Joseph's Role in Jesus' Burial and Resurrection
Joseph of Arimathea played a crucial role in the burial of Jesus following his crucifixion, an act recorded across the Gospels. This Joseph is described as a "good man and a just" [14], and a "prominent member of the Council, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God" (Mark 15:43 BSB). He approached Pilate to request Jesus' body, a bold move given the circumstances [13].
According to Mark's Gospel, Joseph "bought a linen cloth, took down the body of Jesus, wrapped it in the cloth, and placed it in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb" [2]. Matthew's account similarly states that Joseph "took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth" [3]. This act of preparing the body for burial involved winding it in linen, a customary practice [12]. The tomb itself was Joseph's own, a new tomb hewn out of rock [13].
The presence of witnesses to the burial is also noted. Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joses (or Joseph, according to some versions), "saw where His body was placed" [1, 11]. Their observation of the burial site was significant, as they later became witnesses to the resurrection [11].
The resurrection of Christ is a foundational doctrine of Christianity, with the entire New Testament revelation resting upon it as an historical fact [4]. Paul emphasizes its centrality in 1 Corinthians, stating that if Christ has not been raised, then faith is in vain [4, 10]. The resurrection confirms the reality of a future resurrection for believers [6]. Paul summarizes the "Good News" as centering on the atoning death and resurrection of Christ [9]. The Scriptures are understood to have predicted Christ's resurrection [5], and Jesus himself alluded to it in his own discourses [4]. The hope for future resurrection is known by faith, but Jesus' resurrection and the presence of the Holy Spirit serve as evidence of what is to come [8]. Believers are promised resurrection bodies, like Christ's, in the Kingdom of God [7].
Sources
- Mark “Mark 15:47 (BSB) — Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where His body was placed.”
- Mark “Mark 15:46 (BSB) — So Joseph bought a linen cloth, took down the body of Jesus, wrapped it in the cloth, and placed it in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb.”
- Matthew “Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, -- Matthew 27:59”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Resurrection of Christ — One of the cardinal facts and doctrines of the gospel. If Christ be not risen, our faith is vain (1 Cor. 15:14). The whole of the New Testament revelation rests on this as an historical fact. On the day of Pentecost Peter argued the necessity of Christ's resurrection from the prediction in Ps. 16 (Acts 2:24-28). In his own discourses, also, our Lord clearly intimates his resurrection (Matt. 20:19; Mark 9:9; 14:28; Luke 18:33; John 2:19-22). The evangelists give circumstantial accounts of the facts connected with that event, and the apostles, ”
- 1 Corinthians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 Corinthians 15:4: 15:4 just as the Scriptures said: See Ps 16:10; Hos 6:2; Jon 1:17; Matt 12:40; Acts 2:24-32.”
- 1 Corinthians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 Corinthians 15:12: 15:12-34 Paul now makes the case for a future resurrection. 15:12-20 Christ’s resurrection confirms the reality of the future resurrection. 15:12 Some believers in Corinth apparently had a difficult time accepting the Jewish notion of a bodily resurrection of the dead, preferring instead the Greek notion of the immortality of the soul (cp. Acts 17:18, 32).”
- 1 Corinthians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 Corinthians 15:49: 15:49 Like the earthly man, Adam, we have physical bodies in this life. But we will someday be like Christ, the heavenly man, experiencing the Kingdom of God in resurrection bodies (cp. Rom 6:4-14).”
- 2 Corinthians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 2 Corinthians 5:7: 5:7 Our hope for future resurrection can only be known by faith (see Heb 11:1, 3, 27), yet we do have Jesus’ own resurrection and the presence of the Holy Spirit as evidence of what is to come (1 Cor 15:1-9; Eph 1:14).”
- 1 Corinthians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 Corinthians 15:1: 15:1-58 Some people in the church had doubts about a future resurrection of the dead. Paul reassures them and, perhaps in response to their skeptical questions, discusses the nature of a resurrection body. 15:1-11 Paul summarizes the Good News that he preached. 15:1 At the heart of the Good News stands the message of the atoning death and resurrection of Christ (see 15:3-4; Rom 5:8-10; 6:5-11).”
- 1 Corinthians (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 1 Corinthians 15:17: vain--Ye are, by the very fact (supposing the case to be as the skeptics maintained), frustrated of all which "your faith" appropriates: Ye are still under the everlasting condemnation of your sins (even in the disembodied state which is here referred to), from which Christ's resurrection is our justification (Rom 4:25): "saved by his life" (Rom 5:10).”
- Mark (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Mark 15:43: And Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of Joses,.... Or Joseph, as the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read: beheld where he was laid: very likely they saw Joseph, and his men, take him down from the cross, and they followed him, and observed where he laid him; or, as the Ethiopic version reads, "where they buried him"; placing themselves, as Matthew suggests, right "over against the sepulchre", Mat 27:61; so that they were witnesses of his death, and of his burial, as they afterwards were of his resurrection from the dead. Next: Mark Chapter 16”
- Mark (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Mark 15:42: And he bought fine linen,.... That is, Joseph, as is expressed in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Persic versions; which, when he had done, as is highly probable, in the city of Jerusalem, he went to Mount Calvary, and took him down; took the body of Christ down from the cross; though, no doubt, with the assistance of others, or by others, and not he himself, at least not alone: and wrapped him in the linen; wound him up in it, as was the manner of the Jews; See Gill on Mat 27:59; and laid him in a sepulchre, which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto t”
- Mark (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Mark 15:46: 15:46 Joseph prepared Jesus’ body for burial and laid it in his own tomb (see Matt 27:60).”
- Luke (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Luke 23:50: We have here an account of Christ's burial; for he must be brought not only to death, but to the dust of death (Psa 22:15), according to the sentence (Gen 3:19), To the dust thou shalt return. Observe, I. Who buried him. His acquaintance stood afar off; they had neither money to bear the charge nor courage to bear the odium of burying him decently; but God raised up one that had both, a man named Joseph, Luk 23:50. His character is that he was a good man and a just, a man of unspotted reputation for virtue and piety, not only just to all, but good to all that neede”