What  about  Death  and  Burial  at  the  Time  of  Jesus?      The   Jewish   people   took   the   burial   of   the   dead   quite  seriously,  this  was  the  way  a  community  paid  their  last  dues  to  the  one  who  died.  The  Scriptures  lay  down  quite  firmly  that  no  dead  body  was  to  be   left  unburied,  even  those   of   one’s   worst   enemies.   Perhaps   one   of   the  stronger   horrors   that   a   Jewish   person   could   imagine  was  stated   in  Psalm  78:   "They  have   thrown  the  bodies  of   thy   I   servants   as   food   for   the   birds   of   heaven;  wild  beast  feast  on  the  corpses  of  the  just.”    The  dead  therefore  had  a  right  to  ceremonial  treatment.  As  soon  as  he  was  dead,  his  eyes  were  to  be  closed,  he  was   to   be   kissed   with   love,   and   the   body   washed  (Genesis  50:1;  Acts  9:37).  In  this  washing,  the  body  was  anointed   with   perfumes.   Nard   was   the   most   usual   of  these,  but  myrrh  was  also  used,  as  well  as  aloes.      By  the  time  of  Christ  the  body  was  elaborately  wrapped  in   the  shroud,  and   the   face  was  covered  with  a   special  cloth   called   a   sudarium.   The   hands   and   feet  were   tied  with  strips  of  cloth.      This  having  been  done,  relatives  and  friends  could  come  to  the  home  to  say  goodbye  for  the  last  time.    All  of   this   happened   very   rapidly,   and   burial   usually   followed   within   eight   hours   after   death.   In   the   hot  climate,  burial  could  not  be  delayed.      After   a  brief   time   to   say   farewell,   the  body  was   carried   in   a   kind  of   litter   to   the   grave.  There  were  no  professional   carriers;   the   person's   relatives   and   friends   took   turns   carrying   the   body,   as   a   sign   of  affection.  Women  led  the  procession,  which  were  very  ritually  noisy,  even  in  cases  where  sorrow  was  not  great  since  the  person  had  died  after  a  long  illness.    Nevertheless  all  funeral  procession  were  expected  to  have  those  wailed  loudly,  throwing  dust  in  their  hair  and  there  would  be  flautist  who  played  sad  music  on  their  instruments.  Given  these  expectations,  families  often  hired  professional  mourners  who  assisted  in  the  process.      The  Jews  never  cremated  their  dead,  indeed  they  had  a  horror  of  it  for  they  believed  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body.        

 Cemeteries,  were  always  to  be  at  least  fifty   yards   outside   of   any   town   or  village.      The   typical   tombs   of   Jesus’   day  involve  the  kind  of  cave,  or  excavation  cut   into   a   rocky   cliff.   Sometimes  larger   families   or   groups   of   families  would   use   these   burial   areas  together.  An  opening  into  the  cliffside  might   open   into   a   crypt   of   several  

rooms  used  by  different  families.  They  would  be  an  outer  chamber  and  inner  chamber,  or  at  least  a  front  and  back  portion  to  the  cave.  In  the  outer  chamber  the  body  would  be  laid  out  on  the  kind  of  bench  or  shelf,  cut  into  the  rock.    The  body  would  be  laid  out  on  it,  and  after  final  farewells,  a   large  round  stone,  usually  rolling  in  a  groove  would  be  rolled  into  place  to  cover  the  tomb.      The   stones  would  often  be  whitewashed  as   a  kind  of  warning   to  passersby   that   the  area  was   in   fact   a  gravesite.  This  was  because   Jews   incurred   ritual  uncleanness   in   coming   into   to   close   in   contact  with  a  dead  body.  Surely  this  could  be  endured  as  an  act  of  charity  for  dead  relative,  but  one  would  not  wish  to  incur  it  for  a  stranger.  Thus  the  whitewashed  tomb  entrances  served  as  a  kind  of  warning  to  stay  clear.        Very  poor  people  who  could  not  afford  a  rock-­‐hewn  tomb,  of  foreigners  who  had  no  land,  were  buried  in  designated   fields,   in   vertical   shafts.   There   is   a   reference   to   the   purchase   of   the   Potters   Field,   in   the  Gospels  that  describes  the  existence  of  these  sorts  of  cemeteries  for  the  poor  and  for  foreigners  who  died  in  Israel  and  needed  burial.  (Mat  27:7).    A  brief  repast  would  follow  which  included  the  ritual  drinking  of  wine  and  eating  of  the  bread  of  morning.  For  the  very  closest  relatives,  such  as  a  wife  or  son  or  daughter,  mourning  lasted  for  30  days.  This  was  observed  by  the  wearing  a  special  clothing,  not  wearing  phylacteries  during  prayer,  and  in  not  answering  greetings  in  the  street.      

After  about  a  year,  family  members  would  return  to  the  tomb,  and  collect  the  bones,  which  were  all  that  remained,  and  place  them  in  a  box,   called   it   ossuary.   They  would  mark   the   box  with   identifying  information  and  placed  it  in  the  back  room  of  the  tomb  where  the  bones   of   other   relatives   were   also   stored;   thus,   the   Jewish  expression  that  one  “rested  with  his  ancestors.”  It  also  explains  the  concerns   of   the   Patriarch   Joseph,  Then   Joseph   took  an  oath  of   the  sons  of   Israel,   saying,   “God  will  visit  you,  and  you  shall  carry  up  my  bones   from   here.”   (Gen   50:25).   And   indeed   as   they   left   Egypt,  Scripture   says,   And   Moses   took   the   bones   of   Joseph   with   him;   for  Joseph  had  solemnly  sworn  the  people  of  Israel,  saying,  “God  will  visit  you;   then   you  must   carry  my   bones   with   you   from   here.”   (Exodus,  13:19)   And,   after   entering   the   Land,   Scripture   says,   The   bones   of  Joseph  which  the  people  of  Israel  brought  up  from  Egypt  were  buried  at   Shechem,   in   the   portion   of   ground  which   Jacob   bought   from   the  sons  of  Hamor  the  father  of  Shechem  for  a  hundred  pieces  of  money;  it  became  an  inheritance  of  the  descendants  of  Joseph.  (Jos  24:32).      

Thus  Joseph  rested  with  his  ancestors.  And  so  will  we,  until  our  bodies  shall  rise  at  the  Last  Trumpet.