And there came also Nicodemus - the Burial

 They had stood at the cross, watching the Lord suffer the painful death of crucifixion. This was after Jesus suffered the merciless half-death of Roman scourging and the cruel mocking and torment.

Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man and a disciple of Jesus, pleaded Pilate for the body of Jesus so that he could lay it in his own new tomb which he had hewn out of a rock.

"And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus." - John 19:38 KJV (See also: Matthew 27:57-60, Mark 15:42-46, Luke 23:50-56).

Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, brought myrrh and aloes for His burial. This is whom Jesus told we must be born again to enter the kingdom of God. (John 3:5). Jesus also that same night told Nicodemus of His death.

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." - John 3:14-15 KJV

The message Jesus gave to Nicodemus that night was the gospel message. Jesus told him He would die so that the world could be saved. When Jesus told Nicodemus that the Son of man would be “lifted up,” Jesus was speaking of the death of His human flesh on the cross. The Spirit of God WITHIN the “Son of man” lives forever. This same Spirit within His human flesh would raise Him from the dead. (See Romans 8:1-11, Acts 2:38-39).

"And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury." - John 19:39-40 KJV

An observation was made about the hundred pound weight of myrrh and aloes that Nicodemus brought to embalm Jesus’ body: "The quantity of the balm is extraordinary and exceeds all normal proportions. This is a royal burial."

When Jesus was yet a young child, wise men came to worship “He that is born King of the Jews.” One of the gifts that the wise men presented to Jesus was myrrh. (Matthew 2:1-2, 11). Myrrh is burned as incense and used in perfume. It was also used for embalming the dead.

How fitting the gift of myrrh: Jesus was born King of the Jews, born to die for the sin of the world. Just as the wise men offered Jesus the gift of myrrh at Jesus birth, Nicodemus also offered the gift of myrrh at Jesus death, making sure Jesus had the burial of a King.