“The Funeral of Jesus”: A New Passion Gospel?

The text occupies two pages in a 15th-century manuscript of miscellaneous texts. It has no title and in its current form appears fragmentary—i.e., the beginning and perhaps the ending are missing. The story essentially is as follows:

Joseph of Arimathea is given the body of Jesus for burial. Nicodemus hears of this and comes to Joseph and offers his assistance in the burial. The two bring a burial cloth and ointments and take the body down from the cross. Joseph tells Nicodemus that Jesus appeared to him (the following few sentences are unclear). Joseph reports that the priests of the temple commented on how strange that Jesus’ kin had not come to prepare Jesus for burial. Nicodemus goes to the temple to request Jesus’ body (next several sentences unclear). Nicodemus comes from the temple and places the body of Jesus in the tomb of Joseph. They roll the stone over the entrance and return to their homes. After three days Jesus rises. The priests and scribes say that Joseph and the disciples stole the body (the next few sentences are unclear but there is mention of “the property of James”). The priests and scribes incite a mob against Joseph and they bring Joseph to the high priests. They ask Joseph why he has stolen the body. Joseph responds that he could not take the body because of the guards posted there by Pilate. The priests and the people are furious and go to Pilate accusing Joseph.

I still have an additional half page to read and, as noted above, several sections remain obscure. Still, at this point a few things are clear. The text is not from any single gospel but does contain elements of at least John (Joseph’s and Nicodemus’ preparation of the body) and Matthew (the slander that Jesus’ disciples stole the body). Yet the text is not simply a harmony as it contains much that is new. Several well-known apocryphal texts discuss Joseph’s role in the burial of Jesus—the Gospel of Nicodemus, the Narrative of Joseph of Arimathea, and even the Gospel of Peter—but none of these appear to be the this text.

I will post additional comments on the text as I work through it over the next several weeks. Again, feedback is welcome. One of the reasons I created Apocryphicity was so CA scholars could exchange ideas on ongoing projects. So, I encourage others to take full advantage of this resource.