In Joseph’s Tomb
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bone of Him shall not be broken. And again another scripture saith,
They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”
John 19:34-37
.
After the resurrection the priests and rulers circulated the report
that Christ did not die upon the cross, that He merely fainted, and
was afterward revived. Another report affirmed that it was not a real
body of flesh and bone, but the likeness of a body, that was laid in the
tomb. The action of the Roman soldiers disproves these falsehoods.
They broke not His legs, because He was already dead. To satisfy the
priests, they pierced His side. Had not life been already extinct, this
wound would have caused instant death.
But it was not the spear thrust, it was not the pain of the cross,
that caused the death of Jesus. That cry, uttered “with a loud voice”
(
Matthew 27:50
;
Luke 23:46
), at the moment of death, the stream of
blood and water that flowed from His side, declared that He died of a
broken heart. His heart was broken by mental anguish. He was slain
by the sin of the world.
With the death of Christ the hopes of His disciples perished. They
looked upon His closed eyelids and drooping head, His hair matted
with blood, His pierced hands and feet, and their anguish was inde-
scribable. Until the last they had not believed that He would die; they
could hardly believe that He was really dead. Overwhelmed with sor-
row, they did not recall His words foretelling this very scene. Nothing
that He had said now gave them comfort. They saw only the cross
and its bleeding Victim. The future seemed dark with despair. Their
faith in Jesus had perished; but never had they loved their Lord as
now. Never before had they so felt His worth, and their need of His
presence.
Even in death, Christ’s body was very precious to His disciples.
They longed to give Him an honored burial, but knew not how to
accomplish this. Treason against the Roman government was the
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crime for which Jesus was condemned, and persons put to death for
this offense were consigned to a burial ground especially provided for
such criminals. The disciple John with the women from Galilee had
remained at the cross. They could not leave the body of their Lord to
be handled by the unfeeling soldiers, and buried in a dishonored grave.
Yet they could not prevent it. They could obtain no favors from the
Jewish authorities, and they had no influence with Pilate.