The Question of Preparing Jesus’ Body for Burial
Video: “13 More Bible Contradictions” by Holy Koolaid
The texts in question are John 19:39, Mark 16:1-3, and Luke 23:55-56
Below are Mr. Koolaid’s statements (in bold) followed by my response.
“Like, who spiced up Jesus’ body?”
Ignored in Mr. Koolaid’s narrative are the larger contexts laid out in Matthew 27:57-61 and 28:1-7; Mark 15:42-16:3; Luke 23:50-24:3; and John 19:38-42. You should see that those texts can help you to fill in the gaps that Mr. Koolaid left out, as well as how he played fast and loose with the texts.
“According to John, a rich guy named Nicodemus buried Jesus in seventy pounds of spices the night of His death.”
I honestly can’t tell if Mr. Koolaid is only repeating things he heard from someone else or if he’s deliberately being dishonest with the text. Either way, he’s irresponsibly and thoughtlessly citing what the actual text says. Or maybe he’s just plain sloppy because that’s not what John wrote about who Nicodemus was.
Nicodemus wasn’t the “rich guy” the Bible talks about in this section of Scripture. That would be Joseph of Arimathea. Nicodemus is named in John 3:1 as a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews. Matthew 27:57 identifies Joseph as the man who was “a rich man from Arimathea.”
“But Mark has three chicks, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome showing up the next day to spice up the body.”
Again, I wonder if Mr. Koolaid actually read the Bible for himself. Three chicks? Really? While the Bible doesn’t give the ages of the three women, Mary the mother of James can hardly be considered a chick in today’s vernacular.
But lets take a look at what the three texts say about the timing of the three women showing up to put spices on Jesus’ body:
1) Matthew 28:1 – “Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.”
2) Mark 16:1 – “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him.”
3) Luke 23:56b-24:1 – “And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.”
Joseph and Nicodemus prepared Jesus’ body and laid Him in His tomb on Friday, the day of Jesus’ death on the cross. Everyone and their uncle knows that the Sabbath is on Saturday. So it’s pretty obvious from the verses above that the three women approached Jesus’ tomb on what we now call Sunday, the first day of the week, not “the next day” as Mr. Koolaid states.
“Just how much myrrh does one dead guy need?”
That’s a pretty callous and insensitive thing to say. I’ll just leave it at that.
“But see, but I don’t necessarily see this as contradictory, especially if the women didn’t know that Jesus had already been spiced up. Oh wait, when you include a third Gospel. Luke 23 says that these women SAW where and how Jesus was buried. So I guess this one’s technically not impossible, it’s just really odd and unlikely.”
If he doesn’t “necessarily” see this as a contradiction, then why bring it up as a contradiction? If it’s “technically not impossible,” then why make a big deal out of it?
I can only imagine the only reason Mr. Koolaid brings this up is to question either the women’s motives or perhaps even their intelligence. It seems as if the latter is most likely. The Bible doesn’t say what their motives were, yet it’s clear that if any one motive needs to be presented, it would be one that displays their love for Jesus. But it saying that “it’s just really odd and unlikely” seems to call their intelligence into question. Now I’ll admit I’m a lousy mind reader, but I’d just like to know why Mr. Koolaid made that kind of a statement.
Not only is it not impossible and very likely, it’s actual historical fact that the three women brought spices to anoint Jesus’ body on Sunday. It’s historical fact that Joseph and Nicodemus prepared Jesus’ body to be laid in the tomb on Friday. You might not like it or understand it, but that’s the way the history played out.