Show Don't Tell: Mark 15:42-47

Instead of saying "Joseph of Arimathea buried Jesus," roll the stone. It is Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). As evening approaches, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council—the same Council that condemned Jesus—who is himself waiting for the kingdom of God, goes boldly to Pilate and asks for Jesus' body. Pilate is surprised to hear that Jesus is already dead. He summons the centurion and asks if Jesus has already died. Learning from the centurion that it is so, he gives the body to Joseph. Joseph buys some linen cloth, takes down the body, wraps it in the linen, and places it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolls a stone against the entrance. Mark notes the witnesses: Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph see where he is laid. They know the location. The body is real. The burial is real. The tomb has a witness list.