JESUS’ BURIAL BY JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA
Although all four Biblical gospels report that Joseph of Arimathea buried Jesus’ dead body (Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42:47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42), there are some skeptics and critics, such as the currently prominent agnostic Biblical “scholar” Bart Ehrman, who deny this fact. Experts point out that the more independent witnesses reports of an event are available, the more likely the report is true. Matthew and John were disciples of Jesus at the time of his execution and its aftermath. So was Peter, who used Mark as his writer of the second Biblical gospel. Luke was familiar with “eyewitness reports circulating . . . from the early disciples” and says, “Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, [he] also decided to write an accurate account” (Luke 1:1-3 NLT). So Luke’s gospel was based on eyewitness accounts.