placed the spices mixed with the gummy substance. They would wrap to the armpits, put the arms down,
and then wrap to the neck. A separate piece was wrapped around the head. I would estimate an
encasement weighing between 55 and 60kg.
The myrrh used was a drug that adheres so closely to the body that the grave clothes could not easily be
removed. The persons ̳tallit‘ (prayer shawl) was finally wrapped around his head. (See my Pictorial Teaching
CD on ̳The propheticness of Y‘shua‘s tallit‘ for the full teaching on this subject)
Security precaution # 5 – A very large stoneMatthew records in his writings that a large stone was rolled against the front of the tomb. Mark said the
stone was extremely large. Just how large was that stone?
5.1 Twenty men could not move it:
In Mark 16:4 portion of the Bezae Manuscript in the Cambridge Library in England, a parenthetical statement
was found: ̳and when he has laid there he (Joseph) put against the tomb a stone which 20 men could not
roll away‘.
5.2 One-and-a-half to two tons:
The kind of stone used in the time of Y‘shua and calculated the size needed to roll against a 1m – 1.5m
doorway. A stone of that size would have to have a minimum weight of 1½ to 2 tons. No wonder Mathew and
Mark said the stone was extremely large. 1½ to 2 tons! 20 men! Only angels could move it!
One might ask, ―If the stone were that big, how did Joseph move it into position in the first place?‖ He simply
gave it a push and let gravity do the rest. It had been held in place with a wedge as it sat in a groove or
trench that sloped down to the front of the tomb. When the wedge was moved, the heavy circular rock just
rolled into position.
Security precaution # 6 – The Roman security guardJewish officials panicked, because thousands were turning to Y‘shua. To avoid a political problem, it was to
the advantage of both the Romans and the Jews to make sure Y‘shua was put away for good. So the chief
priest and Pharisees gathered together and said to Pilate, ―Command therefore that the sepulchre be made
sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is
risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.‖ (Matt 27:64)
Pilate said to them ―Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can‖ (Matt 27:65) and so ―...they
went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch‖. (Matt 27:66.)
Some people would argue that Pilate said, ―look, you have your temple police, go and make it secure.‖
6.1 The Temple police:
Now if you want to say it‘s a Temple guard, you need to realise who made up that guard. It consisted of a
group of ten Levites who were placed on duty at different places at the Temple. The total number of men on
duty was two hundred and seventy. This represented twenty units of ten each. The military discipline of the
Temple guard was quite good. In fact at night, if the captain approached the guard member who was asleep,
he was beaten and burnt with his own clothes. A member of the guard also was forbidden to sit down or to
lean against something when he was on duty.
6.2 A Roman guard:
However, I am convinced it was the Roman guard that was placed at the grave of Y‘shua to secure it. The
phrase is in the present imperative and can refer only to a Roman guard, and not the Temple police. Pilate
literally said, ̳have a guard‘. The Latin form ̳koustodia‘ occurs as far back as the oxyrhynchus papyrus in
reference to the Roman guard. The Jews knew Pilate wanted to keep the peace, so they were sure he would
give them what they wanted.
What was the Roman guard?
A Roman ̳custodian‘ did a lot more than care for a building. The word ̳custodian‘ represented the guard unit
of the Roman legion. This unit was probably one of the greatest offensive and defensive fighting machines
ever conceived!