They had stood at the cross, watching the Lord suffer the painful death of crucifixion. This was after Jesus suffered the merciless half-way death of Roman scourging, 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
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
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
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 was one of the
ingredients of the holy anointing oil, used to anoint the tabernacle and all
that was in it. This same holy anointing oil containing Myrrh was used to anoint and consecrate Aaron and his sons as priests. (Exodus 30:23-31).
Myrrh was also used for
embalming the dead.
"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
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."
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