There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulcher was near at hand.
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Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
There laid they Jesus therefore, because of the Jews" preparation day, for the coming sabbath, in which it was not lawful to work, or to bury any one (so S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euthymius), for the sepulchre was nigh at hand. "They wished," said Euthymius, "to lay Jesus in another and more fitting tomb, at a greater distance from the city." But God wished Him to be buried near Golgotha and Jerusalem. S. Chrysostom gives the reason: "That the disciples might the more readily betake themselves thither, and observe what was going on thereabouts, and also that not only they, but their enemies also, might be witnesses of His burial. The seal also, and the guards who were placed over the sepulchre, were witnesses to the same. Christ wished that His death should be witnessed no less than His Resurrection, for if His death had been a matter of doubt, the proof of His Resurrection would not hold good. And not only did He wish, for these reasons, to be buried nigh at hand, but also that no o...
He not only says plainly that Christ's Body was dressed for burial, and that there was a garden nigh unto the cross, and that there was a new sepulchre in it, but he also explains that He was laid therein, not leaving the least of the things which were done untold. For most essential truly to any creed or system of the mystery of our faith is the confession and the knowledge that Christ died. Therefore, also, the wise Paul, defining our rule of faith, speaks as follows: The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith, which preach: because, if thou shalt say with thy mouth, Jesus is Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. And in another passage also: For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures; and that He was b...
