Matthew 27:62

Now the next day that followed the day of preparation,....

Both Jews and Gentiles were obnoxious to the judgment of God, and concluded under sin, and Christ was to be the Saviour both of Jews and Gentiles; and therefore Christ was brought into the judgment both of Jews and Gentiles, and both had a hand in his death.

Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation--that is, after six o'clock of our Saturday evening. The crucifixion took place on the Friday and all was not over till shortly before sunset, when the Jewish sabbath commenced; and "that sabbath day was an high day" (Joh 19:31), being the first day of the feast of unleavened bread.

These verses contain the history of our Lord Jesus Christ’s burial. There was yet one thing needful in order to make it certain that our Redeemer accomplished that great work of redemption which he undertook. That holy body, in which he bore our sins on the cross, must actually be laid in the grave, and rise again. His resurrection was to be the seal and headstone of all the work. The infinite wisdom of God foresaw the objections of unbelievers and infidels and provided against them. Did the Son of God really die? Did he really rise again?

These verses contain the history of our Lord Jesus Christ’s burial. There was yet one thing needful in order to make it certain that our Redeemer accomplished that great work of redemption which he undertook. That holy body, in which he bore our sins on the cross, must actually be laid in the grave, and rise again. His resurrection was to be the seal and headstone of all the work. The infinite wisdom of God foresaw the objections of unbelievers and infidels and provided against them. Did the Son of God really die? Did he really rise again? Might there not have been some delusion as to the reality of his death? Might there not have been imposition or deception, as to the reality of his resurrection? All these and many more objections would doubtless have been raised if opportunity had been given. But he who knows the end from the beginning prevented the possibility of such objections being made. By his overruling providence he ordered things so that the death and burial of Jesus were placed beyond a doubt. Pilate gives consent to his burial; a loving disciple wraps the body in linen and lays it in a new tomb hewn out of a rock, “wherein was never man yet laid.” The chief priests themselves set a guard over the place where his body was deposited. Jews and Gentiles, friends and enemies, all alike testify to the great fact that Christ did really and actually die and was laid in a grave. It is a fact that can never be questioned. He was really “bruised”; he really “suffered”; he really “died”; he was really “buried.” Let us mark this well: it deserves recollection. Let us learn for one thing from these verses that our Lord Jesus Christ has friends of whom little is known. We cannot have a more striking example of this truth than we see in the passage now before us. A man named Joseph, of Arimathea, comes forward when our Lord was dead and asks permission to bury him.

Now the next day, that followed the days of the preparation - The first day of the feast of the Passover was called the day of “preparation,” because all things were on that day got in readiness for the observances of the paschal week. The Jewish day closed at sunset, and the Sabbath at that time commenced. The “next day” mentioned here does not mean the following day in our acceptation of the word, or the following “morning,” but the next day in the Jewish way of speaking - that is, after the next day had commenced, or after sundown. To suppose them to have waited until the next morning would be absurd, as the disciples would be as likely to steal him away the first night as the second.