After the shock of witnessing “an angel from heaven” on that Sunday morning at the sepulcher, Pilate’s Chief of the Guard and the Centurion had reported back to the chief priest, the Pharisees, and the elders of the Temple and told them,
“There was an earthquake, and we saw an angel coming down from heaven, and he rolled away stone from the entrance of the tomb, and then he sat on it. And the angel shone like the Sun. And we were petrified with fear, and we heard the voice of the angel saying to the women who remained near the tomb:
“Have no fear. I know that you are seeking Jesus who was crucified and entombed in this sepulcher. Jesus is not here. Behold the stone slab where they laid him. Remember…show more content… They suspected that, since Joseph of Arimathea had begged the body of Jesus on Friday afternoon and the body of Jesus had “disappeared” by Sunday morning, Joseph of Arimathea had helped Jesus to escape alive from the sepulcher.
Therefore, they sought Joseph of Arimathea and all of those who had defended Jesus before Pontius Pilate including Nicodemus, the twelve men who said that Jesus was not born of fornication, and many others who had spoken on behalf of Jesus and declared his good works.
However, all of these men hid themselves away except Nicodemus because he was a ruler of the Jews and a Member of the Great Sanhedrin. And Nicodemus said to them:
“After what you have done to Jesus, how can you come into the Temple?
The Pharisees said to Nicodemus:
“How can you come into the Temple? For you are one of his secret disciples, and you sought to free him from his fate.”
Nicodemus said:
“Jesus was a kind and just man. He healed others, and harmed no one. You had no reason to crucify him.”
And the Pharisees replied,
“You defend him still, even unto his death.
And, likewise, Joseph of Arimathea also stood up and spoke, saying to
