Right, there was a superstition about that at the time:
According to a Jewish belief, the soul stays near the body for three days after a person's death: "For three days the soul hovers over the grave, contemplating a return to the body, but once it sees that the facial color has faded, it goes away, never to return" (Gen. Rab. 50:10). That is, after 3 days from death the body is so decomposed that the face is not recognisable anymore, see article. The point here is not whether or not this idea of 3 days is true or not, the point is that they believed so...
http://www.albatrus.org/english/potp...jesus_wept.htm