391
When was the sepulcher closed?
All: When the body was placed in it (Matt. xxvii, 60; Mark xv, 46; Luke xxiii, 53, xxiv, 1, 2; John xix, 41, 42, xx, 1).
According to the Evangelists, the stone was rolled to the door of the sepulcher as soon as the body was deposited, and according to Mark and Luke, the women were troubled as to who should roll away the stone when they went to embalm the body.
In sepulture of this kind, the tomb was not closed until the third day, and when once closed it was not to be opened. This deviation from the customary mode is evidently for the purpose of establishing faith in the doctrine of the resurrection, by shutting off all means of escape or removal without supernatural aid. The Evangelists are particular to state that Joseph “rolled a great stone to the door.”
In a single paragraph, Scribner’s “Bible Dictionary” concedes no less than seven Synoptical errors regarding the trial, crucifixion and burial of Jesus: “The Synoptists make the Sanhedrim say beforehand that they will not arrest Jesus ‘on the feast day,’ and then actually arrest him on that day; that not only the guards, but one of the disciples carries arms, which on the feast day was not allowed; that the trial was also held on the feast day, which would be unlawful; that the feast day would not be called ‘Preparation’; that the phrase ‘coming from the field’ (Mk. xv, 21) means properly ‘coming from work’; that Joseph of Arimathea is represented as buying a linen cloth (Mk. xv, 46), and the women as preparing spices and ointments (Lk. xxiii, 56), all of which would be contrary to law and custom.”