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. (Matthew 27:57-61 NIV)
In their song, “Resurrecting,” Elevation Worship beautifully depict Jesus’ tomb:
The tomb where soldiers watched in vain
Was borrowed for three days
His body there, would not remain
Our God has robbed the grave
Our God has robbed the grave
Jesus’ tomb was borrowed from a rich man and member of the Jewish council (Sanhedrin) named Joseph of Arimathea, who was a secret follower of Jesus. Joseph was brave enough to ask Pilate for Jesus’ body and he put Jesus in the tomb he had prepared for himself. Unlike Joseph, Jesus didn’t need to make funeral arrangements because God wasn’t going to let Him remain buried in the tomb for long or let His body see decay (Psalm 16:10). A few years ago, I had the privillege of visiting the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem where Jesus is believed to have been buried. There’s nothing in there except a white fence that marks where His body was laid. Yet this same empty tomb fills you with the hope that God won’t allow us to remain in the graves we’ve dug for ourselves much longer because we were meant to rise with the Son.
Rising with the Son 