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Author: Stephen Weller
576 words, 3 minutes read time

Jesus Is Wrapped For Burial

Scripture: Mark 15:44-46; John 19:39-40

In the previous lesson Joseph went to Pilate to obtain permission to remove Jesus from the cross. In this lesson he receives that permission.

^{Mk 15:44} Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. ⁴⁵ And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph.  ⁴⁶ And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and [he took] down [the body]. ^{Jn 19:39} Nicodemus, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. ⁴⁰ So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.

Joseph went to Pilate to obtain permission to remove Jesus from the cross and bury him as he had jurisdiction over whether a body could be buried or not. Since it has only been a few hours since Jesus was nailed to the cross, Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus may already be dead. To be sure of his death, he summons the centurion to find out and when he was told that Jesus was dead, he gave permission to Joseph to take the body.

Mark records that “Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb” (Mark 15:46 ESV). John records that ³⁹ “Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. ⁴⁰ So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews” (John 19:39 – 40 ESV).

Harmonizing these three verses we have Joseph, and probably Nicodemus, taking Jesus down from the cross and using the linen shroud that Joseph brought and the seventy-five pounds of a mixture of myrrh and aloes that Nicodemus brought, they wrapped Jesus together with the burial spices, according to the custom of the Jews, and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. To protect the body from wild animals they rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.

About all we know about Joseph is that he was a highly respected member of the Jewish council or the Sanhedrin. He courageously intended to bury Jesus before the Sabbath began at sundown, but it appears that he may not have accomplished his goal. Nicodemus we met much earlier in our study when he came to Jesus at night with some questions that led to a discussion about being born again (John 3:1 – 7).

Conclusion

Was Jesus buried before the Sabbath began? Matthew 27:57 records that it was already evening. In the next lesson John indicates out that Joseph used his tomb to put Jesus in because it was close, and they could save time thus suggesting that maybe the Sabbath had not yet started. As Jews, it would be very important that this labor of love for Jesus be completed before the Sabbath began. Please use this link to an excellent article on this.