XIV Jesus is laid in the tomb.
It was already coming on towards evening when Jesus’ lifeless body was brought down from the Cross, with little time left before the Passover Sabbath. The newly cut tomb to Joseph of Arimathea stood ready nearby, and to this double-roomed cave – the Holy Sepulcher itself – Jesus was carried and laid in the innermost chamber, either on a ledge or in a stone coffin as was the custom of the time. A great round stone was then rolled over the entrance to seal the tomb.
Today, Joseph of Arimethea’s subterranean tomb is the Tomb of Jesus, an ornate structure built over the original two chambers. The outer chamber, called the Chapel of the Angel, is larger and would have been where the family gathered to mourn.
It is marvelously decorated with fine carvings in white marble. The doorway to the inner chamber illustrates the Risen Christ appearing from the coffin (above), the coming of the women on the Sunday with urns of ointment (left), and the angel who proclaimed the resurrection (right).
*And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher, and departed. Matthew 27:59-60
The smaller mortuary chamber is the heart of the Holy Sepulcher itself. It is here that the body of Jesus rested from that Friday evening until Sunday at sunrise. It is now covered by a smooth white marble slab that was placed there in 1555. Above the tomb are painted scenes depicting Christ’s victory over death.
This page is part of the book The Holy Land of Jesus
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