Images of the body of the crucified Christ laid in a tomb abound in Christian art. The Catechism of the Catholic faith gives meaning to the period of time that Jesus remained buried: Jesus experienced the condition of death, the separation of His soul from His body, between the time He died on the cross and the time He was raised from the dead ... It was by the grace of God, (and a part of His plan of salvation) that Jesus tasted death for every one …

The mystery of Christ in the tomb reveals God’s great Sabbath rest after the fulfillment of salvation, which brings peace to the whole universe. Jesus is, therefore, in His very person, the meeting place for death and life.