You Can Know You Have Eternal Life
#64 King Jesus of Nazareth
King Jesus God, Myth, or Mere Man? (7)
Did Jesus of Nazareth Really Die? (4)
The Importance of Who Buried Jesus?
by Jim Mettenbrink
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The previous two articles presented
the medical evidence that Jesus really died. The four gospel
accounts in the New Testament reveal that the local Jewish rulers
certified Jesus death via His burial.
The honorable burial of Jesus is
one of the best attested facts about Jesus as a historical character
and that He was in fact dead. All four gospels state that
Joseph of Arimathea asked for Jesus body so he could bury
it before the Sabbath began (Mark 15:42-43). Joseph was
a member of the Sanhedrin (Mark 15:43), the Jewish supreme court
of 70 judges, which voted to crucify Jesus as a blasphemer. However,
Joseph was a secret follower of Jesus (Matthew 27:57; John 19:38)
and was absent at the Sanhedrins vote condemning Jesus
(Mark 14:64; Luke 23:51). Skeptics might claim that a Jewish
leader would not have buried Jesus and would question why the
disciples did not bury Him. In other words this appears
to be legend.
Several points argue against such
legend: (1) The early Christians, especially
Jesus disciples who had deserted Him and did not come to
claim His body, would not have invented a story where a member
of the Sanhedrin gave their leader an honorable burial. The
anger and mistrust toward the Sanhedrin, that had just voted
for Jesus death, would have prevented concocting such a
legend. (2) Legend can not be sustained when it identifies
a particular person of a specific group, e.g. the Sanhedrin.
People could contact that member (Joseph) who would confirm
or deny his role in the burial. (3) If a legend developed
later that Joseph of Arimathea buried Jesus, there would have
been other competing burial legends. None exist! (4)
If legends circulated, early church writers would have written
about them. (5) Legends do not develop until about 100
years after the supposed event. Witnesses testifying confirming
or denying such legend would be dead, thus there would be no
one alive to challenge its validity. Matthew, Mark Luke
and John were written within 30 years of Jesus burial,
thus the credibility of Josephs role in Jesus burial
could be confirmed by witnesses. For these five reasons,
it is reasonable that Joseph of Arimathea buried Jesus as the
gospels proclaim.
The gospels also show that Jesus
alone was buried in a new tomb. Therefore, no one could
claim that someone else who was previously buried in the tomb,
rather than Jesus, rose from the dead. The testimony shows
that only Jesus was buried in the tomb: (1) Josephs
tomb was new (Matthew 27:60) no one had been buried in
it (Matthew 27:60; Luke 23:53; John 19:41). (2) The opening
to the tomb was closed with a heavy circular stone door (Matthew
27:60; Mark 15:46). The door was sealed by the Jewish leadership
and Roman guard officially certifying that only Jesus body
was in the tomb (Matthew 27:65-66). (3) The Jewish leadership
feared that the disciples would steal Jesus body and claim that
He had risen. Thus they insisted that a Roman guard be
posted at the tomb (Matthew 27:62-66) and logically would have
ensured that Jesus body would remain in the tomb. So
Jesus was dead, but how do we know He actually rose from the
dead, never to die again?
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