And there came also Nicodemus.
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:." - John 3:14
When Jesus said that the Son of man would be “lifted up,” Jesus was speaking of His death on the cross.
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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