There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.
And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.
Comment: It is rare to get a hundred percent vote on anything. Joseph of Arimathea, one of the members of the Sanhedrin which was the body which pursued Jesus to death, was obviously a dissenting vote. It must have taken real courage for him to go and beg the body of the criminal Jesus from the condemner Pilate. But he did and laid the body in his own specially prepared tomb. Tradition says that he later became a missionary to England. Women, who had faithfully followed Jesus during His years of ministry watched carefully for where the body was laid. Being the sabbath they couldn’t treat the body according to the custom of the day, but they were preparing to do it on the first opportunity that they would have. As we will see tomorrow they got a shock when they sought to carry out their plans!
Prayer: Our culture seems to teach that death is the end. But is it, O Father?
As I read it! 
Thank you Barry for your comments on this passage. It is interesting that in John 19:38-42, Nicodemus is also with Joseph of Arimathea, and helped Joseph to take the body of Jesus down from the cross, and they used a mixture of myrrh and aloes, and bound the body in a clean linen cloth and laid it in the tomb. Then they rolled the stone across the opening. I imagine that taking the body of Jesus down from the cross would be a most difficult task, and that two men would be much better than one. Also for rolling the stone across the opening. As Christians, we believe that death is not the end of life, and that our soul, or spirit, will go on living. Death is simply a word we use to describe someone who is no longer alive and living on earth. But I believe that life goes on after death. God bless you.
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