The Burial And Watch

By

The Twelve Apostles

Guardian Angels

The Angels were already at the sepulchre before the death and burial of Jesus Christ.

The Burial Of Jesus
The rabbis came and took away the body of the Lord, and when they had prepared it with the spices they had bought, they laid it in the new tomb that had been made for Joseph in a solid rock. And then they rolled a stone up to, to cover, the sepulchre.

Work Of Charity

1. Do not shy away from helping others when they are in need.

2. Help to bury the dead, as Joseph the Arimathea did.

3. But do not defile yourself by the corpse often.

4. And do not let the corpse defile everybody.

5. Avoid the bad habit of moving the corpse from one place to another, because by so doing, the corpse defiles so many places, things and people.

6. Always move the corpse through the shortest distance to its grave.

Israelite Soldiers Guard The Tomb
The priests were fearful lest the friends of Jesus would go forth at night and take away the body of the Nazarene, and then report that He had risen from the dead, as He had said. And they requested that the governor would send his soldiers to the tomb to guard the body of the dead. But Pilate said, “I will not send a Roman guard; but you have Israelite soldiers and may send a hundred men with a centurion to guard the tomb.” And then they sent a hundred soldiers out to guard the tomb.

Verification And Setting Of Seal

The tomb in which they laid the body of the Lord was in a garden, rich with flowers, the garden of Siloam, and Joseph's home was near.
Before the watch began, Caiaphas sent a company of priests out to the garden of Siloam that they might be assured that Jesus' body was within the tomb.
They rolled away the stone; they saw the body there, and then they placed the stone again before the door.

And Pilate sent his scribe who placed upon the stone the seal of Rome, in such a way that he who moved the stone would break the seal.
To break this Roman seal meant death to him who broke the seal. The Israelite soldiers were all sworn to faithfulness; and then the watch began.

The Visit Of The Silent Brotherhood
At midnight all was well, but suddenly the tomb became a blaze of light, and down the garden walk a troop of white-clad soldiers marched in single file.
They came up to the tomb, and marched, and countermarched before the door.
The Israelite soldiers were alert; they thought the friends had come to steal the body of the Nazarene. The captain of the guard cried out to charge.
They charged; but not a white-clad soldier fell. They did not even stop; they marched and countermarched among the frightened men.

They stood upon the Roman seal; they did not speak; they unsheathed not their swords; it was the Silent Brotherhood.
The Israelite soldiers fled in fear; they fell upon the ground.
They stood apart until the white-clad soldiers marched away, and then the light about the tomb grew dim.
Then they returned; the stone was in its place; the seal was not disturbed, and they resumed their watch.

Unless The Lord Builds The House

1. The guards were of no avail, because they could not stop Jesus from resurrecting and could not stop Him from getting away.

2. Such is the foolishness of man, who in every way rejects the Truth, to his own deceit and detriment.

Failed Attempts

On that day Jesus Christ was buried, the Pharisees and guardsmen were keeping watch at the tomb, to prevent the Apostles, Disciples and Saints from taking the body of Jesus Christ. Several times we visited the tomb, but were far away looking, to know whether the Pharisees and guardsmen were still there. And they were there.

For two days, we kept on checking. We also sent the disciples, who came and saw that the Pharisees and guardsmen were ready for war. They were even looking for us, to level false accusations against us, in order to arrest us.