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     The previous two articles presented the medical evidence that Jesus really died.  The four gospel accounts in the New Testament reveal that the local Jewish rulers certified Jesus’ death via His burial.
     The honorable burial of Jesus is one of the best attested facts about Jesus as a historical character and that He was in fact dead.  All four gospels state that Joseph of Arimathea asked for Jesus’ body so he could bury it before the Sabbath began (Mark 15:42-43).  Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrin (Mark 15:43), the Jewish supreme court of 70 judges, which voted to crucify Jesus as a blasphemer.  However, Joseph was a secret follower of Jesus (Matthew 27:57; John 19:38) and was absent at the Sanhedrin’s vote condemning Jesus (Mark 14:64; Luke 23:51).  Skeptics might claim that a Jewish leader would not have buried Jesus and would question why the disciples did not bury Him.  In other words this appears to be legend.
     Several points argue against such “legend”:  (1) The early Christians, especially Jesus’ disciples who had deserted Him and did not come to claim His body, would not have invented a story where a member of the Sanhedrin gave their leader an honorable burial.  The anger and mistrust toward the Sanhedrin, that had just voted for Jesus’ death, would have prevented concocting such a legend.  (2) Legend can not be sustained when it identifies a particular person of a specific group, e.g. the Sanhedrin.  People could contact that member (Joseph) who would confirm or deny his role in the burial.  (3) If a legend developed later that Joseph of Arimathea buried Jesus, there would have been other competing burial legends.  None exist!  (4) If legends circulated, early church writers would have written about them.  (5) Legends do not develop until about 100 years after the supposed event.  Witnesses testifying confirming or denying such legend would be dead, thus there would be no one alive to challenge its validity.  Matthew, Mark Luke and John were written within 30 years of Jesus’ burial, thus the credibility of Joseph’s role in Jesus’ burial could be confirmed by witnesses.  For these five reasons, it is reasonable that Joseph of Arimathea buried Jesus as the gospels proclaim.
     The gospels also show that Jesus alone was buried in a new tomb.  Therefore, no one could claim that someone else who was previously buried in the tomb, rather than Jesus, rose from the dead.  The testimony shows that only Jesus was buried in the tomb:  (1) Joseph’s tomb was new (Matthew 27:60) — no one had been buried in it (Matthew 27:60; Luke 23:53; John 19:41).  (2) The opening to the tomb was closed with a heavy circular stone door (Matthew 27:60; Mark 15:46).  The door was sealed by the Jewish leadership and Roman guard officially certifying that only Jesus’ body was in the tomb (Matthew 27:65-66).  (3) The Jewish leadership feared that the disciples would steal Jesus body and claim that He had risen.  Thus they insisted that a Roman guard be posted at the tomb (Matthew 27:62-66) and logically would have ensured that Jesus’ body would remain in the tomb.  So Jesus was dead, but how do we know He actually rose from the dead, never to die again?

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