Matthew · New Testament · Matthew 27:57–66
Jesus Is Buried
The Story
As evening approached after the crucifixion, a wealthy man from Arimathea named Joseph — who had himself become a disciple of Jesus — went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus so that it could be given a proper burial rather than left to the common fate of crucified criminals. Pilate granted the request and Joseph took the body, wrapped it carefully in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own brand new tomb that had been cut out of the rock — a tomb in which no one had ever been laid — and then rolled a large stone across the entrance and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting opposite the tomb watching, faithful and grief-stricken witnesses to the end of the most devastating day of their lives, unwilling to leave the place where the one they loved had been laid. The following day — the day after the Passover preparation — the chief priests and Pharisees went to Pilate with an urgent concern, reminding him that Jesus had claimed He would rise after three days and requesting that the tomb be made secure until the third day to prevent the disciples from stealing the body and claiming a resurrection. Pilate granted their request, and they went and sealed the tomb with an official Roman seal and posted a guard of soldiers — and in a stunning irony, the very precautions taken by the enemies of Jesus to ensure that the resurrection could not be faked became the most powerful guarantee that when the tomb was found empty three days later, there would be no human explanation for it.
The Message
The sealed tomb and posted guard — meant by Jesus' enemies to end the story permanently — became God's own witnesses to the resurrection, ensuring that when the stone was found rolled away no one could honestly claim it was a human deception.