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Tuesday 12 March 2013

Mark 15:42-47 - Buried

Because of Jewish customs it was necessary to get the body down and buried before the Sabbath began. Arimathea was about 20 miles northwest of Jerusalem. Luke 23:50-53 tells us that Joseph was a good and upright man, a member of the Jewish council, but he had not consented to the actions taken against Jesus. Mark tells us here that Joseph was "waiting for the kingdom of God". 
People sometimes took two or three days to die as a result of crucifixion, hence Pilate's surprise. The method of killing was designed to inflict the maximum agony.
Jesus was wrapped in cloth, buried in a rock tomb, with a stone rolled against the entrance. So Jesus was well and truly buried. The two Mary's saw where He was buried. The point of all this is to make it absolutely clear that (i) Jesus was dead; (ii) He was securely buried; and (iii) the women knew where He was buried. This is to counter some of the arguments made against the resurrection at the time, and since. The notion that Jesus did not die is just ridiculous and has no factual or evidential basis at all. He was buried and the women knew where He was buried, so the idea that on resurrection day they went to the wrong tomb, to a tomb where Jesus had not been buried, it factually incorrect.

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