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P.2013 - §1 A crucified person
could not be buried in a Jewish cemetery; there was a strict law against
such a procedure. Joseph and Nicodemus knew this law, and on the way out
to Golgotha they had decided to bury Jesus in Joseph's new family tomb,
hewn out of solid rock, located a short distance north of Golgotha and
across the road leading to Samaria. No one had ever lain in this tomb,
and they thought it appropriate that the Master should rest there. Joseph
really believed that Jesus would rise from the dead, but Nicodemus was
very doubtful. These former members of the Sanhedrin had kept their faith
in Jesus more or less of a secret, although their fellow Sanhedrists had
long suspected them, even before they withdrew from the council. From
now on they were the most outspoken disciples of Jesus in all Jerusalem.
P.2013 - §2 At about half past four o'clock the burial
procession of Jesus of Nazareth started from Golgotha for Joseph's tomb
across the way. The body was wrapped in a linen sheet as the four men
carried it, followed by the faithful women watchers from Galilee. The
mortals who bore the material body of Jesus to the tomb were: Joseph,
Nicodemus, John, and the Roman centurion.
P.2013 - §3 They carried the body into the tomb, a chamber about
ten feet square, where they hurriedly prepared it for burial. The Jews
did not really bury their dead; they actually embalmed them. Joseph and
Nicodemus had brought with them large quantities of myrrh and aloes, and
they now wrapped the body with bandages saturated with these solutions.
When the embalming was completed, they tied a napkin about the face, wrapped
the body in a linen sheet, and reverently placed it on a shelf in the
tomb.
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