Friday 18th April
Read Mark 15:42-47
“It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. 45 When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. 46 So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.” (NIVUK)
We learn three things from this passage. There were some amongst the rich who were, at the very least, sympathetic to Jesus even if the majority were not. We learn that Jesus was truly dead, a fact attested to by Joseph, the centurion, Pilate and finally the two Marys. We also learn that when the disciples scattered from the garden, they scattered. None of the disciples were witnesses to Jesus’ death and burial.
At the heart of Mark’s gospel is the testimony of eyewitnesses. Eyewitnesses to the death and burial of Jesus. The details recounted are only important after Jesus has risen as people sought to make sense of the resurrection. Sensible people would seek evidence confirming that Jesus had died. Because the most obvious explanation for Jesus’ continued presence amongst them is that He never died. Yet these witnesses could attest that He was indeed dead and buried before the Sabbath commenced.
What seems a matter-of-fact recounting of the events following Jesus’ crucifixion contain in them the heart of the gospel. That none of these events were witnessed by those who would seem to have the most to gain in recounting them, Jesus’ own disciples, makes them all the more believable. It is why we can recount with believers through the centuries that Jesus was crucified, died and was buried.
