Where Did Jesus Die? — Page 30
? 30 4. After he was taken down from the cross, it was not to his ene- mies, but to his friends, that his body was given. 1 5. The haste with which his friends tried to secure his body bespeak a desire on their part to save him whom apparently they had not yet given up for dead. 6. The steps taken by the Jews to have a guard posted at his sepul- chre also shows that they were not sure of his death. Had they been certain of his death, it would not have mattered to them at all if his disciples had stolen his body. The reason given, ‘lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead’ 2 is ridiculous because they could have said if he were risen let him show himself to the people and then they could have re-arrested him. The real reason for their demand for the guard was that they were not sure of his death. 7. Pilate did not wish to have Jesus crucified, and nothing would have pleased him more than to see him delivered. And he actu- ally gave every direct and secret aid to save Jesus. His wife’s vision must have induced him to do all that was in his power to deliver Jesus from his enemies. 8. The soldiers and the centurion who refrained from ensuring the death of Jesus by the breaking of his legs, as well as the soldiers 1. John 19:38 2. Matthew 27:64