Descent, Deposition, & Burial
- Joseph of Arimathea asks Pilate for the body — a secret disciple, member of the Sanhedrin (Matthew 27:57-58)
- Deposition from the Cross — the body is taken down (Mark 15:46)
- Nicodemus brings myrrh and aloes, about 75 pounds (John 19:39)
- Burial — the body is wrapped in a clean linen shroud, placed in Joseph's own new rock-hewn tomb. A great stone is rolled over the entrance (Matthew 27:59-60)
- The women watch — Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses see where he is laid (Mark 15:47)
Descent from the Cross & Lamentation
Descent from the Cross
Lamentation
Pietà
The Entombment of Christ
Burial & 3 Days in the Tomb
"Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power" - Rev 20:6
“Then answered the Jews and said unto Him, “What sign shewest Thou unto us, seeing that Thou doest these things?” Jesus answered and said unto them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then said the Jews, “Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt Thou rear it up in three days?” But He spake of the temple of His body. When therefore He was risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.” - The Gospel According to St. John
"When you took me down the cross and put me in the Sepulcher, I became the altar on which I sacrifice myself, The cloth in which I was wrapped will be called the corporeal, this vessel in which you put my Blood, when you gathered it from my body.....It will be called the Chalice, The Paten which lies on top of it, will signify the Stone which was sealed before the tomb... ....when you put me in the Sepulcher.... I revealed my mystery for all to see." - Source? Mike Bais?
Burial
- Burial by Joseph of Arimathea. The sealing of the tomb and placement of guards.
Gospel of Mark
In the Gospel of Mark (the earliest of the canonical gospels), written around the years 66 and 72,[9][10] Joseph of Arimathea is a member of the Sanhedrin, which had condemned Jesus, who wishes to ensure that the corpse is buried in accordance with Jewish Law, according to which dead bodies could not be left exposed overnight. He puts the body in a new shroud and lays it in a tomb carved into the rock.[7] The Jewish historian Josephus, writing later in the century, described how the Jews regarded this law as so important that even the bodies of crucified criminals would be taken down and buried before sunset.[11] In this account, Joseph does only the bare minimum to observe the Law, wrapping the body in a cloth, with no mention of washing (Taharah) or anointing it. This may explain why Mark mentions an event prior to the crucifixion in which a woman pours perfume over Jesus.[12] Jesus is thereby prepared for burial even before his actual death.[13]
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew was written around the years 80 to 85, using the Gospel of Mark as a source.[14] In this account Joseph of Arimathea is not referenced as a member of the Sanhedrin, but a wealthy disciple of Jesus.[15][16] Many interpreters have read this as a subtle orientation by the author towards wealthy supporters,[16] while others believe this is a fulfillment of prophecy from Isaiah 53:9:
"And they made his grave with the wicked, And with the rich his tomb; Although he had done no violence, Neither was any deceit in his mouth."
This version suggests a more honourable burial: Joseph wraps the body in a clean shroud and places it in his own tomb, and the word used is soma (body) rather than ptoma (corpse).[17] The author adds that the priests and the Pharisees "made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard."
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Mark is also a source for the account given in the Gospel of Luke, written around the year 80–90.[18] As in the Markan version, Joseph is described as a member of the Sanhedrin,[19] but as not having agreed with the Sanhedrin's decision regarding Jesus; he is said to have been "waiting for the kingdom of God" rather than a disciple of Jesus.[20]
Gospel of John
The Gospel of John, the last of the gospels, was written around the years 90 to 95, and it depicts Joseph as a disciple who gives Jesus an honourable burial. John says that Joseph was assisted in the burial process by Nicodemus, who brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes and included these spices in the burial cloth according to Jewish customs.[21]
The apocryphal manuscript known as the Gospel of Peter states that the Jews handed over the body of Jesus to Joseph, who later washes him then buries him in a place called "Joseph's Garden".[24]
An argument in favor of a decent burial before sunset is the Jewish custom, based on the Torah, that the body of an executed person should not remain on the tree where the corpse was hung for public display, but be buried before sunrise. This is based on Deuteronomy 21:22–23, but also attested in the Temple Scroll of the Essenes, and in Josephus' Jewish War 4.5.2§317, describing the burial of crucified Jewish insurgents before sunset.
Expanded Tradition: Deposition, Lamentation, and Burial
Joseph of Arimathea
All four canonical Gospels name Joseph of Arimathea as the man who asks Pilate for Yeshua’s body.
The evangelists preserve complementary portraits:
- Mark: a respected member of the council who is himself looking for the Kingdom of God.
- Matthew: a rich man and disciple of Yeshua.
- Luke: a good and righteous council member who had not consented to the council’s purpose and deed.
- John: a disciple who had previously remained secret for fear.
Joseph’s action is courageous. Crucifixion was meant to end in shame, yet Joseph publicly identifies himself with the condemned man and gives him an honorable burial.
Matthew’s emphasis on Joseph’s wealth naturally recalls Isaiah 53:9, where the suffering servant is associated with “a rich man in his death.”
Nicodemus Returns
John alone brings Nicodemus back into the story. The man who first came to Yeshua “by night” now appears openly with an extraordinary quantity of myrrh and aloes for the burial.
His story has moved from secret nocturnal inquiry to public devotion at the moment when outward hope appears lost.
The Deposition from the Cross
The taking down of Christ’s body became one of the great subjects of Christian art: The Deposition or Descent from the Cross.
The scene gathers together Joseph, Nicodemus, Mary, the beloved disciple, Mary Magdalene, and other mourners in later iconography. Ladders, pincers, nails, linen, and the Cross itself become part of the visual language of the Passion.
The Lamentation
Between Deposition and burial, Christian art developed the Lamentation over the Dead Christ: the body laid upon the ground or stone while Mary, John, Mary Magdalene, and others mourn.
This moment is only lightly sketched in the canonical texts, but Christian imagination dwelt upon the human grief that must have accompanied the burial.
The Pietà
The Pietà presents Mary holding the dead body of Yeshua. It is not narrated as a discrete event in the Gospels, but it became one of the most powerful images in Western Christianity.
The infancy image of Madonna and Child is reversed: the Mother who once held the infant now receives the dead Son.
Jewish Burial and the Approach of the Sabbath
The burial takes place under pressure of time because the Sabbath is approaching. Jewish law placed importance on burial before nightfall, especially for an executed body.
The haste explains the sequence: the body is wrapped and placed in the tomb, while the women later intend to return with spices after the Sabbath.
Linen and the Shroud
The Synoptics emphasize a clean linen cloth. John describes linen cloths and a separate face cloth. These burial linens later became central to Christian relic traditions, most famously the Shroud of Turin and other claimed Passion cloths.
Whatever judgment is made about particular relics, the Gospel image of the wrapped body profoundly shaped Christian burial art and liturgy.
The Stone, Seal, and Guard
Matthew adds the episode of the chief priests and Pharisees asking Pilate to secure the tomb because they remember Yeshua’s prediction of rising.
The stone is sealed and a guard stationed. Narratively this intensifies Easter: the tomb is not merely closed; it is deliberately secured.
The Women Keep Watch
Mary Magdalene and the other women observe where Yeshua is laid. Their fidelity creates the bridge between Good Friday and Easter morning: those who witness the burial become the first witnesses of the empty tomb.
Eastern Christian Tradition — The Epitaphios
In Byzantine tradition, Holy Friday and Holy Saturday center upon the Epitaphios, a richly embroidered cloth depicting the dead Christ laid out for burial. It is carried in solemn procession and placed as a symbolic tomb within the church.
The faithful venerate not an abstract doctrine but the mystery of the dead Christ lying in the tomb.
Joseph of Arimathea in Later Legend
Later lore. Joseph became a major figure in Western medieval legend. Traditions eventually connected him with Britain, Glastonbury, and the Holy Grail. These stories are many centuries later than the canonical Gospels, but they profoundly shaped the Arthurian and Grail imagination.
In that legendary world, the man who receives and buries the body of Christ becomes a bearer of the sacred vessel and guardian of the mystery.
This later development makes Joseph one of the great bridges between the Gospel Passion and the medieval Grail tradition.