Holy Saturday
As the sun sets on Friday, their Saturday begins...
[JN 19:]31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down.
32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.
36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”
So as evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, {a good and upright man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action,LK} who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. {Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews.JN}
44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. {With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away.JN}
There were less than three hours between the time the soldier pierced Jesus’ side and the setting of the sun. Joseph must move fast. He is introduced into the narrative for the first time here with an impressive resume. He was a Sanhedrinist but did not agree with the council’s decision. Either he is a dissenting voice during the trials or he is not even invited due to his pro-Jesus leanings. He is a secret disciple, fearing excommunication, but surely some knew of his hidden commitments to Jesus and his open passion for the coming of God’s kingdom. The fact that he is a wealthy man and offers such a fine tomb fulfills Isaiah 53:9.
He now boldly asks Pilate for Jesus’ body. Why the sudden surge of courage? Perhaps the death of Jesus drew him “out of the closet.” Perhaps he hopes that the other Sanhedrin members will now be distracted with preparations for their own Passover meal or simply won’t care since their demands have been satisfied. But for whatever reasons Joseph of Arimathea marches boldly into Pilate’s palace and asks for Jesus’ body.
Pilate is a bit surprised that Jesus is dead after only six hours on the cross. But why should he be surprised after he gave orders to have Jesus’ legs broken? John is the one who records the breaking of the legs. Mark is the one who records Pilate’s surprise. It could be that Pilate asks the centurion if he broke Jesus’ legs and watched him die. But the centurion would say, “I didn’t have to break his legs. The man was already dead. But we did verify it by lancing his heart.” Thus, Pilate is surprised that Jesus died so soon.
Having verified the completion of the execution, Pilate releases Jesus’ body to Joseph for burial. Joseph’s and Pilate’s actions here are further evidence that Jesus was not condemned for high treason. Had he been, Pilate would not have allowed a Jew to offer him a dignified burial, nor would Joseph have offered it. Instead, Jesus would likely have been taken off the cross and thrown into a mass grave like other villains.
[JN 19:]39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.
40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of {cleanMT} linen {cloth.MT, LK} This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.
41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a {his ownMT} new tomb {cut out of rock,MT, MK, LK} in which no one had ever been laid.
42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. {Then he rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.MT, MK}
Joseph is assisted by his friend and fellow Sanhedrinist, Nicodemus. This is the third time that he enters John’s narrative (Jn 3:1ff; 7:45–52). While Joseph provides the tomb, Nicodemus provides the ointment, both at considerable expense. Myrrh was a gummy resin extracted from trees in Arabia. It was strongly aromatic and used as an expensive perfume. It could be mixed with other aloes to make a sort of paste which could be put in the folds of the linen cloth or strips of linen could be dipped in it. Its purpose was to overpower the stench of the decaying body, which seventy-five pounds could effectively do. Once it dried it would form a kind of stiff casing (cf. Jn 11:44), but it didn’t have the preserving quality of Egyptian mummification.
According to the normal burial customs, these two men first washed the bloodied body. Then they wrapped it in clean linen. The text doesn’t say just how they did this. But it was common to lay the body on a long sheet of linen which could then be folded over the front of the body (e.g., the shroud of Turin). Then more strips would be used to wrap around that linen sheet.
Because the Sabbath is quickly approaching, the two men have no time to waste. They carry Jesus a short distance to Joseph’s tomb, which is in a nearby garden. It is a private burial plot, not a public cemetery. (Hence, it would be nearly impossible for the women, as well as Peter and John, to go to the wrong tomb on Sunday.) The tomb is cut into white limestone rock. It has not yet been used. These burial caves were usually about nine feet square, with upwards of six “shelves” for bodies. Furthermore, there were often loculi tunnels carved into the sides of the cave. These were about a foot and a half wide and six feet deep, used for ossuary boxes. A year after a person was buried, the period of mourning would officially come to an end. Then a family member would re-enter the tomb and collect the remaining bones of the corpse. These could be placed in a small box called an ossuary. Thus whole families could be buried in one small tomb.
Jesus’ body is laid out on a rock ledge which has been carved for that purpose. Once the body is in place, a huge stone is rolled into a “v” shaped groove at the entrance. Although the entrance is low enough that even the women had to stoop to look into it (Jn 20:11), a rock that size, resting in a depression would still effectively detour scavengers and grave robbers.
What’s left to do?
Watch and wait
[MT 27:]61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary {the mother of JosesMK} were sitting there opposite the tomb {[and] saw where he was laid.MK}
[LK 23:]55 [These] women, who had come with Jesus from Galilee, followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.
The women want to pay their respects to Jesus but they keep their distance from these two prominent members of the Sanhedrin. How could they know these two are sympathetic to Jesus? They also stand aloof due to the social stigma of men and women interacting. In addition, Carson states that Roman law forbade mourning executed criminals (p. 584). These two Marys want, in the worst way, to show their love for Jesus, but are simply not able to at this time. So they do the next best thing. They find out where Jesus is laid and plan to return at the first available opportunity. That will be at the crack of dawn on Sunday. For now, they must run back to town before sundown to prepare the necessary spices for anointing the dead.
Worry and plot
62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’
64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
65 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.