64 “Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”
65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.”
66 And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.”
Generally, The Heidelberg Catechism provides an answer as to why Jesus was buried.”
Question 41. Why was he also buried?
Answer. Thereby to prove that he was really dead.”
Regarding the guarding of the tomb that is the subject matter of today’s devotion, Calvin in his Commentary on these verses states in part:
“The resurrection of Christ would undoubtedly have been less manifest, or, at least, they would have had more plausible grounds for denying it, if they had not taken pains to station witnesses at the sepulcher. We see then how the Lord not only disappointeth the crafty, (Job 5:12,) but employs even their own schemes as snares for holding them fast, that he may draw and compel them to render obedience to him. …
Yet let us observe that God, as if he had hired them for the purpose, employed their services for rendering the glory of Christ more illustrious, because no plausible ground for lying, in order to deny it, was left to them when they found the grave empty; not that they desisted from their wicked rage, but with all persons of correct and sober judgment it was a sufficient testimony that Christ was risen, since his body, which had been placed in a grave, and protected by guards who surrounded it on all sides, was not to be found.”
In conclusion, notice how the burial of Jesus is included in what is of “first importance”. “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the twelve.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-5. (Emphasis added.). That is why the burial is not neglected in Scripture nor in our creeds. Even the very short Apostles’ Creed does not omit the burial. Every time that we affirm our faith by The Apostles’ Creed, we state that Jesus Christ “was crucified, dead, and buried“. (Emphasis added.)
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 