John 19:37-42
 
John 19:37 (KJB)
And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.
 
(Zec 12:10 KJV) And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Here Jesus fulfills another prophecy concerning the fact that there will be those who are going to look upon Him whom they have pierced. There were those who mourned and there were those who mocked. It is interesting in verse 36 and this verse we have two prophecies written about one thousand years apart and Jesus fulfilled both of them completely and perfectly.
 
John 19:38 (KJB)
And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.
 
Joseph of Arimathaea was a high ranking member of the Sanhedrin and in obedience to the law he had gone to Pilate and asked if he could have the body of Jesus for a proper burial. (Num 32:23 KJV) But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out. This verse in Numbers speaks about the fact that a person cannot sin in private or secretly for a long time because eventually your sin will surface in some manner. The same principle we see with being a secret disciple of Jesus. A person, like Joseph, was a secret disciple of Jesus but he could not be a secret disciple for long and here he is now taking care of the body of Jesus. Eventually his being a disciple would soon come out. By handling the dead body of Jesus, he was considered being defiled and would not be able to celebrate the Passover. (Num 19:11 KJV) He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. So Joseph was showing that he was a true disciple because he would not be allowed to partake in the passover that day since he would be considered defiled by handling a dead body.
 
John 19:39 (KJB)
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.
 
Nicodemus, as you remember, had a great dialog with Jesus in John 3 where Jesus revealed to him that a person must be born again to see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus was both a ruler and a Pharisee. For the body to be properly buried, they needed the proper spices and a burial cloth. The spices would be placed within the wrappings of the burial cloth. If you recall Myrrh was one of the spices brought by the Wise Men to the place of Jesus’ birth. (Mat 2:11 KJV) And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. Myrrh was an aromatic gum which was used for both embalming and for perfume. The Aloes was a fragrant plant which was used as a drying agent and it also counteracted the odor of rotting flesh. (Num 19:11 KJV) He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. Both Nicodemus and Joseph would not be allowed to partake of the Passover. The 100 pounds of spice they bought would have cost them quite a bit since they were expensive spices but they wanted to do what was right for Jesus.
 
John 19:40 (KJB)
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.
 
Then when they had everything, they took the body of Jesus wound it within the linen clothes along with placing of the spices within those wrappings. The whole body was not wrapped in one linen as the way the Egyptians did but different parts of the body such as the torso and arms were wrapped separately and then the spices place strategically, then followed the complete wrapping of the entire body. There are many who believe that the Shroud of Turin is the burial cloth of Jesus. If it was, why would God allow a false church to have it? I want to give four biblical reasons why the Shroud of Turin is not the burial cloth of Jesus:
 
1. There is an image of a man on it - (Acts 17:29 KJV) Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
 
2. The image has long hair - (1 Cor 11:14 KJV) Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?
 
3. We walk by faith and not sight - (2 Cor 5:7 KJV) (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
 
4. It would become an idol of worship - (1 John 5:21 KJV) Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. Remember the Israelites had started to worship and burn incense to the brass serpent that Moses made. (2 Ki 18:4 KJV) He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.
 
John 19:41 (KJB)
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.
 
Many believe that the Garden Tomb is where Jesus was buried. This is only speculation because we are speaking of a place which existed two thousand years ago and was subject to numerous destructions. So no one really knows exactly where the burial place of Jesus was. Now the tomb belonged to Joseph of Arimathaea which means that he could have been buried in that tomb which was now empty. He would have been able to reclaim the tomb for his own usage when the time came. If that is the case, then the Garden tomb should have a body in it, if that was the one which belonged to Joseph. The Garden Tomb is empty, so then where was Joseph buried? Something to think about!
 
John 19:42 (KJB)
There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.
 
Once they had prepared the spices and the body, they then took the body of Jesus and laid it in the tomb. Since it was the day of preparation before the High Sabbath, they needed to complete their task as soon as possible even though Joseph and Nicodemus would not be allowed to celebrate the Passover but soon they would celebrate something greater. This is man’s outlook. What man was viewing as permanent, God was viewing as temporary. Today when we bury a the body of a Christian, many think it is the final resting place but the Scriptures teach that Heaven is the final resting place of the believer who is more alive in Heaven than they were on earth.

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