42
This was Preparation Day. (That means the day before the Sabbath day.) That evening,
43
Joseph from Arimathea was brave enough to go to Pilate and ask for Jesus' body. Joseph, an important member of the Jewish council, was one of the people who was waiting for the kingdom of God to come.
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Pilate was amazed that Jesus would have already died, so he called the army officer who had guarded Jesus and asked him if Jesus had already died.
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The officer told Pilate that he was dead, so Pilate told Joseph he could have the body.
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Joseph bought some linen cloth, took the body down from the cross, and wrapped it in the linen. He put the body in a tomb that was cut out of a wall of rock. Then he rolled a very large stone to block the entrance of the tomb.
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And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw the place where Jesus was laid.