Dear Explorer,
It's late in the day and the Sabbath would begin at sundown. At that point they would not be allowed to use a hammer to remove Jesus' body, or to carry Jesus' body, or to wrap it because that would be “work”.
Read Matthew 27:59-61
And
Read Mark 15:46-47
And
Read Luke 23:53-56
And
Read John 19:40-42
Now, because it was almost sundown, where did they place Jesus' body?
Let's look at the Jewish customs of that time. A tomb was a large rock room or cave owned by a wealthy family. Within the "front" room would be a table or ledge to lay the dead body. They would cover the body with spices and bind it tightly with strips of cloths. When the body was fully decomposed and only the bones remained, the bones would be moved to an area in the back of the tomb or a separate room in the back so that another family member's body could use the tomb. A large stone was rolled against the cave to block the entrance so that animals would not disturb the body. That rock was large enough that it would take a strong man or several men to roll it into and out of place.
Now, whose tomb was this and what more do you learn about it in these verses?
We are told that the tomb belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, but that it had never been used. It was in a garden near the crucifixion site.
What did the men do to prepare the body before they left it in the tomb?
They covered it in spices and linen cloth. Essentially, they mummified it. The spices (myrrh and aloe) would help the body to dehydrate and the wrappings would preserve the shape. The spices also helped cover the smell of decomposition.
Do you remember the gifts that were brought to Jesus by the Wise Men? We looked at this on Day 23. One of the gifts to Him was myrrh. We mentioned that that gift was a foreshadowing of His death.
But there was no time to wash the body, so as the women watched, I believe that they agreed that they would come first thing on Sunday morning and prepare the body properly. They would unwrap the body, wash it, and then re-wrap it with fresh spices and perfumes. That was the plan as they left the tomb to go to their homes for the Sabbath.
In His service, dale
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