SUMMARY
The events surrounding the burial of Jesus serve to prove that Jesus has actually died.
ANALYSIS
Mark’s descriptions of Jesus’ burial serves to highlight the fact that Jesus actually died. Jesus’ death is witnessed by no less than five people, including the Roman centurionA centurion was a Roman officer who commanded a military unit made up of one hundred men. Jesus healed a centurion's servant, and a centurion, at Jesus' crucifixion, acclaimed him to be God's Son. in charge of the crucifixion, Pontius Pilate, Joseph of Arimathea, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of Joset, not to mention everyone present to mock him at the crucifixion. While it may seem quite obvious that someone who was whipped and then crucified would die, the opinion arose in the second century that Jesus only seemed to die because he was a spiritual being and not a real human. This “spiritual” death hypothesis has been repeated in several variant forms, including in the Quran and was a major tenent of so-called “Gnostic” Christianity. Mark’s account, on the other hand, serves to underline the point that Jesus actually died and was placed in a tomb according to proper Jewish burial practice.
