Mark 15:44

And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead,.... For death, by crucifixion, was a slow lingering death; persons that were in their full strength hung a great while before they expired; and the two thieves, which were crucified with Christ, were not dead when he was: and calling unto him the centurion; who was set to watch him: he asked him, whether he had been any while dead; he inquired of him, whether he was dead, and how long he had been dead.

He was to be the great sacrifice, and sacrifices must be bound with cords, Ps. cxviii. Christ was bound, to make bonds easy to us, and enable us, as Paul and Silas, to sing in bonds. It is good for us often to remember the bonds of the Lord Jesus, as bound with him who was bound for us.

And Pilate marveled if - Wondered if he was dead, or wondered that he was so soon dead. It was not common for persons crucified to expire under two or three days, sometimes not until the sixth or seventh. Joseph had asked for the “body,” implying that he was dead. That he was, had been ascertained by the soldiers. See Joh 19:33.

The death of our Lord Jesus Christ is the most important fact in Christianity. On it depend the hopes of all saved sinners both for time and eternity. We need not therefore to be surprised to find the reality of His death carefully placed beyond dispute. Three kinds of witnesses to the fact are brought before us in the verses we have now read. The Roman centurion, who stood near the cross, — the women, who followed our Lord from Galilee to Jerusalem, — the disciples, who buried Him. All were all witnesses that Jesus really died.

IT was a very dark day with the Church of God and with the cause of Christ, for the Lord Jesus was dead, and so the sun of their souls had set. "All the disciples forsook Him, and fled." "You shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave Me alone," were the sad words of Jesus—and they had come true. He was dead upon the Cross and His enemies hoped that that was the end of Him—while even His friends feared that it was so.

IT was a very dark day with the Church of God and with the cause of Christ, for the Lord Jesus was dead, and so the sun of their souls had set. "All the disciples forsook Him, and fled." "You shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave Me alone," were the sad words of Jesus—and they had come true. He was dead upon the Cross and His enemies hoped that that was the end of Him—while even His friends feared that it was so. A few women who had remained about the Cross, true to the very last, were found faithful unto death, but what could they do to obtain His sacred body and give it honorable burial? That priceless flesh seemed to be in danger of the fate which usually awaited the bodies of malefactors—at any rate, the fear was that it might be hurled into the first grave that could be found to shelter it. At that perilous moment, Joseph, of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews, of whom we never heard before, and of whom we never hear again, suddenly made his appearance. He was the very man needed for the occasion—a man of influence, a man possessing that kind of influence which was most potent with Pilate—a rich man, a counselor, a member of the Sanhedrim, a person of weight and character. Every Evangelist mentions him and tells us something about him. And from these we learn that he was a disciple, "a good man and just; who also, himself, waited for the kingdom of God." Joseph had been retiring and probably cowardly, before, but now he came to the Cross and saw how matters stood and then went in boldly unto Pilate, craved the body of Jesus and obtained it. Let us learn from this that God will always have His witnesses.

The death of our Lord Jesus Christ is the most important fact in Christianity. On it depend the hopes of all saved sinners both for time and eternity. We need not therefore to be surprised to find the reality of His death carefully placed beyond dispute. Three kinds of witnesses to the fact are brought before us in the verses we have now read. The Roman centurion, who stood near the cross, — the women, who followed our Lord from Galilee to Jerusalem, — the disciples, who buried Him. All were all witnesses that Jesus really died. Their united evidence is above suspicion. They could not be deceived. What they saw was no swoon, or trance, or temporary insensibility. They saw that same Jesus, who was crucified, lay down His life, and become obedient even unto death. Let this be established in our minds. Our Savior really and truly died. Let us notice, for one thing in this passage, what honorable mention is here made of women . We are specially told that, when our Lord gave up the spirit, "there were women looking on afar off." The names of some of them are recorded. We are also told that they were the same who had followed our Lord in Galilee and ministered unto Him, and that there were "many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem." We would hardly have expected to have read such things. We might well have supposed that, when all the disciples but one had forsaken our Lord and fled, the weaker and more timid sex would not have dared to show themselves His friends. It only shows us what grace can do. God sometimes chooses the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty. The last are sometimes first, and the first last. The faith of women sometimes stands upright, when the faith of men fails and gives way.