Joseph buries Jesus
50 A man called Joseph was also there. He was one of a special group of important Jewish leaders. He was a good man that wanted to do right things. 51 He was from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He had not agreed with the other leaders that Jesus should die. He was waiting for God to begin to rule his people in his kingdom.
23:50This was the same group that asked Jesus questions. They had wanted Pilate to kill Jesus.
52 So Joseph went to see Pilate. He asked Pilate for the dead body of Jesus. Pilate agreed to this. 53 Joseph then went to the place where Jesus died. He took the dead body down from the cross. He put a piece of linen cloth around the body. Then he put the body into a large hole in the rock. People had made that hole to put dead bodies in, but it was the first time that anyone had used it.
23:53At that time, they put dead bodies in a hole in a rock. Then the family and friends closed the front with a big stone.
54 This all happened on the day before the Jewish day of rest. It was nearly time for the Jewish day of rest to begin.
23:54For the Jews, the end of a day was when the sun went down, at about six o'clock in the evening. Then the next day began.
