TRANSLATION MATTHEW 127: 57

When it was evening, there came a rich Arimathean, Joseph by name, who was himself a pupil of Jesus; he went to Pilate and requested Jesus’ body. Pilate ordered it to be given to him. Joseph received the body, wrapped it clean linen, and laid it in his own new tomb which he had quarried from the rock. He rolled a large stone against the entrance to the tomb, and departed.

But Mary of Magdala and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The next day, that is, the one after the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees assembled before Pilate, and said, “Sir, we remember that this impostor said while still alive, “After three days I will be raised.” Give orders then for the grave to be secured until the third day in case his pupils come and steal him and say to the people.”He has been raised from the dead.” And this last deception will be worse than the first.”

Pilate said to them, “You have the guard; go and make it as secure as you can.”

So they went and secured the tomb with the guard, fixing a seal to the stone.

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Joseph the Arimathean comes from Matthew’s source Mark, but he has been tarted up a bit. He is no longer an honoured member of the Sanhedrin looking for God’s Rule, but instead a rich man who already has had a decent tomb quarried for himself. He is rich enough to approach Pilate personally, and to have Jesus’ corpse treated with respect. Whatever Matthew’s motive in changing Mark’s details this native serves as a full stop: the magical leader is dead and buried. Even then there may have been followers of Jesus who denied his death; Matthew holds to reality.

The next section begins Matthew’s most important departure from his source, Mark; his story of the resurrection of Jesus, which will be much more substantial than the brief and ambiguous story in Mark. He wants to protect in advance against those scurrilous cynics who say that Jesus’ tomb was empty because his pupils stole the corpse. Matthew wants to say that the resurrection is in principle public and historical but made doubtful by liars and the prejudice of Jewish religious leaders. It is like the Galilee days of ministry, where the faith of needy people combined with Jesus’ obedience to God’s Rule, made magic. Readers of the whole gospel can look forward to what Matthew will do with the resurrection.