k," as Jerome
says on Matt. 27:64, "lest, if it had been constructed of many
stones, they might say that He was stolen away by digging away the
foundations of the tomb." Hence the "great stone" which was set shows
that "the tomb could not be opened except by the help of many hands.
Again, if He had been buried in the earth, they might have said: They
dug up the soil and stole Him away," as Augustine observes [*Cf.
Catena Aurea]. Hilary (Comment. in Matth. cap. xxxiii) gives the
mystical interpretation, saying that "by the teaching of the
apostles, Christ is borne into the stony heart of the gentile; for it
is hewn out by the process of teaching, unpolished and new,
untenanted and open to the entrance of the fear of God. And since
naught besides Him must enter into our hearts, a great stone is
rolled against the door." Furthermore, as Origen says (Tract. xxxv in
Matth.): "It was not written by hazard: 'Joseph wrapped Christ's body
in a clean winding-sheet, and placed it in a new monument,'" and that
"'he rolled a great stone,' because all things around the body of
Jesus are clean, and new, and exceeding great."
_______________________

THIRD ARTICLE [III, Q. 51, Art. 3]

Whether Christ's Body Was Reduced to Dust in the Tomb?

Objection 1: It would seem that Christ's body was reduced to dust in
the tomb. For just as man dies in punishment of his first parent's
sin, so also does he return to dust, since it was said to the first
man after his sin: "Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return"
(Gen. 3:19). But Christ endured death in order to deliver us from
death. Therefore His body ought to be made to return to dust, so as
to free us from the same penalty.

Obj. 2: Further, Christ's body was of the same nature as ours. But
directly after death our bodies begin to dissolve into dust, and are
disposed towards putrefaction, because when the natural heat departs,
there supervenes heat from without which causes corruption. Therefore
it seems that the same thing happened to Christ's body.

Obj. 3: Further, as stated above (A. 1), Christ willed to be buried
in order to furnish men with the hope of rising likewise from the
grave. Consequently, He sought likewise to return to dust so as to
give to them who have returned to dust the hope of rising from the
dust.

_On the contrary,_ It is written (Ps. 15:10): "Nor wilt Thou suffer
Thy holy one to see corruption": and Damascene (De Fide Orth. iii)
expounds this of the corr