What is the context?
Joseph of Arimathea is a member of the council, but Luke carefully distinguishes him from its decision and action against Jesus. He describes him as good and righteous, waiting for God’s kingdom.
Joseph asks Pilate for Jesus’ body, takes it down, wraps it in linen and places it in a tomb cut into rock where no one has yet been laid. The burial takes place on Preparation Day as the Sabbath is beginning.
The women from Galilee follow and see the tomb and how His body is placed. They prepare spices and perfumes, then rest on the Sabbath according to the commandment. Their observation connects this burial directly with the tomb they will visit in the next chapter.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christian readings commonly understand this as Jesus’ actual burial following His actual death, and as the setting for the resurrection account that follows. The Westminster Confession includes burial between death and resurrection, affirming that He rises in the same body in which He suffered. (Westminster Confession 8.4)
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Isaiah describes the Servant being assigned a grave with the wicked and being with a rich man in His death. Matthew identifies Joseph as a rich disciple and says he places Jesus in his own new tomb. Together, these passages provide a supported connection between this burial and Isaiah’s picture of the suffering Servant. (Isaiah 53:9; Matthew 27:57–61)
Paul includes Christ’s burial within the message he received and passed on: Christ died for sins, was buried and was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. The care taken with Jesus’ body therefore belongs within the gospel’s account of death overcome through resurrection. (1 Corinthians 15:3–8)
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.