Matthew 27:58

When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple: For the exposition of this portion, see the notes at John 19:38....

57-61 In the burial of Christ was nothing of pomp or solemnity. As Christ had not a house of his own, wherein to lay his head, while he lived, so he had not a grave of his own, wherein to lay his body, when he was dead. Our Lord Jesus, who had no sin of his own, had no grave of his own. The Jews designed that he should have made his grave with the wicked, should have been buried with the thieves with whom he was crucified, but God overruled it, so that he should make it with the rich in his death, Isaiah 53:9. And although to the eye of man the beholding a funeral may cause terror, yet if we remember how Christ by his burial has changed the nature of the grave to believers, it should make us rejoice. And we are ever to imitate Christ's burial in being continually occupied in the spiritual burial of our sins....

Verse 58. _BEGGED THE BODY_] That he might bury it honourably otherwise, by the Jewish customs, he would have either been _burned_, or buried in the common place appointed for executed criminals....

HE WENT TO PILATE - Because no one had a right to remove the body but by authority of the magistrate. Jesus was condemned to be crucified, usually a long and most bitter death, and in common cases it would have been unlawful to have removed the body so soon....

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 27:1, MATTHEW 27:2 _Jesus brought to Pilate. _(Mark 15:1; Luke 22:66; Luke 23:1; John 18:28.) MATTHEW 27:1 WHEN THE MORNING WAS COME. This is the early morning of Good Friday, the 14th of Nisan. If the rulers had had special regard to legality, they could not have co

HE WENT TO PILATE,.... To his house where he lived, and went in, as Mark says, Mark 15:43, boldly; not being ashamed of Christ crucified, or afraid to own him, and show his respect to him as dead, though he knew he should incur the displeasure, reproach, and persecution of the Jews: AND BEGGED THE BODY OF JESUS; which could not be taken down and interred, without the leave of the Roman governor; and which was generally granted to the friends of the deceased, when asked; otherwise they were buried in places l appointed for such persons; Matthew 27:33. And this would have been the case of Christ, had not Joseph craved his body; and which he did, to prevent its being abused by the Jews, and interred in such an ignominious manner: then Pilate commanded the body to

Matthew 27:50. _Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost._ Christ's strength was not exhausted; his last word was uttered with a loud voice, like the shout of a conquering warrior. And what a word it was, «It is finished»! Thousands of sermons have been preached upon that little sentence, but who can tell all the meaning that lies compacted, length, and height altogether unmeasurable. Christ's life being finished, perfected, completed; he yielded up the ghost, willingly dying, laying down his life as he said he would: «I lay down my life for the sheep... I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.» Matthew 27:51. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and th

CHAPTER 27 1. Delivered unto Pilate.(Matthew 27:1 .) 2. The Suicide of Judas.(Matthew 27:3 .) 3. Before Pilate. (Matthew 27:11 .) 4. The Awful Choice.(Matthew 27:15 .) 5. Crowned with Thorns and Crucified.(Matthew 27:27 .) 6. The Death of the King. (Matthew 27:45 .) 7. The Rent Veil and the Earthquake.(Matthew 27:51 .) 8. The Burial. ...

THE BURIAL OF JESUS (Mark 15:42 *, Luke 23:50). Mt. is the briefest of the three; he omits Pilate's inquiry of the centurion (which Mk. gives) and the description of Joseph (Mk., Lk.). He simply calls him a rich man, Jesus-' disciple. Perhaps he thought that by calling him a councilor he might be grouping him with those who condemned Jesus; a rich man may be a reminiscence of Isaiah 53:9....

THE MAN WHO SENTENCED JESUS TO DEATH (Matthew 27:1-2 ; Matthew 27:11-26)...