Mark 15:45 — Community Reflections

MARK 15:45 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.”

When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph — Pilate grants the body to Joseph on the centurion's confirmation. The giving of the body to a named individual rather than leaving it for the customary dishonor (criminals' bodies were typically thrown into mass graves or left for scavengers) is the first act of dignity in the burial sequence.

Church Fathers on Mark 15:45

After the Passion and Death of Christ, the Evangelist relates His burial, saying, 'And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathaea.'
Gloss (Glossa Ordinaria) · medieval compilation

What is called 'parasceue' in Greek, is in Latin 'praeparatio'; by which name those Jews, who lived amongst Greeks, used to call the sixth day of the week, because on that day they used to prepare what was necessary for the rest of the sabbath day. Because then man was made on the sixth day, but on the seventh the Creator rested from all His work, fitly was our Saviour crucified on the sixth day, and thus fulfilled the mystery of man’s restoration.
Bede · 8th century

It it interpreted, 'taking down,' of which was Joseph, who came to take down the body of Christ from the cross.
Pseudo-Jerome · 5th century

Read all 11 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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