This song closes Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. The music is a blend of the sorrow of the tomb and the joy of the resurrection, at times swelling and sweet and at others quiet and severe. Titled “We sit down in tears” it brings to mind those women who saw the crucifixion watched the tomb those first days. On the day of resurrection Mary came to mourn. In the second part of the song the choir sings “Your grave and headstone shall, for the anxious conscience, be a comfortable pillow and the resting place for the soul.” As it was for Mary who was visiting in confusion and fear and who would find there new life for us all.
At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
John 19:41-42