The injustice of the trials of Jesus, the horror of the cross, the darkness, the torn veil, the earthquake, and the risen saints are all now in the past. Christ is dead, and we are looking at his quiet burial. The burial of Christ is not an incidental historical event; Paul shows in his epistles that it is an important part of the gospel. In 1 Corinthians 15:3, while explaining the pillars of gospel truth, he says that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day. Burial is an essential part of the gospel. That is why all four gospels carefully record the details of Christ’s burial. Throughout history, the Church has emphasized its importance in all major confessions. In the Apostles’ Creed and later in the Nicene Creed, we confess that we believe in Jesus Christ who was “crucified, dead, and buried, and rose.” The gospel is not just that Jesus died and rose again; part of the gospel includes the fact that Christ was buried. If you do not believe in all these pillars, you may not be saved.
Upon these historical facts revealed in Scripture and applied by the Holy Spirit to our hearts, we hang all of our hope for eternity. Today, we will see the details and the importance of the burial of Christ.
We saw that God sent a man for the burial: Joseph of Arimathea. He was a rich man, a disciple of Christ, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin, a good and righteous man, and one who was waiting for the kingdom of God. We saw his bold act of faith, by which he made himself ceremonially unclean, went to meet the already upset Pilate, went against his whole nation and religious system, and obtained permission to take Christ’s body. Today, we will understand the burial through three headings: the preparation for burial, the burial itself, and the witnesses to the burial.
Preparation for the Burial
In Matthew 27:59, it says: “When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth.” Imagine the scene: evening had come, the sun was sinking low in the sky, and every passing minute was crucial. Oh, the women watching from afar in love! They must have wondered, “What more insult will be offered to our Lord’s body? How will they bury him?” What joy must have filled their hearts to see Joseph of Arimathea, a good man, arriving urgently—perhaps on horseback. He shows his permission to the guards; they salute and allow him to take the body.
Then they see another prominent man standing near the cross, according to John 19, and he is carrying a large bag. Who is he? It is our friend Nicodemus. He is the greatest teacher in Israel and also a member of the Sanhedrin. He, too, has come. Oh, they are so joyful! They thought the body would be discarded like that of an orphan, but behold, these two great men have arrived. Remember, this Nicodemus came to Jesus once in that amazing chapter on regeneration, John 3. Those words were spoken to this man. Now, both these men are gloriously regenerated by God’s grace. Against their culture, nation, and religion—and with no care for dead religious rituals—they come and touch the body of Christ, even if it defiles them. Given the way the nation and its leaders treated Christ, no one else would have come to perform a funeral; they saw him as dying a cursed death, hanging on a cross.
Here are the two men; two are needed to carry the body. Think of it: these are not just ordinary men. One is the top teacher in Israel, Nicodemus, and the other is a wealthy man of stature and dignity. Two celebrities of the nation are here. Oh, this is not an ordinary body; ordinary hands cannot touch it. Peter may not come. James may not come. But the Lord has brought two disciples from the high court, the Sanhedrin, for his funeral. What a Lord! Oh, what joy for those ladies to see these two disciples kindly and tenderly touching the Lord’s body.
Mark says that after receiving custody of Christ’s body, Joseph purchased a fine new linen cloth. He desired to have this cloth because, according to Jewish custom, they would wrap the body and each of the limbs—individual legs separately—rather than wrapping everything together. That is why we saw that Lazarus was able to walk even though he was wrapped in grave clothes.
John 19:39 says: “And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.” Nicodemus brought a heavy load of spices to preserve the body and keep it from decaying. Myrrh was a liquid and aloe was a powder, and they mixed them. These were very expensive; it is not like buying a bag of rice or flour. Spices are costly—even one gram is expensive—and he brought one hundred pounds.
People generally used ten pounds. Why did Nicodemus bring so much? One hundred pounds was used only for great kings. “Yes, let us use it,” they might have said. “This is the true King, the King of kings.” If he could have carried more, he surely would have. This shows how the Holy Spirit opened Nicodemus’s eyes so he could see the inestimable glory and worth of Christ. He wanted to give Christ a royal burial. Imagine the news this would create tomorrow; he would have to pay a great price for this. These two dear men are saying, in effect, “The world may not offer you the respect a king deserves, but we will, even in your death.” And so, they bury Him with the burial of a king.
Verse 59 says Joseph had taken the body. Imagine what it meant for this man, who was once a secret disciple, to place his hands on that blood-soaked, bruised, and torn body to tenderly remove it from the cross. The women watch as Joseph slowly removes the nails from one hand, then the next, and then the feet, tenderly and lovingly bringing down his sacred body. How precious is that body that accomplished the greatest victory for us!
They bring down the body, and we can imagine its color has fully changed—pale and blue, with all the blood shed for your sins. They see his face. Have you noticed that when some people die with satisfaction, their faces look bright? Oh Lord, what an eternal war he fought and won! He shouted in triumph, “It is finished,” accomplishing a universal victory and dying with full satisfaction. “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” How bright his face must have been, perhaps even with a smile, as his eyes closed. The Lord of Life is now dead. The women likely come near, their hearts broken, and they weep.
The cloth was purchased, a hundred pounds of spices were brought, and the body was removed from the cross. They took it to the place of burial and perhaps washed it. Generally, anointing takes a long time, but by the marvelous sovereign providence of God, He had already been anointed by Mary. Remember, Jesus said Mary had done a good deed by anointing him for his burial. They wrap the legs, the hands, and the torso separately, spreading the spices throughout the body, and finally, they come to the face. They would cover the head with a special napkin. In funerals, people often look at the face one final time before the casket is closed. They may have looked for a long time without blinking. What a face! Perhaps they kissed it before applying the final spices.
The Burial
The preparation for the burial is done. Next, we see the burial in Verse 60: “and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.” Though they were honorable counselors, they carried his body in their own hands to give him honor and dignity. They took him from the infamous and accursed tree and prepared his body for burial. Where there is true love for Christ, no service is thought too lowly to perform for him. The lifeless, washed, spiced, and wrapped body of our Lord was carried lovingly into a tomb and placed inside.
Verse 60 says it was a “new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock.” Where was this tomb? Remember, there was no time to travel far, as the Sabbath was only minutes away. Jesus had to be inside the tomb for three days. John 19:41-42 says: “Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.”
There was a garden close by with an unused grave; it was a prime location. This garden and tomb belonged to our friend Joseph; the man had property everywhere. He had a cave with a garden opposite it, and perhaps he had prepared the grave for himself. He gives it to Christ. He can afford to give it because Jesus only needs it for three days. To this day, there is an empty tomb near Golgotha, called the Garden Tomb, serving as a witness to the resurrection.
This was a new tomb, hewn out of solid rock, and no man had ever been laid there. A narrow hole in the rocky area served as the entrance, and inside, a small room was carved out with a slab for the body. Our Lord was carried through this low, narrow opening. That is why, at the resurrection, the disciples had to stoop down to look in. The opening was no higher than three feet.
Then, notice the subsequent action in Verse 60b: “and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.” They would place a stone to seal the tomb from predators, wild animals, or robbers. In those days, it was a custom to leave valuables with the body, so the stone was a protection against theft. It was a very large stone, like a millstone, four to five feet in diameter and eight inches thick. This heavy stone was placed and sealed. The stone was carved in such a way that even small insects could not enter; it was often airtight. The design of the stone made it very easy to close but very difficult to open. The stone would slide along a track; to close it, you simply removed a small packing stone, and the boulder would roll down to cover the entrance. To open it, however, you would need four or five people to roll the heavy stone back up against gravity.
Providence ordered that Christ’s tomb should be in solid rock so that no one could suspect his disciples of accessing it through an underground passage or breaking through a back wall to steal the body. There was no access except through the door, which was later placed under Roman security.
This was the final act of burial. Just as we fill a grave with earth, the Jews rolled the stone. This completes the burial. Just like his birth, his burial was simple. There was no grand pomp, loud music, or elaborate dancing. Think of how the “great ones” of the world are brought to the grave and laid in their tombs. This was a simple, private funeral for the King of kings, whose kingdom is not of this world.
Is this the end of Jesus Christ? No, he will rise! It is as if he is saying to all those who buried him: “Thanks, Joseph, for your grave; I only need it for three days. Thanks, Nicodemus, for the hundred pounds of spices; before my body can decompose, I will rise again.”
Consider the preparation, the burial, and finally the witnesses of the burial of our Lord.
Matthew 27:61 tells us: “And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.” Matthew identifies two women among them: the two Marys—Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James. They did not just give a passing glance; they were sitting opposite the tomb, watching for some time. They remained in this continuous posture, staring at the grave.
Joseph and Nicodemus eventually left, but these dear ladies remained in deep sorrow and agony. Think of Mary Magdalene; she stared at the grave and did not leave. Where would she go? This beloved Lord gave her a new life; He delivered her from seven demons. Her whole world was Christ. She followed Him faithfully; she never married or had children, for she did not want to divide her love. Her father, mother, husband, and child—all her love was centered on Christ. She truly lived for Him. Where could she go now?
She must have wondered: “Is this the end? He spoke so much; why did He die? I followed Him as my all; He was everything. Will He die like all other men? Is my love and trust all over? Is there no meaning to His life or mine? Why should I live?” She did not yet realize that He would rise, and that she would be the “apostle to the apostles,” the first to see Him risen and the first to inform the world and the disciples: “The Lord is risen!”
Why does Matthew record these two women sitting outside the grave as the final incident of the burial? This seemingly insignificant detail has tremendous implications when we come to the resurrection story. These are the women who were with Him from Galilee. They followed Him from Jerusalem to Golgotha and saw how He was crucified. They stayed after the Lord was dead; they were there when the soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves. They lingered and saw the spear pierce His side. They saw His body removed, gently washed, wrapped with spices, and carried into the tomb. They saw the stone closed.
They witnessed exactly how the body was placed inside and how the entrance was sealed. Perhaps after some time, they went back for the Sabbath. Now, in the next chapter’s record of the resurrection, notice Verse 28:1: “Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.” We find these very same women coming to the tomb, seeing the earthquake, the angel coming down, and the announcement of the heavenly messengers. They found the body missing.
These are true, faithful eyewitnesses. They became the priority witnesses; the firsthand testimony of the resurrection of Christ was given by two women. Verse 8 says they ran to bring the disciples word. While they were running, Jesus met them and appeared to them first.
What amazing witnesses! They went and testified to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This was not a bunch of silly, emotional, or unstable women who got carried away, saw something in a dream, and blabbered. No, these were true eyewitnesses. When these women—who saw Him die, saw His body removed from the cross, saw Him taken into the grave, and saw the stone rolled shut—witnessed that He was risen, there was tremendous weight and validity to their testimony. There is not the slightest reason to doubt their integrity. We can be absolutely confident in the facts they presented. They were the last to leave our Lord at His death and the first to return to find Him alive.
Even in His burial, God had a couple of women who could not quite leave the grave. They may have left for a time on the Sabbath, but they came back on the third day. God honored their faith, however feeble it may have been. They became the ones who spoke the word of the resurrection. The Jews would later claim the disciples robbed the body and fabricated a lie, but it was not the fearful disciples who first announced the resurrection. It was these eyewitnesses—women of truth. If the disciples had created a story, they would have had to believe it themselves first, which they did not.
These two women were the first witnesses. There is something marvelously ingenious in how the Holy Spirit works through Matthew. It is fascinating that God even uses the chief priests and the Pharisees to verify the deity of Jesus Christ. They were so concerned that the disciples would steal the body that they set up a situation—the guard and the seal—that ultimately proved the resurrection really happened. God causes the wrath of men to praise Him.
The Climax of Humiliation
Our Lord of Glory humbled Himself. He kept descending: He became a man, took the form of a slave, lived in poverty, suffered, and died. But the climax of His humiliation was His burial. The final stage of His lowliness was not just death, but being laid in the earth. Burial is a shameful thing, a result of death, and Christ identified Himself with us in that. In the eyes of men, it seemed He was a failure. All He had spoken seemed lost as His body lay stiff and cold in a tomb—eyes lifeless, jaw slack, skin pallid. His disciples were scattered in fear; there were no crowds to cheer and no followers to hang on His every word.
The reputation of Jesus Christ seemed gone. This was the end of His ministry in the eyes of everyone, even the disciples on the road to Emmaus. What climatic humiliation! Why should He go through this? Because this was the last part of the price He had to pay for our salvation. He humbled Himself to be buried. This was the bottom rung of the ladder down into abject poverty and shame, which He embraced so that we might be made rich!
While this was a humiliation in the eyes of men, imagine what happened to the soul of Jesus as He left this earth. Imagine when the soul of Christ, accompanied by the soul of the believing thief, arrived in the courts of heaven around 3:00 PM that Friday. That was the first appearance of the Lord’s human soul in heaven! What must heaven have been like when its Prince returned in triumph? He would return to earth to take up His body again on Easter morning, but for those three days, what a celebration there must have been.
I imagine a great stadium of all the Old Testament saints who had entered heaven in anticipation of the coming Christ. When people see superstars today, they scream and jump for joy. How much more would these saints have screamed in joy and tears to welcome Him! And the angels—who adored Him in the highest heaven—had watched Him suffer in Gethsemane. Their hearts had beaten in yearning to help Him. They had closed their eyes as He hung on the cross. What joy they must have felt to hear Him say, “It is finished,” and then to see Him back in heaven.
Oh, what words can describe how the Father welcomed His Son? The Son returned to the Father’s throne for an indescribable heavenly meeting of the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the human nature of the Son. There was a thunderous welcome from untold voices as Christ stood among all those who loved Him.
Lessons for Today
What lessons can we learn?
First: The Historical Application. Our salvation is based on the foundation of historical facts recorded in infallible Scripture. It is not based on feelings, nice ideas, human traditions, or myths. Three pillars support our salvation: Christ truly died, He was buried, and He rose again. If you remove these facts, our salvation crumbles. That is why Paul said that if Christ is not risen, you are still in your sins and your faith is in vain.
Throughout the centuries, people have claimed Jesus did not die. Some suggest the “swoon theory”—that He merely fainted or went into a coma. Many liberal professors and other religions mock the idea of His death. But this is a vital issue: my being saved from sin and escaping hell rests on the fact that Jesus actually died. If He only fainted and then revived, there was no satisfaction of justice made before God for our sins, nor was there a true atonement. If there was no death, there was no resurrection.
Scripture carefully records these events to remove all doubt. Think of the witnesses: the Centurion who saw Him die; the soldiers who confirmed He was dead and pierced His side; Pilate, who verified the death before releasing the body; and Joseph and Nicodemus, who handled the cold, lifeless body. These experienced men would have recognized any remaining life as they washed and wrapped Him. Furthermore, they would not have risked their reputations to put a fainting man into an airtight, rocky tomb with no oxygen. Even His enemies in the Sanhedrin admitted He was dead by asking for a guard. The burial was the “death certificate” of Jesus of Nazareth.
Second: The Spiritual Application. Romans 6 says that those of us in union with Him by faith were crucified, died, and were buried with Him. Was His death sufficient for all our sins? Many believers fret over their past, wondering if especially wicked sins can be forgiven. The beautiful picture of His burial shows that all our sins were buried with Him. They were left in the grave, never to require judgment or burden us again.
John Bunyan captured this in The Pilgrim’s Progress. The pilgrim, Christian, travels with a heavy burden on his back—the load of his sins. He runs until he comes to a place where there is a Cross, and a little below it, a sepulcher (a tomb). Bunyan writes:
“Just as Christian came up with the Cross, his Burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to tumble, and so continued to do, till it came to the mouth of the Sepulchre, where it fell in, and I saw it no more.”
Have you left your sins in the tomb? For those of you who are not saved, you are still carrying that burden. It will only grow heavier as the years pass. The only place to find deliverance is by looking at the Cross and realizing that Christ suffered there for your sins. Trust His grace and ask for His forgiveness. When you put your soul’s trust in His death and burial, your burden will be rolled away into the tomb, never to be seen again. You will live with the joy of forgiveness, justification, and adoption as a child of God.
Jesus Christ was crucified and buried; when you trust in Him, faith brings you into union with Him—you die with Him and are buried with Him. But death could not hold Christ! He rose from the dead, and in the triumph of that resurrection, we too live. The finality of His death is made clear by His burial, just as the triumph of it is declared by His resurrection. That is the gospel. Have you believed this good news in Christ?
The Application of a Christian Burial
See how our loving Lord identifies Himself with our sinful state until the very end. We all will die and go to the grave. Everyone born from a womb will eventually go to a tomb. The womb and the tomb are the only unchangeable facts of this life. It is appointed unto men once to die. For all of us, much sooner than we might think, we will be carried into a cemetery. Words will be spoken over us, and our loved ones will be comforted in their loss. Our bodies—placed not in a rock tomb, but in a casket within the earth—will be lowered into the cold ground. People will surround us, throwing handfuls of dirt to cover us, and we will be left there alone in the darkness. Gradually, the circle of folk will scatter to get on with their lives, and we will be left behind in our solitary graves. The world may think that is the end of us.
Are you scared of the grave? Death is called the “King of Terrors.” Whatever else you may fear, the greatest king of all is death. It is the abnormal severance of soul and body—an unnatural experience of having the two parted for a time. It is true we can say we do not fear death as believers, because it takes us to Christ. But the experience of dying itself is something I have never had before; I fear that unknown experience. No matter how much we believe we are going to heaven, the deathbed and the grave still spark a certain fear. We know we should not feel this way, and we are sometimes embarrassed that we do.
That is where deep meditation and faith in the Lord’s burial will help us remove that fear. This is not just for when we come to die, but for how we live our lives today—living in the triumph of our Savior and the certain expectation of what is to come. We can live without fearing the grave because He went inside the grave to remove that terror for us.
What is our comfort? Our blessed Lord went through the burial experience. Yes, I will be buried alone, but I have a Savior who went through that very experience so that He might sanctify the grave and give me a grace that takes away all dread from my heart. Because He identified Himself with me in the grave and sanctified it, I am not alone when I am laid there. Even when I die, I die in union with Him. My union with Christ is eternal; even when I am buried, I am buried in Christ. In this marvelous union, even my body lying in the grave is united to Him while my soul enters His immediate presence.
My body may lie in the mud, but it is still united to Him, and just as He rose from the dead, I will rise. The only difference between His resurrection and mine is time. He rose in three days; I will have more time. Scripture says my long-tired body will rest in the grave until the resurrection; it is a rest given by Christ until the time everything comes under His feet. Once that is done, He will come and raise me.
My Lord went inside the grave and rested there for three days; therefore, when I go, I am not going to a place where He has not gone before. When I envision my entombment, I see my Savior who has gone before me and led the way. He prepared the path, removed all harm and danger, and made the grave a resting place. Take comfort in the fact that Christ was buried. He was buried to take away the terror of the grave and make it easy for us. He warmed and perfumed that cold bed for us. Just as burial was not the end for Christ, it will not be the end for those of us united with Him.
Oh, how blessed is the finished work of Christ! Great joy, faith, love, and peace belong to those upon whose hearts these things are written. But you who are not Christians: tremble. If Christ is not yours, you face the King of Terrors with no comfort.
The Application for Ministry
How marvelous it is that these men and women showed devotion to Christ by ministering to Him at His burial. How marvelous that God honors each of them! Joseph of Arimathea is honored in all the gospels for providing the tomb.
Nicodemus, it says, brought one hundred pounds of spices. Why was that specific number given? Have you thought about it? If we do anything for Christ and His kingdom, it is recorded for all eternity. God never forgets anything done for Christ—how much was done, who did it, and how they did it.
It was not only the “big” works of these men that were noted. What did the women contribute? They brought no wealth, yet they were there until the end, and their names are recorded. Look at these women. They did not leave. They followed Him from Galilee, through the trials, along the Via Dolorosa, and stood near Golgotha from 9:00 AM until 6:00 PM. Matthew mentions two of them by name, though there may have been more. They stayed as the body was carried, wrapped, and spiced. Even when Joseph and Nicodemus left, they sat outside the tomb and remained.
What moved these people? It is the marvelous principle of the inseparable relationship between devotion and ministry. True devotion to Christ reveals itself by doing whatever it can for His kingdom within the limits of providence. Joseph used his position and wealth to buy linen and secure permission from Pilate. Nicodemus brought the maximum amount of spices he could. They both used what was in their hands to express love for Christ.
And what could the women do? They could follow, they could help, and they could go back to Jerusalem to prepare additional spices to show their devotion on Sunday. Learn from these women. They did the small things they were capable of doing. While Christ was crucified, they did not go home. They faithfully stood and watched; that was all they could do. God honors that and puts their names alongside Joseph and Nicodemus. True devotion does whatever it can within its providential limits. We will never understand the principle of ministry if we do not learn this.
The problem with most of us is that we never truly believe that even a cup of cold water given in Christ’s name will have a reward. We are always waiting to do something “big” or “heroic” for Jesus—some grand act where the whole church will appreciate us. Yet, each of you can do a hundred small things that no one may notice. Because you want the big acts and the big appreciation, you end up doing little or nothing. You don’t believe that a small cup of cold water is important.
Don’t waste your days in this foolish mindset. That “big” day may never come, and you will realize you have lost your life without doing anything for Christ. I was talking to the deacons about starting a ministry called “The Cup of Cold Water Ministry”—doing the small things possible within our circumstances. Oh, what a difference it would make!
If you really want to do anything for Christ, it starts very small. Today, ask yourself: What has providence put before me? What facilities, people, or resources are within my control? Whether men see it or not, how can I use them to express my love to Christ?
It may never be written in a history book or get a “congratulations” on WhatsApp. So what? Even a cup of cold water in His name is noted, marked, and rewarded by Him. Do you think Joseph knew that for thousands of years his name would be etched in the gospel? Today, in India, on March 19, 2023—in a modern age of AI and robotics where the world forgets its great men—I am preaching about him and honoring his name. Do you think Nicodemus knew his one hundred pounds of spices would be recorded forever?
Those women never thought they would be mentioned as the grand witnesses of His death, burial, and resurrection. They weren’t looking for a press release; they simply acted out of true devotion. That is what you are called to do in your station in life. Do not look for something “great” in the future; start with the small things that no one notices. Do it for the love of Christ.
There are people like that in every church, and the Church of Christ runs because of them—not because of the dreamers of tomorrow. They are the pillars. Some of you support the ministry financially, faithfully, and regularly. No one applauds you, but do you think Christ is not watching? He even noticed the widow’s mite.
Some of you are like these women: “Pastor, I will be faithful. Whenever the church doors open, I will be there.” We can depend on them. Whether it is the morning or evening service, rain or storm, they are there. It is not a “heroic” thing in the eyes of the world, but years of faithfulness is a great thing to God.
Nobody notices? I think of those who maintain this place year after year. No one talks about it, but they attend to every small need—tissue paper, water bottles, and more. When they give a bottle of water to a servant of Christ, Christ notices that. That is the expression of devotion in practical ways. That is living faith revealing itself in good works.
There are a hundred ordinary, down-to-earth things you can do for His church: calling someone who is sick to encourage them, sharing a verse, or sending a message to someone who has been missing from service. It doesn’t even have to be a call; a simple text saying “We are praying for you” matters. Or talking to someone new in the church—even just a smile and a “How are you?” Instead of wasting time on Instagram, why not create something to spread God’s word? Even a message to your pastor saying a specific point touched your heart is a blessing. Remember, God always notices.
Don’t look for “great” opportunities. Right now, where you are and with what you have, pour your love out at His feet. That will be marked for an eternal reward.