“Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. 52 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. 54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. 55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.” Luke 23.50-56
The main inconsistency is the burial timing. The Gospels place the burial itself on Preparation Day, before the Sabbath begins. Joseph does not hold the body until after the Sabbath so it can be buried later. He wraps it and lays it in the tomb that afternoon. The women prepare spices, rest on the Sabbath, and return after the Sabbath to anoint a body already buried. The rest of the draft is tightened for grammar, clarity, and flow, with your voice kept.
Joseph, Jesus, the women, Pilate, the Sabbath. These are the key people and themes in these verses. The twelve male disciples were scattered, but the women were still able to follow Jesus even in his death. Joseph, a member of the Jewish ruling council, a respected man, and faithful—for he was waiting for the Kingdom of God—took care of the body.
The day of Preparation, the day before the Sabbath, was already upon them. It was Friday. Jews begin preparing for the Sabbath that day so that when the sun sets they are ready to rest. Joseph came and offered help: a tomb, linen, and a place where the body of Jesus could lie. He buried him before the Sabbath began, so the work of burial would be finished when rest began.
It is timely that God would allow Jesus’ death to fall in step with the Sabbath. How was this possible? Was it only coincidence? I doubt it. This was not an event God simply let happen. There is a reason Jesus died on the Preparation Day of the Sabbath. Commentaries suggest that God’s “sync,” on this reading, is not a coincidence of calendars but the claim that the cross is the reality toward which Passover and Sabbath both pointed: a lamb slain, a work finished, a rest entered, and a new day about to dawn.
One commentator notes that Exodus 12 places the slaughter of the lamb in the afternoon on Preparation Day, with the meal beginning that evening. John presents Jesus as the Lamb of God (John 1:29) whose bones are not broken, echoing the Passover rule (John 19:36; Exodus 12:46). Paul states the identification outright: “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). The Preparation Day timing puts his death at the hour the temple lambs were being killed, so the shadow and the substance occupy the same hour.
God intentionally timed the death of Christ so that it would coincide with the Passover. That was the point. Just as the Passover lamb became the substitute for the people, so Christ becomes that for us. Jesus died so we might live. God came down in flesh to dwell with us, offer redemption, and bring new life to all who would receive it.
It is a strange-sounding sacrifice. In the history of the world, people have always sacrificed to the gods, not received a sacrifice from them. But in this one instance, as far as I know, God in Christ sacrificed himself for the people. The Kingdom of God is upside down. Too good to be true. In a Kingdom where the first is last and the last is first, humanity has a chance.
And we have been given that chance at life. Aren’t we glad? Aren’t we overwhelmed with joy and love? God did the work, but our response matters. Without our response to a loving, faithful God, his work is offered but not received. Today is the day to receive the gift of the Father who gave his Son. What a joy, what a means of grace we have in Jesus.
“O Lord God, the death and burial of Jesus is one for the books. It is an amazing portrait of love. A God who would never let go calls us to respond in kind. He offers us new life. And for this we thank you, Father—for loving us, for making life meaningful. Come now, Holy Spirit, fill us with your power. Help us to know the truth of this sacrifice and how we might walk in the way that leads to life eternal. For you are good, and your love endures forever.” Amen.