Mark 15:42-47
A Tomb Cut Out of Rock
42Now it was already evening. Since it was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath),
43Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent Council member who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God, boldly went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus.
44Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead, so he summoned the centurion to ask if this was so.
45When Pilate had confirmed it with the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.
46So Joseph bought a linen cloth, took down the body of Jesus, wrapped it in the cloth, and placed it in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb.
47Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where His body was placed.
Berean Standard Bible
It is Friday evening, and the Sabbath begins at sundown. That is the clock running underneath the whole scene. Everything has to be finished before the light goes.
Then a man walks into the book who has not been in it before. Mark introduces him and goes straight to what he did.
Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent Council member who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God, boldly went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus.
The Council is the body that tried Jesus the night before and condemned him, and one of its members now walks into the Roman governor's residence and asks out loud for the corpse of a man executed for claiming a throne. Mark does not resolve any of that. He does not tell us where Joseph was during the trial, or how he voted, or what he had been doing since. We get the man's town, his seat, what he was waiting for, and what he did, and the rest is not in the text, so we will leave it there.
Pilate is surprised to hear the man is dead already, since crucifixion usually took a great deal longer, so he sends for the centurion and asks him directly. Only when the officer confirms it does he hand the body over. A soldier certifying a death to a governor who wants to be sure before he signs anything away.
Then Joseph buys linen, takes the body down himself, wraps it, lays it in a tomb cut out of the rock and rolls a stone across the entrance. Isaiah had written about a grave assigned with the wicked and a place with a rich man in his death, given to a man who had done no violence and had no deceit in his mouth. Executed between two robbers, buried before sundown in a rock tomb by a member of the court that convicted him. Mark calls Joseph prominent and never calls him rich, so we will not call him rich either.
And then the chapter ends. The last verse is quiet, and it does more work than its length suggests.
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where His body was placed.
Mark could have finished with the stone. Instead he stops to record that two women, both of them named, watched the burial and knew where the body had been put. He is not being sentimental. He is telling his readers who they can go and ask.
How We Know
Mark names the women at 15:40, at 15:47 and again at 16:1, and the lists are not identical. At 15:40, watching the crucifixion: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and Joses, and Salome. At 15:47, watching the burial: Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph. At 16:1, coming to the tomb: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome.
The same core with small variations, matched to who was present at each moment, supports lists of witnesses being recorded rather than a cast being repeated.
Mark also says in verse 44 that Pilate checked with the centurion before releasing the body.
Questions
1 Joseph sat on the council that condemned Jesus, and now he asks Pilate for the body. What does Mark tell us about him, and what does he leave unexplained?
AnswerMark gives his town, his seat on the Council, that he was waiting for the kingdom of God, and that he went to Pilate boldly. Where he was during the trial, how he voted, and what he had been doing since are all left out.
2 Why does Pilate send for the centurion before he releases the body?
AnswerHe is surprised Jesus is dead so soon, because crucifixion usually took a great deal longer. A Roman officer confirms the death to the governor directly, and only then does Pilate hand the body over.
3 Think of something right that you have been putting off, maybe for a long while. Does Mark treat Joseph's lateness as a reason to think less of him?
AnswerMark does not raise it at all. He records what Joseph did on Friday afternoon, which was dangerous and could not be done quietly, and he leaves everything else alone.
4 Why does Mark end the chapter with two women watching?
AnswerBecause they knew where the body was put. Naming them is naming people who could be asked about it, and both of them come back to that tomb on Sunday morning.
What This Means for Us
Joseph did the right thing late.
Mark tells us nothing about where he stood during the trial. He tells us Joseph sat on the Council, and that the Council condemned Jesus, and he does not reconcile the two. Neither will we. What we know is that on Friday afternoon a member of that court walked into a Roman governor's residence and asked for the body of a convicted criminal, which was neither safe nor quiet.
Doing the right thing late is not the same as doing it on time. It does not undo whatever came before, and it is still the thing to do.
Prayer
Father, thank you for a man who came forward when it was late and dangerous. Thank you for women who stayed and watched so that somebody would know. When we have been silent, do not let us decide it is too late to do the right thing. Amen.