Matthew 27:45-66

At noon the whole country became dark, and the darkness lasted for three hours. About three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” This means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” Some of the people standing there who heard this said, “He is calling Elijah.” Quickly one of them ran and got a sponge and filled it with vinegar and tied it to a stick and gave it to Jesus to drink. But the others said, “Don’t bother him. We want to see if Elijah will come to save him.” But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice and died. Then the curtain in the Temple was torn into two pieces, from the top to the bottom. Also, the earth shook and rocks broke apart. The graves opened, and many of God’s people who had died were raised from the dead. They came out of the graves after Jesus was raised from the dead and went into the holy city, where they appeared to many people. When the army officer and the soldiers guarding Jesus saw this earthquake and everything else that happened, they were very frightened and said, “He really was the Son of God!” Many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee to help him were standing at a distance from the cross, watching. Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of James and John were there. That evening a rich man named Joseph, a follower of Jesus from the town of Arimathea, came to Jerusalem. Joseph went to Pilate and asked to have Jesus’ body. So Pilate gave orders for the soldiers to give it to Joseph. Then Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. He put Jesus’ body in a new tomb that he had cut out of a wall of rock, and he rolled a very large stone to block the entrance of the tomb. Then Joseph went away. Mary Magdalene and the other woman named Mary were sitting near the tomb. The next day, the day after Preparation Day, the leading priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. They said, “Sir, we remember that while that liar was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’ So give the order for the tomb to be guarded closely till the third day. Otherwise, his followers might come and steal the body and tell people that he has risen from the dead. That lie would be even worse than the first one.” Pilate said, “Take some soldiers and go guard the tomb the best way you know.” So they all went to the tomb and made it safe from thieves by sealing the stone in the entrance and putting soldiers there to guard it.