Thoughts on the Gospel of John (201) - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2025

Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.
John 19:40–42

Thoughts on the Gospel of John (201)
It is very important to the leaders of the people that those crucified do not remain on the cross overnight, because that is forbidden by their law (cf. Deuteronomy 21:23). On the other hand, they would like the body of Jesus to be taken away together with the bodies of the evildoers. But God watches over His Son, and two courageous disciples lovingly take care of Jesus’ burial: the councillor Joseph of Arimathea and the Pharisee Nicodemus. They prepare everything according to Jewish custom so that Jesus’ body can finally be embalmed and buried after the Sabbath. Now Jesus is to be laid in the tomb that Joseph had hewn out for himself (Matthew 27:59–60).

This fulfils a prophecy of Isaiah, which at this time is already more than 700 years old: “And they made His grave with the wicked – but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth” (Isaiah 53:9).

John the Evangelist mentions that the tomb is new – no one has ever been laid in it. This information is by no means insignificant! The psalmist David writes that the Lord would not allow His “Holy One to see corruption” (Psalm 16:10). It is amazing how completely this Bible verse is fulfilled here: Jesus’ holy body itself does not undergo the process of decay for even a second, nor does it outwardly come into contact with decay.

(to be continued next Sunday)

Today’s reading: Job 28:1-28 · Acts 13:42-52