Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, 51 had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. 54 It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning.[o]55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
–Gospel of Luke
Wow! First century Jews must have been very skilled at getting a lot done in a very short period of time!
If you have been reading this blog, you know that I previously discussed the fact that the author of Matthew claims that “evening had come” when Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus down from the cross and buried him in the tomb. If “evening” meant “after sunset” this would mean that Joseph buried Jesus on the Sabbath, a violation of the Law of Moses. However, one of my readers so kindly pointed out that the Greek word translated “evening” does not mean “evening” in the modern English sense of that word. It simply means “late”. Therefore, it is entirely possible that the author of Matthew was referring to “late afternoon”, specifically, the time period between 3PM and 6PM.
Ok. I was wrong. I jumped the gun. Bad, counter-apologist! I should have been more careful.
But…let’s look at everything that (allegedly) happened between 3PM, the time that the Synoptics say that Jesus died, and 6PM, sunset, the beginning of the Sabbath, if we combine the events mentioned in all four Gospels:
–Joseph went to Pilate to ask for the body. Did he go to Pilate immediately at 3PM or did he wait a while to make sure Jesus was really dead? Did he, say, wait for John’s soldier to spear Jesus in the side? How soon after Jesus died did that occur? Remember, according to John, Jesus was already dead when they came to break his legs/spear him in the side. Had he been dead 30 seconds or a half hour? If it was a half hour, then the earliest Joseph could have started off to Pilate was 3:30 PM. He would then have two and one-half hours left to get Jesus’ body down and bury him.
–Once Joseph did go to Pilate’s, was he given an immediate audience with the Roman ruler or did he have to wait? The King James says that Joseph “begged” for the body. Doesn’t sound like someone in the position to demand an immediate audience with the ruler of an entire nation.
-Pilate is surprised at the news that Jesus is already dead and sends someone to fetch the centurion from Golgotha to confirm this news.
-The centurion comes from Golgotha to wherever Pilate was, probably the Fortress Antonia.
-Pilate asks if Jesus is dead. The centurion confirms his death.
-Pilate grants the body of Jesus to Joseph.
-Joseph leaves Pilate and stops off at a linen store to buy burial linen. (It is either the 14th or the 15th of Nissan, depending on which Gospel one reads. All Jewish shopkeepers would be closed for business. It was a violation of the Law to sell merchandise on these two holy days.)
-Joseph arrives back at Golgotha and begins taking Jesus down from the cross. He would first need to remove the nails from Jesus’ hands and feet, and then lower the body in some fashion.
-Joseph and Nicodemus apply 100 pounds of spices to Jesus’ body and then wrap his body in the burial linen.
-Joseph (and Nicodemus?) then carry the body of Jesus to a nearby tomb, place the body inside, roll a great stone in front of the door, and go home.
-Mary Magdalene and some of the other female followers of Jesus follow Joseph at a distance and watch Joseph place the body of Jesus in the rock tomb and roll the stone in front of the door.
…and then…the women go home and start preparing spices and ointments for Jesus burial…all before sunset and the beginning of the Sabbath!!!
Holy Spice Makers, Batman! These people are fast and very efficient users of the clock! …or these events are literary fiction!
Escaping Christian Fundamentalism 
Although “evening” is usually at 3:00pm to 6:00pm, that’s just a generalize timeframe. In Jerusalem, in late March and early April – the most common times for the Passover – sunset is between 7:00pm and 7:30pm. So, you’ll need to add that extra hour or hour and a half into your calculations.
Because burials were required on the day an executed person was executed, it was entirely possible for Joseph of Arimathea to buy linens, and perfectly permissible for someone to sell him linens for the purpose of a burial.
Jesus is said to have died at 3:00pm. That actually means he was dead at 3:00pm, and that people knew he was dead – thus – they could claim he died at 3:00pm.
Thus, there is four hours in which Joe of A has to make a 15-minute walk from Golgotha to Pilate’s residence and ask for Jesus body. Then, he has to take a 15-minute walk back, and on the way, buy linens. But, Pilates residence (Herod’s palace, or an adjacent addition) is literally on one of the two main commercial concourses in Jerusalem. And, shopkeepers most often lived in their shops. So, let’s add 15 minutes for Joe of A to stop at a linen shop and buy linens. He is back to Golgotha by 3:45 or 4:00. There are three hours left in which to get the body off the cross and carry it to “a tomb nearby”. [ NOTE: In 1999, new archaelogical discoveries were made in Jerusalem, leading scholars to believe Pilate stayed at Herod’s Palace, and that Jesus was probably sentenced there, not at the Fortress Antonia. “”We don’t know exactly where Jesus was tried, where he had his interview before Pilate, but we do know it’s somewhere in Herod’s palace,” Pileggi said. ] This location – Herod’s Palace – was southwest of the Gennath Gate, a very very short distance. The road leading to Gennath Gate goes directly to Golgotha. Thus from Herod’s Palace to Golgotha is less than a quarter of a mile, and it’s virtually a straight shot to get there.
So, it’s 4:00, and it takes 40 minutes to get the body off the cross. It’s now pushing 5:00. That gives us two hours to get the body to the tomb.
The tomb at Golgotha (presuming that this is the actual crucifixion and tomb site) is literally a matter of yards from the traditional site of the crucifixion itself. If Golgotha is the correct site, it’s a matter of minutes to carry the body from the crucifixion site to the tomb itself.
But, lets stretch things out a bit: It’s 5:45, and the body is finally in the tomb.
We’ve got an hour and 15 minutes to enshroud the body and shut the tomb.
I dunno. I’m not seeing such a problem here.
Perhaps, if you had just looked to find out what time the sun sets on, say, March 31, you would have known that sunset is NOT at 6:00pm at that time of year.
Just an idea…
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You didn’t jump the gun about Mark and Matthew’s use of ‘evening’, Gary. Alter (p98) states: ‘The original word in both these instances, translated ‘even’, is ὀψίας. This in its proper or literal sense, Robinson (New Testament Grek Lexicon) says, signifies “late evening.” …The word sometimes, we admit, is used to denote the (early, first) evening, but it cannot in this instance since Christ did not die until after the first evening had commenced’ (my italics). Alter then cites another source (Lange) who also says that the gospels’ use of ‘even’ signifies the later one.
Your original point still stands; the gospels have Joseph move a body on the Sabbath. It’s ftbond who’s wrong, in asserting that the first evening is the one referred to in Mark and Matthew, not you.
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The word simply means ὀψίας just means “late”. The Gospels don’t say anything about “evening”, they say “it was late”.
“Late in the day”, in our calendar, must refer to hours before Midnight, because at Midnight, it’s a new day.
Well, “midnight” in the Jewish calendar is sunset. “Late”, therefore, must refer to hours before sunset, which is the beginning of a new and different day. Once you get into twilight, and most assuredly into darkness, it is no longer “late”; it is early in the new day.
The Gospels don’t say “early”, they say “late”. Hence, it was before the twilight, before the new day.
And, rest assured, the word “evening” never shows up in the Greek materials.
BTW, Neil – I’ve asked you twice now, and you’ve never responded: Why do you think the Synoptics say that Jesus was crucified on a Friday?
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Jesus was crucified on Wednesday morning, which was the fourth day of the week. Leviticus 23:6&7 helps clear up confusion. ThePassover was on the fourth day, which is Jesus had the last supper, was arrested, tried, and crucified. The fourth day started on what we would have called Tuesday at Sunset and ended at what we would have called Wednesday at sunset. Wednesday at Sunset would have been the beginning of the Feast of unleavened bread. On day one of unleavened bread, there is a special Sabbath that is external to the weekly status. How long it takes to make or what supplies would have been needed in order to put them together, but all of that would have had been done on the 6th day of the week, which would have begun at our reference of Thursday at sunset. Because they did not have electricity and commerce going on after dark, the women probably had to finish making any purchases needed for the burial spices and finish preparing them before sunset on Friday. The Sabbath began at sunset on Friday and ended on Sunset on saturday. Sunset on Saturday was the first day of the week, which is likely when Jesus left the grave in bodily form , but the women would not have gone to the tomb after dark, which is why they were there at first light on Sunday morning. For those who say that Jesus was crucified on a friday, it is because they are completely ignoring the Lord’s mandated Sabbath days and feast days and trying to fit their narrative of always thinking Good Friday was the day Jesus was crucified. However, if he had been crucified on friday, then we cannot rely on the Bible or Jesus words because he said that he would be in the grave for 3 days and 3 nights. Friday Sunset to Sunday morning would only be one and a half days total.
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