Luke

23:50-56

Culmination of Messiah's mission, 19:45-24:53

3. The Glorification of the Messiah, 23:26-24:53

iii] The Burial

Luke concludes his passion narrative with his record of the burial of Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea seeks permission from the Roman governor to remove Jesus' body from the cross and bury it. On gaining permission, Joseph takes the corpse down from the cross, wraps it in linen and transports it to a newly cut tomb. The women who witnessed the crucifixion follow, and having noted where Jesus is laid, head home to prepare the necessary scented oils to anoint Jesus' body on the Sunday morning, after the Sabbath day of rest.

The Son of Man, God's righteous one, truly died and was buried.

i] Context: See 23:26-31. The Burial, detailing the brave act performed by Joseph of Arimathea in laying to rest the body of Jesus, is the third episode of a series of six dealing with The Glorification of the Messiah, 23:26-24:53.

ii] Structure: The burial:

iii] Interpretation:

iv] Synoptics:

The burial, v50-56: i] Joseph acts on Jesus' behalf, v50-53. Nothing is known of Joseph, other than this act of kindness recorded in all four gospels. He was most likely a Pharisee, obviously a believer, and probably the source of the record of the trial of Jesus. Luke specifically notes that he is agaqoV, "good", a moral man. Luke also adds that he is dikaioV, "righteous". The NIV opts for a moral sense, "upright", "honest", CEV, but Luke may be leaning toward the sense "right with God", given that Joseph was one of the faithful waiting for the coming kingdom, cf., 1:6, 2:25, 37, "a disciple", Matt.27:57. Barclay goes with "a strict observer of the Law", but something more is surely intended.

The Greek sentence covers three verses and is somewhat complex. The subject is "a man named Joseph", qualified / modified by four separate constructions: "a member of the Council", "a good and righteous man", "from Arimathea, a city of Judea", and a man "who was waiting for the kingdom of God." A parenthesis, commencing with a resumptive ouJtoV, "this one", ("a man named Joseph"), follows "a good and righteous man", and serves to indicate that Joseph opposed the actions of the Sanhedrin. The sentence continues in v52 with a resumptive ou|toV, "this one, he", again referring back to the subject, "a man named Joseph." This pronoun serves as the subject of three coordinate verbs, hthsato, "he asked for [the body]", enetulixen, "he wrapped [it in linen]", and eqhken, "he placed [it in a tomb]". The first and second verbs are modified by subordinate participles, proselqwn, "having approached" and kaqelwn, "having taken down."

onomati (a atoV) dat. "named" - [and behold, a man] in name [joseph]. The dative is adverbial, reference / respect; "with respect to his name." "Joseph" stands in apposition to "name".

uJparcwn (uJparcw) pres. part. "a member of" - being [a council member, a good man and righteous]. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "man"; "who was a member of the Sanhedrin", Barclay.

The town of Arimathea is unknown.

ou|toV pro. "who" - this one, he. Resumptive use of the pronoun, referring back to the subject "a man named Joseph", introduces a parenthesis. It serves as the nominative subject of the following paraphrastic construction. The parenthesis clarifies how Joseph can be a member of the Sanhedrin and at the same time be "good and righteous"; "who had not approved of what they planned and did", Rieu.

ouk h\n sugkatateqeimenoV (sunkatatiqhmi) perf. mid. part. "had not consented to" - he was not having agreed with. The perfect participle with the imperfect verb to-be forms a periphrastic pluperfect construction, possibly emphasising aspect.

th/ boulh/ (h) dat. "-" - the council [and the deed of them]. Dative of direct object after the sun prefix participle "having agreed with."

apo + gen. "he came from" - from [arimathea]. Expressing source / origin.

twn Ioudaiwn gen. adj. "the Judean [town]" - [a city] of judea. The adjective serves as a substantive, the genitive being adjectival, descriptive, idiomatic / local; "a city located in Judea."

o}V pro. "he himself" - who [was waiting for, looking forward to the kingdom of god]. Introducing a relative clause serving as an attributive modifier of the subject "a man named Joseph." For "kingdom of God" see tou qeou, 4:43; "he lived in anticipation of the coming of the kingdom of God in his day", Peterson.

Luke's account at this point is simpler than Mark. Mark tells us that Pilate confirms whether Jesus is dead or not.

ou|toV pro. "-" - this one, he. Resumptive use of the pronoun, referring back to the subject "the man named Joseph."

proselqwn (prosercomai) aor. part. "going to" - having gone to. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to go to."

tw Pilatw/ (oV) dat. "Pilate" - pilate [he asked for the body of jesus]. Dative of direct object after the proV prefix verb "to go to."

Jewish law prohibited a body hanging after sunset and it seems that the Romans have adjusted crucifixion to accommodate local practice (thus the breaking of a prisoner's legs). Obviously, Given the time of day when Joseph finally obtains the release of Jesus' body, there is little time to prepare it for burial, other than wrapping it in a linen sheet. The spices provided by Nicodemus, as recorded in John's gospel, are probably to lay under the body - a bed of spice. The women see all this and plan to properly prepare Jesus' body for burial on Sunday morning, by washing and anointing it. Matthew specifically tells us that the tomb belongs to Joseph, while both Luke and John tell us that it is a new, unused tomb.

kaqelwn (kawairew) aor. part. "he took it down" - [and] having taken it down, [he wrapped it]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to wrap"; "he took it down and wrapped it." Possibly adverbial, temporal; "he then took it down from the cross, wrapped it .....", Cassirer.

sindoni (wn ontoV) dat. "in linen cloth" - in linen [and placed it in a hewn out of rock tomb]. The dative is instrumental, expressing means; "wrapped it up with a fine linen sheet."

ou| adv. "one in which" - where [anyone was not yet placed, laid down]. Adverb of place.

ii] Chronological note, v54. The day of preparation referred to here is not the day to prepare for Passover, but the day to prepare for the Sabbath, ie., Friday. Luke clarifies his chronological note, by explaining that the Sabbath epefwsken, "was shining" = "dawning" = "beginning", ie., it is late on Friday afternoon. Note John's chronology where this particular Friday is the day of Preparation for the Passover, with the Jewish population about to share in the Passover meal at sunset, the beginning of the new day, the Sabbath, Saturday. For John, Jesus' sacrifice represents the slaughter of the pascal lamb on the day of Preparation. John's chronology is clearly driven by theology, but it remains unclear who got it right, either John or the synoptists.

paraskeuhV (h) gen. "Preparation [Day]" - [and it was the day] of preparation. The genitive is adjectival, descriptive, either attributive, as NIV, or idiomatic / identification, "the day known as Preparation Day."

epefwsken (epifwskw) imperf. "was about to begin" - [and the sabbath] was dawning. The NIV takes the imperfect as inceptive, identifying the beginning of the action; "This was on the eve, with the Sabbath approaching", Rieu.

iii] The women watch on, v55. The Galilean women, who had ministered to Jesus and the disciples during their ministry in Galilee and now in Jerusalem, serve as primary witnesses to both the death and resurrection of Jesus. They witness Jesus' death and his internment, and will soon witness the empty tomb. Given the gospel record, they are Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna and Mary the mother of James.

ai{tineV pro. "[the women] who" - [but/and the women] whoever = who. This indefinite pronoun introduces a relative clause which serves as an attributive modifier limiting "women"; "the women who had accompanied Jesus from Galilee", Phillips.

h]san sunelhluquiai (sunercomai) perf. part. "had come with" - were having come with. The perfect participle with the imperfect verb to-be forms a periphrastic pluperfect construction, possibly emphasising aspect - they were constant companions of the discipleship team.

autw/ dat. pro. "Jesus" - him. Dative of direct object after the sun prefix participle "having come with."

ek + gen. "from" - from [galilee]. Expressing source / origin; "out of."

katakolouqhsasai (katakolouqew) aor. part. "followed [Joseph]" - having followed after [saw the tomb]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to see"; "followed and saw the tomb."

wJV "[saw ....] how" - as = how [the body of him was laid]. Here the conjunction is used to introduce an object clause / dependent statement of perception expressing what the women see. As Culy notes, unlike say oJti, wJV comes with a modal sense - they view the manner in which Jesus' body is laid out.

Mark has a similar chronological note, "when the Sabbath was past", and it is then that the women do some late-night shopping for scented oils so that they can properly prepare the body of Jesus for burial the next morning. Luke has the women return home and prepare the scented oils for their Sunday morning mission. Luke explains to his Gentile readers why the women don't act to anoint the body sometime on Saturday, on the Sabbath; "On the Sabbath they did nothing, as the Law prescribes", Cassirer.

uJpostreyasai (uJpostrefw) aor. part. "they went home" - [but/and] having returned [they prepared]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to prepare."

arwmat (a atoV) "spices" - aromatic oils [and ointments]. Accusative object of the verb "to prepare." Referring to various diluted essential oils, most likely extended with pistachio nut oil rather than olive oil. A concentrated version was used for embalming, and lighter concentrations were used for perfume and rubbing. It is unclear what the difference is between arwma and muron. The word muron is often used of "ointment", so the thickness of the oils may be in mind.

men ......, de "but" - [and] on the one hand [they rested on the sabbath according to the commandment,] but on the other hand, [on the first day of the week .....]. The adversative comparative construction runs into 24:1 and is used to draw out the importance of the action of coming to the tomb, over and above the action of resting; "they rested on the Sabbath ......., but then, on the first day of the week, just at dawn, they went ....." The preposition kata, "according to", expresses a standard, "in accord with the commandment."

Luke Introduction

Exegetical Commentaries

lectionarystudies.com