And They Buried Him (19:31-42) - Part 1 of 2

And They Buried Him (John 19:31-42)—Part 1 of 2

There were two groups of people involved in our Lord’s burial. The Roman soldiers (John 19:31-37) and the Jewish believers (John 19:38-42). It was not unusual for victims to be left on the cross until they died a slow death, so the Jewish religious leaders did everything they could to hasten the death of Jesus and the two thieves. However, in John 19:30 our Lord was in control and dismissed His spirit at the “ninth hour,” 3 p.m. (see Matt. 27:45–50). The last three “words from the cross” were spoken in a very short time frame just before He gave up His life.

It is amazing that the Roman soldiers did not do what they were told to do, to break the victims' legs, but they did do what they were not supposed to do, to pierce the Savior's side! In these two cases they fulfilled the very Word of God! The Lord protected the bones of our Lord, for the bones of the Passover lamb were not to be broken (Ex. 12:46; Num. 9:12; and note Ps. 34:20). His side was to be pierced (Zech. 12:10; Rev. 1:7), so one of the soldiers did it.

John saw a special significance in the blood and water that issued from the wound in Jesus' side. First it proved that Jesus had a real body (see 1 John 1:1-4), and He really died. When John wrote this book, there were false teachers in the church who were saying that Jesus did not have a real human body. There could also be a symbolic meaning: the blood tells of our justification, the water of our sanctification and washing. Blood deals with the guilt of sin. Water deals with the stain of sin. Some students link John 19:34 with 1 John 5:6. Maybe the link is a stretch. In 1 John 5, John discusses the evidence that Jesus Christ is God coming in the flesh. He provides three witnesses: the Spirit, the water, and the blood (1 John 5:6, 8). The Spirit relates to Pentecost, the water His baptism, and the blood His crucifixion. In all these events God showed that Jesus Christ is what He claimed to be, God coming in the flesh. The apostle makes it clear in John 19:35 that the water and blood are to encourage his readers to believe that Jesus is the Christ (see John 20:31).

When the soldiers had finished their horrible work, the friends of our Lord came unto their own. From that time on, as far as the record shows, no unbelievers touched the body of Jesus. God had given two important men to prepare his body for burial and to place it in a proper tomb. If any victims had friends, the Romans were happy to hand over the bodies and get them out of the way.

When we put all the data together on Joseph of Arimathea, we find that he was rich (Matt. 27:57), a prominent member of the Jewish council (Mark 15:43), a good and righteous man who had not consented to the council’s action (Luke 23:50–51), one of that “believing minority” of Jews who were looking for the Messiah to come (Mark 15:43; and note Luke 2:25–38), and a disciple of Jesus Christ (John 19:38). He was the one who asked for Jesus’ body and, with his friend Nicodemus, gave our Lord a decent burial.

But there are some puzzles about Joseph that baffle us and cry out for closer examination. Why did he place his tomb so near a place of execution? Most of the pious Jews wished to be buried in the Holy City, but a rich man like Joseph could surely afford a better site for his final resting place. Imagine his relatives coming to pay their respects and have to listen to the curses and cries of criminals on crosses nearby! (See John 19:41.)

Matthew, Luke, and John all tell us the tomb was new and had never been used. It was "his [Joseph’s] own new tomb" (Matt. 27:60), hewn out for himself. Or did he carve it out for Jesus?