Matthew 27:57 – 28:8

Mark 15:42 – 16:8

Luke 23:50 – 24:10

John 19:38 – 20:23

A believer named Joseph was from a city called Arimithaea.  He asked Pilate if he could bury Jesus’ body.  

Before allowing that, Pilate asked the Centurion if Jesus had already died.  Hearing that Jesus was dead, Pilate allowed Joseph of Arimithaea to take Jesus’ body away to be buried.

The Bible says that Joseph was a rich man and had a sepulchre, a burial tomb like a cave, near where Jesus was crucified.  

Jesus was crucified on a Friday; Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath, a day of worship and not a day of work.  The sabbath actually begins on Friday at sundown for the Jews, so there was not much time to properly prepare Jesus’ body for burial.  Joseph was able to take down Jesus’ body and wrap it in fine cloth. 

Joseph of Arimithea put Jesus’ body in Joseph’s own tomb and put a large stone to block the entrance.  Mary Magdalene and the other women who had come with Jesus’ group of believers from Galilee saw where Jesus’ body was and planned to do more on Sunday, after the Sabbath was over, to prepare for final burial.

At first light on Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene and at least two other women took sweet spices to the place where Jesus’ body lay.  As they walked, they asked among themselves who would roll the stone away so they could anoint Jesus’ body and prepare His body for final burial.  

When they got to the sepulchre, the stone had already been rolled away!  They didn’t know what this meant. As they entered the tomb, they realized that the body of Jesus was gone!  In their astonishment, two angels in shining clothing appeared. The women were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth.  The angels said, “Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”

The women remembered Jesus’ words and likely for the first time, started to understand what those words meant. 

Jesus’ body was not in the tomb because He had risen – Jesus was ALIVE!

What do you think?

• Can you imagine the terrible time that Jesus’ believers had while Jesus was dead?  Do you think some may have doubted if Jesus was the Son of God and the Savior of the world?
• Can you also imagine the joy when the disciples found out that Jesus was alive again?
• What can we learn about having faith in Jesus Christ when things seem so bad?
• Jesus had raised others from the dead; what made this so different?

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