Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 23:50
And, behold, [there was] a man named Joseph, a counselor; [and he was] a good man, and a just:
50 – 54. Joseph of Arimathaea. The taking down from the Cross. The Entombment.
50. a counseller ] i.e. a member of the Sanhedrin, and therefore (as one of the 70 most distinguished members of the ruling classes) a person of great distinction. St Mark (Mar 15:43) calls him ‘an honourable councillor.’ Godet somewhat fancifully sees in St Mark’s description of him the Roman ideal; as in St Luke’s ‘good and just,’ the Greek ideal ( ); and in St Matthew’s ‘a rich man,’ the Jewish ideal.
a good man, and a just ] The first word describes his moral character, the latter his strict religious life as an orthodox Jew. Rom 5:7.
See the Mat 27:57-61 notes; Mar 15:42-47 notes. Luk 23:50-56
A man named Joseph
Joseph of Arimathea
1.
We have here an illustration of the slow process by which some are brought to the full acknowledgment of the truth.
2. An illustration of how the very extremity of a cause brings fresh adherents from unexpected quarters.
3. An illustration of how the true character, the real spirts and power of a man, may be manifested in a single act. (M. Hutchison.)
Joseph of Arimathea
Laid It in a sepulchre
Significance of Christs burial
The burial of the Lord is a part of the gospel. Thus St. Paul (1Co 15:4).
1. His burial was an assurance that His resurrection was a reality: for His Body was taken down by friends in the presence of foes who knew that He was dead, and deposited by them, not in a common tomb, but in a cave, hollowed out of a hillside, with a great stone rolled to block up the entrance, which was guarded by the soldiers of Pilate.
2. His burial also was the last humiliation offered to Him; for, though Joseph and Nicodemus and the women who assisted performed it as a work of piety and love, yet in it He was not the less associated with us, whose bodies must be committed to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. He was the Incorruptible, and yet was buried, and they prepared to embalm Him as if He had been corruptible. In birth from a womb, and in burial in a tomb, He was one with His sinful brethren.
3. His burial is in a remarkably mysterious way connected with our baptism. The font represents the grave of the Lord, in which, as having died with Him, we are mystically and sacramentally buried, and from which we rise again, endued with new life from Him, as He rose from His grave endured with new life (Col 2:12; Rom 6:1-4). (M. F.Sadler.)
Our Lords burial
It is strange that so few have preached on the subject of our Redeemers burial.
1. Admiring this, we would calmly reflect, first, upon the testimony of His grave that He was really dead. Those tender women could not have been mistaken; their eyes were too quick to suffer Him to be buried alive, even if any one had wished to do so. Jesus was a real Man, and truly tasted the bitter pangs of death.
2. The testimony of the grave to Christs union with us. Before me rises a picture. I see the cemetery, or sleeping place, of the saints, where each one rests on his lowly bed. They lie not alone, but like soldiers sleeping round their captains pavilion, where He also spent the night, though He is up before them. The sepulchre of Jesus is the central grave of Gods acre; it is empty now, but His saints lie buried all around that cave in the rock, gathered in ranks around their dear Redeemers resting.place. Surely it robs the grave of its ancient terror when we think that Jesus slept in one of the chambers of the great dormitory of the sons of men.
3. Very much might be said about the tomb in which Jesus lay.
(1) It was a new tomb, wherein no remains had been previously laid, and thus if He came forth from it there would be no suspicion that another had arisen, nor could it be imagined that He rose through touching some old prophets bones, as he did who was laid in Elishas grave. As He was born of a virgin mother, so was He buried in a virgin tomb, wherein never man had lain.
(2) It was a rocky tomb, and therefore nobody could dig into it by night, or tunnel through the earth.
(3) It was a borrowed tomb; so poor was Jesus that He owed a grave to charity; but that tomb was spontaneously offered, so rich was tie in the love of hearts which He had won. That tomb He returned to Joseph, honoured unspeakably by His temporary sojourn therein.
4. Now, note that our Lords tomb was in a garden; for this is typically the testimony of His grave to the hope of better things. Just a little beyond the garden wall you would see a little knoll, of grim name and character, the
Tyburn of Jerusalem, Golgotha, the place of a skull, and there stood the Cross. That rising ground was given up to horror and barrenness; but around the actual tomb of our Saviour there grew herbs and plants and flowers. A spiritual garden still blooms around His tomb; the wilderness and the solitary place are glad for Him, and the desert rejoices and blossoms as the rose. He hath made another paradise for us, and He Himself is the sweetest flower therein.
5. Sitting over against the sepulchre, perhaps the best thought of all is that now it is empty, and so bears testimony to our resurrection.
6. Yet another thought comes to me, Can I follow Christ as fully as these two women did? That is to say, can I still cling to Him though to sense and reason His cause should seem dead and laid in a rocky sepulchre? Can I like Joseph and Magdalene be a disciple of a dead Christ? Could I follow Him even at His lowest point?
1. Its first effect was the development of timid minds. Joseph and Nicodemus both illustrate the dreadful truth that it is hard for them that have riches to enter into the kingdom of God; but they also show us that when they do enter they frequently excel. If they come last they remain to the last. If cowards when others are heroes, they can also be heroes when even apostles are cowards. Brave are the hearts which stand up for Jesus in His burial. I like to remember that the burial of the Lord displayed the union of loving hearts. The tomb became the meeting-place of the old disciples and the new, of those who had long consorted with the Master, and those who had but newly avowed Him. Magdalene and Mary had been with the Lord for years, and had administered to Him of their substance; but Joseph of Arimathea, as far as his public avowal of Christ is concerned, was, like Nicodemus, a new disciple; old and new followers united in the deed of love, and laid their Master in the tomb. A common sorrow and a Common love unite us wondrously.
.
Verse 50. – 51. Joseph of Arimathea] See the notes on Mt 27:57-60, and those especially on Mr 15:43. See Poole on “Mat 27:57“, and following verses to Mat 27:60. And behold, there was a man named Joseph,….
[See comments on Mt 27:57].
a counsellor; Mark says, he was an “honourable” one; he was either one of the council of the high priest, or a member of the great sanhedrim; [See comments on Mr 15:43].
and he was a good man, and a just; he was kind and beneficent in his temper, and just, and righteous in his life and actions; a like character is given of Joseph the husband of Mary, the mother of our Lord, Mt 1:19.
The Burial of Christ. 50 And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good man, and a just: 51 (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimatha, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. 53 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 was laid. 54 And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on. 55 And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. 56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment. We have here an account of Christ’s burial; for he must be brought not only to death, but to the dust of death (Ps. xxii. 15), according to the sentence (Gen. iii. 19), To the dust thou shalt return. Observe, I. Who buried him. His acquaintance stood afar off; they had neither money to bear the charge nor courage to bear the odium of burying him decently; but God raised up one that had both, a man named Joseph, v. 50. His character is that he was a good man and a just, a man of unspotted reputation for virtue and piety, not only just to all, but good to all that needed him (and care to bury the dead, as becomes the hope of the resurrection of the dead, is one instance of goodness and beneficence); he was a person of quality, a counsellor, a senator, a member of the sanhedrim, one of the elders of the Jewish church. Having said this of him, it was necessary to add that, though he was of that body of men who had put Christ to death, yet he had not consented to their counsel and deed (v. 51), though it was carried by the majority, yet he entered his protest against it, and followed not the multitude to do evil. Note, That evil counsel or deed to which we have not consented shall not be reckoned our act. Nay, he not only dissented openly from those that were enemies to Christ, but be consented secretly with those that were his friends: He himself waited for the kingdom of God; he believed the Old-Testament prophecies of the Messiah and his kingdom, and expected the accomplishment of them. This was the man that appears upon this occasion to have had a true respect for the Lord Jesus. Note, There are many who are hearty in Christ’s interests, how, though they do not make any show in their outward profession of it, yet will be more ready to do him a piece of real service, when there is occasion, than others who make a greater figure and noise. II. What he did towards the burying of him. 1. He went to Pilate, the judge that condemned him, and begged the body of Jesus, for it was at his disposal; and, though he might have raised a party sufficient to have carried off the body by violence, yet he would take the regular course, and do it peaceably. 2. He took it down, it should seem, with his own hands, and wrapped it in linen. They tell us that it was the manner of the Jews to roll the bodies of the dead, as we do little children in their swaddling-clothes, and that the word here used signifies as much; so that the piece of fine linen, which he bought whole, he cut into many pieces for this purpose. It is said of Lazarus, He was bound hand and foot, John xi. 44. Grave-clothes are to the saints as swaddling-clothes, which they shall out-grow and put off, when they come to the perfect man. III. Where he was buried. In a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, that the prison of the grave might be made strong, as the church, when she was brought into darkness, had her way enclosed with hewn stone,Lam 3:2; Lam 3:9. But it was a sepulchre in which never man before was laid, for he was buried on such an account as never any one before him was buried, only in order to his rising again the third day by his own power; and he was to triumph over the grave as never any man did. IV. When he was buried. On the day of the preparation, when the sabbath drew on, v. 54. This is given as a reason why they made such haste with the funeral, because the sabbath drew on, which required their attendance to other work, preparing for the sabbath, and going forth to welcome it. Note, Weeping must not hinder sowing. Though they were in tears for the death of Christ, yet they must apply themselves to the sanctifying of the sabbath; and, when the sabbath draws on, there must be preparation. Our worldly affairs must be so ordered that they may not hinder us from our sabbath work, and our holy affections must be so excited that they may carry us on in it. V. Who attended the funeral; not any of the disciples, but only the women that came with him from Galilee (v. 55), who, as they staid by him while he hung on the cross, so they followed him, all in tears no doubt, and beheld the sepulchre where it was, which was the way to it, and how his body was laid in it. They were led to this, not by their curiosity, but by their affection to the Lord Jesus, which was strong as death and which many waters could not quench. Here was a silent funeral, and not a solemn one, and yet his rest was glorious. VI. What preparation was made for the embalming of his body after he was buried (v. 56): They returned, and prepared spices and ointments, which was more an evidence of their love than of their faith; for had they remembered and believed what he had so often told them, that he should rise again the third day, they would have spared their cost and pains herein, as knowing that in a short time there would be a greater honour put upon his body, by the glory of his resurrection, than they could put upon it with their most precious ointments; but, busy as they were in this preparation, they rested on the sabbath day, and did none of this servile work thereon, not only according to the custom of their nation, but according to the commandments of their God, which, though the day be altered, is still in full force: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Councillor. See on Mr 14:43. Matt. calls him rich; Mark, honorable; Luke, good and just.
THE ENTOMBMENT OF JESUS BY JOSEPH V. 50-56
1)“And, behold, there was a man named Joseph,”
ai idou aner onomati loseph) “And take note, there (was) a man by name of Joseph,” Mat 27:57; Mar 15:43.
2) “A counsellor,” (bouleutes huparchon) “Being a counsellor,” a member of the Sanhedrin, the body of ruling elders of the Jews, who sat as members of a supreme court to make final decisions on Jewish law.
3) “And he was a good man, and a just:” (aner agathos kai dikaios) “A man who was good and righteous,” good in character and righteous in his deeds, a disciple of Jesus, though of low-key-profile, Mat 27:57; It is said that he waited for, anticipated, or longed for “the kingdom of God,” Mar 15:43; Joh 19:30. He was a man of distinction.
CRITICAL NOTES
Luk. 23:50. A counsellor.I.e., a member of the Sanhedrim.
Luk. 23:51. Had not consented.I.e., had absented himself, and had taken no part in the action of the council against Jesus. Arimatha.Some identify this with Rama in Benjamin, or Rama (Ramathaim) in Ephraim, the birthplace of Samuel (1Sa. 1:1). The form of the name is more like the latter.
Luk. 23:52. Went unto Pilate.An action needing some courage, especially on the part of one in Josephs position, who, up to this, had not avowed the fact that he was a disciple of Jesus.
Luk. 23:54. The preparation.The ordinary designation of Friday, as on that day the Jews prepared for the Sabbath which began at sunset. Drew on.Lit. began to dawni.e., the phrase properly used of the natural day is here applied to the conventional day.
Luk. 23:56. Returned.I.e., to the city or to their homes in it. Spices and ointments.I.e., dry and liquid substances for embalming. The intention of the women was to come, after the Sabbath was over, to complete the embalmment, which had been only partially effected
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Luk. 23:50-56
The Last Offices of Love.With the crucifixion of Christ the rage of His enemies was spent; they had done their worst, and retire into the background, while His friends and disciples draw near, to show their love by taking reverent care of His lifeless body. Not only do His known and accredited followers come forward at this hour, but also some from unexpected quarters, who had been disciples secretly, have now the courage of their convictions and manifest openly their affection for Him who had been put to such an ignominious death. One of these was Joseph of Arimatha, a member of the Sanhedrim itself, a man of wealth, of well-known probity and piety, who had taken no part in the proceedings against Jesus. At the moment when the cause of Christ is at its lowest ebb this hidden friend comes forth, constrained by love of Him, and gives honourable interment to the body of his Master.
I. Love towards Christ gives courage.Joseph had much to risk by coming forward at this time to confess his love for Christ; he exposed himself to the enmity of the Sanhedrim, and to the penalty of excommunication by the ecclesiastical authorities of his nationwith all that it implied of loss of station, separation from kindred, and from the society of his fellows. The fear of this had already restrained him from confessing himself to be a disciple of Jesus; but now love raises him above fear. It was the violence of the enemies of Christ that urged him to religious decision; it reached a point at which he felt himself bound to make a stand, and openly to identify himself with the hated and persecuted cause. Thus does religious persecution overreach itself; it cows the timid and half-hearted, but it rouses up others to cast in their lot with what they know to be the side of God and truth. He went in boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
II. This love inspires deeds of devotion.Joseph did all that love could suggest as possible to be done. He took down the body from the cross, wrapped it in a linen cloth with costly spices, and laid it in his own new tomb. He did not employ his servants to do this work, but did it with his own hands. Love could not be satisfied with less than this. The tomb was one which he had had excavated for himself. Though he belonged to a city at a distance from Jerusalem, he wished, like many of his nation, to be buried in the most sacred spot in the land, and hence had made preparations beforehand against the day of his death. But now he gives up with great generosity, this highly valued property, and consecrates it to be the tomb of Jesus. We note from this that rich men have ways of serving Christ which are inaccessible to their poorer brethren. Josephs rank, and dignity, and wealth, doubtless disposed Pilate to listen to his petition. The Roman judge would probably have refused to accede to a like petition, if it had been presented by some poor and obscure disciple. Another might have had all Josephs love and devotion to the Master, and yet have been unable to provide an equally suitable place of burial for Him.
III. The love of one towards Christ stirs up the like feeling in others.We learn from the fourth Gospel that Nicodemus, too, came forward to assist in the work of burial, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight, and here we read that the women which came from Galilee, when they saw what was being done, made preparations for bringing fresh spices and ointments as soon as the Sabbath was past. The example of one loyal, loving disciple prompted others to imitation. They would not be behindhand in honouring the Master. What had been done in the way of anointing was amply sufficient for the purpose; but they would not be satisfied with merely being spectators of the piety of others, they must themselves assist in rendering honour to Him. To what purpose is this waste? a cold-hearted, utilitarian world might ask; but every loving heart knows that nothing is wasted which is given out of love to Christ.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Luk. 23:50-56
Luk. 23:50. A good man and a just.St. Luke names the more comprehensive quality first; for every good man is also just, while not all just men are good.
A good man, and a just.Each evangelist describes Joseph in his own way. St. Lukes words correspond to the Greek ideal of character ( ): St. Mark speaks of him as an honourable counsellorthe Roman ideal: St. Matthew as a rich manthe Jewish ideal.Godet.
Luk. 23:51. The counsel and deed.I.e., he had not consented to the sentence passed on Jesus, nor to the shameful artifices by which the Roman judge had been urged into ratifying the sentence.
Luk. 23:52. Joseph of Arimatha.
I. Joseph had been a secret disciple of Christ for some time already.
II. Now he throws away his timidity, and comes out boldly as a friend of Jesus.
III. True love for Christ cannot always keep hid.
IV. We must ever be grateful that Joseph gave Jesus such noble burial.
V. Yet, after all, his love blossomed out too late.He ministered, not to this living, but to the dead Christ. He discipleship was incomplete.Miller.
Luk. 23:53. The Sepulchre.
I. Christ touched life at every point.He began at infancy and ended at the grave. There is no path on which His holy footprints are not seen. Why should we dread the grave, since Jesus has lain in it?
II. He lay in a borrowed grave.His friends provided it. Another mark of His deep humiliation.
III. How hopeless the prospect seemed!Jesus was buried; the disciples were scattered. The grave seemed to be the tomb of all their hopes. And yet it was simply the lowly gateway to honour and glory. So no hopes perish when a Christian is buriedjust beyond is glory.Ibid.
Luk. 23:54. The Sabbath drew on.What different feelings would fill the minds
(1) of those who had slain Jesus; Luk. 23:55. Beheld the sepulchre.I.e., they followed those who carried Jesus to the grave, and took notice of the place, with the intention of returning after the Sabbath was over to complete the embalming which had been hastily begun. Though Christ had foretold His resurrection, yet, as the words of the penitent thief imply, a glorious reappearance of the Saviour after death was expected, at least by some of His followers, but not the rising again of the body which was laid in the tomb.
Luk. 23:56. Rested the Sabbath day.These words reveal the pious and humble fidelity of these Jewish women to the law of the Sabbath. It may be said that this Sabbath was the last of the Old Covenant, which came to a close with the death of Christ. It was scrupulously respected by all those who, unconsciously, were about to inaugurate the New.Godet.
Butlers Comments
SECTION 3
Interred (Luk. 23:50-56)
50 Now there was a man named Joseph from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, 51who had not consented to their purpose and deed, and he was looking for the kingdom of God. 52This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud, and laid him in a rock-hewn tomb, where no one had ever yet been laid. 54It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning. 55The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and saw the tomb, and how his body was laid; 56then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.
On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
Luk. 23:50-52 Compassion: The fact of Jesus death is of such importance we here summarize the gospels testimony to it:
a.
He gave up His spirit (Joh. 19:30).
b.
The centurion stood facing Him and saw that He had breathed His last (Mar. 15:39).
c.
The soldiers came to break His legs but saw that He was already dead (Joh. 19:33).
d.
John saw Him die and claims to be an eyewitness (Joh. 19:35).
e.
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus knew He was dead, Mat. 27:57 ff., Joh. 19:39, two council members of the Jewish Sanhedrin.
f.
Pilate made sure by questioning the centurion that Jesus was dead (Mar. 15:44-45).
g.
Joseph and Nicodemus put His body in a tomb and rolled a stone against the door (Mat. 27:59 ff,; Mar. 15:46 ff.; Luk. 23:50 ff.; Joh. 19:38 ff.)
Josephs home town, Arimathea, was fifteen miles east of Joppa. Joseph was a rich man, indicated by the fact that he had a tomb hewn for himself out of solid rock. He was a respected member of the Sanhedrin (Mar. 15:43) and was looking for the kingdom of God. This undoubtedly infers he believed the prophets of the Old Testament and believed Jesus was the fulfillment of them. He was a good man (Luk. 23:50-51) who had voted contrary to the Sanhedrins sentence of death for Jesus. G. Campbell Morgan notes: It is an interesting fact that on that day, when He was dead, those who cared for His final burial were secret disciples. . . . In the hour of crisis, it is often some loud-voiced Peter who says, Though all forget Thee, yet will not I, who fails, while the secret disciples suddenly gain courage. It was Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, men who loved, and men who believed in the coming of the kingdom, who buried Jesus. No hand but the hand of love ever touched the dead body of Jesus. Those who loved and believed Him took Him down from the cross, and put His body in a grave they provided. It was those who loved Him and believed Him who anointed His body with spices. God would not give the body of His Son to the pagans or the Jewish rulers to desecrate further.
Luk. 23:53-56 Crypt: Just down the slope west from Gordons Calvary is a garden. At the north end is a rock wall with an opening. One must stoop to enter. There is a runway there where a large round stone might be moved back and forth. Within the opening is a room, nine or ten feet square. There is a ledge on the east side of the room just large enough to hold a human body for burial. Many scholars believe this is the actual tomb of Joseph where Jesus body was interred. It does seem to fit every specification of the scriptural account. Note the following:
a.
He was buried in a tomb no one else occupied ever before.
b.
One hundred litras (80 lbs. U.S.) of burial spices were used.
c.
There was no time for hired mourners or the other customary rites of Jewish burial at the home.
d.
The body was wrapped limb by limb with spices sprinkled profusely upon each bandage.
e.
The body was not carried on a bier to the grave as was customary.
f.
Everything was hurried and without ceremony.
g.
It was in a rich mans tomb (fulfillment of Isa. 53:9).
h.
His body did not see corruption (decay) according to prophecy also (Psa. 16:10).
Because it was late Friday evening, and the sabbath began at sundown, the women (those who had come with Jesus from Galilee) simply followed Joseph and Nicodemus to the tomb to make certain they could find it after the Sabbath to anoint it with spices. Luke says, they saw the tomb, and how his body was laid . . . then they returned to the city to prepare spices and ointments. This is significant. There have been many theories attempting to explain away the testimony of the empty tomb where the dead body of Jesus had been interred. These are attempts to deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus. One of those theories is that the women got lost on their return to the garden, after sabbath, and came to a tomb which was empty, but it was not the tomb where Jesus had been buried. The information Luke recorded was that the women took dangerous but exacting measures to be certain they would not return to the wrong tomb. In light of Lukes record which, according to his own preface (Luk. 1:1-4), was written only after the most extensive accumulation of eyewitnessed testimony, it seems ludicrous to try to explain the empty tomb by theorizing these women went to the wrong tomb!
Now the enemies of God have done their utmost. The pretended ruler of this world thinks he has devoured the man-child (cf. Rev. 12:1-6). If God is to be dethroned, this will be the hour, for His Son has been put to death and buried. The greatest power-confrontation of all time has come to a head. The battle has been fought! But who is victor? Not Satan. He has, in fact, sealed his own doom. He has suffered final and absolute defeat. He has been cast out (Joh. 12:31), destroyed (Heb. 2:14-15), judged (Joh. 16:11), and bound (Mat. 12:29, etc.). Death has no power over Jesus (Joh. 14:30)it cannot hold Him! His followers will go to the tomb to see Him but they will be told they are seeking the living among the dead! God is victor! He took the worst the devil could ever do to both God and man, the death of the Son of God and man, and made it the justification of both God and man!
We cannot here continue commenting on the meaning of the death of Christ. That remains for the epistles of the New Testament. The purpose of the gospel records was simply to document the facts of His death as written testimonies of eyewitnesses. It is nothing short of supernatural that those who wrote these gospel accounts, some twenty years after the events, did not indulge in expansive interpretations of the facts they recorded. It should be considered proof that the gospels were written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that they do not regale the reader with interpretations of events as most human reporters do.
STUDY STIMULATORS:
1.
What kind of pressures would Pilate be under that would make him want to appease a vanquished Jewish hierarchy? Didnt Pilate have freedom to override their demands if he wished? Is Pilate the only political official ever to feel this kind of pressure? How should we expect politicians to react under such presssure? How does God expect them to react?
2.
Does it appear to you that Pilate began his review of the charges against Jesus with honesty and justice in mind? Or, maybe he thought he could use this incident to torment his Jewish tormentors? What do you think? In light of unchristian human behavior, what do you think of Pilate?
3.
Why didnt Jesus talk to Herod? Does it bother you that Jesus did not even try to get Herod to repent? May we use Jesus conduct as an example to follow in certain confrontations we may have?
4.
What does the demand of the Jews to have Bar-Abbas released instead of Jesus show about their purposes and relation to Gods Word?
5.
What does the scripture say about those who violate their own conscience? (cf. Rom. 2:12-16; Rom. 14:1-23; 1Co. 10:23-30). Is that what Pilate did?
6.
What is your reaction to Jesus compassionate warning to the women of Jerusalem as He, Himself, was being abused on the way to Calvary? Could you be like Him in such circumstances? Are you supposed to be?
7.
What do you think of the method of execution by crucifixion? Do you think it had a deterrent-value? Is execution necessarily supposed to be humane? Is crucifixion any less humane than Jewish death by stoning?
8.
When Jesus prayed for the forgiveness of those crucifying Him, did God answer His prayer? When? How?
9.
Where is Paradise? When did Jesus go there? Is that where all believers go after death?
10.
How could a secret disciple of Jesus like Joseph of Arimathea get such courage to ask Pilate for the body of Jesus and bury it in his own tomb? What had he done at the Jewish trials of Jesus? Why? Should Joseph have done more in Jesus defense?
11.
What is significant about all the documented details of Jesus death and burial? Did Jesus really die? What if He did not?
12.
What about the importance of the women seeing where He was buried?
Appleburys Comments
The Burial of Jesus Luk. 23:50-56 And behold, a man named Joseph, who was a councilor, a good and righteous man 51 (he had not consented to their counsel and deed), a man of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews, who was looking for the kingdom of God: 52 this man went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 And he took it down, and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb that was hewn in stone, where never man had yet lain. 54 And it was the day of the Preparation, and the sabbath drew on. 55 And the women, who had come with him out of Galilee, followed after, and beheld the tomb, and how his body was laid. 56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.
And on the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
Comments
a man named Joseph.Another man named Joseph had watched over Jesus in His infancy. Now this good and righteous man who was looking for the kingdom of God boldly identified himself with Him in His death. That took courage. But Joseph had not consented to this wicked deed; he had agreed with Pilate and the centurion that Jesus was innocent. It is true that he had been a secret disciple (Joh. 19:38), but he could no longer remain so. He asked Pilates permission to take the body of Jesus from the cross. He prepared it for burial and laid it in his own new tomb.
Nicodemus, the inquiring Pharisee whom Jesus taught the lesson of the New Birth, the bold defender of Jesus who was being condemned by all his colleagues, brought spices and helped Joseph with the burial. See Joh. 3:1-5; Joh. 7:50; Joh. 19:39-41.
And it was the day of Preparation.That is, Friday, for the sabbath was about to begin. The women had only time enough to prepare the spices before sundown. They rested on the sabbath and came early on the first day of the week to complete their sorrowful task.
Summary
The Jews agreed that Jesus should be put to death because, as they said, He was guilty of blasphemy. But they knew that such a charge would mean nothing to Pilate. What could they say to the governor that would get him to consent to the death of Jesus? He was perverting the nation of the Jews! That would do it, for the governor had to keep peace. But just to make sure, they added two more charges, forbidding to give tribute to Caesar and saying that He was a king. Questions
1.
Why did the Jews change their charge when they brought Jesus before the governor?
2.
What are the three charges which they presented before Pilate?
3.
What evidence could they present to support them?
4.
What was Pilates verdict after examining Jesus?
5.
Why did he send Him to Herod?
6.
What was the attitude of Herod when he saw Jesus?
7.
What examination of the charges did he make?
8.
What was the verdict of Herod?
9.
Why did he and Pilate become friends at that time?
10.
What plan did Pilate use to attempt to get the people to agree to the release of Jesus?
11.
When did the people reverse the decision made at the trial?
12.
Who was Simon of Cyrene? What did he do?
13.
What was to happen to the Daughters of Jerusalem?
14.
What does Calvary mean? Golgotha?
15.
What did Jesus mean by His prayer: Father forgive them?
16.
Why did He say to the thief, Today you will be with me in Paradise?
17.
Where are the dead awaiting the resurrection?
18.
What is the significance of Jesus using the words of Psa. 22:1?
19.
How does Paul explain the reason for the death of Christ?
20.
What was unfair about the remark, He saved others, but he cant save himself?
21.
Why was the sign over the cross written in three languages?
22.
Why did Pilate refuse to change what he had written?
23.
What made the difference between the death of Jesus and that of two who were crucified with Him?
24.
What proof is there that Jesus actually died?
25.
What are the two statements of the centurion? What do they mean?
26.
Who was Joseph of Arimathea?
27.
What had been his attitude toward Jesus?
28.
Why did he ask Pilate for the body?
29.
Who helped him?
30.
On what day was Jesus buried?
(50-56) Behold, there was a man named Joseph.See Notes on Mat. 27:57-61; Mar. 15:42-47. St. Luke agrees with St. Mark in calling him a counsellor, but the epithets, good man and just, are peculiar to him. The adjective for good is not often applied to persons in the New Testament. In Act. 11:24 it is used of Barnabas; in Rom. 5:7 it represents a higher excellence than that of the man who is simply just.
‘And behold, a man named Joseph, who was a councillor, a good and righteous man,’
Here Joseph is describe in language reminiscent of Luk 2:25; Luk 2:36-37. Both at the beginning and the end of His life Jesus is borne witness to by the righteous in Israel. It is a shining reminder that within the corrupted nation were those whose lives were still lived before God. He ‘was a councillor’. He had his place on the Sanhedrin. And yet he was also good and righteous. God had His representatives in high places, as well as low.
A Man Called Joseph (23:50-53).
But there was one man who acted positively. He had been present when the Sanhedrin met, but he had not agreed with their verdict, and had given his vote against them. Perhaps he now felt that he should have done more. But he would not have realised then how easily Pilate could be made to cave in. He was a good and righteous man, looking for the Kingly Rule of God, and while he had been unable to prevent this terrible deed at least he now felt that he could ensure that Jesus had a decent and worthy burial. And bravely, for association with a condemned criminal would certainly be frowned on, he went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, a request that Pilate granted. And wrapping it in a linen cloth he laid it in a new tomb that had never been used before.
The importance of this incident is that it prepares for the later description of the empty tomb and emphasises its significance. Jesus’ body was not just put anywhere. It was reverently laid in a tomb that could at the time be clearly identified. Thus when it was gone, and no one (apart from the angels) was able to say where, there was no doubt of what it indicated. He truly had risen.
Analysis.
a b He had not consented to their counsel and deed (Luk 23:51 a).
c A man of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews, who was looking for the Kingly Rule of God (Luk 23:51 b).
b This man went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus (Luk 23:52).
a And he took it down, and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb that was hewn in stone, where never man had yet lain (Luk 23:53).
Note that in ‘a’ Joseph is a good and righteous man suitable to see to the burial of Jesus, and in the parallel He buries Him in an unused tomb, fit to receive what has been offered to God and is holy. God ensures that all is pure in the burial of Jesus. In ‘b’ he was a man who was free from any part in the death of Jesus, but in the parallel rather seeks to show that he is for Him and will care for Him in His death. And centrally in ‘c’ he is a Jew who is seeking the Kingly Rule of God. Jesus is in safe hands.
The burial of Jesus:
v. 50. And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counselor; and he was a good man, and a just.
v. 51. (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.
v. 52. This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.
v. 53. And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulcher that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid.
v. 54. And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on.
v. 55. And the women also, which came with Him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulcher, and how His body was laid.
v. 56. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath-day according to the commandment.
See Mat 27:57-61; Mar 15:42-47. The hearts of the apostles failed them in this great emergency; they were hidden away behind locked doors. But other men that had been timid heretofore, boldly came to the front. One of these was Joseph of Arimathea, the home of Samuel, 1Sa 1:1-19. He was a counselor, a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, a noble and just man, possessing all the virtues which commended him to the confidence of his fellow citizens. Luke hastens to add that this counselor had not assented to the counsel and deed of the Sanhedrin in condemning Jesus to death, either by refusing to appear at the mockery which they called a trial, or by withholding his vote at the time when the rest clamored for the condemnation. He was a disciple of Jesus, waiting for the revelation of the Kingdom of Glory which Jesus had promised to those that believed on Him. He went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. And having obtained permission, he returned to Calvary, took down the body, wrapped it in a linen burial cloth, and placed it into a grave hewn out of stone which was his property and was located nearby. Haste was essential. since this was Friday, the day of preparation for the weekly Sabbath. which was about to dawn, since the day of the Jews was reckoned from evening to evening. The grave was new, no body having ever been placed there, and its nearness and accessibility were additional factors to recommend it. Meanwhile the women that had kept silent watch on Calvary under the cross of their Friend followed the little procession to the grave. The location of the grave and the manner in which the body was laid they impressed upon their memory by carefully observing the men at their sad task. And then they quickly returned to the city to prepare whatever spices and ointments they could before the beginning of the Sabbath, for as loyal members of the Jewish Church they observed all the precepts of their church-law they respected the Sabbath law as commonly understood. Note: Jesus received an honorable burial. He rested in His grave, and thereby, consecrated our graves as couches of rest. And therefore we need fear neither death nor grave, Those that fall asleep in Christ sleep in their graves, calmly and safely, until the great day of the eternal Easter dawns.
Summary. Jesus is arraigned before Pilate, sent by him to Herod, and returned to the court of Pilate, is rejected by the people, who prefer to have Barabbas released, is condemned to death by crucifixion. gently rebukes the weeping women of Jerusalem, is crucified. endures the mockery of all classes of people, accepts the penitent malefactor, dies on the cross, and is buried by Joseph of Arimathea.
Luk 23:50. A good man . He united in his character the two great principles of morality, justice and benevolence. See Rom 5:7.
Luk 23:50-56 . See on Mat 27:57-61 ; Mar 15:42-47 . Luke follows Mark with abbreviations, although with some peculiarities.
.] belonging to .
] justus , in the narrower meaning; see the following parenthesis. It is a special side of ( excellent ).
Luk 23:51 . .] was not in agreement with their decision. Comp. on Luk 23:19 ; and as to , assentior , see Locella, ad Xen. Eph. p. 209.
. ] and to the practice , the evil act. See on Rom 8:13 ; Col 3:9 . Comp. Xen. Anab. vii. 6. 17.
] , as is implied in , Luk 23:50 , Winer, p. 132 [E. T. 182].
Luk 23:52 . ] recapitulating, Khner, II. p. 330.
Luk 23:53 . ] hewn in stone (Deu 4:49 ), therefore neither dug nor built.
. . .] Comp. Luk 19:30 ; a more definite mode of expressing the , in Matthew. Comp. Joh 19:41 . In respect of the emphatically cumulative negatives, see Winer, p. 443 [E. T. 626].
Luk 23:54 . And it was the preparation day (the day of preparation for the Sabbath, ). Even here (comp. on Mar 15:42 ) no trace of a festival day is to be found in the day of Jesus’ death. Comp. Luk 23:26 ; Luk 23:56 .
] elsewhere of the breaking of the natural day (of the day light; see Mat 28:1 ); but here of the legal daybreak, which began with sunset. Not an inaccuracy of expression, in which only prevailed the idea of the beginning of the day, but according to the Jewish mode of expression, which still, moreover, gave to the legal beginning of the day, at the closing in of night , the name of , on account of the lighting of the lamps, which the natural evening made necessary. See the passages from the Rabbinical writers in Lightfoot, p. 892 f. Comp. Ev. Nicod. 12. That this mode of designation specially applied to the beginning of the Sabbath, on account of the Sabbath lights (see Lightfoot, Zeger, Clarius, Wetstein, Kuinoel, Bleek, and others), cannot be proved. The imperfect means: it would begin, was on the point of beginning. See Bernhardy, p. 373.
Luk 23:55 . .] following after, going after from the place of the cross, Luk 23:49 , to the place of the grave, Luk 23:53 . In the New Testament the word is found again only in Act 16:17 ; comp. Jer 17:16 ; Polyb. vi. 42. 2; Long. iii. 15. The meaning: “as far as down there into the grave,” is an addition of Lange’s; in is found the idea of going after.
Luk 23:56 . ] to which corresponds the , Luk 24:1 ; hence at the end of the chapter only a comma is to be placed.
According to Mark, they did not buy the spices till later. See on Mar 16:1 . In Luke there is no offence against the Jewish observance (Schenkel), which assuredly was well enough known to him, but there is a trace of the working day in the tradition which he follows. Comp. on Luk 23:26 ; Joh 18:28 ; Joh 13:29 ; Bleek, Beitr. p. 137. Ebrard on Olshausen, p. 53 f., gives explanations which are only evasions, but which are of the less importance, as in this place Luke, with his inconsequent notice, stands alone.
3. The Sabbath of the Grave (Luk 23:50-56)
(Parallel with Mat 27:57-66; Mar 15:42-47; Joh 19:38-42)
50And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good manand a just: 51(The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them:) he was of Arimathea, a city of the Jews; who also himself20 waited for the kingdom of God. 52This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. 53And he took it down and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, whereinnever man before was laid [there was no one yet lying]. 54And that day was the preparation55[And it was the day of preparation21], and the sabbath drew on. And the women also [om., also], which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld thesepulchre, and how his body was laid. 56And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day [indeed22] according to the commandment.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Luk 23:50. Joseph.Comp. Lange on Mat 27:57. In a peculiar way Luke portrays his character as that of a good and righteous man. The latter, of course, not in the juridical, but in the theocratical sense of the word. Bengel: Omnis homo est etiam , non contra. Lucas totum laudat ante partem. Whether he was the only one who in the Jewish council had raised his voice against the sentence of death upon our Lord, cannot be with certainty stated. So much, however, is clear, that he by this account is indirectly distinguished from Nicodemus, who is named indeed , but not , and who, therefore, appears to have had no voice in this case. As respects Arimatha, this city is by no means identical with Rama, in Banjamin, which appears also Mat 2:18, as Friedlieb, ad loc. asserts without stating his grounds. In all probability we must understand by it Ramathaim, in Ephraim, where Samuel was born, and which lay not far from Lydda or Diospolis. See Wieseler in Herzogs Real-Encycl. ad vocem. The additional trait, finally, that he waited for the kingdom of God, gives Joseph a claim to an honorable place in the spiritual family circle of those who are named in Luk 2:38.
Luk 23:52. Went unto Pilate.For the more particular circumstances, see Mark. According to Cicero, In Verrem, v. 4551, the Roman Procurators sometimes conferred such a favor for money. Moreover, the Roman laws also provided: corpora eorum, qui capite damnantur, cognatis ipsorum deneganda non sunt. See Ulpian Digest. 47, t. 24. That Pilate demanded no money of the rich Joseph, who did not belong to the relations of our Lord, may have had its ground in a secret joy at the speedy death of our Lord (Lange), or perhaps also in the wish to give at once a mark of his complacency to that member of the supreme council who displayed respect for Jesus, and thereby also in this way indirectly to mortify the priests, who had violently extorted the sentence of death. In this matter also, Pilate, even as in the refusal to alter the superscription over the cross, shows himself great in little things, while he, it is true, in the great matter had been, alas, only too little.
Luk 23:53. In linen.To be understood of fine sindon, a cotton stuff which was cut into strips, and is elsewhere called clean linen, because the priests were commonly clothed with this stuff. The head was wrapped separately in a of the same stuff, Joh 20:7. The preliminary costly embalming Luke passes over, probably because soon, in place of it, the anointing by the women was to come. To speak of enormous consumption of spices (Strauss), would only be reasonable, if we did not know what a lavish expenditure in this respect often prevailed in the Orient, so that according to Josephus, Ant. Jud. xvii. 8, 3, at the funeral of Herod the Great, not less than five hundred servants were required to carry the spices.
A sepulchre that was hewn in stone.If we must in general acknowledge the identity of the present and of the original Calvary, then the Holy Sepulchre is at all events to be sought in the immediate neighborhood of the place that even yet is shown as such, in the church of this name. Comp. hereupon the admirable words of Von Schubert, l. c. iii. p. 509.
Luk 23:54. It was the day of preparation, , preparation for the Sabbath, and particularly that part of the Friday which was regarded as the introduction to the Sabbath (, Mar 15:42). When Meyer says ad loc. Here also there betrays itself the absence of a festal character in the day of Jesus death is may be inquired whether, or the other side, the Jewish council on this whole day, and even at evening, would have exhibited such a restless activity if on this evening the Paschal Lamb had yet to be bought, slaughtered, and eaten. In all probability we have to understand the late Friday afternoon, between five and six o clock. signifies here the dawning, not of the natural, but of the legal Saturday.
Luk 23:55. And the women followed after.. The strengthened expression appears in this connection to intimate a following down, , even into the grave. See Lange, L. J. iii. p. 521. They accompany the funeral of our Lord as far as possible; that they, according to the common view, were also present at the taking down from the cross, and active in it, is not related to us by the history. According to all the Synoptics, they joined the little funeral train only after the corpse had been taken down and suitably wrapt around. In this work Joseph and Nicodemus had apparently the assistance of servants or friends, but not directly of the women. It is, therefore, very possible that they did not know precisely the quantity of the spices brought by Nicodemus, and even if this had been the case, love does not inquire how little will suffice, but how much it can perform. Even the view of the abundance of the manifestations of love on the part of these two men must also have disposed them to like zeal, and made the thought unendurable to them that they who yet had served the living Master with their possessions should now render no further service to the dead. The observation also that all was accomplished sumptuously, it is true, but with comparatively great haste, must have spontaneously brought up the thought to them, whether there might not be here something still to be cared for. Therefore, after the men had returned home, they remain alone, and still regard the grave for a while (Luk 23:55), going home then with the resolution as soon as possible to buy spices and ointment, but resting the Sabbath day, according to the commandment. According to the more exact statement of Mark, the spices were first bought and prepared after the Sabbath was already passed (Luk 16:1), that is, according to our reckoning, on Saturday evening, after six oclock. This is also internally probable, since the Sabbath, we may suppose, had already begun when they had returned to Jerusalem from viewing the grave (Luk 23:55). That the purchase took place directly after their return, Luke does not at all say, although he does not deny it ( ); he only intimates that they did not permit themselves to be kept back from their work of love by the strict observance of the Sabbath law. Luk 23:56 of his account is immediately connected with Luk 24:1, and the antithesis between and would properly indicate that at the end of Luke 23 only a comma ought to have been placed. Sense: After they had viewed the grave, they bought (not stated when?) spices, and rested indeed on the Sabbath day, according to the law, but when this was over they went with the (just-purchased) spices as quickly as possible to the grave.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. If it has ever plainly appeared that decisive events in the kingdom of God must serve to bring its hidden friends to light, and that a great sorrow is capable of uniting men of diverse rank, condition, and age, this then took place at the burial of our Lord. For the Eleven we here look round in vain; so scattered are the sheep that even the care for the corpse of the Shepherd is not capable of uniting them; but love to the Lord has turned women to heroines, and if even to this moment there has not yet a single voice from the Jewish council been lifted against the atrocity committed, yet it now appears that not all the members are animated by the spirit of Annas and Caiaphas. 3. The burial of our Lord constitutes the precise transition from the condition of His humiliation to that of His exaltation, and is therefore sometimes reckoned with the one, sometimes with the other. It is, with all that took place hitherto, the fulfilment of the prophetic word (Isa 53:9; 1Co 15:3-4), and in the more particular circumstances, remarkable in the extreme. A new grave receives our Lord, even as before an asss colt bore Him, on which never yet a man had sat. A grave in the rock, so strong that only angels power could open it; with only one entrance, so that the local circumstances themselves forbid the supposition that the corpse had been stolen; in a garden, so that thus, in a place like that in which sin was born, it is also borne to the grave. Thus does all concur to procure for our Lord an undisturbed repose, and to prepare for Him a glorious resurrection morning.
4. As respects the condition of our Lord during the interval which His corpse passed in the grave, we venture boldly to apply to it the word of John, that that Sabbath day was a great day. Luk 19:31. It was, without doubt, a condition of full consciousness, of refreshing rest, of the beginning of joy in company with the Penitent Thief, and of blessed hope of the approaching resurrection morning. How far we can now begin to speak of an activity of our Lord in the condition of separation, is connected with the question when the preaching to the spirits in prison (1Pe 3:19-21) took place. We believe that the apostle places it between our Lords resurrection and His ascension.
5. The Sabbath which our Lord passes in the grave is the last Sabbath of the Old Covenant. Therefore, also, His friends spend it in the sadness of those who do not yet know that the day of the New Covenant has dawned, wherein life and immortality were brought to light. His enemies embitter to themselves this their Sabbath rest with the endeavors which they use to guard the corpse of our Lord, as related by Matthew alone. It is a poetical justice that they who have so often accused the Saviour of Sabbath-breaking, now themselves finally desecrate this day. Scarcely has the day after the Friday dawned (the legal Sabbath day, that is, which began on Friday evening after six oclock), when they already come to Pilate and make their proposition to him, Mat 27:62. Not a single night will they leave the corpse unwatched, and do not rest until the guard is posted in the garden of Joseph. But by this very means they concur in the revelation of their shame, in the revelation of the resurrection of our Lord, and of the glory of God.
6. An admirable representation of the Taking Down from the Cross, by Rubens; of the viewing of the grave by the two women, by E. Veith; beautiful grave hymn: Nun schlummerst die, O meins Ruh, &c.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
See on the parallels in Lange.Joseph of Arimatha the representative of an honorable minority.Just when all appears to be lost, does the heroic courage of faith awake.The dead Saviour the centre of union between His male and female friends.Love stronger than death, Son 8:6.They beheld the sepulchre (admirable text for Good Friday evening): 1. How far our beholding of the sepulchre may be distinguished from that of the first female friends; 2. how far, however, it must agree with theirs.Jesus sepulchre viewed in the light of faith: 1. The monument of the wickedness of His enemies; 2. the goal of the Passion of our Lord; 3. the working-place of the providence of God: 4. the grave of the sin of the world; 5. the pledge of the Christians rest in the grave.The great Sabbath: 1. A feast of delusive rest for Israel; 2. a day of refreshing rest for Jesus; 3. a time of active rest for the Father; 4. a pledge of restored rest for the sinner: 5. an image of the present rest of the Christian, Heb 4:9.The great Sabbath: 1. The history; 2. the significance; 3. the admonitions of this very memorable day.The Sabbath rest: 1. Of Christ; 2. of the Christian.
Starke:Say not, If everything is thus corrupt, how can I alone live so devoutly?He that is inwardly concerned for right, must also make it known in seasonable time.There is no fear in love, but, &c.Before our rulers we must have befitting respect, Rom 13:7.Believers best and dearest treasure is Jesus.One may and should, even yet, clothe Jesus in His naked members.Hedinger:Even to the dead must we show love, and Christianly commit them to the earth.To lose ones money for Christs sake is a great gain.Through a blessed death there is a passage to the true rest, O beauteous Sabbath!J. Hall:The true Christian is not content with having others show love towards their neighbor, but he does it also himself.Nova Bibl. Tub.:This is the way of pious souls, that they are God-fearing, loving, active.Arndt:The burial of our Lord: 1. Its possibility; 2. its glory; 3. its importance; 4. its obligation.J. C. Stern:The confession of the Christian at the grave of the Saviour.
Footnotes:
[20]Luk 23:51.The words . . . should be omitted from the Recepta, and we should with Lachmann, Tischendorf, [who has, however, restored them,] read simply [with Meyer, Tregelles, Alford also. The MSS. which have tho suspected words show so many variations in writing them as to make it probable that they came from the parallel passages in Matthew and Mark.C. C. S.]
[21]Luk 23:54.B., Cod. Sin., C.1, L., have instead of the of the Recepta. The Genitive is adopted by Lachmann, Meyer, and Tregelles. Tisehendorf and Alford retain the Recepta, which, however, besides being opposed by the above-named MSS., is not supported by D., which has . As all the uncials which read the Nominative, omit the following , while those which read the Genitive retain it, there seems little doubt that Meyer is right in supposing the final to have been dropped from in consequence of the following , while , where it remained, protected the Genitive ending.C. C. S.]
[22]Luk 23:56. . .. … . And the sabbath day, indeed, they rested but on the first of the week they came.C. C. S.]
“And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good man, and a just: (51) (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. (52) This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. (53) 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 was laid. (54) And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on. (55) And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. (56) And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.”
Concerning this Joseph, the Holy Ghost hath made mention of hire to his advantage, in calling him an honorable counsellor; and though of the Sanhedrim, he had not joined them in the horrible transactions concerning the death of Jesus. So far from it, that he determined to give Christ, though crucified at Golgotha, a decent interment. See, Reader! how, by seemingly unlooked for causes, the Lord overrules things to his own glory. The Holy Ghost, ages before had said, that the Messiah should make his grave with the rich in his death. Isa 53:9 . A thing the most improbable, seeing that Christ was to die under the hands of both Jews and Gentiles, and as a common felon, and at Golgotha, a place where the bodies of the criminals executed there, lay, for the most part, unburied, and their skulls kicked about with contempt. Yet so it was. Jesus shall have an honorable burial, partly that his death, which is the life of the Church, may thereby be fully proved; and partly, that the identity of his person, being put into a tomb wherein before never man lay, may be the more perfectly known. Reader! let you and I follow in solemn meditation, the funeral of the Lord Jesus; and behold those holy sacred remains, which the grave cannot detain, lodged there for a few hours, until the time appointed for his resurrection! Never did the grave, though but for a short season, hold such a prisoner! But let us not overlook the needs be for Christ’s interment. It proved his death. It proved the truth of the prophecies. He must, as a part of his Suretyship, be brought into the dust of death. Psa 22:15 . The type of Christ implied this, and Jesus himself taught it. For; saith Christ as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Mat 12:40 . And above all, as Christ must be brought down to the dust of death, to fulfil the whole of his abasement, so from the grave it became necessary to prove the triumphs of his exaltation. In the grave Christ destroyed the power of the grave, and by his own death, the power of Sin, Satan, and Death. Read Hos 13:14 :explained by 1Co 15:55-57 ; Heb 2:14 . Here then it was, from this memorable sepulchre, the faithful in Christ Jesus were taught to look up, and behold the complete victory over death. And here the everlasting mansions of glory first clearly opened by Christ to his people. Precious Jesus! it is thou, by thy death, hast overcome death; and by thy resurrection hast secured the final resurrection of thy members.
XXX
OUR LORD’S RESURRECTION; ITS RELATION TO HIS CLAIMS; ITS CERTAINTY AND HISTORIC PROOFS
Harmony, pages 215-217 and Mat 27:57-66 We have How come to the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. The theme of this discussion is “The Resurrection of Jesus.” This doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is fundamental and vital in the Christian system, and absolutely essential to its integrity so much so, that if a man denies the resurrection of the body, he denies the whole Bible; for, if the foundation be removed the whole superstructure falls.
The New Testament teaches both a spiritual and a bodily resurrection (Joh 5:25-29 ): “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself, even so gave he to the Son also to have life in himself.” That refers to the resurrection of the soul, or spirit. Then he adds: “Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.”
That shows two resurrections the resurrection of the spirit, and that of the body. The body resurrection is literal; the spirit resurrection is figurative. The spirit resurrection is accomplished by the Holy Spirit in regeneration, that is, the soul, dead in trespasses and in sins, is made alive. That is soul resurrection. Whenever one is regenerated, he is made alive, as Paul says in Ephesians: “You hath he quickened [or made alive, that is, the soul is made alive], who were dead in trespasses and in sins.” The same matter is fully discussed in Eze 36:24-27 ; Eze 37:1-15 ; and Eph 2:1-6 . There, under the image of the body resurrection, the spirit resurrection of Israel is signified. It refers to the coming kingdom, the future salvation of the dispersed Jews; but it is presented under the image of the body resurrection. Both the literal and the figurative resurrection call for the exercise of supernatural, omnipotent energy, that is, it takes the Spirit of God to quicken a soul dead in trespasses and in sins; it takes the Spirit of God to quicken a dead body to make it alive.
But this discussion is limited to the resurrection of the body. By resurrection of the body is meant more than a resuscitation of the corpse to resume its mortal existence, as in the case of the daughter of Jairus, the widow’s son at Nain, and Lazarus. These all died again. It means to make alive, the body to die no more; in the case of the Christian, mortality puts on immortality; corruption puts on incorruption; weakness puts on strength; dishonor puts on honor; the natural body becomes a spiritual body; the image of the first Adam, who was the natural man, becomes the image of the Second Adam, who is the spiritual man, and Lord of glory 1Co 15:42-49 . Now we see the difference between the raising of the daughter of Jairus, the son of the widow of Nain, and Lazarus, and the resurrection of Christ’s body and our bodies.
But, while all these marvelous changes take place, the identity of the body raised is never lost. The body that dies and lies buried is the body that is raised, but it is changed to suit its new life. Yet, whatever the change, it is recognizable as the very body that died.
Even in the creation of man, God purposed the immortality of the body and provided the means in the fruit of life, but his access to that tree was forfeited by the sin of the first Adam; and so death reigned over the body. So access to immortality of the body was restored through Jesus Christ, the Second Adam, as Paul puts it: “Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, hath abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”; life to the soul; immortality to the body. But this, Jesus did not, and could not do, unless he himself rose from the dead.
All Christianity is an imposture, a fraud, unless Jesus himself rose from the dead.
The relation of the Lord’s resurrection to ourselves, and its relation to all his claims and to all of our hopes, is thus expressed by Paul: “Now I make known unto you brethren, the gospel which I preached unto you except ye believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried; and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures; and that he appeared to Cephas; then to the twelve; then he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain until now, but some are fallen asleep; then he appeared to James; then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to the child untimely born, he appeared tome also” (1Co 15:1-8 ). “Now, if Christ is preached that he hath been raised from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither hath Christ been raised: and if Christ hath not been raised, then is our preaching vain, your faith also is vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we witnessed of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up if so be that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, neither hath Christ been raised; and if Christ hath not been raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable. But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the first fruits of them that are asleep” (1Co 15:12-20 ).
It is evident from that statement of Paul that everything in the whole Bible is dependent upon one single fact: the resurrection of Christ from the dead.
Let us now carefully consider in order the following facts:
1. Jesus repeatedly in his lifetime predicted that he must suffer death and that he would rise again on the third day: “Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou raise it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he spake this; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said” (Joh 2:18-22 ). “For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered up into the hand of men, and they shall kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he shall rise again. But they understood not the saying, and were afraid to ask him” (Mar 9:31-32 ).
I say that he did that repeatedly. In his early ministry in Judea, we read (Harmony page 20, Joh 2:18-22 , quoted above), this one: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” That is the sign. “When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he spake this; and they believed the scripture.” It is in his early ministry that he makes that statement.
Notice on page 91 of the Harmony (this is immediately after the great confession at Caesarea Philippi): “From that time began Jesus to show unto his disciples, that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up” (Mat 16:21 ). Take a still later occasion (page 110 of the Harmony) where he is discussing the Good Shepherd, Joh 10:17-18 : “Therefore doth the Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one taketh it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” But we come to a still later instance (Harmony page 135, Mat 20:17-19 : “And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples apart, and on the way he said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him unto the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify: and the third day he shall be raised up.” Notice another (Harmony, page 145) the time when the Greeks wanted to see him: “The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it dies, it beareth much fruit. He that loveth his life loseth it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will the Father honor. Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour! But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name” (Joh 12:23-28 ). The statement of the fact just cited is, that this first fact Jesus repeatedly predicted in his lifetime that he must suffer death and would rise again the third day. I have given some proof of it, spoken at different times in his earthly ministry.
2. Let us take up the next fact. He made his resurrection the sign and proof of all his claims. See page 59 of Harmony, Mat 12:38-40 : “Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, Teacher, we would see a sign from thee [You come claiming to be the Son of God; now give us a sign]. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet: for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
3. And thus we come to the third fact. Jesus instituted two perpetual ordinances, one to commemorate his death, and the other to commemorate his burial and resurrection. On this I cite just two passages of Scripture. I could cite a great many, but two will be enough: “For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of me. In like manner also the cup, after Supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come” (1Co 11:23-26 ). The other passage is from Rom 6:3-5 : “Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” We thus see what his ordinance commemorates; and it is the third fact in the order.
4. The fourth fact is that while only Mary, the sister of Lazarus, of all his disciples, understood the teachings concerning his death and resurrection at this time (Mat 26:12 ), yet his enemies distinctly understood what he meant. Let us see the proof. While he was hanging on the cross, Mat 27:39-42 : “They that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildeth it in three days, save thyself: if thou art the Son of God, come down from the cross,” that is, “Try to prove you are alive after we kill you.” “In like manner also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, he saved others; himself he cannot save.”
5. The next fact is, they so understood his teaching that they took all necessary precautions to guard against the theft of his body, until after the third day, and thereby hedged against any false claim of his resurrection. I give the proof (Harmony page 217) Mat 27:62-66 : “Now on the morrow, which is the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees were gathered together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest haply his disciples come and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: and the last error will be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a guard: go, make it sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, the guard being with them.” That shows they understood his teaching better than the disciples did.
I have thus given five facts in their order:
1. Jesus repeatedly predicted in his lifetime that he must suffer death, and rise again the third day, though his disciples did not understand it.
2. He made his resurrection the sign and proof of all his claims.
3. He instituted two perpetual ordinances, one to commemorate his death, the other his burial and resurrection.
4. While only Mary of Bethany, of all of his own disciples, understood his teachings, yet his enemies distinctly understood them.
5. They so understood that they took all necessary precautions to guard against the theft of his body until after the third day, and so to hedge against a false claim of his resurrection.
Never was an issue more openly joined and understood. He risked all his claims and all Christianity on one fact his resurrection on the third day. His enemies accepted the challenge openly, and safeguarded against any fraud or delusion.
Let us now consider in order another relation of facts, answering this question: Did Jesus actually die, or was it only a case of swoon, trance, or other kind of suspended animation from which he subsequently revived?
The first fact is, as the record says, “He died,” that is, the body and soul were separated. All the historians say, “He yielded up his spirit.”
The second fact: To make sure that he was actually dead, one of the executioners pierced his heart with a spear, from which flowed water and blood, an unmistakable evidence of death Joh 19:33-37 .
The third fact: The centurion in charge, officially certified his death to Pilate (Mar 15:44-45 ). If a sheriff hangs a man now, the law requires that he make due report of the fact, and that is recorded as the act of the court executed; then the appointed officer signs it, then he goes and makes his first report that he has executed the man, and he is certified to be dead. So the record says, “And behold, a man named Joseph, who was a councillor, a good man and a righteous (he had not consented to their counsel and deed), a man of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews, who was looking for the kingdom of God: this man went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus” (Luk 23:50-52 ). “And Pilate marveled if he were already dead; and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he learned it of the centurion, he granted the corpse to Joseph” (Mar 15:44-45 ).
The fourth fact: He was actually embalmed and buried, and the mouth of the tomb was barred with a great stone (Joh 19:38-42 ): “Joseph of Arimathaea, . . . came therefore, and took away his body. And there came also Nicodemus, he who at the first came to him by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. So they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. Now, in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new tomb wherein was never man yet laid. There then because of the Jews’ preparation (for the tomb was nigh at hand) they laid Jesus.” Now you see that the dead body was taken down and that a hundred pounds of embalming spices, a long linen cloth was brought, and myrrh was spread on that cloth, which they wrapped around, and rolled and swathed about the body. If you find a mummy of the Egyptian days now, it has still that linen robe, buried over one thousand years ago, and shows that these spices preserve the body. There was Jesus, proved to be dead, embalmed as they would have him, in many folds of linen, and buried.
The fifth fact is that a very great stone was placed at the door of the tomb to bar it a stone so great that when the women came they did not know how they could get that stone rolled away. It was so big that a man on the inside could not have pushed it away.
The sixth fact: This stone entrance was sealed with the Roman seal, and to break that seal was death.
The seventh fact is that a guard was stationed to watch the sepulcher and protect it day and night from interference, until the third day had passed (Mat 27:62-66 ). The eighth fact: On the third day came an angel of the Lord and with a great earthquake rolled away that stone, while the guard fell as dead men (Mat 28:2-4 ). As we want the facts all in order, let us see the proof of this (Mat 28:1 ff, Harmony page 218): “Now late on the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the watchers did quake, and became as dead men.”
The ninth fact is that the guard faithfully reported the facts to the Sanhedrin, and with a large sum of money were bribed to say that his body was stolen by his disciples while they (the guards) slept. A protection from Pilate was promised, if the matter came to his ears. Let us see the proof on this point (Mat 28:11-15 ): “Some of the guard came into the city, and told unto the chief priests all the things that were come to pass. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, his disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and rid you of care. So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying was spread abroad among the Jews, and continueth until this day.”
The tenth fact is that the angel told his disciples that he was risen, according to his promise, and reminded them to meet him at the previously appointed place in Galilee (Mat 28:5-7 ). Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all tell that. And the eleventh fact is that the disciples themselves saw that the tomb was empty.
We are now ready to discuss his resurrection. I have led up to it in an orderly way, proving that he said he would suffer death; that he would rise on the third day; that while his disciples did not understand that, his enemies did; that he made that the sign of all his claims; that he did die; that he was embalmed and buried; that his tomb was guarded; that at the appointed time an angel came and rolled away the stone, and the guard fell as dead; that the guard faithfully reported the facts; that they were then bribed to say that his disciples stole him while they slept; that the angel told his disciples that Jesus was risen, and reminded them of the appointment that he had made with them, both the women and the men, and we will see about that appointment a little later.
Now we have come to the place where the tomb is found empty, and there are just two reports about that empty tomb. Nobody disputes any fact thus far, not even an infidel or Jew. The report prevails that his disciples stole his body, and reported that he was raised from the dead, and the other fact is that Jesus rose from the dead.
How do we account for the tomb being empty in which Jesus was buried? Some of the guard testified that the body was stolen by the disciples while they (the guard) slept. The objections to this testimony are manifold: (1) It contradicts their original testimony. They told the facts to the chief priests and elders. That was their testimony. (2) Their second testimony was the result of bribery, and therefore should have been thrown out of court. (3) It was false on its face, since they could not know that it was stolen, or who had stolen it, as on their own story it had disappeared while they slept; and since it was contradictory to all history that a whole Roman guard slept while on the post of duty, and equally contradictory that such a capital offense against military law should be passed over without even a reprimand. (4) It was contradictory to the state of the minds of the disciples, who counted all lost by his death and were in terror for their lives; who did not believe at this time in his resurrection, and who had not the faith and courage to preach what they knew was false; and it is contradictory to the simplicity of their character, and their own natural, unbounded surprise when apprised that the tomb was empty and to their slowness to believe in the resurrection. In a word, they had no use for a dead body. And it is contradictory to their subsequent lives and sacrifices. (5) It leaves unexplained the resurrection and appearances of the saints who were recognized by many in Jerusalem. No court in the world would accept that testimony, and no jury in the world would believe it.
Now, on the other hand, the angel testified that Jesus was risen according to his promise and prediction. But the disciples were unable to accept the angel’s testimony. They must see him for themselves; or, as John puts it, they must see him with their eyes, hear him with their ears, and handle him with their hands. As Luke has it, they must recognize him with the inner spiritual sense as he talked with them, so that their hearts would burn within them, and they must note his old-time mannerism as in “the breaking of bread.” The proof of identity must be repeated often, and for many days, and under varied circumstances, and at different places, and to different groups, so as to be absolutely infallible and all-convincing. His mother must recognize him; his unbelieving brothers must recognize him; his friends and companions for years must recognize him. In other words, just what Act 1:3 declares: “To whom he also showed himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing to them by the space of forty days, etc.”
QUESTIONS 1. What is the importance of the doctrine of the resurrection?
2. What two kinds of resurrection taught in the Bible?
3. Cite one Old Testament and one New Testament proof that the restoration of a people may be called a resurrection.
4. Cite one New Testament proof that regeneration may be so called.
5. Cite a New Testament proof that a revival of the martyr spirit may be so called.
6. In the resurrection of the body, what four things are involved?
7. What is the glorification of the body?
8. What are the five characteristics of a natural body?
9. What are the five characteristics of a spiritual body?
10. Does the change from a natural to a spiritual body destroy its identity?
11. How was provision first made for the immortality of the body, how did man forfeit that right, and how was it regained?
12. Show the relation of Christ’s resurrection to ourselves, and how Paul makes it fundamental in Christianity.
13. Cite orderly and connected proof from the Gospels that Jesus, from the beginning and repeatedly, foretold his death and resurrection.
14. Prove that he made his resurrection on the third day the supreme sign and test of his divinity and messiahship.
15. What perpetual ordinance did Christ institute to commemorate his death?
16. What other to commemorate his burial and resurrection?
17. Cite the proof that the enemies of Christ understood the test he submitted of his claims.
18. What precaution did his enemies take to guard against any false claim of his resurrection?
19. Restate the five facts concerning his resurrection in order.
20. What seven facts prove that Jesus was dead?
21. What three facts bear on his resurrection?
22. Give a summary of the discussion leading up to the resurrection.
23. What two reports concerning the empty tomb?
24. What were the objections to the report that the disciples came and stole him while the guard slept?
25. What four earth senses were employed in recognizing the identity?
50 And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good man, and a just:
Ver. 50. See Mat 27:57 ; Mar 15:43 ; Joh 19:38 .
50 56. ] BURIAL OF THE BODY OF JESUS BY JOSEPH OF ARIMATHA. Mat 27:57-61 .Mar 15:42-47Mar 15:42-47 . Joh 19:38-42 . See notes on Matt.
Luk 23:50-56 . The burial (Mat 27:57-61 , Mar 15:42-47 ).
Luk 23:50 . : introducing the bright side of the tragic picture, a welcome relief after the harrowing incidents previously related: the Victim of injustice honourably buried by a good man, who is described with greater fulness of detail than in Mt. and Mk. , a man generous or noble and just. Instead of the epithets (Mar 15:43 ) and (Mat 27:57 ), indicative of social position, Lk. employs words descriptive of moral character, leaving to serve the former purpose. has reference to the generous act he is going to perform, to his past conduct in connection with the trial of Jesus; hence the statement following: , etc., which forms a kind of parenthesis in the long sentence.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk 23:50-56 a
50And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man 51(he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God; 52this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. 54It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. 55Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. 56Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes.
Luk 23:50 “And a man named Joseph” He seems to have been a secret disciple, along with Nicodemus (cf. Mat 27:57; Joh 12:42). However, after Jesus’ death he went publicly to ask Pilate for Jesus’ body (cf. Joh 19:38). It was dangerous to be identified as a friend of a crucified insurrectionist.
As an orthodox Jew of his day, Joseph would have made himself ceremonially unclean to observe the Passover Sabbath by:
1. going into a Gentile house
2. touching a dead body
However, he may have been attempting to remove the curse of Deu 21:22-23. Usually the Romans let the bodies of the crucified remain unburied at the place of death, but because the Jews were so squeamish about unburied bodies, the Romans allowed them to bury their dead.
“a member of the Council” See Special Topic: The Sanhedrin at Luk 9:22.
“a good and righteous man” Joseph had become a believer (cf. Mat 27:57), but this phrase is a Hebrew idiom of his standing within Judaism. This does not imply his sinlessness, but that, like Noah (cf. Job 1:1), they had responded positively to all they understood of God’s will and way. Nicodemus would have been seen in this same way (cf. Joh 3:1).
Luk 23:51 “(he had not consented to their plan and action)” This is a comment from the author and his research (cf. Luk 1:1-4).
“Arimathea” The term means “height” and is apparently another name for the city of Ramah (BDB 928), which was located five miles northeast of Jerusalem.
“who was waiting for the kingdom of God” This is an imperfect middle (deponent) indicative. See Special Topic at Luk 4:21.
Luk 23:52 “this man went to Pilate” This would have made him ceremonially unclean to participate in the high Sabbath of Passover week. This would also have identified him with Jesus, a crucified insurrectionist. This was a bold and decisive act.
“asked for the body of Jesus” Normally the Romans left the bodies on the cross to decay, as a deterrent to rebellion. These bodies were the property of Rome. They were usually not given back to the families for proper burial, which was especially important to Jews. This was a special, unusual request. It was granted because of the Jewish sensibilities about dead bodies ceremonially polluting the land during the Passover season.
Luk 23:53 “wrapped it in a linen cloth” Nicodemus was also there (cf. Joh 19:39-40). They quickly prepared Jesus’ body (i.e., because of the rapid approach of the Sabbath at 6 p.m.) according to Jewish tradition. The Jews did not practice embalming as the Egyptians did, but they had a set procedure involving linen wraps and spices.
SPECIAL TOPIC: BURIAL PRACTICES
“in a tomb cut into the rock” This is another fulfillment of predictive prophecy (cf. Isa 53:9; Mat 27:66).
Jesus was not buried in the ground, but in Joseph’s family crypt. It was hollowed out of a rock cliff and would have included several burial slabs. There were many of these in the Jerusalem area.
“where no one had even lain” This phrase has three negatives! The verb is a periphrastic imperfect passive. The tomb was prepared, but had never held a corpse (cf. Joh 19:41).
Luk 23:54 “It was the preparation day” In Jesus’ day Passover was an eight-day feast (Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover, cf. Exodus 12); thus, it had two Sabbaths. This term can also refer to the normal preparations for a Sabbath or the special preparations for the Passover meal.
“and the Sabbath was about to begin” Let me quote from my commentary on Mar 15:42, “where the evening had already come”:
“Mark is the only Gospel that mentions this. Exo 12:6 has “evenings” as if there were two: (1) 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. and (2) 6:00 p.m. and later. Context implies it must have been after 3:00 p.m. (the time of the evening sacrifice), but before 6:00 p.m. (the start of the Passover Sabbath, which would have been the 15th of Nisan).”
Luk 23:55 “the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed” See SPECIAL TOPIC: THE WOMEN WHO FOLLOWED JESUS at Luk 8:3.
Luk 23:56 “they returned and prepared spices and perfumes” Although these women had seen Joseph and Nicodemus prepare and place the body of Jesus in a tomb, apparently because of the time limitations (i.e., between 3 – 6 p.m.) something of the normal Jewish burial procedures (possibly the aromatic candles or some particular spices) may have been left out, and these women were going to properly finish the traditional procedures.
See Special Topic: Burial Spices at Luk 24:1.
man. Greek. aner. App-123.
Joseph. One of two secret disciples who buried the Lord: Nicodemus being the other (see Joh 3:1, Joh 3:4, Joh 3:9; Joh 7:50; Joh 19:39). The Eleven had no part in it.
counsellor. A member of the Sanhedrin.
50-56.] BURIAL OF THE BODY OF JESUS BY JOSEPH OF ARIMATHA. Mat 27:57-61. Mar 15:42-47. Joh 19:38-42. See notes on Matt.
Luk 23:50. , a man good and just) Rom 5:7.[266] Every man that is , good, is also , just; not vice vers. Luke mentions the whole (, the genus) before the part (, the species). Paul observes the difference between these words more strictly.
[266] The man who fulfils his lawful duty towards others, and no more, is called , Hebr. . He who also confers benefits on others is , . approaches to the latter; one perfect in all the offices of piety, generous, large-minded, and a benefactor to men.-E. and T.
Chapter 56
Joseph Of Arimathaea
Some flowers only bloom at night. Joseph of Arimathaea was just such a flower. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all tell us the story of this man. Yet, there is no mention of him anywhere in the Word of God, until late in the evening of our Lords crucifixion; and there is no mention of him afterward. In so far as the record of holy scripture is concerned, he seems to have stepped onto the stage of history just after our Saviour died, did just one thing, and then stepped off the stage into oblivion.
This rich man of Arimathaea was a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, that mob of self-righteous Pharisees, that horrible Jewish religious court that had the Lord Jesus crucified. Yet, the Holy Spirit expressly tells us that he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews (Joh 19:38). Because he was a member of the Sanhedrin, because his fear of the Jews kept him from openly confessing the Lord Jesus, Joseph of Arimathaea is often overlooked, or looked upon with disdain.
We all naturally imagine that we would not have feared those men Joseph feared, that we would not keep our faith in Christ a secret thing, and that we would not remain a part of any church or religious body that had condemned the Lord Jesus and cried for his crucifixion. In fact, our proud, self-righteous hearts would quickly cast this man aside as a reprobate hypocrite, except for one thing. God the Holy Spirit tells us (Luk 23:50-51) that Joseph of Arimathaea was a good man, and a just who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. The word translated good in this particular place means ready. The word just means righteous, right, innocent, or faultless.
That sure messes things up. Doesnt it? It messes things up only if we are so foolish that we imagine that we know the heart of another and insist upon sitting ourselves up as judges before whom all the world must stand or fall!
No one around him, believers or unbelievers, church folk or street folk, no one around him imagined that Joseph was one of the Lords disciples. If he had, as proud religious men say, been put on trial for being a Christian, there would not have been enough evidence to convict him. But Joseph of Arimathaea was the right man in the right place at the right time. He was one of Gods saints, a man chosen for a specific service, brought forth to the light at exactly the right time. I do not excuse his fear of the Jews. I do not excuse his refusal to identify himself with his Lord. I do not justify his membership in the Sanhedrin. And I do not imagine that you would have done any better or any different than he did had you been in his place. I am certain I would not have behaved better.
Having said all that, somehow, when he saw his Saviour, whom he dearly loved, whom he trusted, the King for whom he had been looking, crucified upon the cursed tree, extraordinary courage nerved his spirit, and boldly he went to Pilate and begged the body of his Lord, that he might give him a proper burial. When others were cowardly, Joseph was courageous. When others showed themselves lax, Joseph was loyal. When others denied their Saviour, Joseph stepped forward to identify himself with his Redeemer and Lord. When others were reluctant, Joseph was ready.
Multitudes, like Joseph, have been emboldened by the cross of Christ to do what they would never have thought of doing otherwise. When night comes, the stars appear; and in the darkest night in the history of the world this star shined brightly.
Seven Lessons
Our great God rules and overrules all things for his own glory and the good of his elect. How could Isaiahs prophecy have been fulfilled, that Christ would make his grave with the rich in his death (Isa 53:9), except as it actually came to pass? He who was numbered with the transgressors and bare the sin of many made his grave with the rich.
When the Jewish leaders went to Pilate to have the Lords legs broken and the body taken from the cross, they did not say, We need to bury the body, and did not ask that his body might be buried. The bodies of the crucified men were thrown into a common pit to be meat for buzzards and wild animals. The bodies were left in the open to rot, until the sun had bleached their bones. There was no thought of burying the crucified felon. Even if the disciples had gotten up the nerve to have their Lord buried, they had no grave in Jerusalem. They were Galileans. They could not carry the Saviours body back to Galilee.
Red Heifer
But, back in Numbers 19 there was a law given in Israel, one of the ceremonies required by God that the Jews never kept. It involved the sacrifice of a red heifer. This red heifer offering was one of the most beautiful, intimate and intricate types of the offering of the Son of God for sinners given in the Old Testament; but it was never observed by anyone. This is what God required in Numbers 19.
And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke: And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face: And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times: And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn: And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even. And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even. And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin. And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever (Num 19:1-10).
And a man that is clean shall gather. A ceremonially clean man, one who has kept the ceremonial law of Moses, one who had no taint of ceremonial defilement on him, he shall gather up the ashes of the heifer. All that was left after the sacrifice was to be gathered by a clean man. He was to lay them up without the camp in a clean place.
What was an unclean place? An unclean place under the law was anywhere a dead body had been. So it was essential that Christ be buried outside the camp. It was essential that he be buried in a clean place. Where could such a burying place be found? God supplied this rich man from Arimathaea, Joseph, who had a sepulchre nearby, that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid (Luk 23:53).
If the Lord Jesus had been buried in a sepulchre where some other dead body had been laid, the ceremonial law would have been violated; but there was a tomb already prepared by Gods providence, where never man was laid. Joseph of Arimathaea had cut out the tomb for himself. It was to be his own grave. He had no idea, when he cut through the stone that prepared that burial place, that he was fulfilling the words of Isaiah chapter 53. He made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death. But that is exactly what he did.
There is more. The law required a clean man must do the job. You could not have found a cleaner man in all Jerusalem, as far as the ceremonial law of God was concerned, than Joseph of Arimathaea. He was a member of the Sanhedrin, one who rigidly observed the ceremonies of the law.
Still, one thing stood in the way. Joseph was a terribly timid man. He was a secret disciple. But something happened. A miracle was wrought in his heart, and Joseph suddenly became a very bold man. He went in boldly and craved the body of the Lord Jesus.
Still, there is a problem. Once a clean man touched a dead body he was unclean. That meant he could not keep the Passover. But that problem vanished in an instant. Joseph now understood that he did not need to keep the ceremonial Passover, because Christ his Passover had been sacrificed for him. The dead body he was handling was not his defilement, but his cleanness. The Lord Jesus had, by his shed blood, made atonement for his defilement (sin). The crucified Saviour had made him clean; and he could not be made unclean again (Rom 4:8).
The bodies of Gods saints ought to be treated with honour and buried. As our Saviour was buried as our Surety, brought to the dust of death (Psa 22:15), that he might conquer death in his resurrection, we bury our brothers and sisters in Christ in hope and expectation of the resurrection. As our Lord Jesus was wrapped for his burial in a linen garment like a priest, we who are his shall be buried in the white linen, priestly garments of his righteousness, as a holy priesthood (Rev 19:6-9).
Death is not something Gods people have any reason to fear. C. H. Spurgeon wrote, That rock-hewn cell in the garden sanctified every part of Gods acre where saints lie buried. Instead of longing to live till Christ comes, as some do, we might rather pray to have fellowship with Jesus in his death and burial.
None of us has ability to look upon the heart of another. The fact we do not see grace in a person does not mean that grace is not there. Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations (Rom 14:1).
Salvation is altogether by the grace of God. Our only righteousness is the righteousness he gives us in and by Christ. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to us for justification. And the righteousness of Christ is imparted to us in regeneration, by the irresistible power and effectual grace of God the Holy Spirit (1Pe 3:10-12; 2Pe 1:3-4; 1Jn 3:7-9). Just as the fallen, unrighteous nature of Adam was imparted to all men by natural birth, the holy, righteous nature of Christ is imparted to all Gods elect in the new birth.
I am not saying that the believer is without sin. He is not. Sin is what we are by nature. Sin is mixed with all we do. Sin mars our best thoughts, blackens our best deeds, corrupts our best words, and defiles our best aspirations. I am not saying that the old nature is changed in regeneration. It is not. Flesh is always flesh. It never improves. It never becomes spirit. It only corrupts, rots, and, thank God, in time dies. I am not saying that the believers works can ever be accepted before God upon their own merit. They are not. We offer up our prayers and sacrifices to God, which are accepted by him only upon the merits of Christs righteousness and blood atonement (1Pe 2:5).
But I am saying that the person who is born of God is a new creature in Christ (2Co 5:17). He has a new nature, which is Christ in you the hope of glory. All who are born of God have in them that new man created in righteousness and true holiness (Eph 4:24). Those who do not have this imparted righteousness are no more born of God than those who do not have Christs imputed righteousness are justified before God.
God knows the best time to bring forth his servants to do the work for which he has ordained them, and the best means to secure it. When Joseph was needed, the Lord God had him ready for the service he was to perform.
The sabbath was a day of rest in the Old Testament. Christ our Sabbath is our rest. We keep the sabbath by faith, ceasing from our own works and resting in our Lord Jesus Christ (Heb 4:9).
there: Mat 27:57, Mat 27:58, Mar 15:42-45, Joh 19:38
a good: Luk 2:25, Act 10:2, Act 10:22, Act 11:24
Reciprocal: Gen 6:9 – just 2Ch 19:11 – the good Psa 58:1 – O congregation Psa 112:5 – good Isa 53:9 – made Joh 7:12 – is a Joh 12:7 – against 1Co 15:4 – that Phi 4:8 – are just
3
The notes on Mat 27:57-60 are pretty full, covering the subject matter of the present paragraph. To conserve space, I request the reader to see them.
WE see from these verses that Christ has some disciples of whom little is known. We are told of one Joseph, “a good man and a just,”-a man who “had not consented to the counsel” of those who condemned our Lord,-a man who “himself waited for the kingdom of God.” This man went boldly to Pilate after the crucifixion, begged the body of Jesus, “took it down” from the cross, and “laid it in a sepulchre.”
We know nothing of Joseph excepting what is here told us. In no part of the Acts or Epistles do we find any mention of his name. At no former period of our Lord’s ministry does he ever come forward. His reason for not openly joining the disciples before, we cannot explain. But here, at the eleventh hour, this man is not afraid to show himself one of our Lord’s friends. At the very time when the apostles had forsaken Jesus, Joseph is not ashamed to show his love and respect. Others had confessed Him while He was living and doing miracles. It was reserved for Joseph to confess Him when He was dead.
The history of Joseph is full of instruction and encouragement. It shows us that Christ has friends of whom the Church knows little or nothing, friends who profess less than some do, but friends who in real love and affection are second to none. It shows us, above all, that events may bring out grace in quarters where at present we do not expect it; and that the cause of Christ may prove one day to have many supporters, of whose existence we are at present not aware. These are they whom David calls “hidden ones,” and Solomon compares to a “lily among thorns.” (Psa 83:3; Song of Son 2:2.)
Let us learn from the case of Joseph of Arimatha, to be charitable and hopeful in our judgments. All is not barren in this world, when our eyes perhaps see nothing. There may be some latent sparks of light when all appears dark. Little plants of spiritual life may be existing in some remote Romish, or Greek, or Armenian congregations, which the Father Himself has planted. Grains of true faith may be lying hid in some neglected English parish, which have been placed there by God. There were seven thousand true worshipers in Israel of whom Elijah knew nothing. The day of judgment will bring forward men who seemed last, and place them among the first. (1Ki 19:18.)
We see secondly, from these verses, the reality of Christ’s death. This is a fact which is placed beyond dispute, by the circumstances related about His burial. Those who took His body from the cross and wrapped it in linen, could not have been deceived. Their own senses must have been witnesses to the fact, that He whom they handled was a corpse. Their own hands and eyes must have told them, that He whom they laid in Joseph’s sepulcher was not alive but dead.
The importance of the fact before us is far greater than a careless reader supposes. If Christ did not really die, there would be an end of all the comfort of the Gospel. Nothing short of His death could have paid man’s debt to God. His incarnation, and sermons, and parables, and miracles, and sinless obedience to the law, would have availed nothing, if He had not died. The penalty threatened to the first Adam was death eternal in hell. If the second Adam had not really and actually died in our stead, as well as taught us truth, the original penalty would have continued in full force against Adam and all his children. It was the life-blood of Christ which was to save our souls.
For ever let us bless God that our great Redeemer’s death is a fact beyond all dispute. The centurion who stood by the cross, the friends who took out the nails, and laid the body in the grave, the women who stood by and beheld, the priests who sealed up the grave, the soldiers who guarded the sepulcher, all, all are witnesses that Jesus actually was dead. The great sacrifice was really offered. The life of the Lamb was actually taken away. The penalty due to sin has actually been discharged by our Divine Substitute. Sinners believing in Jesus may hope and not be afraid. In themselves they are guilty. But Christ hath died for the ungodly; and their debt is now completely paid.
We see, lastly, in these verses, the respect paid by Christ’s disciples to the fourth commandment. We are told that the women who had prepared spices and ointment to anoint our Lord’s body, “rested the Sabbath Day, according to the commandment.”
This little fact is a strong indirect argument in reply to those who tell us that Christ abolished the fourth commandment. Neither here nor elsewhere do we find anything to warrant any such conclusion. We see our Lord frequently denouncing the man-made traditions of the Jews about Sabbath observance. We see Him purifying the blessed day from superstitious and unscriptural opinions. We see Him maintaining firmly that works of necessity and works of mercy were not breaches of the fourth commandment. But nowhere do we find Him teaching that the Sabbath was not to be kept at all. And here, in the verse before us, we find His disciples as scrupulous as any about the duty of keeping holy a Sabbath Day. Surely they could never have been taught by their Master that the fourth commandment was not intended to be binding on Christians.
Let us cling firmly to the old doctrine that the Sabbath is not a mere Jewish institution, but a day which was meant for man from the beginning, and which was intended to be honored by Christians quite as much as by Jews. Let us not doubt that the Apostles were taught by our Lord to change the day from the last day of the week to the first, although mercifully checked from publicly proclaiming the change, in order to avoid giving offence to Israel. Above all, let us regard the Sabbath as an institution of primary importance to man’s soul, and contend earnestly for its preservation amongst us in all its integrity. It is good for body, mind and soul. It is good for the nation which observes it, and for the church which gives it honor. It is but a few steps from “no Sabbath” to “no God.” The man who would make the Sabbath a day for business and pleasure, is an enemy to the best interests of his fellow-creatures. The man who supposes that a believer ought to be so spiritual as not to need the separation of one day in the week from the rest, can know but little of the human heart, or the requirements of our position in an ensnaring and evil world.
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Notes-
v50.-[Joseph, a counsellor.] The meaning of this probably is, that Joseph belonged to the great council or Sanhedrim of the Jewish nation. The beginning of the following verse appears to prove that he was present when it was determined to seize Jesus and put Him to death, and had voted, or protested, against the decision of the majority.
v51.-[Waited for the kingdom of God.] This expression reminds us of the expressions used about Simeon and Anna. Joseph expected the Messiah’s spiritual kingdom to be set up, and believed that Jesus was the Messiah.
v52.-[Begged the body.] This expression deserves notice. It shows that Joseph believed our Lord to be dead. We are also distinctly told by Mark (Mar 15:44,) that Pilate only granted the request of Joseph on the express assurance of the Centurion that Jesus was dead.
v53.-[Took it down…wrapped in linen.] This expression again deserves notice. It is absurd to suppose that the nails’ could have been drawn from our Lord’s hands and feet, and the body prepared for burial by wrapping it in linen, without some signs of life being perceived, if life had remained in Him. To see the vastness of the miracle of Christ’s resurrection, it is essential to be thoroughly persuaded that Christ really died.
[A sepulchre that was hewn in stone.] These sepulchres were generally caves hewn out of the side of a rock, and not graves sunk perpendicularly in the ground. The common pictures of Christ’s resurrection give a most incorrect notion of His sepulchre.
The fact that the sepulchre was hewn out of a rock deserves notice. It shows that there could not possibly have been any clandestine withdrawal of the body by a subterraneous passage dug through earth.
[Wherein never man before was laid.] This circumstance is specially mentioned in order to show that no other body but that of our Lord was in the sepulchre, and that the person who rose was Jesus Christ, and no one else.
v54.-[The preparation.] The day on which our Lord was crucified was the day before the Passover Sabbath, an occasion of peculiar solemnity. Gill says, “It was the preparation both for the Sabbath and for the Chagigah,-a grand festival which they kept on the fifteenth day of the month in a very pompous manner.”
[The Sabbath drew on.] This expression is remarkable, and requires explanation. The literal meaning of the Greek would be, “The Sabbath was dawning.” But the Jewish Sabbath we know begun in the evening at sunset. How then can we explain Luke’s saying, “The Sabbath was dawning”?
Gill says, “This is so said, though it was evening, on account of the lights which were lighted up in every house at this time.”
Lightfoot says, “The Sabbatical candles which were lighted in honor of the Sabbath were now set up.” He also gives a quotation from a Rabbinical writer, which says, “By the light of the fourteenth day they made a search for leaven by the light of a candle.”
Poole says that some refer the expression to the evening star which was beginning to rise. Cocceius thinks it must mean the next morning.
Campbell says, “In all other nations but the Jewish, it was customary to reckon the morning the first part of the day, and the evening the second. Luke, who according to Eusebius, had lived much among the Gentiles and those who used this style of speaking, would insensibly acquire a habit of using it.”
Alford considers that Luke employed “a natural word, used of the conventional day beginning at sunset.”
I believe this last explanation to be the right one. “We use several expressions ourselves, such as the sun “rising” and ”setting,” which are not strictly accurate and scientifically correct. But they are the only expressions that the most would understand. If Luke had said, “The Sabbath began to grow dusky or gloomy,” no Gentile reader would have understood him.
v55.-[The women who, &c.] This verse is meant to show us, that friends of our Lord who could not possibly be mistaken as to his identity were witnesses to the fact of His burial, and actually saw His body laid in the grave. They saw the linen in which He was wrapped, and could therefore testify two days after, that the very same linen was found wrapped together in the empty tomb.
v56.-[They prepared spices and ointment.] This shows that the women were fully satisfied that our Lord was dead, and had also no expectation that He would rise again.
[Rested the Sabbath Day.] Burgon remarks, “These pious women, eager as they were to perform the last offices of love to their Lord, yet would not transgress the commandment. How blessed was the result! How unblessed would have been the impatient yielding to their own inclination! Had they presented themselves sooner at the grave, they would have been grieved by the presence or molested by the rudeness of the Roman soldiers; while their purpose could not possibly have been effected. By waiting till the Sabbath was past, they found the guard dispersed, and their Lord already risen. They unbound those limbs alive, which they had come to weep over and anoint in death.”
Luk 23:50. A councillor. A member of the Sanhedrin, as the next verse plainly shows.
Good, in moral character.
And just. In the Old Testament sense. Good is more than just (comp. Rom 5:7), but the former always includes the latter.
Luk 23:50-56. There was a man named Joseph, a good man, and a just One who united in his character the two great principles of morality justice and benevolence. The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them Though he was a member of the council which condemned Jesus, he did not join them in their unjust sentence, having either declined being present when the sentence was passed, or having remonstrated against it. This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus, &c. See this paragraph explained at large in the notes on Mat 27:57-61, and Mar 15:42-47.
Vers. 50-54. The Burial of Jesus.
According to John, the Jewish authorities requested Pilate to have the bodies removed before the beginning of the next day, which was a Sabbath of extraordinary solemnity. For though Jesus and His companions in punishment were not yet dead, and though the law Deu 21:22 did not here apply literally, they might have died before the end of the day which was about to begin, and the day be polluted thereby all the more, because, it being a Sabbath, the bodies could not be removed.
The crucifragium, ordered by Pilate, was not meant to put the condemned immediately to death, but only to make it certain, which allowed of their being taken from the cross. Thus is explained the wonder of Pilate, when Joseph of Arimathea informed him that Jesus was already dead (Mar 15:44).
The secret friends of our Lord show themselves at the time of His deepest dishonour. Already the word finds fulfilment (2Co 5:14): The love of Christ constraineth us. Each evangelist characterizes Joseph in his own way. Luke: a counsellor good and just; he is the , the Greek ideal. Mark: an honourable counsellor; the Roman ideal. Matthew: a rich man; is this not the Jewish ideal? Luke, moreover, brings out the fact, that Joseph had not agreed to the sentence (), nor to the odious plan () by which Pilate’s consent had been extorted. is the Greek form of the name of the town Ramathaim (1Sa 1:1), Samuel’s birthplace, situated in Mount Ephraim, and consequently beyond the natural limits of Judaea. But since the time spoken of in 1Ma 11:34, it had been reckoned to this province; hence the expression: a city of the Jews. As to Joseph, he lived at Jerusalem; for he had a sepulchre there.
The received reading , who also himself waited, is probably the true one; it has been variously modified, because the relation of the also himself to the other friends of Jesus who were previously mentioned (Luk 23:49) was not understood; by the double , Luke gives prominence to the believing character of Joseph, even when no one suspected it.
Mark (Mar 15:46) informs us that the shroud in which the body was wrapped was bought at the same time by Joseph. How could such a purchase be made if the day was Sabbatic, if it was the 15th Nisan? Langen answers that Exo 12:16 made a difference, so far as the preparation of food was concerned, between the 15th Nisan and the Sabbath properly so called, and that this difference might have extended to other matters, to purchases for example; that, besides, it was not necessary to pay on the same day. But the Talmud reverses this supposition. It expressly stipulates, that when the 14th Nisan fell on the Sabbath day, it was lawful on that day to make preparation for the morrow, the 15th (Mischna Pesachim, 3.6 et al.), thus sacrificing the sacredness of the Sabbath to that of the feast day. Could the latter have been less holy! There is no ground for alleging that the authorization of Exodus 12 extended beyond the strict limits of the text.
According to the Syn., the circumstance which determined the use of this sepulchre was, that it belonged to Joseph. According to John, it was its nearness to the place of punishment, taken in connection with the approach of the Sabbath. But those two circumstances are so far from being in contradiction, that the one apart from the other would have no value. What influence could the approach of the Sabbath have had in the choice of this rocky sepulchre, if it had not belonged to one of the friends of Jesus? The Syn. do not speak of the part taken by Nicodemus in the burial of Jesus. This particular, omitted by tradition, has been restored by John. It is of no consequence whether we read in Luk 23:54, or . The important point is, whether this name, which means preparation, denotes here the eve of the weekly Sabbath (Friday), or that of the Passover day (the 14th Nisan). Those who allege that Jesus was crucified on the 15th take it in the first sense; those who hold it to have been on the 14th, in the second. The text in itself admits of both views. But in the context, how can it be held, we would ask with Caspari (p. 172), that the holiest day of the feast of the year, the 15th Nisan, was here designated, like any ordinary Friday, the preparation for the Sabbath?
No doubt Mark, in the parall., translates this word by , day before Sabbath (Mar 15:42). But this expression may mean in a general way: the eve of Sabbath or of any Sabbatic day whatever. And in the present case it must have this latter sense, as appears from the , because. Mark means to explain, by the Sabbatic character of the following day, why they made haste to bury the body; it was the pro-Sabbath. What meaning would this reason have had, if the very day on which they were acting had been a Sabbatic day?
Mat 27:62 offers an analogous expression. In speaking of Saturday, the morrow after the death of Jesus, Matthew says: the next day, that followed the preparation. We have already called attention to this expression (Comment. sur Jean, t. ii. p. 638). If this Saturday, says Caspari (p. 77), had been an ordinary Sabbath, Matthew would not have designated it in so strange a manner. The preparation in question must have had a character quite different from the preparation for the ordinary Sabbath. This preparation day must have been so called as a day of special preparation, as itself a feast day; it must have been the 14th Nisan.
The term , was beginning to shine, is figurative. It is taken from the natural day, and applied here to the civil day.
CXXXIII.
THE CRUCIFIXION.
Subdivision D.
JESUS FOUND TO BE DEAD. HIS BODY
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 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]
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 Saviors eyes.
The entire constituency of salvation came out of the Saviors 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 Saviors 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!
Luk 23:50-56. The Burial of Jesus (Mar 15:42-47*, Mat 27:57-61*).Lk. tells us that Joseph had dissented from the action of his colleagues in the Sanhedrin. Pilates assent to his request is assumed.
Luk 23:53. Codex Bez adds, And when he was lain there, he put against the tomb a stone which twenty men could scarcely roll.
Luk 23:54. the Sabbath drew on: lit. began to dawn. Montefiore says the word is used of the kindling of the Sabbath lights (on Friday evening). Some such explanation is demanded by the immediately previous statement that it was the day of the Preparation.
Luk 23:56 looks as though the women prepared the spices on reaching home on Friday night, i.e. on the Sabbath. They might have come to the tomb on Saturday at sunset (cf. Mat 28:1*), but naturally deferred their task till the daylight of Sunday. If Lk. had been a Jew he would have put the Sabbath rest (Luk 24:1) before the (purchase and) preparation of the spices and ointments, as Mk. (Mar 16:1) does. Note the additional information in Luk 23:55 compared with Mk. and Mt.
Verse 50
A counsellor; a member of the Jewish council or Sanhedrim, mentioned in Luke 22:66.
23:50 {17} And, behold, [there was] a man named Joseph, a counsellor; [and he was] a good man, and a just:
(17) Christ, through his well known burial, confirms both the truth of his death as well as his resurrection, by the plain and evident witness of Pilate.
G. The burial of Jesus 23:50-56 (cf. Matthew 27:57-66; Mark 15:42-47; John 19:31-42)
This pericope is primarily transitional bridging the stories of Jesus’ death and resurrection. It confirms the reality of Jesus’ death. However, Luke included more information about Joseph of Arimathea (possibly Ramah, Ramathaim) than the other evangelists revealing his desire to inform his readers that not all the Jewish leaders opposed Jesus.
Luke presented Joseph as a member of the Sanhedrin who was a believer in Jesus. Luke did not stress Joseph’s wealth (Mat 27:57) but his piety (cf. Luk 2:25-38). Here is another indication that Jesus was innocent. Even one of the Sanhedrin members believed in Him. Evidently Joseph was absent when the Sanhedrin voted to condemn Jesus since their vote was unanimous (Luk 22:70; Mar 14:64). Not all Israel’s leaders opposed Jesus. This notation would have encouraged Luke’s original readers to view Christianity favorably. It would also have helped them realize that it is possible to believe in Jesus and be part of a group that rejects Him. Joseph’s desire for Jesus’ body indicated his intention to give it a decent burial and so honor Jesus.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
I. HE WAS A DISCIPLE OF JESUS SECRETLY. II. HE WAS LED TO BOLDLY AND OPENLY ACKNOWLEDGE CHRIST, A great trial brought out his character more clearly. When most of those who had followed Jesus during His ministry had forsaken Him and fled, then the weak one was made strong.
III. HE WAS, ALL THIS TIME, WAITING FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD. Quietly preparing himself for full development of Christian character. And he was blessed in so doing. In His own good time God revealed Himself to this timid, yet faithful, disciple. (H. G. Hird, B. A.)
I. Supposing ourselves to be sitting in the garden with our eyes fixed upon the great stone which formed the door of the tomb, we first of all ADMIRE THAT HE HAD A GRAVE AT ALL. We wonder how that stone could bide Him who is the brightness of His Fathers glory; how the Life of all could lie among the dead; how He who holds creation in His strong right hand could even for an hour be entombed.
II. WE REJOICE IN THE HONOURS OF CHRISTS BURIAL.
III. I must now pass to a third point. While sitting over against the sepulchre WE OBSERVE THAT HIS ENEMIES WERE NOT AT REST. They had their own way, but they were not content; they had taken the Saviour, and with wicked hands they had crucified and slain Him; but they were not satisfied. They were the most uneasy people in the world, though they had gained their point (see Mat 27:62-66). Christ is dead, but they are afraid of Him! He is dead, but they cannot shake off the dread that He will vanquish them yet. They are full of agitation and alarm. Nor was this all; they were to be made witnesses for God–to sign certificates of the death and resurrection of His Anointed. In order that there might be no doubt about the resurrection at all, there must be a seal, and they must go and set it; there must be a guard, and they must see it mustered. The disciples need not trouble about certifying that Jesus is in the grave, these Jews will do it, and set their own great seal to the evidence. These proud ones are sent to do drudges work in Christs kitchen, to wait upon a dead Christ, and to protect the Body which they had slain.
IV. And now our last thought is that while these enemies of Christ were in fear and trembling WE NOTE THAT HIS FOLLOWERS WERE RESTING. It was the seventh day, and therefore they ceased from labour. The Marys waited, and Joseph and Nicodemus refrained from visiting the tomb; they obediently observed the Sabbath rest. I am not sure that they had faith enough to feel very happy, but they evidently did expect something, and anxiously awaited the third day. They had enough of the comfort of hope to remain quiet on the seventh day. Now, beloved, sitting over against the sepulchre while Christ lies in it, my first thought about it is, I will rest, for He rests. What a wonderful stillness there was about our Lord in that rocky grave. The great stone shuts out all noise, and the Body is at peace. Well, if He rests, I may. If for a while the Lord seems to suspend His energies, His servants may cry unto Him, but they may not fret. He knows best when to sleep and when to wake. As I see the Christ resting in the grave, my next thought is, He has the power to come forth again. The rest of the Christian lies in believing in Christ under all circumstances. Once more, it will be well if we can obtain peace by having fellowship with our Lord in His burial. Die with Him, and be buried with Him; there is nothing like it. I desire for my soul while she lives in the Lord that, as to the world and all its wisdom, I may be as a dead man. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(2) of those who were His disciples, on this day of rest. For Him it was a day of rest and peace indeed.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Scripture
Pilate examined Jesus and three times pronounced Him innocent. When he learned that Jesus was from Galilee, he sent Him to Herod who questioned Him at length but found nothing worthy of death in Him. But the Jews pressed the issue and threatened to take the case to Caesar. When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, he ordered Jesus to be crucified.
Jesus went out bearing His own cross, but soon Simon of Cyrene was compelled to bear the cross to the place of crucifixion. Jesus tried to comfort the women of Jerusalem as they followed Him. They would sufferperhaps at the destruction of Jerusalemmore hardships later on. They would cry for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them and cover them from that persecution.
On the cross, Jesus prayed, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do. He said to the dying thief, Today, shalt thou be with me in Paradise. Just before He died, He said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.
The centurion who commanded the soldiers that executed the three looked at Jesus as He died and said, Certainly this was a righteous man. Later he said, This was Gods Son.
Joseph of Arimathea who had been a secret disciple of Jesus went to Pilate and asked permission to take the body of Jesus down an bury it. It was the day of Preparation and the sabbath was about to begin. The women prepared spices and ointments and rested on the sabbath.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
2. The certainty of the death of Jesus before His burial is raised above every rational doubt, and partially attested even by the manner of His burial. Only the modern romance of unbelief, which in late years has sought in a magnificent manner to deceive a credulous public by the publishing of quasi-ancient manuscripts out of which the connection of Jesus with Essenism was to appear as clear as the sun, undertakes to assure us that Joseph of Arimatha still discovered signs of life, and, therefore, attended the supposed corpse with the utmost care. See, e. g., Jesus der Esser oder die Religion der Zukunft, Leipzig, 1849; the Buck Jesu, Kassel, 1850. The important discoveries about Jesus manner of death, and the like, which a few years ago were circulated by thousands, now are in part already forgotten again, but in part serve even yet as weapons in the hands of the most stupid unbelief. 2Th 2:11.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)