Luke 23:50-56

Butler's Comments

SECTION 3

Interred (Luke 23:50-56)

50 Now there was a man named Joseph from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, 51who had not consented to their purpose and deed, and he was looking for the kingdom of God. 52This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud, and laid him in a rock-hewn tomb, where no one had ever yet been laid. 54It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning. 55The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and saw the tomb, and how his body was laid; 56then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.

On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Luke 23:50-52 Compassion: The fact of Jesus-' death is of such importance we here summarize the gospel's testimony to it:

a.

He gave up His spirit (John 19:30).

b.

The centurion stood facing Him and saw that He had breathed His last (Mark 15:39).

c.

The soldiers came to break His legs but saw that He was already dead (John 19:33).

d.

John saw Him die and claims to be an eyewitness (John 19:35).

e.

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus knew He was dead, Matthew 27:57 ff., John 19:39, two council members of the Jewish Sanhedrin.

f.

Pilate made sure by questioning the centurion that Jesus was dead (Mark 15:44-45).

g.

Joseph and Nicodemus put His body in a tomb and rolled a stone against the door (Matthew 27:59 ff,; Mark 15:46 ff.; Luke 23:50 ff.; John 19:38 ff.)

Joseph's home town, Arimathea, was fifteen miles east of Joppa. Joseph was a rich man, indicated by the fact that he had a tomb hewn for himself out of solid rock. He was a respected member of the Sanhedrin (Mark 15:43) and was looking for the kingdom of God. This undoubtedly infers he believed the prophets of the Old Testament and believed Jesus was the fulfillment of them. He was a good man (Luke 23:50-51) who had voted contrary to the Sanhedrin's sentence of death for Jesus. G. Campbell Morgan notes: It is an interesting fact that on that day, when He was dead, those who cared for His final burial were secret disciples.. In the hour of crisis, it is often some loud-voiced Peter who says, Though all forget Thee, yet will not I, who fails, while the secret disciples suddenly gain courage. It was Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, men who loved, and men who believed in the coming of the kingdom, who buried Jesus. No hand but the hand of love ever touched the dead body of Jesus. Those who loved and believed Him took Him down from the cross, and put His body in a grave they provided. It was those who loved Him and believed Him who anointed His body with spices. God would not give the body of His Son to the pagans or the Jewish rulers to desecrate further.

Luke 23:53-56 Crypt: Just down the slope west from Gordon's Calvary is a garden. At the north end is a rock wall with an opening. One must stoop to enter. There is a runway there where a large round stone might be moved back and forth. Within the opening is a room, nine or ten feet square. There is a ledge on the east side of the room just large enough to hold a human body for burial. Many scholars believe this is the actual tomb of Joseph where Jesus-' body was interred. It does seem to fit every specification of the scriptural account. Note the following:

a.

He was buried in a tomb no one else occupied ever before.

b.

One hundred litras (80 lbs. U.S.) of burial spices were used.

c.

There was no time for hired mourners or the other customary rites of Jewish burial at the home.

d.

The body was wrapped limb by limb with spices sprinkled profusely upon each bandage.

e.

The body was not carried on a bier to the grave as was customary.

f.

Everything was hurried and without ceremony.

g.

It was in a rich man's tomb (fulfillment of Isaiah 53:9).

h.

His body did not see corruption (decay) according to prophecy also (Psalms 16:10).

Because it was late Friday evening, and the sabbath began at sundown, the women (those who had come with Jesus from Galilee) simply followed Joseph and Nicodemus to the tomb to make certain they could find it after the Sabbath to anoint it with spices. Luke says, they saw the tomb, and how his body was laid. then they returned to the city to prepare spices and ointments. This is significant. There have been many theories attempting to explain away the testimony of the empty tomb where the dead body of Jesus had been interred. These are attempts to deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus. One of those theories is that the women got lost on their return to the garden, after sabbath, and came to a tomb which was empty, but it was not the tomb where Jesus had been buried. The information Luke recorded was that the women took dangerous but exacting measures to be certain they would not return to the wrong tomb. In light of Luke's record which, according to his own preface (Luke 1:1-4), was written only after the most extensive accumulation of eyewitnessed testimony, it seems ludicrous to try to explain the empty tomb by theorizing these women went to the wrong tomb!

Now the enemies of God have done their utmost. The pretended ruler of this world thinks he has devoured the man-child (cf. Revelation 12:1-6). If God is to be dethroned, this will be the hour, for His Son has been put to death and buried. The greatest power-confrontation of all time has come to a head. The battle has been fought! But who is victor? Not Satan. He has, in fact, sealed his own doom. He has suffered final and absolute defeat. He has been cast out (John 12:31), destroyed (Hebrews 2:14-15), judged (John 16:11), and bound (Matthew 12:29, etc.). Death has no power over Jesus (John 14:30)it cannot hold Him! His followers will go to the tomb to see Him but they will be told they are seeking the living among the dead! God is victor! He took the worst the devil could ever do to both God and man, the death of the Son of God and man, and made it the justification of both God and man!

We cannot here continue commenting on the meaning of the death of Christ. That remains for the epistles of the New Testament. The purpose of the gospel records was simply to document the facts of His death as written testimonies of eyewitnesses. It is nothing short of supernatural that those who wrote these gospel accounts, some twenty years after the events, did not indulge in expansive interpretations of the facts they recorded. It should be considered proof that the gospels were written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that they do not regale the reader with interpretations of events as most human reporters do.

STUDY STIMULATORS:

1.

What kind of pressures would Pilate be under that would make him want to appease a vanquished Jewish hierarchy? Didn-'t Pilate have freedom to override their demands if he wished? Is Pilate the only political official ever to feel this kind of pressure? How should we expect politicians to react under such presssure? How does God expect them to react?

2.

Does it appear to you that Pilate began his review of the charges against Jesus with honesty and justice in mind? Or, maybe he thought he could use this incident to torment his Jewish tormentors? What do you think? In light of unchristian human behavior, what do you think of Pilate?

3.

Why didn-'t Jesus talk to Herod? Does it bother you that Jesus did not even try to get Herod to repent? May we use Jesus-' conduct as an example to follow in certain confrontations we may have?

4.

What does the demand of the Jews to have Bar-Abbas released instead of Jesus show about their purposes and relation to God's Word?

5.

What does the scripture say about those who violate their own conscience? (cf. Romans 2:12-16; Romans 14:1-23; 1 Corinthians 10:23-30). Is that what Pilate did?

6.

What is your reaction to Jesus-' compassionate warning to the women of Jerusalem as He, Himself, was being abused on the way to Calvary? Could you be like Him in such circumstances? Are you supposed to be?

7.

What do you think of the method of execution by crucifixion? Do you think it had a deterrent-value? Is execution necessarily supposed to be humane? Is crucifixion any less humane than Jewish death by stoning?

8.

When Jesus prayed for the forgiveness of those crucifying Him, did God answer His prayer? When? How?

9.

Where is Paradise? When did Jesus go there? Is that where all believers go after death?

10.

How could a secret disciple of Jesus like Joseph of Arimathea get such courage to ask Pilate for the body of Jesus and bury it in his own tomb? What had he done at the Jewish trials of Jesus? Why? Should Joseph have done more in Jesus-' defense?

11.

What is significant about all the documented details of Jesus-' death and burial? Did Jesus really die? What if He did not?

12.

What about the importance of the women seeing where He was buried?

Applebury's Comments

The Burial of Jesus
Scripture

Luke 23:50-56 And behold, a man named Joseph, who was a councilor, a good and righteous man 51 (he had not consented to their counsel and deed), a man of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews, who was looking for the kingdom of God: 52 this man went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 And he took it down, and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb that was hewn in stone, where never man had yet lain. 54 And it was the day of the Preparation, and the sabbath drew on. 55 And the women, who had come with him out of Galilee, followed after, and beheld the tomb, and how his body was laid. 56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.

And on the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Comments

a man named Joseph.Another man named Joseph had watched over Jesus in His infancy. Now this good and righteous man who was looking for the kingdom of God boldly identified himself with Him in His death. That took courage. But Joseph had not consented to this wicked deed; he had agreed with Pilate and the centurion that Jesus was innocent. It is true that he had been a secret disciple (John 19:38), but he could no longer remain so. He asked Pilate's permission to take the body of Jesus from the cross. He prepared it for burial and laid it in his own new tomb.

Nicodemus, the inquiring Pharisee whom Jesus taught the lesson of the New Birth, the bold defender of Jesus who was being condemned by all his colleagues, brought spices and helped Joseph with the burial. See John 3:1-5; John 7:50; John 19:39-41.

And it was the day of Preparation.That is, Friday, for the sabbath was about to begin. The women had only time enough to prepare the spices before sundown. They rested on the sabbath and came early on the first day of the week to complete their sorrowful task.

Summary

The Jews agreed that Jesus should be put to death because, as they said, He was guilty of blasphemy. But they knew that such a charge would mean nothing to Pilate. What could they say to the governor that would get him to consent to the death of Jesus? He was perverting the nation of the Jews! That would do it, for the governor had to keep peace. But just to make sure, they added two more charges, forbidding to give tribute to Caesar and saying that He was a king.
Pilate examined Jesus and three times pronounced Him innocent. When he learned that Jesus was from Galilee, he sent Him to Herod who questioned Him at length but found nothing worthy of death in Him. But the Jews pressed the issue and threatened to take the case to Caesar. When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, he ordered Jesus to be crucified.
Jesus went out bearing His own cross, but soon Simon of Cyrene was compelled to bear the cross to the place of crucifixion. Jesus tried to comfort the women of Jerusalem as they followed Him. They would sufferperhaps at the destruction of Jerusalemmore hardships later on. They would cry for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them and cover them from that persecution.
On the cross, Jesus prayed, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do. He said to the dying thief, Today, shalt thou be with me in Paradise. Just before He died, He said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.
The centurion who commanded the soldiers that executed the three looked at Jesus as He died and said, Certainly this was a righteous man. Later he said, This was God's Son.
Joseph of Arimathea who had been a secret disciple of Jesus went to Pilate and asked permission to take the body of Jesus down an bury it. It was the day of Preparation and the sabbath was about to begin. The women prepared spices and ointments and rested on the sabbath.

Questions

1.

Why did the Jews change their charge when they brought Jesus before the governor?

2.

What are the three charges which they presented before Pilate?

3.

What evidence could they present to support them?

4.

What was Pilate's verdict after examining Jesus?

5.

Why did he send Him to Herod?

6.

What was the attitude of Herod when he saw Jesus?

7.

What examination of the charges did he make?

8.

What was the verdict of Herod?

9.

Why did he and Pilate become friends at that time?

10.

What plan did Pilate use to attempt to get the people to agree to the release of Jesus?

11.

When did the people reverse the decision made at the trial?

12.

Who was Simon of Cyrene? What did he do?

13.

What was to happen to the Daughters of Jerusalem?

14.

What does Calvary mean? Golgotha?

15.

What did Jesus mean by His prayer: Father forgive them?

16.

Why did He say to the thief, Today you will be with me in Paradise?

17.

Where are the dead awaiting the resurrection?

18.

What is the significance of Jesus using the words of Psalms 22:1?

19.

How does Paul explain the reason for the death of Christ?

20.

What was unfair about the remark, He saved others, but he can-'t save himself?

21.

Why was the sign over the cross written in three languages?

22.

Why did Pilate refuse to change what he had written?

23.

What made the difference between the death of Jesus and that of two who were crucified with Him?

24.

What proof is there that Jesus actually died?

25.

What are the two statements of the centurion? What do they mean?

26.

Who was Joseph of Arimathea?

27.

What had been his attitude toward Jesus?

28.

Why did he ask Pilate for the body?

29.

Who helped him?

30.

On what day was Jesus buried?