THE BURIAL
There is a hard and shallow philosophy which regards it as a matter of
complete indifference what becomes of the body after the soul has left
it and affects contempt of all funeral ceremonies. But the instincts
of mankind are wiser. In ancient times it was considered one of the
worst of misfortunes to miss decent burial; and, although this
sentiment was mixed with superstition, there was beneath it a healthy
instinct. There is a dignity of the body as well as of the soul,
especially when it is a temple of the Holy Ghost; and there is a
majesty about death which cannot be ignored without loss to the
living.[1] It is with a sense of pain and humiliation, as if a
dishonour were being done to human nature, that we see a funeral at
which everything betokens hurry, shabbiness and slovenliness. On the
contrary, the satisfaction is not morbid with which we see a funeral
conducted with solemnity and chaste pomp. And, when someone falls
whose career has been one of extraordinary achievement and beneficence,
and who has become
On fortune's crowning slope
The pillar of a nation's hope,
The centre of a world's desire,
then, as the remains are borne amidst an empire's lamentation to rest
"under the cross of gold that shines over river and city," and the
tolling bells and echoing cannon sound over hushed London, and the
silent masses line the streets, and the learned and the noble stand
uncovered around the open grave, it would be a diseased and churlish
mind which did not feel the spell of the pageant.
Thus ought the great, the wise and the good to be buried. How then was
He buried whom all now agree to call the Greatest, the Wisest and the
Best?
I.
The three corpses were taken down towards evening, before the Jewish
Sabbath set in, which commenced at sunset. Probably the two robbers
were buried on the spot, crosses and all, or they were hurriedly
carried off to some obscure and accursed ditch, where the remains of
criminals were wont to be unceremoniously thrust underground.
This would have been the fate of Jesus too, had not an unexpected hand
interposed. It was the humane custom of the Romans to give the corpses
of criminals to their friends, if they chose to ask for them; and a
claimant appeared for the body of Jesus, to whom Pilate was by no means
loath to grant it.
This is the first time that Joseph of Arimathea appears on the stage of
the gospel history; and of his previous life very little is known.
Even the town from which he derives his appellation is not known with
certainty. The fact that he owned a garden and burying-place in the
environs of Jerusalem does not necessarily indicate that he was a
resident there; for pious Jews had all a desire to be buried in the
precincts of the sacred city; and, indeed, the whole neighbourhood is
still honeycombed with tombs.
Joseph was a rich man; and this may have availed him in his application
to Pilate. Those who possess wealth or social position or
distinguished talents can serve Christ in ways which are not accessible
to His humbler followers. Only, before such gifts can be acceptable to
Him, those to whom they belong must count them but loss and dung for
His sake.
Joseph was a councillor. It has been conjectured that the council of
which he was a member was that of Arimathea; but the observation that
he "had not consented to the counsel and deed of them," which obviously
refers to the Sanhedrim, makes it more than probable that it was of
this august body he was a member. No doubt he absented himself
deliberately from the meeting at which Jesus was condemned, knowing
well beforehand that the proceedings would be utterly painful and
revolting to his feelings. For "he was a good man and a just."
We are, however, told more about him: "he waited for the kingdom of
God." This is a phrase applied elsewhere also in the New Testament to
the devout in Palestine at this period; and it designates in a striking
way the peculiarity of their piety. The age was spiritually dead.
Religion was represented by the high-and-dry formalism of the Pharisees
on the one hand and the cold and worldly scepticism of the Sadducees on
the other. In the synagogues the people asked for bread and were
offered a stone. The scribes, instead of letting the pure river of
Bible truth flow over the land, choked up its course with the sand of
their soulless commentary. Yet there are good people even in the worst
of times. There were truly pious souls sprinkled up and down
Palestine. They were like lights shining here and there, at great
intervals, in the darkness. They could not but feel that they were
strangers and foreigners in their own age and country, and they lived
in the past and the future. The prophets, on whose words they
nourished their souls, foretold a good time coming, when on those who
sat in darkness there would burst a great light. For this better time,
then, they were waiting. They were waiting to hear the voice of
prophecy echoing once more through the land and waking the population
from its spiritual slumber. They were waiting, above all, for the
Messiah, if they might dare to hope that He would come in their days.
Such were the souls among which both John and Jesus found their
auditors. All such must have welcomed the voices of the Baptist and
his Successor as at least those of prophets who were striving earnestly
to deal with the evils of the time. But whether Jesus was He that
should come or whether they should look for another, some of them stood
in doubt. Among these perhaps was Joseph. He was, it is said, a
disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews. He had faith,
but not faith enough to confess Christ and take the consequences. Even
during the trial of Jesus he satisfied his conscience by being absent
from the meeting of the Sanhedrim, instead of standing up in his place
and avowing his convictions.
Such he had been up to this point. But now in the face of danger he
identified himself with Jesus. It is interesting to note what it was
that brought him to decision. It was the excess of wickedness in his
fellow-councillors, who at length went to a stage of violence and
injustice which allowed him to hesitate no longer. Complete religious
decision is sometimes brought about in this way. Thus, for example,
one who has been halting between two opinions, or, at all events, has
never had courage enough openly to confess his convictions, may be some
day among his fellow-workmen or shopmen, when religion comes up as a
topic of conversation and is received with ridicule, Christ's people
being sneered at, His doctrines denied, and He Himself blasphemed. But
at last it goes too far the silent, half-convinced disciple can stand
it no longer; he breaks out in indignant protest and stands confessed
as a Christian. In some such way as this must the change of sentiment
have taken place in the mind of Joseph. He had to defy the entire
Sanhedrim; he was putting himself in imminent peril; but he could hold
in no longer; and, casting fear behind his back, he went in "boldly" to
Pilate and begged the body of Jesus.
II.
Boldness in confessing Christ is apt to have two results.
On the one hand, it cows adversaries. It is not said that Joseph got
himself into trouble by his action on this occasion, or that the
Sanhedrim immediately commenced a persecution against him. They were,
indeed, in a state of extreme excitement, and they were seventy to one.
But sometimes a single bold man can quell much more numerous opposition
than even this. It is certain that the consciences of many of them
were ill at ease, and they were by no means prepared to challenge to
argument on the merits of the case a quiet and resolute man with the
elevation of whose character they were all acquainted. It is one of
the great advantages of those who stand up for Christ that they have
the consciences even of their adversaries on their side.
The other effect of boldness in confessing Christ is that it brings out
confession from others who have not had in their own breast enough of
fire to make them act, but are heated up to the necessary temperature
by example. It seems clear that in this way the example of Joseph
evoked the loyalty of Nicodemus.
Nicodemus was of the same rank as Joseph, being a member of the
Sanhedrim; and he was a secret disciple. This is not the first time
that he appears on the stage of the Gospel history. At the very
commencement of the career of Jesus he had been attracted to Him and
had gone so far as to seek a private interview; the account of which is
one of the most precious component parts of the Gospel and has made
tens of thousands not only believers in Christ but witnesses for Him.
It had not, however, as much effect on the man to whom it was
originally vouchsafed, though it ought to have had. Nicodemus ought to
have been one of the earliest followers of the Lord; and his position
would have brought weight to the apostolic circle. But he hesitated
and remained a secret disciple. On one occasion, indeed, he spoke out:
once, when something intolerably unjust was said against Jesus in the
Sanhedrim, he interposed the question, "Doth our law judge any man
before it hear him and know what he doeth?" But with the angry answer,
"Art thou also of Galilee?" he was shouted down; and he held his peace.
Doubtless, like Joseph, he absented himself from the meeting of the
Sanhedrim at which Jesus was condemned; but the injustice done was so
flagrant that he was ready to make a public protest against it. He
might not, however, have had the courage of his convictions, had not
Joseph shown him the way.
Yet this must be praised in Nicodemus, that he was a growing and
improving man. Though he hung back for a time, he came forward at
last; and better late than never. It was a happy hour for him when he
was brought into contact with Joseph. There are many circles of
friends where all are internally convinced and leaning to the right
side, and, if only one would come boldly out, the others would
willingly follow. The hands of Joseph and Nicodemus met and clasped
each other round the body of their Redeemer. There is no love, or
friendship, or fellowship like that of those who are united to one
another through their connection with Him.
III.
Art has described the burial of our Lord with great fulness of detail,
drawing largely on the imagination. It has divided it into several
scenes.[2]
There is, first, the Descent from the Cross, in which, besides Joseph
and Nicodemus, St. John at least, and sometimes other men, are
represented as extracting the nails and lowering the body; while
beneath the cross the holy women, among whom the Virgin Mary and Mary
Magdalene are prominent, receive the precious burden. Many readers
will recall the most famous of such pictures, that by Rubens in the
Cathedral at Antwerp--an extremely impressive but too sensuous
representation of the scene of busy affection--wherein the corpse is
being let down by means of a great white sheet into the hands of the
women, who receive it tenderly, one foot resting on the shoulder of the
Magdalene.
Then there is what is called the Pieta, or the mourning of the women
over the dead body. In this scene the holy mother usually holds the
head of her Son in her lap, while the Magdalene clasps His feet and
others clasp His hands. Next ensues the Procession to the Sepulchre;
and, last of all, there is the Entombment, which is represented in a
great variety of forms.
On these scenes the great painters have lavished all the resources of
art; but the narrative of the Gospels is brief and unpictorial. The
Virgin is not even mentioned; and, although others of the holy women
are said to have been there, it is not suggested that they helped in
the labour of burial, but only that they followed and marked where He
was laid. Joseph and Nicodemus are the prominent actors, though it is
reasonable to suppose that they were assisted by their servants; and
the soldiers may have lent a hand in disentangling the body.
It was in a new sepulchre, which Joseph had had hewn out of the rock
for himself, in order that after death he might lie in the sacred
shadow of the city of God, that the Lord was laid. No corpse had ever
been placed in it before. This was a great gift to give to an
excommunicated and crucified man; and it was a most appropriate one;
for it was meet that the pure and stainless One, who had come to make
all things new and, though dead, was not to see corruption, should rest
in an undefiled sepulchre. Similarly appropriate and suggestive was
the new linen cloth, which Joseph bought expressly for the purpose of
enwinding the body. Nor was Nicodemus behind in affection and
sacrifice. He brought "a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred
pound weight." This may appear an enormous quantity, but custom was
very lavish in such gifts; at the funeral of Herod the Great, for
example, the spices were carried by five hundred bearers.
The tomb was in a garden--another touch of appropriateness and beauty.
The spot does not seem to have been far from the place of execution;
but whether it was as near as it is represented to have been in the
traditional site may well be doubted. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre
includes within its precincts both the Lord's tomb and the hole in the
rock in which stood His cross; and the two are only thirty yards
apart.[3] But it is highly questionable whether the identification of
either is possible. Still, this may be said to be the most famous bit
of the entire surface of the globe. Christendom accepted the
tradition, which dates from the time of Constantine, and since then
pilgrims have flocked to the spot from every land. It was for the
possession of this shrine that the Crusades were undertaken, and at the
present day the Churches of Christendom fight for a footing in it.
We may have no sympathy with the practice of pilgrimages and little
interest in the identification of holy places; but the holy sepulchre
cannot but attract the believing heart. It was a practice of the piety
of former days to meditate among the tombs. The piety of the present
day inclines to more cheerful and, let us hope, not less healthy
exercises. But every man with any depth of nature must linger
sometimes beside the graves of his loved ones; every man of any
seriousness must think sometimes of his own grave. And in such moments
what can be so helpful as to pilgrim in spirit to the tomb of Him who
said, "I am the resurrection and the life"?
In comparison with the great ones of the earth Jesus had but a humble
funeral; yet in the character of those who did Him the last honours it
could not have been surpassed; and it was rich in love, which can well
take the place of a great deal of ceremony. So at last, stretched out
in the new tomb, wherein man had never lain, enwrapped in an aromatic
bed of spices and breathed round by the fragrance of flowers, with the
white linen round Him and the napkin which hid the wounds of the thorns
about His brow, while the great stone which formed the door stood
between Him and the world, He lay down to rest. It was evening, and
the Sabbath drew on; and the Sabbath of His life had come. His work
was completed; persecution and hatred could not reach Him any more; He
was where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest.
[1] The most beautiful thing ever said about the bodies of the dead is
in the Shorter Catechism: "And their bodies, being still united to
Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection."
[2] On these and similar details see _The Life of our Lord as
exemplified in Works of Art_, by Mrs. Jameson (completed by Lady
Eastlake).
[3] Many interesting details in Ross's _Cradle of Christianity_.