The burial - God's perfect provision

57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Matthew 27: 57 - 60

We can imagine the terrible shock that the disciples, Mary and the other women felt when they realised Jesus was going to die. He wasn’t going to miraculously come down from the cross. That shock would have probably overwhelmed every other thought such as how were they going to get Jesus’s body down from the cross and where would they take it? If that thought had occurred to anyone, they might have been even more overcome. Often crucified bodies were left on the ground unburied or deposited in a dishonoured place in a pauper’s field. That couldn’t happen to their precious Jesus, but what could they do? 

Mary could have asked Pilate for the body, but she had no resources to deal with it. The disciples might have asked but it would take great courage to go to the Roman governor as a disciple in case he put them in prison or worse. But God had made perfect provision for his Son. He would not be buried in dishonour; everything would be taken care of.

As I pondered the logistics of dealing with the body of a crucified man, let alone the Son of God, I realised it was not a straightforward procedure. It needed planning, wealth and manpower. 

Joseph of Arimathea stepped up to take on this onerous but honoured responsibility. This was a brave act for a Pharisee, who was a secret believer, but Joseph had all the necessary credentials, was well-connected and a wealthy man. It took courage to ask for the body, but Pilate permitted him to take charge. Was he relieved that an innocent man was going to get a decent burial? 

As a wealthy man, Joseph he would have had the manpower to lift Jesus’s body down from the cross, an awkward, heavy task and remove the nails. They would then have to wrap the body in linen, carry it to Joseph’s unused and empty tomb nearby, and cover it with an enormously costly amount of spices, according to Jewish burial rites. Everything had to be done reverently and in proper order. Having placed the body in the tomb, it would again need manpower to push the massive stone in place over the door.

I’m not sure what would have happened without Joseph, but God provided for every detail for the burial of his son. The perfect sacrifice, unblemished needed everything in the burial to be unused and ceremonially clean. God had his man to provide the manpower, the linen, the spices and the tomb. All was in order. 

Romans 8: 32 says, He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?  Indeed, God knows our needs and he will provide for us, just as he provided for his son.

Michael Angelo's pieta (Mary holding Jesus's body) in St Peter's Cathedral, Rome 
It is the most beautiful marble sculpture.