John 19:42

There then because of the Jews' Preparation (for the tomb was nigh at hand) they laid Jesus.

Preparation ... See under John 19:31.

The Preparation had almost expired, and with sunset the high sabbath would begin, leaving no time to bury the Lord in a distant tomb, which might have required travel after sunset; and such a desecration of the sabbath would have precipitated ugly action by the hierarchy. God, however, had providentially arranged a tomb near at hand, the priceless sepulchre of Joseph who gave it to the Lord. Speculation as to whether this was intended as a permanent burial place of Jesus is preempted by the fact that he needed it only three days and three nights. The thought recurs that no one ever gave anything to the Lord without receiving it again, multiplied and enriched. When the time came to bury Joseph, the tomb was still his, enriched and made holy by the knowledge that from it the Christ had risen from the dead. Similarly, the little lad who gave his basket of loaves and fishes was certainly the legal owner of the twelve baskets of fragments left over. What is given to Christ is saved; all else is lost.

There they laid Jesus ...

How much pathos in the words, "There they laid Jesus." In the tomb of Jesus the Jews supposed his works to be buried forever .... In it, had he not risen, would have been buried the gospel, Christian civilization, and the hope of the world. The future of the world was sleeping in the tomb.[24]

The pressure of the approaching high day did not thwart observance of the last appropriate detail in the Lord's burial. Even the wrapping of the body had been done after the manner associated with the burial of the most distinguished leaders of the Jews. "After the manner of the Jews to bury ..." indicates that the sacred body was not mutilated, as in Egyptian burial customs. As Gaebelein observed, "What true believer need fear the grave now? Solemn as is the thought of our last narrow bed, we must never forget that it is the place where the Lord lay."[25] As Paul exclaimed, "Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:56).

[24] B. W. Johnson, The New Testament Commentary (Cincinnati, Ohio: The Christian Publishing Company, 1886), p. 291.

[25] Arno C. Gaebelein, The Gospel of John (Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, 1965), p. 379.