PER362

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus place the body of Jesus in the tomb

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, two members of the Sanhedrin favorable to Jesus, bury his body on Friday, April 1, AD 33, before the Sabbath. Nicodemus brings a large quantity of spices, and Joseph provides his new tomb. Their courageous and public act, carried out according to Jewish rites, gives the Messiah's burial a royal and honorable dimension, marking their emergence from discretion after the crucifixion.

21 min Joseph of Arimathea Nicodemus tomb burial crucifixion 31 verses 8 books

Resources

You can consult:

Biblical texts

Matthew
Matthew 27.59-61 (King James Version)

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

And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.

And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.

King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org
Mark
Mark 15.46-47 (King James Version)

And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre.

And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.

King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org
Luke
Luke 23.50-56 (King James Version)

And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good man, and a just:

(The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathæa, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.

This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.

And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid.

And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.

And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.

And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org
John
John 19.39-42 (King James Version)

And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.

Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.

There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.

King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org

Technical details

Year AD 33

Place: Mount Golgotha

Date: Friday, April 1, before 6:00 p.m.

Method: We continue with Matthew

Note on the method: Mark and John also record this intervention by Joseph of Arimathea

Map of Jerusalem and its region
Friday bar graph

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus respectfully lay the body of the Messiah Jesus in the tomb.

Chronological details, according to our conclusions:

_25 From about noon until 3 p.m., there is darkness over the region of Jerusalem. Matthew 27.45 ; Mark 15.33 ; Luke 23.44.

_26 Death on the cross takes place on Friday, April 1, AD 33, around 3 p.m., according to the Gospels. It occurs before the end of this extraordinary night. The three days and three nights begin with this night, as the Jewish calendar requires.

_27 The burial is thought to take place around 5 p.m., while it is still daylight. It is still Friday, which ends around 6 p.m. for the Jews. The normally begins a little earlier, around 5:50 p.m. Everything is finished by the time the begins. Matthew 27.57-61 ; Mark 15.42-47 ; Luke 23.50-56 ; John 19.31-42.

You can consult the complete chronology in the study ANN026 : The hour of the crucifixion.

Commentary:

1- Nicodemus: a sympathizer in the shadows

The Johannine account reveals a second member of the favorable to Jesus: Nicodemus. This influential had met the Master by night, about two years earlier, for a theological conversation that has remained famous in Christian tradition. The words of Jesus — “You must be born again” — had deeply marked Nicodemus, opening a reflection on spiritual regeneration as a condition for entering the Kingdom of God. (John 19.39 ; John 3.1-7)

2- A gradual conviction despite the surrounding hostility

Nicodemus recognized in Jesus a teacher come from God, attested by the signs he performed. This conviction had led him to speak up within the itself to defend Jesus' right to be heard before being condemned — a legally well-founded step, yet rejected with contempt by his peers. His failure illustrates the growing hardening of the religious authorities in the face of the messianic testimony. (John 3.2 ; John 7.50-52)

3- Preparations for a royal burial

Anticipating the fatal outcome of the trial, Nicodemus prepares what is needed for the embalming: a mixture of myrrh and aloes of about one hundred Roman pounds (more than thirty kilograms). This exceptional quantity, worthy of a royal burial, bears witness to the high esteem in which he held Jesus and gives the burial an honorific dimension unusual for a man condemned to death. (John 19.39 ; cf. 2 Chronicles 16.14)

4- Joseph of Arimathea: the new tomb and the linen shroud

Joseph of Arimathea, also a member of the and “a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews,” provides a shroud of fine white linen and offers his own new tomb, hewn out of the rock and located in a garden near Golgotha. This tomb had never yet held a body, a detail the evangelists emphasize to mark the dignity and ritual purity of the burial. (Matthew 27.59-60 ; John 19.38 ; John 19.41)

5- The burial: an act of love and prophetic fulfillment

Together, Nicodemus and Joseph personally prepare the body of Jesus, wrapping it in the linen with the spices, in accordance with Jewish burial customs. This act, performed publicly by two men of standing, requires courage and exposes those who perform it to ritual impurity as well as to the disapproval of their peers. Yet, unknowingly, they fulfill the prophetic word of Isaiah: “They made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death.” (John 19.40 ; Isaiah 53.9)

6- The women as witnesses: faithfulness and plan for embalming

Some women, faithful disciples who had come from Galilee with Jesus, watch the scene from a distance. They carefully note the location of the tomb and the position of the body, for they intend to return after the to complete the embalming with their own spices. Their attentive presence prepares, within the narrative, their role as the first witnesses of the empty tomb. (Luke 23.55-56 ; Mark 15.47)

7- Transition from Friday to the Sabbath: between mourning and promise

Friday draws to a close; the begins at sunset, in keeping with the Law. Everyone returns home. For most, life goes on around the Sabbath table. But a small number, deeply bewildered, mourn their beloved Master. They do not yet know that what seems a tragic end is in fact the pivot of God's redemptive plan, announced “according to the Scriptures.” (Leviticus 23.32 ; Luke 23.48 ; 1 Corinthians 15.3-4)

8- Convergence of the testimonies: from death to hope

The convergence of the Synoptic and Johannine accounts around the burial highlights several elements: the dignity granted to the body of the Crucified One despite his condemnation, the discreet but real presence of sympathizers within the hostile institution itself, and the narrative preparation for the Easter discovery. The reader is thus led from the scandal of the cross to the dawn of the resurrection. (Matthew 27.57-61 ; Mark 15.42-47 ; Luke 23.50-56 ; John 19.38-42)