John 19:38-39 | Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.
As the sun set on Friday, two disciples prepared the body of Jesus for burial: Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Both men were affluent. Both were city leaders. Both were stealth followers who went public with their faith in the final days.
They had nothing to gain in this act of service. As far as they knew, they would be the final people to see their Savior. They prepared a dead body for burial, not a soon-to-be-risen body for a miracle.
They doused linen strips in a hundred pounds of burial spices (John 19:39), which was “enough spices for the burial of a king.” Then they swaddled the corpse until it was tightly secure. Upon completion of their work, the two men carried the body to the graveyard and placed it in an unused tomb. At the insistence of the religious leaders, Pilate stationed guards at the tomb. They were told to keep the disciples out.
No one mentioned the need of keeping Jesus in.