Station #13 - Jesus is laid in the tomb

Matthew 27v57-66 

As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb. 

The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” 

“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard. 

The religious leaders were afraid of Jesus’s predictions that he would rise from the dead and they weren’t taking any chances! But nothing would get in the way of God’s plan. Three days later, Jesus would rise from the dead.

Lord Almighty, your ways are perfect. I entrust my life to you afresh, knowing that you have a good plan. As I go from here, may the sorrow of Good Friday and the hope of Easter remain with me. May I always remember what you did for me on the cross, and thereby live in hope. Amen