Matthew 27:54-61
54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
55 There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, 56 among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. [1]
In the wake of Christ’s death, Matthew gives us 3 brief scenes. First, there is a confession from the gentile soldiers. Next, Matthew turns our attention to the women disciples. Finally, he shows us the compassionate faith of a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the group that had condemned Jesus to death.
Central to this section, is the final scene of the burial. The burial of Jesus is the second of the core doctrines of Christianity listed by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve” (vv. 3–5). It occupies a significant amount of space in each of the four Gospels: ten verses in Matthew, six verses in Mark, six in Luke, and five in John. But we do not generally give much thought to Jesus’ burial. After the death, we move on instinctively to the good news of the resurrection since so much depends on it.
It is proof that the God of the Old Testament, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is the true God; that Jesus is who he claimed to be, the Son of God and the Savior; that Jesus’ death was accepted by his Father as an atonement for our sins; that those who believe on Jesus are in a justified state before God; that there is power for victory over sin for all who belong to Jesus; and that those who are united to Jesus by faith will themselves be raised from death to life in heaven. But between the death of Jesus and the resurrection, the writers of the Gospels record the burial. Why is the burial so important?[2] And what can we learn from the two brief scenes that preceded it?
GENTILES CONFESS CHRIST
The first thing we see in our text is beautiful. We see a change of heart in the Roman soldiers beneath the foot of the cross. Look at verse 54: “When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, ‘Truly this was the son of God!’”
There are at least three details about this change of heart that are remarkable: who confesses; why they confess; and what they confess. Let’s start with what they confess, that Jesus truly was the son of God. And it was said the moment after Jesus died. Now we can debate whether their confession was precisely orthodox. We can also debate if their confession was a momentary mouthing of the truth, a sudden passing impulse (as Calvin said it was), or if it was a deep and lasting, lived-out conviction. The one thing we cannot debate is their sincerity, a sincerity that is pitted against the mocking insults hurled at Jesus just hours before.
These soldiers might have had imperfect faith in Jesus, but even imperfect faith in Jesus is faith in Jesus! It is not the quality of our faith that saves us. It is the object of our faith that saves us. What they confessed was good enough for God. It was good enough for Matthew. It should be good enough for us. These soldiers voice what all Christians are to voice: Jesus is the divine Son of God. Somehow, by God’s transforming grace, they see Jesus now as more than a common Jewish criminal whose pain they ignored and for whose clothing they callously gambled.
The second detail about verse 54 answers the question, why did they confess? Matthew mentions what they saw and how they felt. They saw the earthquake and they were filled with awe. Matthew links their confession with the divine fireworks of verses 51-53, where God gave the world his earth-shaking, tomb-breaking, curtain-tearing vindication celebration. The temple veil is miraculously torn from top to bottom. The earth shakes and rocks break. The dead are raised to life again. Following the earth’s response to Christ’s death there comes the earthling’s response (the dead are raised to life, and the true identity of Jesus is announced).
His identity is announced by Roman soldiers. That’s the answer to our “who” question. The first post-crucifixion Christian confession does not come from Saint Peter or Mother Mary or any close friends or Holy Family. It doesn’t come from the high priest or one of the elders of Israel. It comes from the high-ranking centurion and the soldiers in his company. In Mark 15:39 we hear only the voice of the centurion. But in Matthew it’s a choral confession, which is far more dramatic. Did the centurion first make his confession and then the eight to 100 men under him all joined in? Or did they all say spontaneously and in unison, “Truly, this was the Son of God!”? We don’t know.
While it’s not likely these soldiers witnessed the veil tearing in the temple, they certainly acted out the theology of it. They are gentiles. They are Roman gentiles. They are Roman soldier gentiles. They are gentile sinners. Whether they were the same soldiers involved in the brutal scourging, stripping, and spitting mockery of verses 26-30 we don’t know. But we do know they nailed Jesus to the cross. We know that only moments earlier they showed him no respect as a fellow human being. And yet here there is a fundamental reformation of opinion, a conversion to Jesus as the Christ. The blood of Christ awakens the souls of sinners. These enemies of God draw near to God through the blood of Jesus and the power of God.
The lesson for us is this: how these soldiers reacted to Jesus is how true disciples should react. In chapter 14 when Jesus walked on the water, the disciples were terrified and that fear of God turned into a confession of Christ: “Truly, you are the Son of God” (14:33). Like the disciples before them, these soldiers were first filled with fear. They responded in faith to the cross of Christ. Psalm 22:27 prophesied that the nations would worship the righteous suffering King, and here is such worship.
The new temple of the people of God begins its first worship service right here. The soldiers voices join the voices of the wise men of 2:1-12, the centurion of 8:5-13, and the Canaanite woman of 15:21-28 and anticipate the resounding chorus to come when all nations shall sing to Jesus as King of kings and Lord of Lords, and he shall reign forever and ever. Let’s join in singing that song today. Let us confess the soldiers choral confession.
JOSEPH AND JESUS
The Roman soldiers are the first of three characters we’re considering. We have looked at their confession. The other two characters in the wake of the cross are Joseph of Arimathea and the women. Let’s next look and learn from Joseph and his burial of Jesus:
57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.
There are three things we can note about Joseph. First, he was Jewish. We know that from his Jewish name and his Jewish hometown. Further, we know from Luke 23:50 that he was a member of the Sanhedrin. Mark 15:43 tells us he was a respected member and that he did not consent with the council’s condemnation of Jesus (Luke 23:51).
We note that Joseph was Jewish to say that in the death of Jesus, God has not completely rejected his people Israel. Immediately following Jesus’ death, gentiles entered the Kingdom of Heaven, and Jews (represented by Joseph and the women present to the cross) anticipate something of the Kingdom of heaven still being at hand even in a dead Messiah. Joseph was Jewish, but he was a Jewish disciple of Jesus (27:57). This Jew followed Jesus.
Second, Joseph was rich. Why does Matthew mention that? Perhaps it is a theological reason, that even rich men can be faithful followers of Jesus. There is a place for rich people in the church, those who put Jesus before money by putting their money to work for Jesus. This is the first time in Matthew that wealth has a positive connotation. Abraham was wealthy. Job was wealthy. Solomon was wealthy. Scripture is not void of frighteningly rich men who feared the Lord. But in Matthew, Jesus teaches his followers, most of whom are poor, to consider the lilies and to ask for daily bread.
And in Matthew that last rich man we encountered was the rich young ruler who walked away from Jesus to hang on to his great possessions (19:22). So, can a rich person enter the Kingdom of Heaven? Yes. Rich persons enter the Kingdom of Heaven the same way anyone does, through God’s saving grace, his one-way love. Even squeezing a fat camel through the eye of a needle is possible (19:26, 24). The wealthy can be among the last, the lost, the least, the little, and the dead.
Matthew also mentions Joseph’s wealth for historical reasons. Only a wealthy and politically connected man could gain access to Pilate and actually be granted his request. And only a rich man would be able to afford a clean linen shroud (27:59), and a new tomb likely cut into a limestone hillside cave, and a great stone to guard the entrance of the tomb. Poor men were buried in mass paupers’ graves. Joseph’s grave was clean and minty fresh. It was above, not below ground. And it had the expensive, state-of-the-art, rolling stone feature. Most tombs had small square stones just to keep out animals and thieves. This tomb was the deluxe edition. It had all the bells and whistles.
Joseph’s procuring Jesus’ body, covering it the way he did, and laying that dead body in such a tomb is filled with historic significance. Jesus had to be truly dead for Joseph to go to pilot in the 1st place. Pilate had to agree that Jesus was really dead to give the body to Joseph. Jesus had to be really dead for his face to be covered with a shroud. He wasn’t breathing, and Joseph witnessed that firsthand.
The details add to the credibility of the testimony of Jesus’ resurrection. The women didn’t mistakenly go to the wrong tomb. Unlike Moses, whose place of burial was unknown, the location of Jesus’ tomb was well known by a number of witnesses (the guards, the women, Joseph, Pilate, and likely others).
Our third observation about Joseph was that he demonstrated courageous love for Christ. In Matthew’s Gospel, Joseph makes a short cameo appearance. His scene is short and sweet. He arrives and departs quickly. In Matthew’s Gospel, Joseph’s deeds speak more loudly than his words. None of his words are recorded.
John tells us Joseph was a secret and fearful disciple (John 19:38). In our scene, Joseph has clearly had a conversion from bashful to brave. He is the only male disciple of Jesus’ to step forward in chapter 27. All the apostles are absent. It took great courage for a highly distinguished member of the Sanhedrin to go and ask for the body of a convicted and crucified criminal. What would that do to his standing in the council? And what would Pilate think of such a politically risky request? Pilate could easily have refused since crucified bodies were left to rot on the cross as a warning. Pilate could have charged Joseph with insurrection for siding with the enemy. By going to Pilate, he risked his reputation and perhaps even his life.
Joseph was also a loving man. Rich men don’t normally do slaves’ work. But here we see a rich man prepare Christ’s body for a proper and honorable burial. He dirtied his ceremonially clean hands, during Passover no less, by touching Christ’s unclean body. He served the servant of servants, the one who came to serve and lay down his life for others. Joseph loved the greatest man ever to live in the least great moment of that man’s life. Joseph prepares the body. It is a tender gesture. His actions of faith are part of our gospel story. May our faith grow to be as courageous, loving, and acting as was that man’s. As the Roman soldiers have shown us what Christian faith confesses, Joseph has shown us how Christian faith works. Our faith is to be a courageous, loving, doing faith.
Aside from Joseph, let’s not miss Jesus (the man whom Joseph buries) and how much that burial matters. Just because Jesus isn’t doing anything in our text doesn’t mean what he has done is not of greatest significance. Often Christ’s burial gets little mention when compared to his cross. But the whole of his humiliation is necessary for our salvation (his being born of a woman, born under the law, born in a lonely state, enduring the normal miseries of human life, bearing the sword of man and the wrath of God on the cross, and then dying and remaining dead and buried for a few days).
We can say a great deal about the significance of his burial. Although the account of the burial is terse and sober, this is still part of the story of the Christ. The absence of details focuses all attention on the main point, namely, that Christ’s path descended all the way to the grave, the place where death reigned supreme and mercilessly imposes its curse. He was dragged down to the place of deepest human humiliation and defilement and imprisoned behind a heavy stone. Even his closest friends thought he was gone for good. Thus Jesus endured not only pain and suffering in the curse of death but even the terror of the grave, so that he could save his people from this horrible kind of forever.
THE WOMEN’S WITNESS
Jesus said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12: 32). We have seen the Jewish man, Joseph, and the gentile men, the Roman soldiers, drawn to Jesus after he was raised up on the cross. But Jesus death draws many women as well. We read about them in verses 55, 56, and 61. Before the burial, we are told that there were many women present looking on from a distance who had been with Jesus since Galilee, ministering to him. Among the women were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee (vv. 55, 56). Then, after the burial, we learned that Mary Magdalene and the mother of James and Joseph were there, sitting opposite the tomb (27:61).
First, note that verse 55 said there were “many” women. There were many women but there were zero apostles there. The women may be standing at a distance, but they are still there. In contrast to her absent “sons of thunder,” the other Mary serves as a foil for her son’s cowardly absence. And if she hadn’t yet learned Christ’s lesson on Kingdom greatness, perhaps seeing his great death taught her the true meaning of being on his left and right as he drained the sour, foaming cup of the wrath of God for her admission into the great wedding feast of the Lamb.
Like the Roman soldiers and Joseph of Arimathea, the faith of these women might be inadequate, but it is still faith. Fearful faith that stands at a distance is better than no faith. But their faith might also be exemplary. They had been following Jesus from Galilee (27:55). Jesus used the word “follow” quite a bit. To further describe the women as “ministering to him” has a nice ring of devoted service to it.
Second, these women are women! The gospels extend good press to women and put their heroic deeds on the front page. The women in Matthew are pictured beautifully. Christianity didn’t offer marginalized women feminism, but it did offer freedom, the freedom that comes to both men and women through serving God and others. These women do both. They serve God as his witnesses to the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection.
Many women were at the cross and two women were at the tomb. It was a large enough funeral to establish the Law’s requirement of two witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15). They serve both the church and the world as official witnesses to the greatest events of history. Without their witness, the church has no testimony. Even though their culture did not value them as women, God used what the world considered weaker things to confound the wise.
Many years after drafting the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson decided to rewrite the Bible. It was his private Declaration of Independence from historic Christian doctrine. He edited out all the parts of the Gospels that did not fit his deistic theology. Using his naturalistic and rationalist grid, he removed all supernaturalism, including references to the Trinity as well as to the divinity, miracles, and the resurrection of Jesus. His Bible begins with the birth narrative, without mention of angels and prophecy, and it concludes with the cross and the tomb (but not an empty one). He died and was buried. End of story.
But the word “gospel” means “good news.” To cut out 27:62-28:20 is to miss the whole point of Matthew. This transitional text is in our Bibles not as a conclusion but as a bridge to a new beginning. Over the next few weeks, we will walk with the women over that bridge in the next chapter. The story isn’t over. The best is yet to come. Will the stone stay still? Will the tomb be empty? Will the women’s tears be wiped away by fear and joy and eyewitness astonishment? Will Jesus rise from the dead? Will this two-woman church grow into billions? We shall see.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. [3]
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mt 27:54–62.
[2] James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2001), 629–630.
[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Co 1:18–25.
