Laid in the Tomb

“Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away.” — Matthew 27:60

It was Friday evening, and soon the Sabbath would begin, the day of rest, when no one could work. Jesus’ body couldn’t be left on the cross.

There was a rich man called Joseph, from a town called Arimathea. He was a member of the council of Jewish leaders, but he had not agreed with their plan to kill Jesus. Joseph was a follower of Jesus, but he had kept it secret, because he was afraid.

But now Joseph was brave. He went to Pilate and asked if he could have Jesus’ body. Pilate said yes.

Another leader came too: Nicodemus, the man who had once come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five pounds of spices, myrrh and aloes, to put on Jesus’ body. That was a gift fit for a king.

Joseph and Nicodemus took Jesus’ body down from the cross. They wrapped it with the spices in strips of clean linen cloth. And they laid it in Joseph’s own new tomb, which had been cut out of the rock in a garden nearby. Nobody had ever been laid in it before.

Then Joseph rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb, and went away.

Mary Magdalene and some of the other women who loved Jesus were there, sitting opposite the tomb, watching. They saw exactly where Jesus’ body was laid. Then they went home to prepare more spices, so that they could come back after the Sabbath.

The next day, the chief priests and Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while He was still alive, that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give orders for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise His disciples may come and steal the body, and tell the people He has been raised from the dead.”

“Take a guard,” said Pilate. “Go and make the tomb as secure as you can.”

So they went and sealed the stone, and put soldiers on guard outside the tomb.

That Saturday was the saddest, quietest day. Jesus’ friends hid away, heartbroken and afraid. Everything they had hoped for seemed to be lying dead in that tomb, behind the great stone, with soldiers standing guard.

But Jesus had said He would rise on the third day. The chief priests remembered. His friends had forgotten.

Read it in your Bible: Matthew 27:57–66; John 19:38–42

Dear Jesus, thank you that even on the saddest days, you have not forgotten your promises. When I am sad, help me to remember that you are still in charge. Amen.