Isaiah predicted that men would plan to bury the Messiah with the wicked, but that He would be "with the rich in His death" (Isaiah 53:9). This was fulfilled about seven hundred years later when Joseph of Arimathaea, "a rich man" (Matthew 27:57), removed the body of the Lord Jesus from the cross and laid it in "his own new tomb" (Matthew 27:60), which was in the garden which was "nigh at hand" to the "place where [Jesus] was crucified" (John 19:41,42). Those who crucified Him desired nothing better than that He should be flung under a heap of stones with the bodies of the malefactors, but God fulfilled His Word.

It had been foretold through the Psalmist that Jehovah would not "suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption" (Psalm 16:10). This signified that the holy and sacred body of Jesus, though undergoing death, was not in the least touched by the process of decay and corruption. "He whom God raised again, saw no corruption" (Acts 13:37). But it also meant that His body should not even come into contact with it externally. God did not interfere as long as Jesus was suffering in the sinner's place, but from the moment that soldier pierced His side, no unclean hand touched the body of the Son of God. Not one person was allowed to do anything that would in any way dishonor that sacred corpse. When God fulfills His Word, He does it with thoroughness and completeness.

Why did Joseph own a sepulchre so near to the place of the crucifixion? The Scriptures say he was a righteous man who consented not to the deed of the Council of which he was a member (Luke 23:50,51), that he waited for the Kingdom of God, and was a secret disciple of Jesus (John 19:38). Perhaps he was led of God to purchase and prepare this place of burial for the Messiah, and with Nicodemus, another timid disciple, he now boldly came forth to care for the body of the One who was "lifted up" in death to give them eternal life (John 3:14,15).

Unlike all other men, the story of Christ's life did not end with His death and burial. When Mary Magdalene, followed by Peter and John, went to the grave early in the morning on the first day of the week, they found it empty. Christ was risen from the dead (Mark 16:6), and was seen on eleven different occasions after His resurrection. He was seen by women and by men, at the seashore, in rooms when doors were closed, on a country road, and on a mountain. At one time five hundred people saw Him. The evidences of His literal, physical resurrection are conclusive.

The bodily resurrection of Christ is an event upon which rests the whole plan of redemption for man. It is an essential part of the gospel message (1 Corinthians 15:1-8), proving that Jesus is the Son of God (Acts 2:32-36), and that His death on the cross has been accepted by God as payment for the great debt of sin (Romans 4:24,25). Because the tomb is empty, our faith is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:17). How glorious is the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ for everyone who confesses with their mouth Jesus as Lord and believes in their heart that God has raised Him from the dead, for God plainly declares that person shall be saved! (Romans 10:9).