Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 27:57-61

"And when even was come, there came a rich man from Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus` disciple: this man went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded it to be given up. And Joseph took the body, and 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 tomb, and departed. And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre." — Matthew 27:57-61 (ASV)

Glossa Ordinaria: When the Evangelist had finished the account of the Lord's Passion and death, he discusses His burial.¹

Remigius of Auxerre: Arimathea is the same as Ramatha, the city of Elkanah and Samuel, and is situated in the Canaanite country near Diospolis. This Joseph was a man of great dignity in terms of his worldly status, but is praised for a much higher merit in God's sight, since he is described as righteous. Indeed, the one who was to bury the Lord's body needed to be such a person, so that he would be deserving of that office by his righteous merit.

St. Jerome: He is described as rich, not out of any ambition on the part of the writer to represent such a noble and rich man as Jesus' disciple, but to show how he was able to obtain the body of Jesus from Pilate. For poor and unknown individuals would not have dared to approach Pilate, the representative of Roman power, and ask for the body of a crucified criminal.

In another Gospel, this Joseph is called a counselor, and it is supposed that the first Psalm refers to him: Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly (Psalm 1:1).

St. John Chrysostom: Consider this man's courage; he risked his life and took upon himself many enmities to perform this service. He not only dared to ask for Christ's body but also to bury it.

St. Jerome: This simple burial of the Lord condemns the ostentation of the rich, who cannot do without lavish expense even in their tombs. But we may also consider in a spiritual sense that the Lord's body was wrapped not in gold, jewels, or silk, but in clean linen, and that the one who wrapped it is the one who embraces Jesus with a pure heart.

Remigius of Auxerre: Alternatively, the linen is grown from the ground and is bleached to whiteness with great labor. This signifies that His body, which was taken from the earth (that is, from a Virgin), came to the whiteness of immortality through the toil of His passion.

Rabanus Maurus: From this, the custom has also prevailed in the Church of celebrating the sacrifice of the altar not in silk or in colored robes, but in linen grown from the earth, as we read was ordered by the holy Pope Sylvester.

Pseudo-Augustine: The Savior was laid in a tomb belonging to another man because He died for the salvation of others. For why should He, who in Himself had no death, have been laid in His own tomb? Or why should He, whose place was reserved for Him in heaven, have a monument on earth? He remained only three days in the tomb, not as one dead, but as one resting on His bed.²

A tomb is the necessary dwelling of death. Christ, then, who is our life, could not have a dwelling of death. He who lives forever had no need of a dwelling for the departed.

St. Jerome: He is laid in a new tomb, so that after His resurrection it could not be pretended that someone else had risen when the other bodies were seen remaining there. The new tomb may also signify the virgin womb of Mary. He was laid in a tomb hewn out of the rock, so that, had it been built from many stones, it could not be said that He was stolen away by undermining its foundations.

Pseudo-Augustine: Had the tomb been in the earth, it might have been said that they undermined the place and so carried Him off. Had a small stone been laid on it, they might have said, "They carried Him off while we slept."³

St. Jerome: The fact that a great stone was rolled there shows that the tomb could not have been reopened without the combined strength of many people.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Mystically, Joseph is a figure of the Apostles. He wraps the body in a clean linen cloth, the same kind of linen sheet in which all manner of living creatures were let down to Peter from heaven. From this, we understand that under the representation of this linen cloth, the Church is buried together with Christ.

Furthermore, the Lord's body is laid in a chamber hewn out of rock, empty and new. This means that through the teaching of the Apostles, Christ is conveyed into the hard hearts of the Gentiles—hearts hewn out by the labor of teaching, which were rude, new, and until now unpenetrated by any fear of God.

And because nothing besides Him ought to enter our hearts, a stone is rolled to the entrance, so that just as we had received no author of divine knowledge before Him, we should admit none after Him.

Origen of Alexandria: The mention of the circumstances—that the body was wrapped in clean linen, laid in a new tomb, and a great stone rolled to the entrance—is not casual. Rather, it shows that everything concerning the body of Jesus is clean, new, and very great.

Remigius of Auxerre: When the Lord's body was buried and the others returned to their own places, the women alone, who had loved Him, remained more devotedly with Him. With anxious care, they took note of the place where the Lord's body was laid, so that at the proper time they could perform the service of their devotion to Him.

Origen of Alexandria: The mother of the sons of Zebedee is not mentioned as having sat opposite the sepulchre. Perhaps she was able to endure only as far as the cross, but these other women, being stronger in love, were not absent even from the events that followed.

St. Jerome: Or, when the others left the Lord, the women remained, looking for what Jesus had promised. Therefore, they deserved to be the first to see the resurrection, because he that endureth to the end shall be saved (Matthew 10:22).

Remigius of Auxerre: And to this day, the holy women—that is, the lowly souls of the saints—do the same in this present world, and with pious diligence wait while Christ's passion is being completed.

1. non occ.
2. Serm. App., 248, 4
3. Aug. in Serm., non occ.