After this, Joseph of Arimathea (a disciple of Jesus, but secretly out of fear of the Jews), asked Pilate to take down the body of Jesus; and Pilate allowed it. He went and took down the body of Jesus. Nicodemus also came (who had come to Jesus by night) and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloe, about a hundred liters. So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes with incense, as the Jews usually bury. In the place where He was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been laid. There they laid Jesus for the sake of the Friday of the Jews, because the tomb was near.

Why did not one of the twelve come to Pilate, but did Joseph, who perhaps belonged to the seventy, dare to do so? If anyone says that the disciples (12) hid themselves from the Jews out of fear, then he was possessed by the same fear. It can be said that he (Joseph) was a very famous man and was also known to Pilate for his fame. Thinking that the wrath of the Jews had been subdued when the hated Jesus had already been crucified, Joseph fearlessly came and together with Nicodemus performed a magnificent burial. Both of them did not imagine anything divine about Him, but were disposed to Him only as a man, because they brought such incense as had the power to preserve the body for a long time and not to allow it to quickly give way to corruption. And this showed that they did not imagine anything great about Him. Yet they show great love for Him, because they bury Him not as a criminal, but magnificently, according to the Jewish custom. Time forced them to hurry. For the death of Jesus followed at the ninth hour. Then, while they went to Pilate and while they were taking off the body, it was naturally evening when it was impossible to build a tomb. Therefore they put Him in the nearest tomb. For "in the place where He was crucified was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulchre." It is arranged in such a way that the tomb is near; therefore the disciples may come and be spectators and witnesses of what has happened, soldiers may be assigned to guard it, and it will be inappropriate to speak of abduction. All this could not have happened if Jesus had been buried far away. The "coffin" was "new, in which no one had yet been laid." This was done so that it would be impossible to reinterpret the resurrections, as if someone other than Jesus had risen. And it is different. The new sepulchre figuratively showed that through the Lord's sepulchre there would be renewal from death and corruption, and in it we would all be renewed. Notice, I beseech thee, how much the Lord has become impoverished for us. During His lifetime He did not have a home; after death he does not have a tomb, but is laid in a stranger; He is naked, and Joseph clothes Him. Jesus is even now dead when He is killed by people who commit violence, or who are passionate about gain; He also suffers from hunger; there are also naked, for whatever the poor man endures, Christ endures it all. And now imitate Joseph, add good to good (for Joseph means addition), clothe the nakedness of Christ, that is, the poor. Do not do this once, but lay your souls in the grave and always remember, always reflect and take care of such matters. Mix myrrh and scarlet. For one must bear in mind the bitter and severe judgments of this age, and that Voice which shall call the unmerciful accursed, and send them into the fire (Matt. 25:41). In my opinion, there is nothing more terrible than this Voice.

Chapter Twenty

On the very first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, when it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb. So he ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him." Immediately Peter and the other disciple went out, and went to the tomb. They both ran together; but the other disciple fled faster than Peter and came to the tomb first. 

One of the Sabbaths the Evangelist calls the day which we call the Lord's. For the Sabbath is called the week of days, and the first day is one of the Sabbaths. In fact, there is only one day every day. But one, taken many times and folded, makes many. Thus, the first day is one, twice taken is the second, three times is the third, and so on. Such a day is an image of the age to come, which is one day, which is not cut off by night, nor has half a day. God is his Sun, which never sets. As the Lord rose on this day, making His corruptible body incorruptible, so in the future we will receive incorruption. Thus, on the first day of the week, "Mary Magdalene comes." Since the Sabbath had passed, and the law no longer forbade movement, she departed, wishing to find some consolation from the burial place of the Lord, and, seeing the stone rolled away from the tomb, she went with great haste to Peter and John. The Lord rose when the stone was still lying in place, and the seals were intact. But as it was necessary for someone to be witnesses of the resurrection and enter the tomb, the stone was rolled away by an angel. Mary, who still knows nothing about the resurrection, calls this event a theft and transposition. - Then the disciples come to the tomb and see only swaddling clothes lying down; and this was a sign of the true resurrection. For if anyone were to shift the body, he would not uncover it; and if someone stole, he would not have taken the trouble to twist the cloth and put it separately in a special place, but would have taken the body simply as it was possible. For this reason the Evangelist said beforehand that the body of Christ was buried with much myrrh, which glues the swaddling clothes to the body no worse than pitch, so that when we hear that the cloth was lying in a special place, we would not in the least believe those who say that the body of Christ was stolen. For a thief would not be so foolish as to use so much effort for an unnecessary deed, and not suspect that the longer he does it, the sooner he can be caught. - At what hour the resurrection followed, no one knows, just as the time of the second coming is unknown. If the Evangelist Matthew says that the earthquake occurred in the late evening, and John says that Mary came and saw the rolled stone in the morning, when it was still dark, then there is no disagreement about this. For, in the first place, according to Matthew, the women came late on the Sabbath, and in John now there is no mention of women, when Matthew said this, it would be superfluous to say the same to John; but Mary Magdalene comes in the morning. The comings to the tomb are different: now Mary comes with the other wives, now she alone. Hence the disagreement between the Evangelists, that they speak about different parishes, each about his own. Thus, in the first place, we say that Matthew speaks of one parish, the wives, and John of another, the coming of the wife, the Magdalene. Then, "the late evening and the morning, when it is still dark," which some would call the late morning, coinciding with the same thing, so that all this time is the middle of the night. If you ask how Peter and John and the women entered the tomb when the guards were there, the answer is simple, that when the Lord rose and an angel appeared at the tomb with an earthquake, then the guards went to announce this to the Pharisees, and thus the tomb was freed from the military guards, and the disciples could come fearlessly.

     And stooping down, he saw the swaddling clothes lying there; but he did not enter the tomb. Simon Peter came after him, and entered into the tomb, and saw only the swaddling clothes lying there, and the cloth that was on His head, not lying with the swaddling clothes, but specially twisted in another place. Then another disciple, who had previously come to the tomb, also entered, and saw, and believed; for they did not yet know from the Scriptures that He was to rise from the dead. So the disciples returned to their homes again. And Mary stood by the coffin and cried. And while she was weeping, she bent down into the tomb and saw two angels sitting in white robes, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus lay. And they said to her, "Wife! Why are you crying? He said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him."

 Note, perhaps, the humility of the Evangelist, with which he testifies to the thoroughness of Peter's research. He himself came before, saw the swaddling clothes lying there, and did not investigate anything else, but waited for Peter. And the fiery Peter went inside the tomb and carefully examined everything. Then he (John), who came in after him (Peter), saw the burial clothes lying apart from one another, and believed, however, not that the Lord had risen, but that He had been stolen. He believed Mary's words that they had taken the Lord. Why did he believe Mary, and not think about the resurrection? Because they did not yet know the Scriptures that He was to rise from the dead, and they believed Mary, who suspected the abduction and transfer of the body. So they returned to themselves, that is, by themselves, knowing nothing more. Maria, due to the sensitivity and love of tears characteristic of women, stands by the coffin and weeps. Not finding Jesus, he looks at the place where his beloved body was laid, and in this alone he finds consolation. For this reason he is worthy to see more than the disciples. She saw what they did not see, namely, two angels. The vision of the angels was the greatest consolation for her. And their bright garments, and their sitting, one at his head and the other at his feet, showed that they knew something more, and if asked, they could instruct. And the words: "Why are you crying?" are full of sincere concern. In order that Mary may not be embarrassed like a woman, this question calms her confusion. They ask with such sympathy and meekness: "Wife! Why do you weep?" And she answered with fervor and love: "They have taken away my Lord, therefore I weep; I do not know whither, and they have transferred Him; I would go there and anoint His body, and in that, at least, I would find some consolation. "You must understand how active and ardent Peter is, and John is shrewd and capable of understanding Divine things. The purely contemplative precedes with knowledge and giftedness, while the active lags behind, yet by diligence and diligence he overcomes its sharpness, and the active one is the first to discern some Divine mystery. Does not something similar happen in the sciences? And here, of the two boys, the incapable and slow one is superior in effort to the one who is naturally faster and more capable. In the same way, in spiritual matters, the active and unskilful often understand the word better than the contemplative. - Every soul that dominates the passions is called Mary. Purified through impassibility, she sees in Jesus God and Man. For one of the angels, sitting in the heads, points to the Godhead, and the other, sitting at the feet, to the humiliated incarnation of the Word.

     And when she had said this, she turned back, and saw Jesus standing; she didn't know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman! Why are you crying? Who are you looking for? She, thinking that it was the gardener, said to Him, "Lord! if thou hast carried Him out, tell me where thou hast laid Him, and I will take Him. Jesus said to her, "Mary! She turned and said to Him, "Rabbi! which means: Teacher! Jesus said to her, "Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go unto my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and unto my God and your God. Mary Magdalene goes and announces to the disciples that she has seen the Lord, and that He has told her this.