John § 62

(de Con. Evang. iii. 22) In performing this last office to our Lord, he showed a bold indifference to the Jews, though he had avoided our Lord's company when alive, for fear of incurring their hatred.

It was providentially ordered that he should be rich, in order that he might have access to the governor, and righteous, in order that he might merit the charge of our Lord's body.

Arimathea is the same as Ramatha, the city of Elkanah, and Samuel. It was providentially ordered that he should be rich, in order that he might have access to the governor, and just, in order that he might merit the charge of our Lord's body: That he might take the body of Jesus, because he was His disciple.

Their ferocity being appeased for the time by their success, he sought the body of Christ. He did not come as a disciple, but simply to perform a work of mercy, which is due to the evil as well as to the good.

Mystically, the name Joseph means, apt for the receiving of a good work; whereby we are admonished that we should make ourselves worthy of our Lord's body, before we receive it.

But after these things he asked. Above, the Lord's arrest, condemnation, and passion were treated; here the fourth matter is treated, namely the condition of the burial. Joseph therefore took down the body of Jesus; and because he could not do so except by permission, therefore he asked and obtained what he asked for, and took down what he obtained.

He asked, because he was a disciple of Christ, although a secret one; therefore it says: After these things, that is, after the consummation of the Passion, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate. Arimathea is the same as Ramatha, the town of Elkanah, Samuel, and Hannah, about which see First Kings, chapter one, at the beginning. Joseph, namely, asked, because he was a disciple of Jesus, but secret for fear of the Jews, because, as is said above in chapter nine, "the Jews had already conspired that if anyone confessed Him to be the Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue." Although he was secret, he was nevertheless a true disciple, because he loved Him not only while living but also when dead; Proverbs seventeen: "He who is a friend loves at all times." He asked, I say, that he might take away the body of Jesus, that is, take it down from the cross, and he obtained it; therefore it says: And Pilate permitted it, namely, that He might be buried. He came therefore and took away the body of Jesus, he came, namely, from the place where Pilate was, to the cross, and took it down.

It is asked: why did none of the disciples of the Lord come forward to bury him? If you say that they did not dare on account of fear of the Jews: but Joseph feared much more: therefore all the more should he have abandoned the task. I respond: The reason was both human and divine: human, because, although the disciples and he feared the Jews, nevertheless he was a noble person, as is said in Mark 15, and therefore he was confident of obtaining the request, because he was known to Pilate. The divine reason was that, if the disciples had buried him, the Jews would have had a probable argument that they had afterwards stolen his body.

It is asked concerning Joseph's fear, whether it was good. That it was not, it seems, because one's own salvation is to be loved more than worldly disgrace: therefore if he did not dare to confess the name of Christ on account of fear, the fear was evil. But to the contrary it is said in Luke 23 that he was a good and just man. I respond: That fear was not of iniquity, but of a certain natural weakness, by which a man fears shame: nor was it a fault, because he did not fear so much as to deny, as Peter did, but only not so much as to preach publicly: and this was not then of necessity, but of perfection. Ambrose: "What wonder, if a just man hides, when even the Apostles, the teachers of the just, were hiding?"

Concerning the request for the Body of the Lord: This saying is indeed fraught with a grievous charge against the Jews, as it shows that to become a disciple of Christ was dangerous, and exposed a man to penalties; for he plainly introduces this most excellent young man----I mean Joseph----to our notice, as most especially anxious to escape the notice of the Jews, though he had been induced by Christ's teaching to choose that worship which was the reality itself, and better and more pleasing to the God Who loves virtue than the commandment of the Law, and at the same time gives us a proof necessary to confirm our faith. For it was necessary for us to believe that Christ laid down His Life for us. And is it not an inevitable consequence that, when a man is entombed, we must have a firm conviction that he also died? And we may well condemn, as guilty of gross brutality, the presumption, hard-heartedness, and merciless temper of the Jews, who did not even pay unto Christ the respect due to the dead, nor honour Him with burial rites, when they saw Him lying before them an inanimate corpse; though they knew that He was the Christ, and had often been amazed by the marvellous works that He did, even though their bitter hatred might never have allowed them to profit by His miraculous power. The disciple of Arimathaea, therefore, passes judgment on the inhumanity of the Jews, and condemns the men of Jerusalem, when he goes and tends with fitting care the Body of Him Whom he did not as yet honour by an open confession of faith, but still believed on Him in secret, for fear of the Jews, as says the blessed Evangelist.

"After this came Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple." Not one of the twelve, but perhaps one of the seventy. For now deeming that the anger of the Jews was quenched by the Cross, they approached without fear, and took charge of His funeral. Joseph therefore came and asked the favor from Pilate, which he granted; why should he not? Nicodemus also assists him, and furnishes a costly burial. For they were still disposed to think of Him as a mere man. And they brought those spices whose especial nature is to preserve the body for a long time, and not to allow it quickly to yield to corruption, which was an act of men imagining nothing great respecting Him; but anyhow, they exhibited very loving affection. But how did no one of the twelve come, neither John, nor Peter, nor any other of the more distinguished disciples? Nor doth the writer conceal this point. If any one say that it was from fear of the Jews, these men also were occupied by the same fear; for Joseph too was, it saith, "A secret (disciple) for fear of the Jews." And not one can say that Joseph acted thus because he greatly despised them, but though himself afraid, still he came. But John who was present, and had seen Him expire, did nothing of the kind. It seems to me that Joseph was a man of high rank, (as is clear from the funeral,) and known to Pilate, on which account also he obtained the favor; and then he buried Him, not as a criminal, but magnificently, after the Jewish fashion, as some great and admirable one.

For it was not without design that the prophet Moses, when Hur and Aaron upheld his hands, remained in this form until evening. For indeed the Lord remained upon the tree almost until evening, and they buried Him at eventide; then on the third day He rose again.

Surely Joseph knew that what he handled with full respect was a body. This is that Joseph who had not consented with the Jews in their crime, the blessed man who did not enter the counsel of the ungodly or stand in the way of sinners, nor did he sit in the seat of mockers. It was right for him who buried the Lord to have been a subject of prophecy and now to be deservedly blessed.

Observe how often mention is made of the body. See how often the Evangelist shows that it was the body that was nailed to the cross, the body begged by Joseph of Pilate, the body taken down from the tree, the body wrapped in linen clothes with the myrrh and aloes, and then the name of the person given to it. And Jesus is said to have been laid in a tomb. Thus the angel said, "Come see the place where the Lord lay," naming the part by the name of the whole. And we constantly do just the same. In this place, we say, such a person was buried; not the body of such a person. Every one in his senses knows that we are speaking of the body, and such a mode of speech is customary in divine Scripture.

Why did none of the twelve come to Pilate, but Joseph dared to undertake such a deed—he who perhaps belonged to the number of the seventy? If someone says that the disciples (12) hid out of fear of the Jews, then he too was gripped by the same fear. One could say that he (Joseph) was a very famous man and, by virtue of his fame, was known even to Pilate.

In that it was a new sepulchre, we are given to understand, that we are all renewed by Christ's death, and death and corruption destroyed. Mark too the exceeding poverty that He took up for our sakes. He had no house in His lifetime, and now He is laid in another's sepulchre at His death, and His nakedness covered by Joseph. There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.

Even now in a certain sense Christ is put to death by the avaritious, in the person of the poor man suffering famine. Be therefore a Joseph, and cover Christ's nakedness, and, not once, but continually by contemplation, embalm Him in thy spiritual tomb, cover Him, and mix myrrh and bitter aloes; considering that bitterest sentence of all, Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire. (Matt. 25:41)

2463 After the Evangelist has told us about the crucifixion and death of Christ, he now turns to his burial: first, the permission for his burial; secondly, the care in preparing his body (v 40); thirdly, the place where Christ was buried (v 41); and, the burial itself (v 42).

2464 He says, After this, the passion and death of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea, this is the same city as Ramatha (1 Sam 1:1), who was a disciple of Jesus, not one of the twelve, but one of the many other believers, for at first all those who believed were called disciples, asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Joseph was a disciple, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, like many others were before Christ's passion: "Many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue" (12:42). We can see from this that while the other disciples, who went into hiding after the passion, lost their confidence, this man gained in confidence and openly tended to Jesus.

This man asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, take the body from the cross and bury it. He did this because the human laws required permission to bury the bodies of those who had been condemned. And Pilate gave him leave, because Joseph was an important person and known to Pilate; Mark refers to Joseph as "a respected member of the council" (15:42).

Joseph and Nicodemus buried him. As some people have explained their names, Joseph means "increased." Because Nicodemus is a Greek name, many will know that it is a compound of "victory" and "people," since nikos means "victory" and demos means "people." So, who was increased by dying if not the one who said, "If the grain of wheat does not die, it remains alone. But if it dies, it is multiplied"? And who by his very dying won a victory over the people who were persecuting him, if not the one who by his rising will sit in judgment on them?

We are not to explain the meaning by saying, "first bringing a mixture of myrrh," but by attaching the word "first" to the preceding clause. For Nicodemus had at first come to Jesus by night, as recorded by this same John in the earlier portions of his Gospel. By the statement given us here, therefore, we are to understand that Nicodemus came to Jesus, not then only, but then for the first time; and that he was a regular comer afterwards, in order by hearing to become a disciple.

(Tr. cxx) We must not read the words, at the first, first bringing a mixture of myrrh, but attach the first to the former clause. For Nicodemus at the first came to Jesus by night, as John relates in the former part of the Gospel. From these words then we are to infer that that was not the only time that Nicodemus went to our Lord, but simply the first time; and that he came afterwards and heard Christ's discourses, and became a disciple.

Nicodemus joined him: And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.

We must observe however that it was simple ointment; for they were not allowed to mix many ingredients together. (Exod. 30:34, 38)

Now Nicodemus also came. Here the treatment concerns the embalming from spices made by Nicodemus, and the devotion of Nicodemus is touched upon in the bringing of many spices and in the embalming of the body. Now Nicodemus also came, who namely had come to Jesus by night at first, above in chapter three. This coming is treated, in which the reason for coming is indicated, because he too was a disciple, although a secret one: bearing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, that is, an ointment prepared from these, which preserved the body from putrefaction. For he did not yet believe in the resurrection, just as neither did the disciples; yet he loved greatly, whence it says: About a hundred pounds: for he did not yet understand what is said in the Psalm: "You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption."

It is asked concerning the devotion of Nicodemus. For it seems that he sinned: because, just as there is sin in stinginess, so there is sin in superfluous expenditure: but the pouring out of ointment was superfluous, because it was of no necessity or utility: and moreover so great an amount was not needed. I respond that the devotion of Nicodemus is praised: nor was there waste, but devotion, as is said above in chapter 12: and just as a man cannot serve the Divinity too much, so no one can bestow excessive honor upon the body of Christ crucified for us. Therefore, even if it would have been excess regarding another, it was nevertheless not so regarding that most holy body. As to the objection that he did not need it: it must be said that he believed he did need it, and this indeed was not a matter of praise, but of ignorance. But in this, that he believed him worthy of great honor and bestowed it upon him, his devotion is commended.

He says that this disciple was not alone in taking counsel wisely, as well as in fervent zeal, to go to dress the sacred Body for burial, but he makes mention of a second along with the first. This was Nicodemus, who completed the body of testimony to the event that is respected by the Law. For, says the Law: In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. The men who laid Jesus in the tomb were two in number, Joseph and Nicodemus; men who received the faith inwardly in their hearts, but were still scared by a foolish fear, and did not yet prefer to the honour and glory of the world that which is of God. For then they would have dismissed all fear of the Jews, and, paying slight heed to any danger from that quarter, would have indulged their faith fearlessly and freely, and thus have proved themselves holy, and good keepers of the commandment of our Saviour.

Long before this sepulcher was hewn out by Joseph, its glory was foretold in Isaiah's prediction, "His rest shall be glorious," meaning that the place of the Lord's burial should be held in universal honor.

Having thought that the fury of the Jews had subsided now that the Jesus they hated was already crucified, Joseph comes without fear and together with Nicodemus performs a magnificent burial.

2465 In regard to the second he says, So he came and took away his body. Here we see Joseph's concern to prepare the body: first, the things used in the preparation; secondly, the preparation itself (v 40).

2466 The body of Jesus was prepared with a mixture of myrrh and aloes, which Nicodemus had purchased in large quantity. So the Evangelist mentions both of them: Joseph, who claimed the body, and Nicodemus, who brought the spices. This is the same Nicodemus who came to Jesus at night, but this was before the passion (3:2). The Evangelist commemorates Nicodemus here to show that even though he had been a secret disciple, now he became a public one ‑ and he had already mentioned that Joseph had been a secret disciple because he feared the Jews. But Nicodemus did not yet have true faith in the resurrection because he brought myrrh and aloes, thinking that the body of Christ would soon corrupt without them: "You will not give your holy one to corruption" [Ps 16:10].

As for the mystical sense, we understand from this that we should bury the crucified Christ in our hearts, with the sadness of contrition and compassion: "My hands dripped with myrrh" (Song 5:5).

For those Evangelists who have left Nicodemus unnoticed have not affirmed that the Lord was buried by Joseph alone, although he is the only one introduced into their records. Neither does the fact that these three are all at one in informing us how the Lord was wrapped in the linen cloth by Joseph, preclude us from entertaining the idea that other linens may have been brought by Nicodemus and added to what was given by Joseph. So John may be perfectly correct in his narrative, especially as what he tells us is that the Lord was wrapped not in a linen cloth but in linen clothes. At the same time, when we take into account the handkerchief that was used for the head and the bandages with which the whole body was wrapped, and consider that all these were made of linen, we can see how, even though there was really but a single linen cloth [of the kind referred to by the first three Evangelists] there, it could still have been stated with the most perfect truth that "they wound him in linen clothes." For the phrase "linen clothes" is one applied generally to all textures made of flax.

"Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury." The evangelist, I think, was not without a purpose in so framing his words, "as the manner of the Jews is to bury:" for in this way, unless I am mistaken, he has admonished us that, in duties of this kind, which are observed to the dead, the customs of every nation ought to be preserved.

(Tr. cxx) Wherein the Evangelist intimates, that in paying the last offices of the dead, the custom of the nation is to be followed. It was the custom of the Jewish nation to embalm their dead bodies, in order that they might keep the longer.

(de Con. Evang. iii. 23) Nor does John here contradict the other Evangelists, who, though they are silent about Nicodemus, yet do not affirm that our Lord was buried by Joseph alone. Nor because they say that our Lord was wrapped in a linen cloth by Joseph, do they say that other linen cloths may not have been brought by Nicodemus in addition; so that John may be right in saying, not, in a single cloth, but, in linen cloths. Nay more, the napkin which was about His head and the bands which were tied round His body being all of linen, though there were but one linen cloth, He may yet be said to have been wrapped up in linen cloths: linen cloths being taken in a general sense, as comprehending all that was made of linen.

It has come down as the custom of the church of consecrating the Lord's body not on silk or gold cloth but in a clean linen cloth.

Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

Hence hath come down the custom of the Church, of consecrating the Lord's body not on silk or gold cloth, but in a clean linen cloth.

They took therefore. The devotion of Nicodemus is touched upon in the embalming of the body. They took therefore, namely he and Joseph, the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, they anointed it, supply: as is the custom of the Jews to bury, namely honorably; Genesis, last chapter: "Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father with spices." Chrysostom: "They bury him not as one condemned, but, as is the custom among the Jews, very honorably indeed, as someone great and wonderful."

Christ was numbered among the dead, Who for our sake became dead, according to the Flesh, but Whom we conceive to be, and Who is, in fact, Life, of Himself, and through His Father. And, that He might fulfil all righteousness, that is, all that was appropriate to the form of man, He of His own Will subjected the Temple of His Body not merely to death, but also to what follows after death, that is, burial and being laid in the tomb. The writer of the Gospel says that this sepulchre in the garden was a new one; this fact signifying to us, as it were, by a type and figure, that Christ's death is the harbinger and pioneer of our entry into Paradise. For He entered as a Forerunner for us. What other signification than this can be intended by the carrying over of the Body of Jesus in the garden? And by the newness of the sepulchre is meant the untrodden and strange pathway whereby we return from death unto life, and the renewing of our souls, that Christ has invented for us, whereby we baffle corruption. For henceforth, by the death of Christ, death for us has been transformed, in a manner, into sleep, with like power and functions. For we are alive unto God, and shall live for evermore, to the Scriptures. Therefore, also, the blessed Paul, in a variety of places, calls those asleep who have died in Christ. For in the times of old the dread presence of death held human nature in awe. For death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression; and we bore the image of the earthy in his likeness, and underwent the death that was inflicted by the Divine curse. But when the Second Adam appeared among us, the Divine Man from heaven, and, contending for the salvation of the world, purchased by His death the life of all men, and, destroying the power of corruption, rose again to life, we were transformed into His Image, and undergo, as it were, a different kind of death, that does not dissolve us in eternal corruption, but casts upon us a slumber which is laden with fair hope, after the Likeness of Him Who has made this new path for us, that is, Christ.

If you still live to sin, you cannot be buried with Jesus or laid in his new tomb because your old self still lives and cannot walk in newness of life. Therefore the Holy Spirit was careful to hand down through the Scriptures that it was a new sepulcher in which Jesus was buried and that he was wrapped in a clean linen cloth. He did this so that everyone who wants to be buried with Jesus by baptism might know that nothing of the old state should be brought to the new tomb, nothing of uncleanness to the clean linen cloth.

Both of them held nothing Divine concerning Him, but were disposed toward Him only as toward a man, because they brought such spices as chiefly had the power to preserve the body for a long time and prevent it from quickly succumbing to decay. And this showed that they held nothing great concerning Him. Nevertheless, they displayed great love toward Him, because they buried Him not as a criminal, but magnificently, according to the Jewish custom.

2467 With the spices ready, they prepared the body of Jesus, they took the body of Jesus. There is a question here, for John says that they bound it in linen cloths, while Matthew (27:59) says that they wrapped it in a linen cloth. One can answer, according to Augustine, that Matthew speaks of one linen cloth because he only mentioned Joseph, and he brought this one cloth. John alone mentions Nicodemus, and so he says "linen cloths," because Nicodemus brought the other cloth. Or, again, the body of Christ was also wrapped in winding bands, as we read in the case of Lazarus, because this is the way the Jews buried their dead. A small cloth was also placed over his head. John includes all these in his words "linen cloths." From the fact that they anointed the body of Jesus with spices, we are taught that in the performance of such humane duties, we should follow the customs of each country.

"Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid." As in the womb of the Virgin Mary no one was conceived before Him, and no one after Him, so in this sepulchre there was no one buried before Him, and no one after Him.

(Tr. cxx) As no one before or after Him was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary, so in this grave was there none buried before or after Him.

Now there was in the place. Here the third point is set forth, namely the placement in the tomb. And the reason why he was placed in that location is indicated as twofold, namely the suitability of the place and the shortness of time: the suitability of the place, because it was nearby and new: whence he says: Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb: and therefore new, in which namely no one had yet been placed. And such a tomb was fitting for the Lord, so that the resurrection would not be thought to be that of another who might lie with the Lord. Augustine says that "just as in the womb of the Virgin Mary no one before him, no one after him was conceived: so in this tomb no one before him, no one after him was buried."

And if any one choose to give an additional meaning to the saying that the sepulchre was a new one, and that no man had been lain therein, be it so. He says, then, we may suppose, that the sepulchre was new, and that no one had been ever laid therein, that no one might be thought to have arisen from the sleep of death save Jesus only.

And since we have touched on things connected with paradise, I am truly astonished at the truth of the types. In Paradise was the fall, and in a garden was our salvation. From the tree came sin, and until the tree, sin lasted. In the evening, when the Lord walked in the garden, they hid themselves. And in the evening the robber is brought by the Lord into paradise.

A garden was the place of his burial, and a vine was what was planted there, as he said, "I am the vine." He was planted therefore in the earth in order that the curse that came because of Adam might be rooted out. The earth was condemned to thorns and thistles; the true Vine sprang up out of the earth, that the saying might be fulfilled, "Truth sprang up out of the earth, and righteousness looked down from heaven." And what will he that is buried in the garden say? "I have gathered my myrrh with my spices"; and again, "myrrh and aloes, with all chief spices." Now these are the symbols of burial.

Christ himself is a virgin. His mother is also a virgin. In fact, although she is his mother, she is still a virgin. For Jesus has entered in through the closed doors, and in his sepulcher—a new one hewn out of the hardest rock—no one is laid either before him or after him.

And because they were straitened by the time, (since the Death took place at the ninth hour, and it is probable, that what with going to Pilate and what with taking down the body, evening would come upon them when it was not lawful to work,) they laid Him in the tomb that was near. And it is providentially ordered, that He should be placed in a new tomb, wherein no one had been placed before, that His Resurrection might not be deemed to be that of some other who lay there with Him; and that the disciples might be able easily to come and be spectators of what came to pass, because the place was near; and that not they alone should be witnesses of His burial, but His enemies also, for the placing seals on the tomb, and the sitting by of the soldiers to watch it, were the actions of men testifying to the burial. For Christ earnestly desired that this should be confessed, no less than the Resurrection. Wherefore also the disciples are very earnest about this, the showing that He died. For the Resurrection all succeeding time would confirm, but the Death, if at that time it had been partially concealed, or not made very manifest, was likely to harm the account of the Resurrection. Nor was it for these reasons only that He was laid near, but also that the story about the stealing might be proved false.

Observe whether the harmony of the three Evangelists here is not fitted to make an impression: for they have thought it right to describe the tomb as one that was "quarried or hewn out of the rock." Whoever examines the words of the narrative will see something worthy of consideration, both in them and in the newness of the tomb—a point mentioned by Matthew and John—and in the statement of Luke and John, that no one had ever been interred there before. For it became him, who was unlike other dead people (but who even in death manifested signs of life in the water and the blood) and who was, so to speak, a new dead man, to be laid in a new and clean tomb, in order that, as his birth was purer than any other (because he was born not in the way of ordinary generation but of a virgin), his burial also might have the purity symbolically indicated in his body being deposited in a sepulcher that was new, not built of stones gathered from various quarters and having no natural unity, but quarried and hewn out of one rock, united together in all its parts.

The "tomb" was "a new one, in which no one had yet been laid." This was arranged so that the resurrection could not be reinterpreted, as though someone else had risen and not Jesus. And in another sense: the new tomb figuratively showed that through the Lord's tomb there would be a renewal from death and corruption, and in it we shall all be renewed.

2468 The place where Christ was buried is then mentioned, Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden. Christ was arrested in a garden, underwent his agony in a garden, and was buried in a garden. This indicates to us that by the power of Christ's passion we are freed from the sin which Adam committed in the Garden of delights, and that through Christ the Church is made holy, the Church, which itself is like a garden enclosed.

And in the garden a new tomb where no one had ever been laid. There are two reasons why Christ wanted to be buried in a new tomb. The first is literal, and was so that no one would think that some other body which had been buried there had risen, and not Christ, or think that all bodies were of equal power. The other reason was that it was appropriate that he who was born of a virgin should be buried in a new tomb, so that just as there was no one before or after him in the womb of Mary, so also in this tomb. This also indicates to us that by faith Christ is hidden in the newborn soul: "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" (Eph 3:17).

"There laid they Jesus therefore, because of the Jews' preparation; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand." He would have us to understand that the burial was hurried, lest the evening should overtake them; when it was no longer permitted to do any such thing, because of the preparation, which the Jews among us are more in the habit of calling in Latin, coena pura (the pure meal).

(Tr. cxx. 5) Implying that the burial was hastened, in order to finish it before the evening, when, on account of the preparation, which the Jews with us call more commonly in the Latin, Caena pura, it was unlawful to do any such thing.

There therefore, on account of the preparation day of the Jews, and so the solemnity was imminent, on account of which it was not permitted to carry him far: because the tomb was nearby, that is, close, they placed him, namely Jesus. Augustine: "He wants us to understand that the burial was hastened, lest evening should fall, when already on account of the preparation day, which in more customary Latin among us the Jews call the 'pure meal,' it was not permitted to do any such thing."

It is asked on the part of the Lord: since the Lord himself ought to have given us every form of perfection, and he himself teaches in Matthew 8 to despise burial: it seems that by his own disposition he ought to have had himself buried in a lowly place and contemptibly, just as he also suffered ignominiously. I respond: It must be said that burial is to be despised by us on account of faith in the resurrection: because we believe that wherever our dust has been scattered, it will be gathered together by the Lord, nor will it escape the power of divine knowledge and might. But the burial of Christ was for establishing faith in our resurrection: for in this, that we believe our head has risen, we also believe that we shall rise. And therefore, so that his resurrection might be certain, he ought to have been buried in an open place and honorably, and also guarded by soldiers, to remove suspicion. As to what he objects, that He ought to have given an example that we should not care about the lowliness of burial: it must be said that He ought to have given an example of conduct in such a way that He would not, however, prejudice the faith, so that humility and truth might advance together. Nevertheless, He sufficiently gave an example that one need not be concerned about burial. For if, while He lived, He did not care about the sufferings and disgrace of the body, He showed that after death one should care much less about the lowliness of a lifeless body.

He not only says plainly that Christ's Body was dressed for burial, and that there was a garden nigh unto the cross, and that there was a new sepulchre in it, but he also explains that He was laid therein, not leaving the least of the things which were done untold. For most essential truly to any creed or system of the mystery of our faith is the confession and the knowledge that Christ died. Therefore, also, the wise Paul, defining our rule of faith, speaks as follows: The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith, which preach: because, if thou shalt say with thy mouth, Jesus is Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. And in another passage also: For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried; and that He hath been raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures. Very essential, then, for us is the narrative which the writer of the book gives us on these points. For it was our bounden duty to believe that He died and was buried; after that will easily follow the true belief, that He burst asunder the bonds of death, and returned as God to the life that was His own. For it was not possible that He should be holden of death. For, being by Nature Life, how could He have undergone corruption? And how could He in Whom we live, and move, and have our being, have been subjected to the laws to which our human nature is subject? Could He not rather, as God, have easily quickened that which lacked life?

Surely if no one had as yet been laid there, men and women were afterward laid there. For this is the meaning for those who consider carefully.… He who said, "We have been buried with Christ through baptism and have risen with him," has himself been after Christ buried together with Christ in a new and spiritual tomb hewn in the rock. It is the same for all who have been buried together with Christ in baptism so that they may rise with him from the new tomb of the Firstborn from the dead who holds the preeminence in all things.

Time compelled them to hurry. For the death of Jesus occurred at the ninth hour. Then, while they went to Pilate and while they took down the body, evening had naturally already come, when it was impossible to prepare a tomb. Therefore they lay Him in the nearest tomb. For "in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb." It is arranged so that the tomb is nearby; therefore the disciples can come and be spectators and witnesses of what happened, soldiers can be posted to guard it, and talk of stealing the body will be out of place. None of this could have been possible if Jesus had been buried far away. Notice, I ask you, how much the Lord became impoverished for our sake. During His life He had no home; in death He has no tomb, but is laid in another's; He is naked, and Joseph clothes Him. Jesus even now is dead whenever He is put to death by violent men or those greedy for gain; He also suffers from hunger; He is also naked, for whatever the poor man endures, all that Christ endures. And you now imitate Joseph, add good to good (for Joseph means "addition"), clothe the nakedness of Christ, that is, the poor man. And do this not just once, but lay it in the tomb of your soul and always remember, always reflect upon and care for such deeds. Mix in myrrh and aloes. For one must carry in mind the bitter and severe judgments of the age to come and that Voice which will call the merciless accursed and send them away into fire (Matt. 25:41). In my opinion, there is nothing more terrible than that Voice.

2469 Now follows the burial. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, because evening was approaching when because of the sabbath no work was permitted, as the tomb, the new tomb, was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. Christ died about the ninth hour, but because his body had to be prepared for burial and other things had to be done, the day had grown into evening. As the tomb was close at hand, to the place where he was crucified, they laid Jesus there.