Matthew 27:56-66 - The Burial of Jesus
Layers in the Text
If you have your Bibles, we are in Matthew 27, and we are going to cover verses 56 through 66 in our time together. To be honest with you, this is a very interesting text—not because of what is actually in the text, but because of what is not in the text. One of the blessings and curses of teaching expositionally through a book of the Bible the way we do is that you come to some passages where there is so much meat on the bone that you know you have plenty to talk about. Then there are other passages where you look at them and think, I’m not sure there’s enough meat on that bone.
This was one of those passages for me initially. I thought, Look, we’re just talking about the burial of Jesus. Joseph shows up and puts Jesus in the tomb. I don’t mean to make light of it, but simply to say there did not seem to be a lot there on the surface. Yet this passage felt like one of those Russian nesting dolls. You take the lid off the outer doll and find a smaller doll inside. You take the lid off that one and find a smaller one still, all the way down to an itty-bitty one. When I looked at this text, I thought I understood what it was about. Then I took the lid off and thought, Oh, well now I’m going to have to talk about that. Then another lid came off: Oh, I’m going to have to talk about that too. Long story short, I may have bitten off way more than I can chew, but let’s dive in together.
The Rush on Friday Afternoon
To remind you of the timeline, we are talking specifically about Good Friday. At roughly 2:00 AM on that Friday morning, Jesus was arrested by the mob in the Garden of Gethsemane. Between 2:00 AM and 9:00 AM, He experienced six trials—three religious and three Roman. At approximately 9:00 AM, Jesus was crucified. Darkness fell over the land from noon until 3:00 PM, and at 3:00 PM, Jesus died on the cross.
In Matthew 27, verse 46 records one of the most important moments in your entire Bible, where Jesus cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Matthew 27:46 (NASB)
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?’ that is, ‘MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?’
In that moment, all the sins of the world were placed upon Him. Jesus, our Savior, took upon Himself the sin of mankind, which He did not owe, and in doing so, the great exchange took place. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB)
He made Him who knew no sin [to be] sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Once Jesus breathed His last, the negotiations began and the rush was on. Jesus died at 3:00 PM, and the Sabbath began an hour before sunset, around 6:00 PM. On the Sabbath, you could not work or travel; it was a consecrated time of rest, worship, and ceasing from labor. As a cultural norm, by 6:00 PM on Friday night, the streets were completely empty because everyone went home for the Sabbath. Since Jesus died at 3:00 PM, there were only a couple of hours before everyone had to be home. Any preparation work, including the burial of Jesus, had to happen very quickly.
The Courage of Secret Disciples
As evening approached, a wealthy man from Arimathea named Joseph arrived. He was a disciple of Jesus who gathered the courage to go before Pilate and ask for the body.
Matthew 27:57-58 (NASB)
When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given [to him].
Mark’s Gospel adds that Joseph was a prominent member of the council who was waiting for the kingdom of God. Luke tells us he had not consented to the council’s plan or action. John records that he was actually a secret disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jewish leaders. Joseph watched all of this unfold. He was part of the Sanhedrin, but he did not support the accusations against Jesus.
Mark notes that Joseph gathered up the courage to go before Pilate. Why did that take courage? Joseph was a Jewish leader going to Pilate—a Roman governor who hated the Jews—asking permission to take the body of an executed criminal to show Him honor. That was an extraordinary ask, yet Joseph stepped forward. Before Pilate released the body, he summoned a centurion to confirm that Jesus was already dead. Once confirmed, Pilate ordered the body to be released.
Burial was not a simple task. They had to take Jesus down from the cross, transport His body to a tomb, wrap Him in linen, anoint Him, and seal the grave. That is at least a two-man job. Thankfully, John records that Joseph received help from Nicodemus—the Pharisee who first came to Jesus by night in John 3. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about a hundred pounds. They were not just bringing a small flask of oil; they brought an abundant royal burial mixture. Together, they wrapped the body of Jesus in clean linen cloths with the spices according to Jewish burial customs.
John 19:38-40 (NASB)
After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret [one] for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body. Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds [weight]. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.
Joseph laid Jesus in his own newly hewn rock tomb and rolled a large stone across the entrance.
Matthew 27:59-60 (NASB)
And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away.
Why did Joseph place Jesus in his own tomb? It could have been an act of deep personal devotion, offering an unused family tomb. But it was also a matter of practical expediency. John 19 tells us there was a garden near the place of crucifixion containing a new tomb, and because the Sabbath was approaching, they laid Jesus there due to its proximity.
John 19:41-42 (NASB)
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. Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
In doing so, they unknowingly fulfilled prophecy written hundreds of years earlier in Isaiah 53:9, which declared that His grave was assigned with the wicked, yet He was with a rich man in His death.
Isaiah 53:9 (NASB)
His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting opposite the tomb, watching everything happen.
Matthew 27:61 (NASB)
And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave.
They staked out the burial site from a distance, noting exactly how His body was laid so that they could return early Sunday morning after resting on the Sabbath according to the commandment.
Luke 23:55-56 (NASB)
Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
The Guard and the Seal
While the women rested, fear began creeping into the religious and Roman leaders. On Saturday—the day after the Day of Preparation—the chief priests and Pharisees went to Pilate.
Matthew 27:62-64 (NASB)
Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, and said, ’Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I [am to] rise again.’ ’Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.’
They remembered what Jesus had repeatedly declared during His ministry: that He would be killed and on the third day rise again.
Matthew 16:21 (NASB)
From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.
Matthew 17:22-23 (NASB)
And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.’ And they were deeply grieved.
Matthew 20:18-19 (NASB)
‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify [Him], and on the third day He will be raised up.’
That “third day” phrase haunted them. They thought, The only thing worse than Jesus claiming to be the Messiah is His body going missing and His disciples claiming He resurrected. Think about the hypocrisy: these religious leaders refused to enter Pilate’s headquarters on Friday morning so they wouldn’t defile themselves for Passover, yet here they were on Saturday, breaking the Sabbath to demand a Roman guard. Pilate gave them a guard, and they secured the tomb by putting a seal on the stone.
Matthew 27:65-66 (NASB)
Pilate said to them, ‘You have a guard; go, make it [as] secure as you know how.’ And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.
Unpacking the Mystery: What Happened During Those Three Days?
That brings us to Sunday morning, when the women returned at dawn.
Matthew 28:1 (NASB)
Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first [day] of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.
The biblical narrative of the burial is straightforward, but as you pull the lid off that nesting doll, a deeper question emerges: What happened between the cross and the resurrection?
We know what happened to His physical body. It was on the cross until 3:00 PM, placed in the tomb before 6:00 PM, remained there through Saturday, and on Sunday morning walked out alive. But what happened to His spirit? On the cross, Jesus cried out, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit,” and breathed His last.
Luke 23:46 (NASB)
And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.’ Having said this, He breathed His last.
Where the Bible is clear, we must handle the text accurately. Where Scripture gives only brief glimpses, we must be careful not to build elaborate dogmas beyond what is written. Church history has sometimes created confusion on this topic, so let’s walk through it carefully.
First, how is anyone saved? We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Acts 4:12 tells us there is salvation in no one else.
Acts 4:12 (NASB)
‘And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.’
How were Old Testament believers like Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, or Ruth saved before the cross? They were saved by faith in the promise and plan of God as it had been revealed to them in their time. Adam did not know the name “Jesus,” but he believed the promise in Genesis 3:15 that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent.
Genesis 3:15 (NASB)
And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.’
Abraham did not know all the details of the New Testament, but he believed God’s promise, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15:6 (NASB)
Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
When Old Testament saints died, they went to the realm of the dead—often referred to in Hebrew as Sheol and in Greek as Hades—specifically to a compartment described as “Abraham’s bosom” or “Paradise.” In Luke 16, Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The poor man, Lazarus, dies and is carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom, a place of comfort. The rich man dies and finds himself in torment across a great gulf.
Luke 16:19-26 (NASB)
’Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. ’And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the [crumbs] which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. ’Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. ’In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. ’And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ ’But Abraham said, ’Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. ‘And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and [that] none may cross over from there to us.’
Did Jesus Go to Hell?
This brings up a historic question: Did Jesus descend into hell? Did He suffer torment or battle Satan for the keys of the kingdom after He died?
The Apostles’ Creed states that He “descended into hell.” However, that phrase entered the creed later in history. The original Greek used the word Hades, meaning the grave or the realm of the dead, not Gehenna (the lake of fire). Furthermore, Jesus looked at the repentant thief on the cross and said, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
Luke 23:43 (NASB)
And He said to him, ‘Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.’
Jesus did not say, “I have to spend three days suffering in hell first.” On the cross, Jesus shouted, “It is finished!”
John 19:30 (NASB)
Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
The full price for sin was paid on the cross. There was no remaining debt to pay in hell, nor is there any biblical basis for the concept of purgatory where humans make up for their sins after death. Hebrews 9:27 makes it clear that it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.
Hebrews 9:27 (NASB)
And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this [comes] judgment,
When Jesus died, He descended to the realm of the dead (Hades/Sheol), specifically to Paradise or Abraham’s bosom, proclaiming His victory to the righteous who had died in faith and to those who had rejected God’s truth. In His resurrection and ascension, Christ led captivity captive and opened the way so that believers now go directly to heaven in the presence of God.
Ephesians 4:8-9 (NASB)
Therefore it says, ‘WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.’ (Now this [expression], ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?
1 Peter 3:18-20 (NASB)
For Christ also died for sins once for all, [the] just for [the] unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits [now] in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through [the] water.
One day, as Revelation tells us, death and Hades will be cast into the lake of fire, and God will establish the new heaven and the new earth.
Revelation 20:14-15 (NASB)
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 21:1 (NASB)
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer [any] sea.
What This Means for Us
I know we have walked through some deep theological weeds, but what does this mean for our everyday lives?
For those who are in Christ Jesus, the moment we die, we are absent from the body and present with the Lord.
2 Corinthians 5:8 (NASB)
we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
We do not grieve as those who have no hope. Because Christ rose from the dead, we know that all who belong to Him will be raised with Him.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (NASB)
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You do not need to fear the grave, purgatory, or punishment, because Jesus bore it all.
Romans 8:1 (NASB)
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
For those who do not know Christ, the message is urgent. There is no second chance after death. There is no side door into heaven. Salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone. Either you bear the penalty for your sin, or you trust in the Savior who bore it for you on the cross.
The battle Jesus fought is completely over. There is no extra work you need to perform, no ongoing merit you need to earn. When Jesus died on the cross, the full redemptive plan of God was accomplished. When they placed Him in that tomb, His work was sealed; when He walked out on Sunday morning, His victory was settled forever. He is a Savior you can trust.
Let’s pray.
Father, thank You that the work of our redemption is finished. We thank You that Jesus did not need to suffer beyond the cross, because His sacrifice was completely sufficient. Thank You that for those who are in Christ, there is now no condemnation. Remind us of the depth and breadth of Your love, and help us live faithfully in the light of Your finished work. In Jesus’ name, Amen.