27:57–61 As evening approached (it was still Friday: the Sabbath began at sundown) a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, went personally to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus. Arimathea has been identified with the modern village of Rentis some twenty miles northwest of Jerusalem. According to the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea founded the church at Lydda (nine miles southwest of his home town). He himself had been a disciple of Jesus. Granted his request, Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud. He then placed …