18. THE BURIAL OF JESUS Mark 15:42-47 (Matthew 27:57-66; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:31-42) 42 And when even was now come,--The time after three o'clock in the afternoon. because it was the Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,--The following day was to be a day of peculiar solemnity with the Jews, called "the great day of the feast." More than ordinary preparation was therefore made for the Sabbath on the day before. Hence the day was known as a day of preparation. This preparation consisted in food, etc., to be used on the Sabbath. It had become a preparation day by custom, and not by force of law; for there is nothing in the law on the subject. The fact that it was the preparation is given by Mark as the reason why Joseph went to Pilate and asked for the body; John states it as the reason why "the Jews" besought Pilate to have the legs of the crucified broken and their bodies taken away. (John 19:31.) The same cause operated on both the friends and the foes of Jesus, each party having, in other particulars, a different object in view. It was not the preparation for the Passover, which had already been celebrated the evening before, but for the Sabbath of the Passover week, which was a "high day." (John 19:31.) Mark explains it thus by adding, "That is, the day before the sabbath." 43 There came Joseph of Arimathaea, a councillor of honorable estate,--It is thought by some that Arimathaea, the home of Joseph, was the ancient Ramah, the birthplace and home of the prophet Samuel, about five miles north of Jerusalem. He was a distinguished man who probably held a high office among the Jews, as one of their great council or a Jewish senator. The word "honorable" here is not a mere title of office, but is given in reference to his personal character, as being a man of integrity, and blameless life. Matthew says of Joseph personally no more than that he was a rich man and a disciple of Jesus. Mark adds that he was an honorable councilor--that is, a member of the Sanhedrin; Luke, that he was "a good and righteous man" who "had not consented to their counsel and deed"; and John, that though a disciple of Jesus he was secretly so for fear of the Jews. who also himself was looking for the kingdom of God;--He was waiting and expecting the kingdom of God to come. It had not come--established at this time, for surely Joseph would have known it. Then to find the time the kingdom of God did come, one must come on this side of the cross. and he boldly went in unto Pilate,--God used this rich distinguished and secret disciple for a special and most important purpose. The outspoken male disciples of Jesus had fled, and if they had not, they had no influence with Pilate. and asked for the body of Jesus.--Jesus was poor and left no finances for his burial expenses. Joseph was "a rich man" (Matthew 27:57) and though he had not heretofore the courage to express his friendship and discipleship, he now steps forward with his finances desiring to bury Jesus at his own expense. Men who are ordinarily timid sometimes exhibit great boldness in a trying crisis. The boldness of Joseph in identifying himself at this crisis as a friend of Jesus is the more apparent when we contrast his actions with those of the other male disciples, not one of whom seems, so far as the record shows, to have taken any steps for the proper care and burial of the body of Jesus. It required much moral as well as physical courage to act as his friend when his cause appeared hopeless and when most all men seemed to be his enemies. If there had been no special appeal to Pilate in behalf of Jesus, his body would have been buried that night in the common grave with the two thieves: for it was a law of the Jews that the body of an executed man should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath. 44 And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.--Wondered if he was so soon dead. It was not common for persons crucified to expire under two or three days, sometimes not until the sixth or seventh. Joseph had asked Pilate for the body, which implied that he was dead. That he was had been ascertained by the soldiers. (John 19 33.) Joseph had learned this but it seems Pilate had not. So before granting the request of Joseph, he called the centurion unto him to ascertain whether he was dead. He proceeded cautiously. 45 And when he learned it of the centurion, he granted the corpse to Joseph.--Being informed by the centurion of the fact that Jesus was really dead, Pilate gave the body, freely, as a present to Joseph, without demanding money for it. 46 And he bought a linen cloth,--A winding sheet in which the body was wrapped. and taking him down,--The body from the cross. Jesus' enemies nailed him to the cross, but Joseph, his friend, took his body down. wound him in the linen cloth,--The cloth he had just purchased for this purpose. John (John 19:39) states that Nicodemus now joined Joseph, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. The cloth was wrapped about the body in such a way as to enclose the spices next to the body. and laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of a rock; --Matthew and John tell us it was a new tomb. It was God's wisdom that the body of Jesus be buried in a tomb where no one had before been buried. It would also prevent a false statement, after his resurrection, that some one else had been raised. Matthew tells us that it was Joseph's tomb. John (John 19:41) locates the tomb in a garden, and in the place where Jesus was crucified. The tomb of Joseph was doubtless a family vault. Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 53:9): "And they made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth." and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.--It was a large stone and so heavy that the women, on going to the tomb after the Sabbath had passed, were perplexed to know how to move it. (Mark 16:1-4.) 47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses be-held where he was laid.-- [Jesus was nailed to the cross at twelve noon, and died at three o'clock Friday afternoon. (This is the generally accepted time; others dissent from the chronology, making all the events of the week a day earlier than we have given; but we know of no good ground to dis-sent, and give the commonly accepted count.) Saturday was the Sabbath. It was a desecration of the Sabbath for dead bodies to remain on the cross during the day. So the Jews, anxious to get them down that day, besought Pilate that their legs might be broken to hasten death, that they might be buried. Touching the question, "On what day was Jesus crucified?" I do not have the least ambition to write on that subject. I do not think that salvation of any soul depends upon the decision of the question. The scholarship of the world for nearly two thousand years decided that Jesus was crucified on Friday. I think they decided rightly. The Bible says seventeen times that he was raised on "the third day." I never could count so as to make Sunday the third day from Thursday, counting both days, as we must. The scriptures say that he was buried three days or raised within three days five times. I had as soon contradict five statements of the Bible as seventeen. But when I examine the Bible and its habit of speech, I find that "after eight days" means on the eighth day; "after three days," on the third day. So when I adopt this method of interpretation I contradict none of the Bible statements save it say "three days and three nights." But a part of a day sometimes passes for a day and night in their count. So I do not think my writing or my brethren's will have any weight in settling a question that has been settled for nearly two thousand years. Let us study something practical. How can we convert a sinner?J