V. 44. And Pilate marveled if He were already dead; and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether He had been any while dead. V. 45. And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. V. 46. And he bought fine linen, and took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen, and laid Him in a sepulcher which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulcher. V. 47. And Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joses, beheld where He was laid.
Pilate was rather surprised that Jesus had died so soon, but after he had received the assurance from the centurion that He had died some time ago, quite a while before this interview, he gladly gave the body to Joseph for burial.
Upon this permission Joseph could act. He purchased a fine linen gravecloth, took down the Lord's body with the aid of another disciple,
Nicodemus, wrapped the body in the linen, and laid it in a grave which was hewn out of the stone, in a garden not far from Calvary. They then rolled a heavy stone before the door of the sepulcher, hurrying all the while lest the coming of the Sabbath interrupt their work of love.
And during all this time Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joses, were present, watching carefully where and how their Master was being laid to rest.
Thus Jesus, after His shameful death on the cross, still received an honorable burial. It was given Him by disciples that had formerly been too weak to confess their faith.
It has often proved the case, in times of persecution and danger, that the weak became strong and the strong weak. Experienced Christians have deeply disappointed expectations, while others that were still weak in knowledge stood their ground firmly.
And for us there is consolation also in the fact that Christ was laid into a grave. That fact has hallowed our graves. We need fear neither death nor the grave. Those that fall asleep in Christ rest peacefully in their beds in the earth until the great day of the eternal Easter dawns.