Matthew 27:59

And Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed.

Thomas Jefferson composed an abbreviated New Testament and closed it with this verse. A deist, Jefferson did not believe in the resurrection of Christ. In 1959, this writer visited Monticello, historic residence of Jefferson, an engraving of which appears on the reverse side of the nickel. It was about 3:00 p.m. and some thirty or forty tourists filed into the north dining room, as the afternoon sun was shining on the western windows and producing a perfect luminous cross in the large center panel of glass. That phenomenon was due to the long action of sunlight on that ancient glass, refraction having been produced by structural changes in the glass itself. One spoke up and said, "Well, it seems as if Mr. Jefferson did not really get rid of Christ, after all!" That remark made a profound impression upon those present. Silence fell upon the little company; and the guide, after some hesitation, remarked that she had not noticed it before.

From John it is learned that Christ was buried in a new tomb, that of Joseph, wherein never before had man lain, and that it was situated in a garden near the site of the cross. In giving his tomb to Christ, Joseph had every reason to believe that his gift was final and that his own burial in it was thus precluded. However, as is invariably true, nothing was ever lost by its being given to Christ. Joseph received his grave again! See under Matthew 14:20.