Matthew 27:56-60

Mat 27:56 (KJB)
Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children.

The women which attended to Jesus was Mary Magdalene from whom Jesus cast out seven devils. There are some that claim that she was a prostitute but there is no biblical evidence to support such a claim. The fact is that Jesus saved her and that is the person we look at now. Then there was Mary the mother of James and Joses who was the wife of Cleopas. Then there was the mother of Zebedee’s children which we knew before as the sons of thunder. She was the mother of the apostles James and John. According to Mark, her name was Salome. (Mark 15:40 KJV) There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;

Mat 27:57 (KJB)
When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple:

Then Joseph of Arimathaea, being a just man and a follower of Jesus knew that it was against the law for a body to hang on a tree overnight. (Deu 21:22-23 KJV) And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: {23} His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. Since Joseph was a man of means, he wanted to give Jesus a proper burial. They would not have much time to prepare the body with the spices because the sabbath was now approaching. (John 19:39-40 KJV) 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. {40} 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. Joseph had a tomb in Jerusalem which meant that he probably moved there and wanted to be buried there.

Mat 27:58 (KJB)
He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered.

Joseph then went to Pilate and asked if he could have the body of Jesus. I am sure he told Pilate about their law of not allowing a dead body to remain on a cross or tree overnight. He wanted to take the body of Jesus and properly bury Him. Then Pilate gave permission for Joseph to take the body of Jesus. After all, what trouble could Jesus now cause since He was dead. The Roman custom was to let the body of the dead prisoner hang on the tree until it rotted away. Sometimes from the time of Augustus, the family was allowed to take the body. Joseph had risked his position on the Sanhedrin because he was now showing himself to be on the side of Jesus which meant he would be an enemy of the Sanhedrin.

Mat 27:59 (KJB)
And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,

Then the soldiers probably had taken the body of Jesus off the cross and gave it to Joseph who then began to prepare the body for burial. The body was wrapped in an unused clean linen cloth. It was not the complete ritual to bury a body according to Jewish custom because the time was close to the sabbath. (Mark 16:1 KJV) And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. This is why they went back on Sunday morning to complete the anointing of the body but by then Jesus was resurrected.

Mat 27:60 (KJB)
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.

The tomb which Joseph had hewn out for himself was a plain tomb hewn out of rock. There were many of those around Jerusalem. The burial chamber would have been cut horizontally in the tomb. Then once the body was laid in the tomb, a large heavy rock was rolled in front of the entrance. It probably looked like a large millstone. Since Jesus had been condemned as a criminal, it was not lawful for the owner of the tomb to use it again. In other words, no other bodies could be laid in that tomb even if it was a family crypt. Then once the large stone was rolled in front of the door, they then departed. (Num 19:11-13 KJV) He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. {12} He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. {13} Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him. Those who helped place Jesus in the tomb and wrapped his body would have been disallowed under the law from partaking of the Passover and feast of unleavened bread because they would have been considered unclean for seven days. There was to be a purification ceremony or else they would remain in a state of ceremonial uncleanness.

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