Primary Texts: Matthew 27:57-66; John 19:31-42
Memory Verse: “Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard. Matthew 27:64-66
Introduction:
If it hadn’t been for Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, the body of Jesus might not have had a decent burial. Joseph and Nicodemus were both believers in Jesus, even though there is no record that they confessed their faith. God may have kept them hidden so that they might care for the body of Jesus. Since Joseph was a rich man, he could prepare a new tomb to be used for the fulfillment of prophecy: “And they made His grave with the wicked—But with the rich at His death” (Isaiah 53:9).
Joseph probably didn’t prepare that tomb for himself. He was a wealthy man and certainly wouldn’t want to be buried so near a place of execution. He chose a site near Golgotha so that Christ’s body could be buried quickly. By taking Jesus’ dead body from the cross, Joseph and Nicodemus defiled themselves and weren’t able to eat the Passover. Yet, we know, their faith wasn’t in the traditional ceremony, but in the true Lamb of God!
In contrast to the loving care given by Jesus’ friends, the Jewish leaders plotted and maneuvered deviously. The disciples had forgotten that Jesus promised to rise from the dead on the third day, but His enemies remembered. Pilate permitted the Jewish leaders to place a guard at the tomb, and these men placed an official Roman seal on the large gravestone. Wasn’t the body of this One who claimed to be the Son of God now secure from theft? None would dare to broach the security of armed soldiers!
The very enemies of Jesus, therefore, took every possible precaution to place his resurrection beyond the possibility of suspicion of fraud and imposture, and those precautions were the very means of furnishing the most striking proof that His death, burial, and resurrection were not impositions, but most affecting, awful, and yet cheering realities. God would use these leaders and their folly to prove the glorious reality of the resurrection of the Messiah!
Studying the Word
Lesson Study
- Why were the legs of those being crucified sometimes broken? John 19:31-32
- In fulfillment of the prophecy in Psalm 34:20, why were Jesus’ legs not broken? John 19:33
- How did the Roman soldier’s action of piercing Jesus’ side with the spear become a fulfillment of prophecy, and what may have been symbolized by the water and blood that gushed out? John 19:34-37
- Who was Joseph of Arimathea, and what important role did he have in the crucifixion? Matthew 27:57-58; Mark 15:42-45; Luke 23:50-52; John 19:38
- What was the significance of Jesus being buried in a new tomb? Matthew 27:59-60; Mark 15:46; Luke 23:53-54; John 19:39-42
- Why do you think the Jewish leaders ask Pilate to set a watch at the tomb? Matthew 27:62-64
- What was Pilate’s response to this request? Matthew 27:65
- How secure was Jesus’ tomb from tampering or intrusion? Matthew 27:66