After His Death
TRANSLATION
(31) Because it was the Preparation Day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special one), the Jews asked Pilate to have their legs broken so that their bodies might be removed. (32) So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other who had been crucified with him, (33) but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. (34) Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately there gushed out blood and water. (35) The one who saw this has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he is telling the truth and testifies so that you also may believe. (36) These things took place so that the Scripture that says, “Not one of his bones will be broken,” might be fulfilled, (37) as well as another Scripture that reads, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”
(38) After these things Joseph of Arimathaea, a disciple of Jesus but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he might remove Jesus’ body, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took his body away. (39) Nicodemus who earlier had come to Jesus by night also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. (40) So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices as was the burial custom of the Jews. (41) Now in the area where he was crucified there was a garden and, in the garden, a new tomb in which no one had yet been buried. (42) There they laid Jesus because of the Jewish Day of Preparation (for the tomb was close at hand).
OBSERVATIONS
John was careful to record for us the details of what happened to Jesus’ body after he died. Repeated words in this segment included “Preparation Day/Day of Preparation” (vss. 31 & 42), “cross/crucified” (three times in vss. 31, 32, & 41), “Sabbath” (twice in vs. 31), “the Jews asked Pilate” (twice in vss. 31 & 38), “Pilate” (once more in vs. 38), “legs” (three times in vss. 31, 32, & 33), four forms of the verb, “break” (in vss. 31, 32, 33, & 36), “pierced” (vss. 34 & 37), “true/truth” (both in vs. 35), “Scripture” (vss. 36 & 37), “the body of Jesus/his body” (three times in vss. 38 & 40), “Jesus” (twice alone in vss. 39 & 42), “garden” (twice in vs. 41), and “tomb” (vss. 41 & 42).
OUTLINE
I. The events that took place after his crucifixion proved that Jesus actually died on the cross. (31-37)
II. Jesus’ dead body was then laid to rest in Joseph’s unused tomb. (38-42)
IDEA STATEMENT
After his death on the cross, a death demonstrated by all that had taken place, Jesus’ body was taken down and laid to rest in Joseph’s tomb.
APPLICATION
Ever since he died there have been constant attempts to discredit the eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. One way skeptics have tried to do this is by claiming that Christ never actually died on the cross. As early as the 1780’s a German theologian, Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, speculated that Jesus deliberately feigned his death using drugs provided by the physician, Luke. Skeptics have produced a variety of “swoon theories,” each claiming that Jesus somehow survived his ordeal on the cross. One speculation was cleverly entitled “Crucifixion or Cruci-fiction?” and another, “The Passover Plot.”
That Jesus literally died while hanging on the cross was strongly affirmed by the events described in the Gospel accounts. With Passover imminent, Roman soldiers were sent to break the legs of those crucified to hasten their dying. However, when they came to Jesus, they did not break his legs but rather pierced his side with a spear, rupturing the pericardial sack and releasing the fluid that had accumulated around his heart. The gush of blood and water was an indisputable sign of death.
If Jesus had not actually died on the cross, his serving as the atoning sacrifice for our sins would have been invalidated and the miracle of his resurrection three days later would have been debunked. Without his death and resurrection, we have no hope of salvation from sin. “But now,” as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20). As followers of Christ we rejoice in the hope of eternal life because the Savior actually died on the cross and three days later rose from the grave where his lifeless body had been placed.