John 19:41

Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new tomb wherein was never man yet laid.

Thus the Second Adam slept in a garden, associating the redemption of the race with a garden, even as the fall of the first Adam had occurred in a garden. Matthew identified the tomb as Joseph's, noted that it was new, hewn out of rock, and that it was closed by a great stone. Luke recorded that it was hewn out of rock and that no man had ever lain in it. John supplied the details that it was in a garden and that no one had ever lain in it. This composite description is fully harmonious.

THE TWO GRAVES OF JESUS

1. It was prophesied of Messiah that "THEY made his grave with the wicked (plural) and with the rich (singular) in his death" (Isaiah 53:9). Matthew's identification of Joseph as a rich man, together with the description of the garden tomb itself, makes it clear that the second clause of the prophecy was fulfilled by the burial in Joseph's tomb.

But what about the grave with the wicked? Here is another example of prophecy supplying details regarding Jesus which are not given in the Gospels (such as the piercing of Jesus' feet mentioned in Psalms 22:16). In the same manner, this prophecy mentions the two graves: (1) one with a rich man (singular), (2) the other with the wicked (plural). Remember that the prophecy speaks of "grave" with the wicked, not merely "death" with the wicked. The soldiers who carried out the execution certainly provided the graves for all three men who were crucified, that being a part of their duty. Not knowing of the efforts and intentions of Joseph and Nicodemus, and having had all day in which to do it, they had without any doubt at all provided three graves for the condemned, including, of course, a grave for Jesus. That grave was with the wicked (plural), fulfilling the prophecy exactly. Authority for this conclusion is the prophecy itself. The "they" of the prophecy (RSV) would have been "he" if only Joseph had been meant. It therefore includes prophetic mention of the soldiers. That Jesus never slept in the grave made by the soldiers did not keep it from being the one "they" made for him.

2. "Wherein was never man yet laid ..." is important for two considerations: (1) Jesus' body never came in contact with corruption; and (2) it removed any possibility that his resurrection might have been attributed to his body's having come in contact with the bones of a prophet. The Old Testament records such a miracle, thus:

It came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet (2 Kings 13:21).

Jesus' being buried in a new tomb (mentioned in three Gospels) prevented any false ascription of his resurrection to such an occurrence as that of the Old Testament. There is no evidence that Jesus' enemies ever admitted his resurrection, choosing to deny it rather than to explain it as a miracle like that involving the bones of Elisha; but the infinite Wisdom guarded the sacred event of our Lord's resurrection against every possible deprecation of it, even against eventualities that never materialized.

3. This detailed description of the grave where Jesus was buried is important also as a refutation of the satanically inspired slander of the priests to the effect that his disciples had stolen the body. The "great stone" was so large that several women freely admitted that all of them together would never have been able to roll it away (Mark 16:3). Also, the particular type of rock-hewn sepulchre described in the Gospels facilitated the official sealing of the grave which was ordered by the governor (Matthew 27:62). The sealing of another type of grave, such as that provided by the soldiers, would have been far more difficult and less secure.