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The Last Week - Burial

After the Death Joseph of Arimathea was one of the Jewish Council members, but He did not agree to the death of Jesus. He was a follower of Jesus, but, for fear of the other leaders, was a secret follower. He begged Pilate to release the body and, having received permission, arranged for it to be placed in the tomb which he had provided for his own death. He was a wealthy man.

Burial in a Tomb

The burial had to be carried out hurriedly, for the Passover Day itself was approaching when, as a special sort of sabbath day, no work could be done. (There is a case for believing that the crucifixion actually took place on the Thursday and that this was then followed by two sabbath days - the sabbath of the Passover and then the sabbath of the seventh day of the week. Jesus would then have been in the tomb three days and nights)

Another secret follower from the Council, Nicodemus, brought burial ointments, spices and grave clothes for the traditional preparation of Jesus' body.

When the body had been wrapped in the grave clothes, the opening to the cave-like tomb was sealed by a huge boulder or round stone which was rolled in front of it. The Jewish Council, to prevent anybody tampering with the tomb, arranged for the Roman authorities to seal the stone and place a guard by the entrance.