One Sunday morning during the Lord’s Supper, I was reading about Jesus’ burial and a thought came to me: Who removed Jesus’ body from the cross? We know from the Gospel accounts that the Jewish leaders had stirred up the crowd to condemn Jesus to die and that Pilate, the Roman governor, had given the orders for his crucifixion. We also know that a squad of Roman soldiers carried out the execution and drove the nails into Jesus’ hands and feet. But, who removed the nails?
The Romans typically left the bodies on the cross as a symbol of Roman authority and a deterrent to crime. Therefore, it is unlikely that they removed Jesus’ body from the cross. The Gospel accounts tell us very little except for the brief comment that a man known as Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus. John adds that Nicodemus was also with him. Both of these men had evidently been disciples of Jesus, but had not done so openly. They were members of the Jewish council and this act of kindness may have cost them their position on the council and possibly even in the Jewish community.
Luke identified Joseph as the one who asked Pilate for Jesus’ body and then stated very simply: “Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid” (Luke 23:53).
It is unlikely that Joseph and Nicodemus could have done this alone. Artists have depicted the scene with three or four men involved. They may have been assisted by servants, or other unknown followers of Jesus may have helped. Regardless of who was involved, we can only imagine that scene as the lifeless body of Jesus was removed from the cross. The sadness, grief, and disappointment must have been overwhelming as they gently removed his body.
There before them was the body of the one who had been the hope of Israel. This was the one who had reached out to touch and heal the leper and had given sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. It was Jesus, who sat small children in his lap, laughed at the wedding feast in Cana, and dined with Zacchaeus. He had taught his followers to love others. He had treated everyone he met with kindness. And now he was dead.
As the stone was finally pushed into place, it must have seemed so final to that small group of disciples. Yet, we know that the story did not end there. On the morning of the third day when the women went to the tomb they found it empty. He was not there. The nails had briefly held Jesus to the cross, but death could not hold him.
We may eventually learn who removed the nails from the cross of Jesus. By then, however, it will not matter because we will have passed from this life to the next where we will live for eternity with that same Jesus who was one day nailed to a cross.
Phillip Eichman
