John 19:38–It’s late Friday evening. Jesus is dead but still hanging on the cross. Evening is approaching and it is very important to the Jewish people that they get these bodies down and have them buried before the sun goes down. That’s when the Passover will begin and Jewish law states that the land must be ceremonially clean then. It also states that no work can be done once the Sabbath has begun at sundown.
A man named Joseph volunteers to take Jesus’ body down off the cross and bury Him. This is the first time we’ve seen Joseph. He was a wealthy man who has followed Jesus for a while now but done it privately because he was afraid of what the religious leaders might think. But now he is moved to take action. Along with him is Nicodemus, the teacher who had come to Jesus in the middle of the night in Chapter 3 to ask Him some questions. It seems Nicodemus had become a believer in Jesus as well.
They came with ointments and linen cloths to wrap the body as was the tradition for burials at that time. But the question is, why did they step forward now? It would be very dangerous to be identified as a follower of Jesus at this point. In fact, most of the disciples did not go out to witness the crucifixion.
We’re not sure what caused these two to act but they have to move quickly in order to finish before the sun sets. Joseph has a tomb to use. It’s in a nearby garden—a new tomb which had never been used before.
We don’t know why Joseph and Nicodemus came forward but we do know it wasn’t a coincidence. Their actions fulfilled another prophecy.
The prophet Isaiah described this scene some 700 years before it happened:
“But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.”
Isaiah 53:5, 8-9 NLT
The rich man, Joseph, has put Jesus into his tomb, fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy. And it’s a new tomb—one that has never had any other bodies buried in it. As the story continues, we’ll soon see why that would be important.
