Today we will be opening our Bibles to Matthew 27:57–66, a section of scripture that many of us are tempted to hurry past.
Understandably, we linger at the cross.
Understandably, we celebrate the resurrection.
But between those two truths sits a quiet, weighty moment—the burial of Jesus.
Matthew slows us down here on purpose.
In these verses, we meet Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy and respected man who had quietly followed Jesus from the shadows. When the disciples have scattered and hope seems dead, Joseph steps forward. With courage and urgency, he asks Pilate for the body of Jesus and lays Him in his own newly carved tomb. Alongside him are Nicodemus and faithful women who carefully watch where Jesus is laid, becoming eyewitnesses to the burial.
Matthew is careful with details—names, places, timing, witnesses—because the gospel is not built on sentiment or symbolism.
Jesus actually died. Roman authority confirmed it.
He was actually buried. A stone was sealed. Guards were posted.
And in God’s providence, every attempt to secure the tomb only strengthens the truth of what follows.
This passage reminds us that God is sovereign even in the silence. While heaven seems quiet and the story appears finished, the Father is still working. Saturday may feel like the end—but it is never the end with God.
Many of us know what it’s like to live in those “Saturday moments.”
Waiting.
Trusting.
Believing promises that haven’t yet unfolded.
Matthew 27:57–66 gently reminds us that the tomb was never a threat to God’s plan—it was part of it.
