PRAY:
In Luke 11:29, Jesus cites the “Sign of Jonah” as a prediction of his death and burial. Pray Jonah’s prayer (Jonah 2:2-9). Make these words your own.
PONDER:
Have you ever prayed to God in a time of great distress? What did you say? How did God answer you?
Do you think the disciples and Jesus’ other followers were praying while he was in the tomb? Why or why not? What might they have prayed?
What was Joseph of Arimathea risking by approaching Pilate for Jesus’ body? Why did he do this?
Matthew adds a description of the guard at the tomb. Why did he feel it was important to recount this? What questions might the early Christians have asked? What questions do we ask about Jesus’ burial?
Why is it important to know that Jesus was in the tomb for two days? (Recall the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead in John’s Gospel).
DO: In the last couple years there has been growing media coverage of the possibility that a tomb for Jesus’ family might have been found. Research these findings – what is the archaeological evidence? What do you think?
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Lesson 49: The Burial
Matthew 27:57-66; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42
Joseph of Arimathea
Although the other people differ slightly, Joseph of Arimathea is remembered in all four Gospel accounts as the primary actor in the burial of Jesus. In all accounts, he is identified as a Jew – Mark and Luke identify him as a member of the council (the Sanhedrin). In Matthew’s account, he is identified as a disciple and buries Jesus in his own tomb (a sign of wealth), which he had hewn himself (a physical service unbecoming a wealthy man).
• Mark describes Joseph as acting “boldly”. What was at risk for Joseph in approaching Pilate and identifying himself with Jesus? Why do you think he did it?
• Who else was present at the burial of Jesus? Who was absent?
Mark pictures the effect of the cross as transforming Jesus’ enemies: the Romans who killed him (the centurion), the religious leaders who rejected him (Joseph), and his family who disbelieved in him (Mary, see 3:20-21, 31-35). (Boring & Craddock, People’s New Testament Commentary, 170).
• What is the significance of Joseph’s identity in relation to his actions after Jesus’ death? What do we know about Joseph’s actions in regard to Jesus before his death?
• How does the event of the cross transform us?
The Funeral
The Romans typically left the bodies of crucified prisoners on the cross to decompose and be consumed by birds and animals. The recent discovery in Jerusalem of an ossuary containing the bones of a victim of crucifixion shows that there were exceptions. (Boring & Craddock, 170). Contrast Jesus’ burial with that of John the Baptist in Mark 6:29.
• There are times in our lives that are so painful and earth shaking that nothing seems appropriate anymore. What role can ritual play in these situations? What role does ritual play for those who participate in the burial of Jesus?
• What do the funeral preparations described reveal about Jesus’ disciples (the ones who remained)? Is it easier to be faithful or to have faith? Why?
First Century Jewish Burial
In Judaism, the ultimate humiliation was to remain unburied. Burying the dead, according to Jewish tradition, was a means of sharing with those in need.
Preparation for burial involved washing the body (Acts 9:37), anointing it with spices and oils , wrapping it in a fresh linen cloth (John 19:40), and placing another linen cloth over the face (John 20:7). Because cremation and embalming were forbidden, burial took place without delay – almost always the same day as the person’s death. This was especially important because of the effect of the warm Middle Eastern climate on the body.
The bodies were not enclosed in coffins. Instead, they would place the body on a stone ledge carved into the wall of a cave chamber (tomb). After a year, when the body had decomposed, the bones would be gathered, placed in a container, and then moved to a bone chamber in the tomb, either in the floor or at the side of the burial ledge. The tomb was then reused for another body.
By the first century, Jewish traditions were maintained in the midst of Roman cultural influence, which led to some adaptation and variety. Abraham used a cave for Sarah’s burial. In later periods, tombs were cut from the rock. Such a “rock-hewn” tomb as described in the Synoptic Gospel accounts might have included a forecourt before a cave, the mouth of which would be covered by a large, wheel shaped stone set in a groove cut into the rock. Such individual, rock hewn tombs were common, although there is also evidence for many shared family tombs, especially in constructed buildings or underground catacombs. Criminals were buried under a pile of stone.
Demonstrative mourning was a common funeral practice both in the Middle East in general and in Israel. The prophet Jeremiah explains the use of professional mourners, “that our eyes may run down with tears” (9:18). Rabbi Judah (140-165 CE) said, “Even the poorest in Israel should hire not less than two flutes and one wailing woman.” Mourning continued for seven days (Gen 50:10). According to Rabbinic tradition, the spirit of the deceased person hovered in the neighborhood for three days, so “four days” meant “thoroughly dead” or “beyond hope”; however, it’s unclear whether this tradition was established already in Jesus’ day, nor is it applied to Jesus’ own resurrection.
See Abraham’s care for Sarah, purchasing his first land for her tomb in Genesis 23. See also the apocryphal book of Tobit, where Tobit takes it as a moral obligation to bury the abandoned dead 1:16-18; 6:15.
In John 19:39 Nicodemus brings a mixture of myrrh and aloe, weighing about a hundred pounds. This is an overabundance of spices (see 12:3). Such a mixture would have been very expensive and alludes to Jesus receiving an extravagant (royal?) burial equal to his role as “King of Israel.”
See the story of the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:1-44).
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