Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 23:53

"And he took it down, and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb that was hewn in stone, where never man had yet lain." — Luke 23:53 (ASV)

Luke assures his readers of the credentials of the man who offered to bury Jesus. Here again he presents someone qualified to affirm by word or action that Jesus was a just and innocent man; by inference, therefore, the claims of Christianity are valid. Joseph was a righteous Jew, “waiting for the kingdom of God” (v.51), and so joins others in Luke whose piety and expectation of the Messiah validate their testimony (e.g., Simeon and Anna, 2:25–38). He was a member of the Council (the Sanhedrin) but had disagreed with their decision against Jesus.

Joseph laid the body in a tomb “cut in the rock.” We can still see such tombs today in rocky hillsides in Palestine. We learn in v.54 that it was Friday, and the Sabbath was about to begin at sundown.