The Tomb of Jesus

 

Chapter VII: The Tomb of Jesus

Matt. xvii. 51-66; Mark xv. 38-47; Luke xxxiii. 45, 47-56; John xix. 31-42.

Immediately the veil of the Temple was rent "from the top clean to the bottom and torn in twain; the earth quaked, rocks were cloven asunder, graves opened, and many bodies of the Saints who had slept rose from their tombs."

The Centurion glorifies God. J-J Tissot.

The Roman Centurion was the first to bow down before the evidence of these prodigies.  With his soldiers he had remained on Calvary, standing "over against Jesus;" but when he felt the earth trembling beneath his feet, and beheld the Christ "in death, sending forth that great cry," "fear fell upon him, his eyes were opened, and he gave glory to God."

"Ay, truly this was a just man," he cried, "this was indeed the Son of God."

And forthwith his faith affected the frightened legionaries, and the cry arose:—

"Truly, this was the Son of God!"

That confession from the lips of heathen men, in presence of the expiring Christ, sealed the condemnation of the Jews.  And they, seeing what had come to pass, withdrew from thence, striking their breasts.  Soon upon Golgotha two little groups of men and women were left clustered together, though separated according to sexes, as is the Eastern custom.  On one side were the disciples of Jesus, all those who had known Him so well, finally united together in a common love they bore their Saviour; somewhat further away stood the women, who had followed Him from Galilee, with many others who had accompanied Him hither from Jerusalem.  In silence all were watching Him Whom they had loved so dearly.  Among them we once more meet the Magdalene and Mary mother of James, whom we had left at the foot of the Cross, and with them Salome, the mother of Zebedee's sons.  The gaze of every one there was fixed upon the body of the Master, for they clung to the hope, seeing the marvels whereat even the Jews were confounded, that all was not ended even yet.

Jesus had succumbed about the ninth hour, but the two companions of His sufferings, if nothing shortenedd their torments, had still several hours of agony before them.  Now the law prescribes that no condemned person should be left upon the gibbet longer than one day, and for the day before the Passover this commandment was more imperative than ever, since it was not fitting that that Holy Day should be desecrated by the spectacle of such crucified bodies.  The Jews therefore went in search of Pilate, and requested him to have the legs of the condemned men broken, so that they might be removed the sooner.

A soldier pierces Jesus' side. J-J Tissot.

The Governor dispatched another band of soldiers to Calvary. Taking heavy clubs they broke the legs and thighs of the two thieves; but coming to Jesus, they found only a dead body.  To break His limbs would be an unnecessary labour; so one of the soldiers, in order to make certain that the corpse was altogether lifeless, buried his lance in the right side.

Saint John, who was at the fort of the Cross, saw a stream of water and a blood flow forth from His breast.

"He that saw it," he says, speaking of himself, "gave testimony thereto, and his testimony is true, and he knows that he says true, that you also may believe, for these things were done that the Scripture might be fulfilled:'You shall not to break a bone of Him;' and furthermore, the Scriptures saith again:'They shall look upon Him Whom they pierced.'"8

To Saint John's eyes, this last act of the Passion was therefore at once the fulfilment of a Prophecy and a symbol of future grace.  The spear-thrust which prevented a bone of Jesus from being broken made Him of a truth the real Paschal Lamb, the veritable food of the New Israel; while the water and the blood now spilled from His wound foreshadowed on the one His Baptism, with the life-giving ablutions of grace, and on the other, His blood divine in the Blessed Eucharist.

As the evening crept on, a Jew who had not hitherto appeared upon Calvary suddenly presented himself among the soldiers.  His name was Joseph of Arimathea, and he was a member of the tribunal which had condemned Jesus.  Rich, powerful, and of noble mien, he had hitherto lacked courage to declare himself in favour of the Lord, for fear of the Sanhedrin, and consideration of his own rank had held him back.  Nevertheless he was a good and just man, who was awaiting the Kingdom of God, and had made himself one of the Lord's disciples.  Moreover, he had allowed his feelings to be known abroad by firmly refusing any assent to his colleagues' counsels and actions.  The Master's death had finally conquered him; at the season when all were shuddering with fear, a sudden boldness sprang up within him.

Joseph of Arimathea requests the body of Christ. J-J Tissot.

He came to Calvary, and there found the soldiers preparing to take down the corpses, so as to bury them together with the instruments of execution; but he obtained from the Centurion who had just now confessed his belief in the Christ's Divinity that he would accord him such delays as he deemed necessary.  Joseph then boldly presented himself before Pilate and besought the body.

The Governor’s first thought on learning of the decease of Jesus was one of astonishment; so sudden an end to this torture was a thing unheard of.  Having had the Centurion brought before him, he enquired of him whether Jesus was really dead already.  Upon hearing his account he no longer hesitated to put faith in Joseph's word, and willingly granted him the Saviour's body, for it was Roman usage never to refuse this consolation to the friends of the condemned.  

The descent from the Cross. J-J Tissot.

The stars whose first beams would announce the beginning of the Sabbath, had not as yet shone out through the twilight, so Joseph had still sufficient time to purchase the linen shroud, with the winding-sheet, in preparation for the burial; accordingly with these he returned to Calvary, where, aided by the disciples, he lifted Jesus down from the Cross.

The season of humiliations was passed now.  His body, nailed to a criminal's gibbet, was to be entombed with becoming decency.  Another prince of Israel now helped to prepare His resting-place.  It was Nicodemus, the famous Scribe who once went by night to hold converse with Jesus.  Trembling before his fellow-councillors of the Sanhedrin, he has until now dissembled his real faith; but the sight of those wonders and Joseph’s example had triumphed over his weakness, and he followed fast upon his footsteps to Calvary, eager to lavish his wealth upon the Master Whose fate he was now bewailing. 

 

The stone of anointing. J-J Tissot.

Perfumes and spices, to the value of a hundred pounds, were brought thither by his orders; it was acompound of myrrh and aloes ground and mixed together.  With this the bleeding wounds were covered, while they proceeded to pass the long linen bands about the body, the arms, and the legs; according to Jewish custom, the winding-sheet enveloped His head,— and thus swathed in costly ointments, Jesus was borne to the tomb.  They must needs hasten, for the Sabbath was almost upon them; they had only these fleeting moments of even-tide, wherein to complete the sepulture of the Lord.

Christ carried to the Sepulchre. J-J Tissot.

They found the sepulchre already prepared; for near the place of the Cross Joseph of Arimathea owned a garden where there was a tomb hollowed out of the rock, which as yet had never been used for any man.  This he now consecrated to the Master's service, since the nearness of the Sabbath made it impossible to carry Him farther.  Such burial caves, chiselled out of the cliff-side, were made in the form of narrow halls, wherein niches or rows of benches were arranged to receive the bodies.  You entered these Tombs on a level with the ground or by a gentle decline, and the mouth was closed with a stone, difficult to stir from its solid base.  Jesus was laid upon one of these funeral couches.  With the help of their companions, these pious Sanhedrin-Councillors hurriedly pushed the heavy door athwart the entrance way; then all returned homeward to the city, over which the calm of the Sabbath night had now fallen, subduing all mankind to silence,— the holy quiet of their night of the Great Sabbath.

The two Marys watch the tomb. J-J Tissot.

Meanwhile the saintly women had followed Joseph throughout; they had noticed with what haste the two noble Councillors had fulfilled their office, with all else that was still wanting to make the burial worthy of the Christ.  So, having observed keenly where they had laid Jesus, the weeping women returned to prepare their aromatic unguents; "and on the Sabbath day rested, according to the commandment."

Nevertheless, after their departure the garden was not left entirely deserted; to women still lingered there, sitting over against the door of the Sepulchre.  They were Mary Magdalene and Mary, mother of Joses and the Blessed Virgin's sister.

In vain at the enemies of Jesus hoped that His death would bring them respite from all future anxiety.  Hardly was He safely housed in the grave before they recalled His predictions.  Had He not proclaimed that upon the third day He would rise again; that He meant to vouchsafe them but one Sign,— the Sign of the Prophet Jonas, buried three days beneath the waves only to come forth with a fuller life; that a mystic Temple should be destroyed only to be builded up again in three days?

Guards at the tomb. J-J Tissot.

Recollections like these robbed them of that night's rest; their anxiety and fearfulness was so overpowering that we see them, in the early dawn, already assembling again.  And this notwithstanding that it was the day after the Parasceve, as Saint Matthew remarks,— the morning of their great Paschal Sabbath.  But everything must yield before these importunate terrors, even the hallowed repose of this day; thus they braved such a sacrilege as this in order to hold conference with a Pagan, upon the one solemn this day of the year.

Pontiffs and Pharisees forthwith betook themselves to Pilate's residence.

"My Lord," they began, "we're just remembered that this impostor, while he still lived, said: 'After three days I will rise again.' Give orders therefore that the sepulchre be guarded until the third day, for fear that his discipleS should come and steal him away and tell the people:'He is risen from the dead.'For then the last error would be worse than the first."

" Take some of the guards," answered Pilate; "go, guard it as well as you know how."

They started off straightway, and, to make more sure that no one should secretly open the Sepulchre, they sealed up the huge stone and stationed before it their guard of Roman soldiers.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.