Since it was the day of Preparation, in order to prevent the bodies from hanging on the cross on the Sabbath-for that Sabbath was a very solemn and important one-the Jews requested Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first one, and of the other that had been crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out. And he who saw it, the eyewitness gives the evidence, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe also. For these things took place, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, verified and carried out. Not one of His bones will be broken (Ex. 12:46; Num. 9:12; Psa. 34:20). And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him Whom they have pierced. (Zech. 12:10).

Now notice, there was a man named Joseph form the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the Sanhedrin council, and a good, upright, advantageous man, and righteous and in right standing with God and man. Who had not agreed with or assented to the purpose and action of the others; and he was expecting and waiting for the kingdom of God. So in the evening after the Crucifixion, Joseph who was also a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate granted him permission. So he came and took away His body.

Nicodemus also, who first had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about a hundred pounds. So they took Jesus body and bound it in linen cloths with the spices (aromatics), as is the Jews customary way to prepare for burial. Now there was a garden in the place where He was crucified, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever yet been laid. So there, because of the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was near by, they laid Jesus there. And then they rolled the big bolder over the door and went away.

The next day, that is, the day after the day of Preparation for the Sabbath, the chief priests and the Pharisees assembled before Pilate and said, “Sir, we have just remembered how that vagabond Imposter said while He was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again!´ Therefore, give an order to have the tomb made secure and safeguarded until the third day, for fear that His disciples will come and steal Him away and tell the people that He has risen from the dead, and the last deception and fraud will be worse than the first. “

Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers, take them and go make it secure as you can. So they went off and made the tomb secure by sealing the boulder, a guard of soldiers being with them and remaining to watch.