Death on The Cross? — Page 6
threatened to report him to Caesar at Rome, he yielded to them and handed Jesus over to them but secretly he took measures to see that. Jesus should be saved. He had his wife's dream before him and he knew full well that the chief priests had conspired against him because of envy. . IV-Pontius Pilate's attempts to save Christ. Pilate, the Governor, was thoroughly convinced of the innocence of. Jesus Christ. He therefore, had devised a scheme to save Jesus' life. . As a responsible official of the Roman Empire, he could not openly come to the forefront, but he was the master-mind of the whole scheme and the lead character in the drama. Other characters of the show were Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable councillor and disciple of Jesus Christ. He had already had a sepulchre hewn out in a rock garden nearby. Another actor in the drama was a learned Jew named Nicodemus who was also privy to the whole matter. . We read of him in St. John: (John 19:39) "And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to. Jesus by night and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes about a hundred pound weight. ". It was very wise of Pilate to choose Friday afternoon as the time for. Jesus' crucifixion so that he could not remain on the cross after sunset. The following day being Sabbath, was a holy day to the. Jews. He selected Joseph and Nicodemus as the most trusted friends to execute the plan. All necessary measures were adopted to bring. Jesus to consciousness. Otherwise, what did Nicodemus mean by bringing the mixture of myrrh and aloes? Jesus was shown to have died in official records, to pacify the Jews and the Imperial government in Rome. Joseph of Arimathaea boldly asked the. Governor to hand over the 'body' of Jesus, a request he readily granted. If the plan was not pre-conceived, how could the Governor hand over the 'body' of Jesus to a stranger from outside? There is reason to believe, that Jesus Christ himself must have been informed of the plan, so that his prophecy might come true; "That as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ". Nicodemus' meeting with Jesus Christ the previous night brings into light the whole story. 6