Burial of Jesus

Wall mosaic of entombment of Jesus near Stone of anointing at Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The earliest reference to a burial of Jesus is in a letter of Paul. Writing to the Corinthians around the year AD 54,[4] he refers to the account he had received of the death and resurrection of Jesus ("and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures").[5]

The four canonical gospels, written between 66 and 95, conclude with an extended narrative of Jesus's arrest, trial, crucifixion, entombment, and resurrection.[6]^: p.91 They narrate how, on the evening of the Crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body, and, after Pilate granted his request, he wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid it in a tomb. According to Acts 13:28–29, he was laid in a tomb by "the council as a whole".[3]

Modern scholarship emphasizes contrasting the gospel accounts, and finds the Mark portrayal more probable.[7][8]

The apocryphal manuscript known as the Gospel of Peter states that the Jews handed over the body of Jesus to Joseph, who later washes him then buries him in a place called "Joseph's Garden".[24]

The Entombment of Christ by Pedro Roldán

Scholars differ on the historicity of the burial story, and the question if Jesus received a decent burial. Points of contention are if Jesus's body was taken off the cross before sunset, or left on the cross to decay; if his body was taken off the cross and buried specifically by Joseph of Arimathea, or by the Sanhedrin or a group of Jews in general; and if he was entombed, and if so, what kind of tomb, or if he was buried in a common grave.

An argument in favor of a decent burial before sunset is the Jewish custom, based on the Torah, that the body of an executed person should not remain on the tree where the corpse was hung for public display, but be buried before sunrise. This is based on Deuteronomy 21:22–23, but also attested in the Temple Scroll of the Essenes, and in Josephus' Jewish War 4.5.2§317, describing the burial of crucufied Jewish insurgents before sunset.[25][26] Reference is also made to the Digesta, a Roman Law Code from the 6th century AD, which contains material from the 2nd century AD stating that "the bodies of those who have been punished are only buried when this has been requested and permission granted."[27][28] Burial of people who were executed by crucifixion is also attested by archaeological finds from Yehohanan, of a body with a nail in the heel which could not be removed.[29][30]

Martin Hengel argued that Jesus was buried in disgrace as an executed criminal who died a shameful death,[31][32] a view which is "now widely accepted and has become entrenched in scholarly literature."[31] John Dominic Crossan argued that Jesus followers did not know what happened to the body.[33][note 1] According to Crossan, Joseph of Arimathea is "a total Markan creation in name, in place, and in function",[34][note 2] arguing that Jesus's followers inferred from Deut. 21:22-23 that Jesus was buried by a group of law-abiding Jews, as described in Acts 13:29. This story was adapted by Mark, turning the group of Jews into a specific person.[35] What really happened may be deduced from customary Roman practice, which was to leave the body on the stake, denying a honorable or family burial, famously stating that "the dogs were waiting."[36][37][note 3]

British New Testament scholar Maurice Casey also notes that "Jewish criminals were supposed to receive a shameful and dishonourable burial",[38] quoting Josephus:

The general situation was sufficient for Josephus to comment on the end of a biblical thief, 'And after being immediately put to death, he was given at night thr dishonourable burial proper to the condemned' (Jos. Ant. V, 44). Somewhat similarly, he says of anyone who has been stoned to death for blaspheming God, 'let him be hung during the day, and let him be buried dishonourably and secretly (Jos. Ant. IV, 202).'[38]

Casey argues that Jesus was indeed buried by Joseph of Arimathea, but in a tomb for criminals owned by the Sanhedrin.[38] He therefore rejects the empty tomb narrative as legendary.[39]

New Testament historian Bart D. Ehrman also concludes that we don't know what happened to Jesus's body, but doubts that Jesus had a decent burial,[40] and finds it doubtful that Jesus was buried by Joseph of Arimathea specifically.[41] Ehrman notes that Acts 13 refers to the Sanhedrin as a whole putting Jesus's body in a tomb, not a single member.[3] According to Ehrman, the story may have been embellished and become more detailed, and "what was originally a vague statement that the unnamed Jewish leaders buried Jesus becomes a story of one leader in particular, who is named, doing so".[42][note 4] Ehrman gives three reasons for doubting a decent burial. He notes that "Sometimes Christian apologists argue that Jesus had to be taken off the cross before sunset on Friday because the next day was the Sabbath and it was against Jewish law, or at least Jewish sensitivities, to allow a person to remain on the cross during the Sabbath. Unfortunately, the historical record suggests just the opposite."[42] Referring to Hengel and Crossan, Ehrman argues that crucifixion was meant "to torture and humiliate a person as fully as possible", and the body was normally left on the stake to be eaten by animals.[44] Ehrman further argues that criminals were usually buried in common graves,[45] and Pilate had no concern for Jewish sensitivities, which makes it unlikely that he would have allowed for Jesus to be buried.[46]

A number of Christian authors have rejected the criticisms, taking the Gospel accounts to be historically reliable. John A.T. Robinson states that "the burial of Jesus in the tomb is one of the earliest and best-attested facts about Jesus".[47] Dale Allison, reviewing the arguments of Crossan and Ehrman, considers this assertion strong but "find[s] it likely that a man named Joseph, probably a Sanhedrist, from the obscure Arimathea, sought and obtained permission from the Roman authorities to make arrangements for Jesus’ hurried burial."[48] Raymond E. Brown, writing in 1973 before the publications of Hengel and Crossan, mentions that a number of authors have argued for a burial in a common grave, but Brown argues that the body of Jesus was buried in a new tomb by Joseph of Arimathea in accordance with Mosaic Law, which stated that a person hanged on a tree must not be allowed to remain there at night but should be buried before sundown.[49]

James Dunn dismisses the criticisms, stating that "the tradition is firm that Jesus was given a proper burial (Mark 15.42-47 pars.), and there are good reasons why its testimony should be respected".[30] Dunn argues that the burial tradition is "one of the oldest pieces of tradition we have", referring to 1 Cor. 15.4; burial was in line with Jewish custom as prescribed by Deut. 21.22-23 and confirmed by Josephus War; cases of burial of crucified persons are known, as attested by the Yehohanan burial; Joseph of Arimathea "is a very plausible historical character"; and "the presence of the women at the cross and their involvement in Jesus' burial can be attributed more plausibly to early oral memory than to creative story-telling".[50] N. T. Wright argues that the burial of Christ is part of the earliest gospel traditions.[51] Craig A. Evans refers to Deut. 21:22-23 and Josephus to argue that the entombment of Jesus accords with Jewish sensitivities and historical reality.[note 5]

John Cook notes that numerous early critics of Christianity such Celsus, Porphyry, Hierocles, Julian, and Macarius’s anonymous pagan philosopher, accepted the historicity of the burial but rejected the resurrection.[54]

Paul the Apostle includes the burial in his statement of the gospel in verses 3 and 4 of 1 Corinthians 15: "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (KJV). This appears to be an early pre-Pauline credal statement.[55]

The burial of Christ is specifically mentioned in the Apostles' Creed, where it says that Jesus was "crucified, dead, and buried." The Heidelberg Catechism asks "Why was he buried?" and gives the answer "His burial testified that He had really died."[56]

A 13th century version of the Entombment of Christ in stained-glass

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that, "It is the mystery of Holy Saturday, when Christ, lying in the tomb, reveals God's great sabbath rest after the fulfillment of man's salvation, which brings peace to the whole universe" and that "Christ's stay in the tomb constitutes the real link between his passible state before Easter and his glorious and risen state today."[57]

Part of a series on
Death and Resurrection of Jesus
Passion Last Supper Arrest Trials Sanhedrin trial Herod's court Pilate's court Flagellation Mocking Crown of thorns Via Dolorosa Crucifixion and Death Burial
Resurrection Empty tomb Biblical accounts (overview) Noli me tangere Road to Emmaus Great Commission Ascension
Holy Week Palm Sunday Holy Monday Holy Tuesday Spy Wednesday Maundy Thursday Good Friday Holy Saturday Easter Sunday
Significance Session of Christ Salvation Jewish eschatology Christian eschatology
Visions of Jesus Vision theory Visions Religious experience
Empty tomb theories Stolen body Swoon Lost body Twin
Related Instrument of crucifixion Crucifixion darkness Conversion of Paul the Apostle Islamic view
Portals: Christianity Bible

The Entombment of Christ has been a popular subject in art, being developed in Western Europe in the 10th century. It appears in cycles of the Life of Christ, where it follows the Deposition of Christ or the Lamentation of Christ. Since the Renaissance, it has sometimes been combined or conflated with one of these.[58]

Wooden sculpture of Christ in His tomb by anonymous

Notable individual works with articles include:

• The Entombment (Bouts, c. 1450s)
• Lamentation of Christ (Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1460–1463)
• The Entombment (Michelangelo, c. 1500–01)
• The Deposition (Raphael, 1507)
• The Entombment (Titian, 1525)
• The Entombment (Titian, 1559)
• The Entombment of Christ (Caravaggio, 1603–04)
• Veiled Christ (Sanmartino, 1753)

The African-American spiritual "Were You There?" has the line "Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?"[59] while the Christmas carol "We Three Kings" includes the verse:

Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes a life of gathering gloom;
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
Sealed in the stone cold tomb.

John Wilbur Chapman's hymn "One Day" interprets the burial of Christ by saying "Buried, He carried my sins far away."[60]

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the following troparion is sung on Holy Saturday:

The noble Joseph,
when he had taken down Thy most pure body from the tree,
wrapped it in fine linen and anointed it with spices,
and placed it in a new tomb.

• 
  Entombment of Christ, 15th century, Belgium
• 
  Henry Augustin Valentin after Hans Holbein the Younger, Iesvs Nazarenevs Rex Ivdaeorvm, 19th century, etching, Department of Image Collections, National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Entombment of Christ.

• Tomb of Jesus, multiple sites purported to be Christ's burial place
• Descent from the Cross
• Empty tomb
• Epitaphios (liturgy)
• Life of Jesus in the New Testament
• Harrowing of Hell