John 19:38 And after these things Joseph from Arimathea [a rich man]... (39) And Nicodemus... came also, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes of about a hundred pounds. (40) Therefore they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the custom of the Jews for burying. (41) Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever yet been laid. (42) ...they laid Jesus there.
After the Lord had completed His work in His death, He rested. In John 18 and 19 we see the many evil things and sufferings which came to the Lord. Some treated Him evilly, others mocked Him, and even His most intimate disciple denied Him.
Everything in His environment was dark. But, however evil were the events and however much He suffered, He endured them all and passed through them victoriously, showing that He is the victorious and conquering life. After the Lord accomplished His redemptive and life-imparting death, His situation of suffering immediately changed into an honorable one.
Before His death, everything was evil and deadly; after His death, everything became pleasant and agreeable. Joseph of Arimathea, “a rich man,” and Nicodemus, “a ruler of the Jews,” came with linen and very expensive spices, myrrh and aloes, to prepare His body for burial. It was not the poor but the noble who cared for His body, burying Him in a new tomb “with the rich.” By this we see that the whole situation was changed into a rich condition, a noble state, a new sphere.
The Lord was now dear to people, and they valued Him very highly. Hence, the Lord rested in human honor. Although He was put to death in shame, He was buried in honor...
Now that His work had been finished, He rested and enjoyed a proper Sabbath day.