Chain of Custody – Was the Body of Jesus Stolen?

Posted on by K.B. Vogelman

One of the oldest of the arguments against the Resurrection is the charge that the crucified body of Jesus of Nazareth was stolen from the tomb. A Roman/Jewish chain of custody to prevent the theft of the body would make the allegation difficult to overcome.

Procurator Pilate granted the mutilated body of Jesus to Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Jewish council. Joined by Nicodemus, another prominent member of the Jewish Council, both took the body of Jesus to Joseph’s own unused tomb and quickly prepared the it for burial.

Witnessing the scene were women from Galilee, two identified by name, Mary the mother of Joseph (aka Jose) and Mary Magdalene.^[2] The women from Galilee watched Joseph roll a stone in front of the tomb entrance – confirmation by the two Jewish Council members that Jesus was indeed dead and buried.

Information is limited detailing what did or didn’t happen between the time Jesus was laid in the tomb just before dusk, Nissan 15, until Sunday morning. Nonetheless, Matthew and Mark did report some activities that occurred with one being crucial.

Those who most certainly would not have wanted to be corroborating witnesses of a Resurrection became just that. Jewish chief priests and Pharisees declared to the Roman government the day after the crucifixion, the body of Jesus was still in the tomb that Sabbath morning, Nissan 16:

^{MT 27:62-64} The next day (which is after the day of preparation) the chief priests and the Pharisees assembled before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember that while that deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give orders to secure the tomb until the third day. Otherwise his disciples may come and steal his body and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”_(NET)

Top level Jewish leadership had approached Rome’s jurisdictional authority of Judea – Pilate – with their concern of a false fulfillment of Jesus’ own 3-day Resurrection prophecy. Pilate as a Roman judge had to weigh the truthfulness of their claim as well as the potential political consequences.

First claim to be considered by Pilate was the acknowledgement by the Jewish leader that the corpse of Jesus was still lying in a tomb, but could be stolen. They argued, if the body was stolen and later found, it would complicate matters even worse.

False witness was a capital offense making it highly unlikely the leaders were lying to him.^[3] Weighing the credibility and motive of the Jewish leader’s testimony, Pilate issued a seemingly terse decision:

^{MT 27:65-66} “Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.”_(NASB)

Granting permission to secure the body the best way they knew how, Pilate seemed to satisfy their concerns. According to Matthew, the tomb was secured with a process of stationing a koustodia, a company of guards, and to place a seal on the tomb.^[4]

Josephus described a similar “seal” process involving a combined Jewish-Roman military style squad led by a “Roman captain of the temple guards.” The Roman captain, who resided in the Tower of Antonia adjacent to the Temple, was assigned to a contingent of armed Temple guards.^[5]

Matching the seal ring of the Roman captain with the Temple leadership’s ring validated the integrity of the seal, in this case, to secure the Chief Priest’s vestments worn at the Jewish festal sacrifices. This Roman-Jewish seal process was temporarily in place only from the death of King Herod until Vitellius became president of Syria in 35 AD – the period of years virtually coinciding with the lifetime of Jesus of Nazareth.

Koustodia of this combined Jewish-Roman military squad were still accountable to Pilate as evidenced after the Resurrection event on Sunday morning when some the guards reportedly ran to the chief priests instead of Pilate. Additionally, Jewish leaders promised the guards they would handle the matter with Pilate if their dereliction behavior became an issue.

Placed at the scene of the tomb holding the body of Jesus of Nazareth are the contingent of chief priests and Pharisees (possibly including stealth followers of Jesus, Joseph and Nicodemus) to witness the seal being placed on the tomb and the posting of the koustodia. Jewish leaders left with full confidence the sealed tomb was secure alleviating their anxiety that someone might steal the body of Jesus.

Archenemies of Jesus testified he was dead and buried in a tomb, then obtained a legally established Roman-Jewish chain of custody over the body of Jesus that remained unbroken from the crucifixion until the Sunday morning event. At dawn, incredible events occurred at the tomb while the koustodia were still stationed at their post.

Considering the statement by the Jewish leaders and a legally established Roman-Jewish type of chain of custody in place, what is the possibility his body was stolen?

Updated June 1, 2025.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

REFERENCES:

NET = NetBible translation; NASB = New American Standard Bible translation
Gospel references: Matthew 27-28, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19.

[1] Pearce, Jonathan MS. “Matthew and the guards at the tomb.” 2012. <http://www.debunking-christianity.com/2012/06/matthew-and-guards-at-tomb.html rel=”nofollow”> “Gospel Disproof #38: The guards at the tomb.” FreeThoughtBlogs.com. 2014. <http://freethoughtblogs.com/alethianworldview/2012/02/27/gospel-disproof-38-the-guards-at-the-tomb rel=”nofollow”> Chain. Business2Community. image. 2015. <https://www.business2community.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Chain-red-link.jpg-300×200.jpg>
[2] Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Book V. 1883. Philogos.org. n.d. <http://philologos.org/__eb-lat/default.htm>
[3] Jahnige, Joan. “The Roman Legal System.” KET Distance Learning. 2017. http://www.dl.ket.org/latin2/mores/legallatin/legal01.htm> Adams, John Paul. “The Twelve Tables.” 2009. California State University – Northridge. <https://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/12tables.html>
[4] “koustodia”, G2892l (Strong) “#2892 κουστωδία koustodia;” “strategos <4755> and “speira <4686>” Lexicon-Concordance Online Bible. n.d. http://lexiconcordance.com>
[5] Josephus. Antiquities. Book XV, Chapter XI; Book XX, Chapter I. Smith William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. 1857. “L. Vitellius” (#5); “C. Cassius Longinus” (#18), and “L. Cassius Longinus” (#19). OpenLibrary.org. n.d. <https://archive.org/stream/schooldictionary00smituoft#page/n9/mode/2up> Smith, Mahlon H. “Lucius Vitellius.” VirtualReligion.net. 2008. http://virtualreligion.net/iho/vitellius_1.html> “Lucius Vitellius.” Livius.org. Ed. Jona Lendering. http://www.livius.org/person/vitellius-lucius> “Chain of Custody in Drugs Cases.” ProhealthLaw. photo. 2015. <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7Bg40JhqJxo/Vsmv-MAWtXI/AAAAAAAAJlo/U59A28gTqRs/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/blogger-image–519822927.jpg>

Preparation Day – Did John Contradict Himself?

Posted on by K.B. Vogelman

Preparation Day – Did John Contradict Himself?

Preparation Day is mentioned several times in the Gospels, but two verses in John seem to create a conflict. Some critics point to two Preparation Day references as being a contradiction thereby casting doubt on the integrity of Gospel accounts about Jesus of Nazareth.^[1]

In the first verse, “Preparation Day” seems to precede the Passover because it says Jesus was judged by Pilate obvious before he was crucified:

^{JN 19:14} “Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”” _(NKJV)

John’s second reference to the “Preparation Day” a few verses later seems contradictory to verse 14 when it says the crucified body of Jesus was removed from the cross leading into the Sabbath:

^{JN 19:31} “Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.”_(NKJV)

Exodus provides an example when the Hebrew people “prepared” the day before the Sabbath, traditionally called the “Preparation Day.”^[2] Shortly after leaving Mt. Sinai, the Hebrews found twice the amount of manna on the sixth day, but nothing on the seven day.^[3]

^{Ex 16:22-23} Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one…”This is what the LORD meant: Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.”

Greek text word sabbaton, the Sabbath, is defined in the Law of Moses. God’s commandment said the weekly Sabbath is a holy day prohibiting “all manner of work.”^[4]

Prohibitions of work on the Sabbath ran the gambit from cooking, drawing water, walking, carrying, making fires, feeding livestock, harvesting, etc. To avoid such violations, preparatory work for these tasks had to be completed before sunset – the day of preparation for the Sabbath.

Expounding on this meaning, the Talmud details what was or was not considered “work.” These rules were notoriously enforced by the Pharisees.

Customarily on the first day of Passover, Nisan 15, also considered a Sabbath, people were busy with religiously required and traditional activities. Every year Nisan 15 fell on a different day of the week and when it fell on a Friday, it created a back-to-back Sabbath scenario.

According to the Talmud’s interpretation of the Law, people were meant to “enjoy” the Passover Festival, but it posed a legal conundrum with a back-to-back Sabbath scenario. Two consecutive days of Sabbath restrictions would actually be a hardship for people, not to mention farming animals and related activities.

Festival Sabbath language in the Law of Leviticus and Numbers appears the Hebrew word abodah meaning “labor” interpreted by Rabbi Sages to be a more lenient work restriction than the weekly Sabbath of “all manner of work.” English translations reflect this difference saying “servile work,” “laborious work,” “regular work,” “occupations” and “customary work.”^[5]

“The general purpose underlying these laws is to enhance the joy of the festival, and therefore the Rabbis permitted all work necessary to that end, while guarding against turning it into a working-day.” – Jewish Encyclopedia ^[6]

When Nisan 15 fell on a Friday Sabbath Preparation Day, it was considered to be a special day when the Sabbath work restrictions were somewhat relaxed. In the spirit of the Passover intended by God to be a celebratory festival, the Babylonian Talmud addressed the scenario.^[7]

Greek text of John uses the word paraskeuh meaning “preparation” further defined as “the day of preparation, the day before the Sabbath, Friday.”^[8] In most English Bible versions, John 19:14 is translated as “… for the Passover” while others say “… of the Passover.”

Another clue is provided in John 19:31 with a parenthetical comment, “for that Sabbath was a high day.” Original Greek word for “high” is megas meaning “great,” yet out of 44 translations only 15 versions translate the word as “great,” none of which are the mainstream versions.^[9]

Occam’s Razor theory suggests that the simplest explanation is usually the right one. Preparing for the Sabbath is spelled out in Exodus and the Talmud, then by adding the clues found in the two verses in John.

John refers to the same “preparation day,” but under two different scenarios:

Verse 14 is in the context of an event marking the specific day when Pilate presented Jesus to the crowd that morning, “the Preparation Day of the Passover” – the day before the Sabbath.

Verse 31 is in the narrower context of the very same day. The imminent sunset would begin the weekly Sabbath and its much stricter rules – “because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath” – the reason Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were in a hurry to bury the body of Jesus before sunset.

Do the two references in John to the “preparation day” create a Bible contradiction?

Updated February 22, 2025.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

REFERENCES:

Gospel references: Matthew 28, Mark 16; Luke 24, John 20.

[1] “Does John contradict the Synoptics regarding the Passover meal? Evidence Unseen 2024. <https://www.evidenceunseen.com/bible-difficulties-2/nt-difficulties/john-acts/jn-131-does-john-contradict-the-synoptics-regarding-the-passover-meal/> Wells, Steve. The Skeptic’s Annotated Bible. 2017. “423. When was Jesus crucified?” http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/passover_meal.html rel=”nofollow”</a> “101 Bible Contradictions.” Islamic Awareness. n.d. Contradiction #69. <http://www.islamawareness.net/Christianity/bible_contra_101.html rel=”nofollow”</a>
[2] Exodus 16:22-23, 29. Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. 1883. Book V, Chapter 15, pp 1382-1392 & pp 1393-1421. <http://philologos.org/__eb-lat/default.htm> Edersheim, Alfred. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. Chapter 10. 1826 -1889. The NTSLibrary. 2016. “Happy Preparation Day.” Gail-Friends. image. 2017. <https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qEj69N9z6bM/WR87uOnqzcI/AAAAAAAAkvI/hcScRQ40VasvaY1QHdF7bI3C4ep9rsanACLcB/s1600/sabbath%2Bprep.jpg><http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/The%20Temple%20by%20Alfred%20Edersheim.pdf> “Happy Preparation Day.” Gail-Friends. image. 2017. <https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qEj69N9z6bM/WR87uOnqzcI/AAAAAAAAkvI/hcScRQ40VasvaY1QHdF7bI3C4ep9rsanACLcB/s1600/sabbath%2Bprep.jpg>
[3] Exodus 20:8-10, 31:15; Leviticus 23:3. “G4521.” Lexicon-Concordance. n.d. <http://lexiconcordance.com/greek/4521.html> BibleHub.com. Parallel. <https://biblehub.com/john/19-31.htm> CR Exodus 16:23-26; Mark 15:42.
[4] Netbible.org. n.d. Hebrew text. “H4399.” Lexicon-Concordance. n.d. <http://lexiconcordance.com/hebrew/4399.html> CR Exodus 31:15, 35:2.
[5] Leviticus 23:7-8; Numbers 28:18. Net.Bible.org. Hebrew text, footnote #20. CR Exodus 23:14. Netbible.org. n.d. Hebrew text. “G5656.” Lexicon-Concordance. n.d. <http://lexiconcordance.com/search6.asp?sw=5656&sm=0&x=0&y=0>
[6] “Holy Days.” Jewish Encyclopedia. 2011. <https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7814-holidays>
[7] Babylonian Talmud. Rodkinson trans. Book 3, Tracts Pesachim, Chapter IV and Book 4, Tract Betzah (Yom Tob); Book 4, Tract Moed, Chapter II.. <https://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/talmud.htm#t03> KJV, NET, NIV, NASB, NLT, NRSV, NKJV. Special Shabbots.” Jewish Virtual Library 2008. <https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/special-shabbats> “Special Sabbaths.” TorahResource. n.d. <https://torahresource.com/resources/weekly-parashah/special-readings/special-sabbaths/> Posner, Menachem. Chabad.org. “13 Special Shabbats on the Jewish Calendar.” 2019. <https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4333597/jewish/13-Special-Shabbats-on-the-Jewish-Calendar.htm>
[8] John 19:14. NetBible.org. Greek text. n.d. <https://classic.net.bible.org/verse.php?book=Joh&chapter=19&verse=14> “G3904.” Lexicondordence.com. n.d. <http://lexiconcordance.com/greek/3904.html>
[9] John 19:31. Netbible.org. n.d. Greek text. n.d. <https://classic.net.bible.org/strong.php?id=3173> “G3173.” Lexicon-Concordance. n.d.<http://lexiconcordance.com/greek/3173.html>

It’s All About a Meal

Posted on by K.B. Vogelman

It’s All About a Meal

Tradition says Jesus was crucified on Good Friday of Easter weekend. Not everyone agrees – some say that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified earlier in the week or even before the Feast of Unleavened Bread.^[1] A meal plays a big role in determining when Jesus was crucified…and it may not be the one that first comes to mind.

^{JN 18:28} Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover._(NRSV)

John says the priests were worried about becoming defiled which would then disqualify them from eating the Passover meal.^[2] It is easy to draw the conclusion that “to eat the Passover” refers to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, but it had already been eaten.

Playing this out farther, if the verse is referring to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it would mean Jesus was crucified on Nisan 14^thbefore the Feast. In this scenario John 18:28 would then indeed be a contradiction with the other Gospel accounts saying Jesus was crucified and died on the first day of Passover.^[3]

Many people may not be aware there were two other meal possibilities at the beginning of Passover called a chagigah defined in the Talmud.^[4] It is helpful to know the Jewish day begins at sunset and the following sunrise begins the daylight portion of that same day ending at dusk.

First of the two Passover meals was an optional supplement to the Feast of Unleavened Bread. If it was necessary to feed a larger party, an optional first chagigah sacrifice was to be offered in addition to the Pascal lamb sacrifice and treated the same way.

Another, separate chagigah was also offered on Nisan 14 and eaten the first day of Passover.^[5] This second chagigah sacrifice meal was to be consumed over the course of two days and one night.^[6]

Jewish Law stipulated that a portion of the sacrifice was to be given to God, a portion to the Priest as a tithe for his own meal, and the remaining portion of meat to be taken home by the offerer for his own Chagigah meal.^[7] As such, the priests were beneficiaries to this sacrifice.

Priests were held to a higher Rabbinical standard with special rules that did not apply to the general populace. Entering Pilate‘s headquarters, the Praetorium in John 18:28, was one of those things that would place the priests in a state of ritual defilement. Rabbinic ritual defilement could be absolved by means of a ritualistic purification bath.^[8]

Since the Feast of Unleavened Bread occurred after sunset, a priest ritually defiled the day of Nisan 14^th could still partake of the Feast of Unleavened Bread if he performed a ritual purification bath before sunset. On the other hand, the second chagigah meal was to be consumed during the first day of Passover meaning a ritual purification bath for defilement on Nisan 14^th was not applicable for Nisan 15^th.

Defilement worries in John 18:28 “to be able to eat the Passover” centered on the consequences involving the second chagigah meal by the Priests. Disqualification from performing their chagigah sacrificial duty on the first day of Passover meant the priests would not have received their lawful gratuity portion of the sacrificial meat – no meat for their own chagigah meal on the first day of Passover.^[9]

Logically, perhaps even much bigger, is why the defilement concern of John 18:28 over a meal is just one factor. Offerings of the Pascal sacrifices on Nisan 14^th was an all-hands-on-deck scenario, according to Josephus, where upwards of a quarter million paschal sacrifices were performed at the Temple!

All the Priests served a vitally important role at the Temple requiring massive preparations with a packed and rigid schedule. Activities for the most popular annual Festival in all the land drew crowds of about 3 million people.^[10]

Consider a Thursday crucifixion scenario where high level priests pursued their vendetta against Jesus beginning after the evening dinner of Nisan 13^th with an arrest, an inquisition and an aberrant overnight trial; Roman hearings the next morning; and ended with the crucifixion of Jesus at 9am, Nisan 14^thwhile at the very same time tens of thousands of pascal lamb sacrifices were being sacrificed at the Temple. This scenario would be like NFL Super Bowl event managers taking the day off on Super Bowl Sunday to attend to personal business.

Another factor to consider is the Romans who were worried by the Passover observance more than any other Jewish holiday because it drew to Jerusalem the potentially troublesome Jewish crowds of millions of pilgrims.^[11] The risk of a riot on the Nisan 15^th was much less than for a crucifixion on the first day of Passover.

Jews would be in their local housing accommodations having just celebrated the Passover on Nisan 15^th with very minimal activity in compliance with religious law. As opposed to Nisan 14^th, Jews were out and about without the same restrictions.

Did John’s reference to the priest’s defilement concern of missing the Passover meal actually pose a credibility issue with the other Gospels that said Jesus was crucified on the first day of Passover?

Updated June 30, 2025.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

REFERENCES:

NRSV = New Revised Standard Version translation

[1] Doig, Kenneth F. New Testament Chronology. Chapter 18. <http://nowoezone.com/NTC18.htm> Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. 1883. Book V. <http://philologos.org/__eb-lat/default.htm> “Sharing a Meal.” Pinterest.com. image. n.d. <https://www.pinterest.com/pin/785737466232633826/>
[2] Wells, Steve. The Skeptic’s Annotated Bible. 2017. “423. When was Jesus crucified?” http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/passover_meal.html> “101 Bible Contradictions.” Islamic Awareness. n.d. Contradiction #69. https://www.islamawareness.net/Christianity/bible_contra_101.html>
[3] Edersheim, Alfred. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. Chapter 10. 1826 -1889. The NTSLibrary. 2016. <http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20BooksJewish Encyclopedia. 2011. <http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com>
[4] Leviticus 23:7-8; Numbers 28:18. Net.Bible.org. Hebrew text, footnote #20. CR Exodus 23:14. Netbible.org. n.d. Hebrew text. “G5656.” Lexicon-Concordance. n.d. <http://lexiconcordance.com/search6.asp?sw=5656&sm=0&x=0&y=0 Babylonian Talmud. Rodkinson trans. Book 3, Tracts Pesachim, Chapter IV and Book 4, Tract Betzah (Yom Tob); Book 4, Tract Moed, Chapter II.. <https://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/talmud.htm#t03>
[5] Leviticus 3.
[6] The Babylonian Talmud. Trans. Michael L. Rodkinson. 1918. Book 3, Tract Pesachim. <http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/talmud.htm> Streane, A. W, ed. A Translation of the Treatise Chagigah from the Babylonian Talmud. 1891. Chagigah 7b. <http://www.archive.org/stream/translationoftre00streuoft/translationoftre00streuoft_djvu.txt>
[7] Leviticus 7:29-32. Edersheim. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. Chapters 5 & 11. Streane. A Translation of the Treatise Chagigah from the Babylonian Talmud. Glossary: “Chagigah.”
[8] Leviticus 22. “Exploring Qumran: The Dead Sea Scrolls Community.” MSN.com. video. 2025. <https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/peopleandplaces/exploring-qumran-the-dead-sea-scrolls-community/vi-AA1xfbCq?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=4e309000c75e45b69d296288be2ab1f9&ei=287#details>
[9] Leviticus 22; Numbers 9. Josephus, Flavius. Antiquities of the Jews. Book III, Chapter X. Google Books. n.d <http://books.google.com/books?id=e0dAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false>
[10] Josephus, Flavius. Wars of the Jews. Book VI.. < http://books.google.com/books?id=e0dAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false>
[11] Antiquities. Book XI, Chapter IV; Book XX, Chapter V. Josephus. Wars. Book V, Chapter V.