³¹ Now it was the day of Preparation,^(A) and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses^(B) during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. ³² The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other.^{(C) 33} But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ Instead, one of the soldiers pierced^(D) Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.^{(E) 35} The man who saw it^(F) has given testimony, and his testimony is true.^(G) He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. ³⁶ These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled:^(H) “Not one of his bones will be broken,”^{[a](I) 37} and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”^[b](J)

The Burial of Jesus^(A)

⁴² It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath).^(B) So as evening approached,

The Burial of Jesus^(A)

⁵⁰ Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, ⁵¹ who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God.^(B)

⁴³ Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council,^(A) who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God,^(B) went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. ⁴⁴ Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. ⁴⁵ When he learned from the centurion^(C) that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.

³⁹ He was accompanied by Nicodemus,^(A) the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.^{[a] 40} Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen.^(B) This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.^{(C) 41} At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid.

⁶⁰ and placed it in his own new tomb^(A) that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.

⁵⁵ The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee^(A) followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. ⁵⁶ Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes.^(B) But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.^(C)

The Guard at the Tomb

⁶² The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. ⁶³ “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’^{(A) 64} So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body^(B) and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

⁶⁵ “Take a guard,”^(C) Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” ⁶⁶ So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal^(D) on the stone^(E) and posting the guard.^(F)

Jesus Has Risen^(A)

16 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices^(B) so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. ² Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb