New Testament · Gospel

Matthew 27:62

The Crucifixion

The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and Pharisees assembled before Pilate. Matthew 27:62 · Berean Standard Bible
What It Means

Matthew 27:62, in plain English

The next day — the Sabbath — the chief priests and Pharisees go to Pilate.

Why it's here

They are so worried about what might happen that they break their own Sabbath rules to visit a Roman governor. Fear makes hypocrites of us all.

Who's speaking

The narrator records the religious leaders' Sabbath visit to Pilate.

Where it sits in the story

They killed Jesus on Friday. They are back at Pilate's on Saturday. They cannot rest, even on the day of rest, because deep down they know this is not over.

A Closer Look

The scholarly reading

On the day after Preparation Day (Sabbath), the chief priests and Pharisees approach Pilate — notably active on the Sabbath, violating their own rest laws in their urgency to secure the tomb.

Language and setting

The designation 'the day after Preparation Day' avoids naming the Sabbath directly. The Pharisees' Sabbath activity to prevent resurrection rumors is deeply ironic — they break the Sabbath to prevent what they fear most.

Voice

The narrator records the religious leaders approaching Pilate on the Sabbath.

Significance

The same leaders who accused Jesus of Sabbath violations now break the Sabbath themselves — their hypocrisy reaches its climax even after Jesus' death.

In context

Matthew 27:60–64

60and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut into the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away.

61Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

62The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and Pharisees assembled before Pilate.

63“Sir,” they said, “we remember that while He was alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’

64So give the order that the tomb be secured until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples may come and steal Him away and tell the people He has risen from the dead. And this last deception would be worse than the first.”

Read all of Matthew 27 — The climax of the story. Every thread — sacrifice, covenant, prophecy, promise — converges at a cross outside Jerusalem.

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