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As the sun began to set on Wednesday, the body of Jesus was tenderly removed from the cross. Joseph of Arimathaea, a secret disciple, along with Nicodemus, wrapped His lifeless body in linen and spices and laid Him in a new tomb hewn from stone. The burial had to be done quickly before sundown, marking the beginning of a high Sabbath. The Lamb of God, slain for the sins of the world, now lay still in the grave. Luke 23:53 records, “And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid.” The One who had healed multitudes and raised the dead now lay in silence, wrapped in death.

The tomb represents a moment of pause in the Passion story—a stillness that speaks. From Wednesday evening through Saturday afternoon, the disciples were scattered, confused, and heartbroken. Their hopes seemed buried with their Master. The silence of those days was deafening. No miracles. No teachings. No visible victory. Just a sealed tomb and a stunned world. And yet, behind that silence, the greatest battle in the history of eternity was being won. Colossians 2:15 tells us that having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Though the world saw stillness, Heaven saw triumph.

Jesus had said this moment would come. In Matthew 12:40, He declared, “For as Jonas 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.” True to His word, the Messiah remained in the grave from Wednesday evening until after sunset on Saturday—three days and three nights by God’s reckoning of time. This was no borrowed metaphor. It was fulfillment. It was prophecy kept. It was the silence before the shout of victory.

As we reflect on the burial of Christ, let us not overlook its power. He was not merely resting—He was conquering. He entered the grave so that we would not fear it. He laid in death so that death would lose its sting. In the quiet of that sealed tomb, eternity was being rewritten. Sin was defeated. Satan’s grip was broken. And hope—though unseen for the moment—was rising. The silence of Saturday only made the shout of Sunday all the more glorious. Wait. Watch. The stone is about to roll away.