Unlikely Pallbearer

Matthew 27:57-66

After Jesus died there was no elaborate funeral. The large adoring crowds that once followed Him are gone. In many ways Jesus’ burial is very sad.

Sad not only because He has died, but because with few exceptions, His closest friends deserted Him! Jesus deserved better.

We would reasonably expect His closest disciples to carry His body to the place of burial. They were His chosen ones! Students who lived with Him and followed Him for nearly three years.

Where are they now?

Except for John, to whom Jesus entrusted the care of His mother, they have all run away.

What we have left is an unlikely pallbearer named Joseph and a few faithful women looking on.

As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.

There is no eulogy. No words in praise of a life well-lived. No flowers or sad songs.

Oh yes, there were some unkind words His enemies spoke to Pilate:

“We remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.’”

"Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go make the tomb as secure as you know how." So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.