rise again. [For this saying, see Luk_23:48), and judging the disciples of Jesus by themselves--full of all subtlety and cunning--they grasped at once the idea that the disciples could make a great stir among the people by stealing the body and proclaiming the predicted resurrection. The apostles, on the other hand, when the actual resurrection had taken place, did not learn for fifty days what use to make of it, thus showing they could not have planned a pretended resurrection.] 65 Pilate said unto them, Ye have a guard [The Greek here may be the indicative or the imperative; it is clearly the latter. If the Jews had possessed a guard, they would not have asked for one. Pilate consents to their request by saying, "Have ye a guard:" thereby fully sanctioning their idea]: go, make it i as sure as ye can. 66 So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, the guard being with them. [They sealed the stone by drawing a string or tape across it and fastening the ends with wax or clay to the surface of the rock on either side. If either seals were broken, that fact would show that the tomb was entered from without.] [738]

[FFG 733-738]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

57. There came a rich man. On the burial, compare Mark 15:42–47; Luke 23:50–56; John 19:38–42. Of Arimathæa. Its location is unknown. Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrim, who had not consented to the murder of Jesus (Luke 23:50–51; Mark 15:43). Jesus' disciple. But “secretly for fear of the Jews” (John 19:38). The death of Christ made him braver.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

This begins the account of Jesus' burial.

Arimathea

This is the name of a city in Israel. (See: How to Translate Names)

Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him

This can be stated in active form. AT: "Then Pilate ordered the soldiers to give the body of Jesus to Joseph" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

disciple

Pilate

body

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

57–66. THE ENTOMBMENT

Mar 15:42-47; Luk 23:50-56; Joh 19:38-42

Mat 27:62-66 are peculiar to St Matthew. St Mark notes the wonder of Pilate that Jesus was already dead, and the evidence of the centurion to the fact. St John mentions the co-operation of Nicodemus—like Joseph, a member of the Sanhedrin, who ‘consented not to the deed of them;’ who brought ‘a mixture of myrrh and aloes about a hundred pound weight.’

57. Arimathæa is generally identified with Ramathaim-zophim, on Mount Ephraim, the birth-place of Samuel (1Sa 1:1), the site of which is undetermined. Many authorities place it much nearer to Jerusalem than the position indicated in the map.

Ἰωσήφ. From the other two Synoptic Gospels we learn that he was ‘an honourable (Mark) counsellor (Mark and Luke),’ i.e. a member of the Sanhedrin. Like Nicodemus, he was a secret disciple of Jesus, and must undoubtedly have absented himself from the meetings of the Sanhedrin when Jesus was condemned. He ‘had not consented to the counsel and deed of them’ (Luke).

An ancient but groundless legend has connected Joseph of Arimathæa with Glastonbury, where, it is said, he built of osier-twigs the first Christian Church in England. It is with this legend that the ‘Quest of the San Grail’ is connected.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

57-61.] Joseph of Arimathæa begs, and buries the body of Jesus. Mar 15:42-47. Luk 23:50-56. Joh 19:38-42. The four accounts, agreeing in substance, are remarkably distinct and independent, as will appear by a close comparison of them.

57.] Before sunset, at which time the Sabbath, and that an high day, began: see Deu 21:23. The Roman custom was for the bodies to remain on the crosses till devoured by birds of prey:—‘non pasces in cruce corvos.’ Hor. Epist. 1:16. 48. On the other hand, Josephus, B. J. iv. 5. 2, says, Ἰουδαίων περὶ τὰς ταφὰς πρόνοιαν ποιουμένων ὥστε καὶ τοὺς ἐκ καταδίκης.… ἀνασταυρωμένους πρὸ δύντος ἡλίου καθελεῖν καὶ θάπτειν.

ἦλθεν] probably to the Prætorium. Meyer supposes, to the place of execution; which is also possible, and seems supported by the ἦλθεν οὖν καὶ ἦρεν John ver. 38, and ἦλθεν δὲ καὶ.… ib. ver. 39, which certainly was to Golgotha.

πλούσιος] He was also a counsellor, i.e. one of the Sanhedrim: see Mark, ver. 43: Luke, ver. 51.

Ἀριμαθαίας] Opinions are divided as to whether this was Rama in Benjamin (see ch. 2:18.), or Rama (Ramathaim) in Ephraim, the birth-place of Samuel. The form of the name is more like the latter.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(M) 57. And when it was evening, there came a rich man of Arimathæa, named Joseph, who also himself was a disciple of Jesus.] Mk. has: “And when it was now evening, since it was the preparation, i.e. the Friday, there came Joseph of Arimathæa, a wealthy councillor, who also himself was awaiting the kingdom of God.”—ὀψίας δέ] for καὶ ὀψίας, as often. Mt. omits Mk.’s note of time. The ἐπεὶ ἦν παρασκευή in Mk.’s source probably referred to the eve of the Passover and of the Sabbath, which in this year probably coincided. Mk., who has identified the last supper with the Passover meal, omits very probably a reference to the Passover, and defines παρασκευή as being the day before the Sabbath. Joh 19:14 is aware that the day of crucifixion was the eve of the Passover, παρασκευὴ τοῦ πάσχα. See p. 271.—πλούσιος] for Mk.’s εὐσχήμων βουλευτής. Mt. may have had in mind Isa 53:9 καὶ τούς πλουσίους ἀντὶ τοῦ θανάτου.—ἐμαθητεύθη] see on 13:52.— τοὔνομα]. Lk. also has ὀνόματι. See Hastings, DCG. i. p. 902.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When even was come. The Hebrews reckoned two evenings, an earlier and a later. The former began midway between noon and sunset, or at three o'clock in the afternoon. The latter began at sunset, six o'clock. The reference here is to the earlier evening, though the time may have been well on toward the beginning of the later. The preparations had to be hurried because the Sabbath would begin at sunset.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.