Craig elsewhere writes, "...the Jews always buried the dead (II Sam. 2:12-14; Tobit 1:17-19; 2:3-7; 12:12-13; Sirach 7:33; 38:16), even the dead of their enemies (Josh. 8:29; 10:27; Josephus Jewish War 3.377)" [WLC.ANTE 172]. The Temple Scroll (IIQTemple) records a command to bury the body of one who has been crucified on the same day, and applies it to both dead and live crucifixions. Josephus mentions not only the Dt 21 passage in the Antiquities passage, but in Josephus' account of the Zealots' abuse of dead bodies during the seizure of the Temple in the First Roman War, he notes that "the Jews are so careful about funeral rites that even malefactors who have been sentenced to crucifixion are taken down and buried before sunset" [Jewish War 4. 317]. So while one could concede that the Romans often did not grant burial to crucifixion victims, Jewish attitudes toward burial would have likely assured that Jesus was buried. While this does not argue specifically for a tomb burial, this consideration, combined with the very early ICor 15 creed which attests Jesus' burial, provides a fatal blow to the arguments of Crossan and the Seminar that Jesus was probably left to hang on the cross, to be reduced to bird feed.
See Biblical Studies / The Historical Case For The Resurrection /
See Biblical Studies / The Historical Case For The Resurrection /