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To acknowledge the loyalty of women who faced an insurmountable task
ď‚ž while
it was still dark
ď‚ž others
in their circle
ï‚ž women
from Galilee
ď‚ž prepared
spices and ointment
ď‚ž on
Sabbath the women rested
ï‚ž bought
spices to anoint
ď‚ž who
will roll away the stone?
ď‚ž stayed
there sitting opposite the grave
ď‚ž the
next day (Sabbath) a guard was placed outside the tomb
The
risk calculated The action contemplated The task understood The challenge personalized
(John 20:1)
Respectable women in Middle Eastern cultures don’t go sneaking around in the dark. These women if discovered risked ruining their reputation.
The days were evil and difficult. The day Christ died there was an earthquake causing rocks to be split and graves to be opened. From lunch time to three o’clock there was darkness. The day Christ arose there was another earthquake, a very violent one. With two earthquakes back to back, powerful enough to affect the rocks, this was not the time to go into caves and tombs. These women risked their limb.
Every emperor who ever ruled Jerusalem knew of its rebellious tendency. Jewish people loved their God, their temple and their city.
Rabbis don’t get crucified. Rabbis don’t get crucified in place of murders. THOUSANDS WOULD HAVE FLOCKED INTO JERUSALEM FOR THE PASSOVER CELEBRATIONS. The violent death of a popular Rabbi could easily have ignited the city.
In such a time of great uncertainty, sensible people stayed at home. PILATE AS GOVENOR OF SUCH A NOTORIOUS CITY WOULD HAVE BEEN WISE TO SECURE THE CITY WITH SOLDIERS. These unescorted women could very well have put their lives at risk.
The disciples spent these troubling days behind closed doors. The women of Mary Magdalene's group acted on their own initiative. Their action was not the product of consensus from the body of disciples.
THEY WENT FROM CRUCIFIXION TO A HASTY BURIAL TO THE PREPARATION FOR THE SABBATH TO THE SABBATH.
THEY HAD AN URGENT NEED. The decaying body in need of thorough embalming was the urgent need. These women simply responded as the need demanded.
(Matthew 27:57-60; John 11:39; John 20:14-18; Matthew 27:45,51,52; Matthew 28:2; Luke 24:5-10) The task was made easier when joseph of Arimathea intervened to secure the body. The 11 disciples did not seem to be organized nor inclined to engage the authorities. For the women to deal with these matters, the time lapse and final end result would have been anyone’s guess.
Was the body washed for burial? If it was not, the women would have had to wash it in the tomb to removed the caked blood. From the account of Lazarus we can appreciate that the body would have begun to decay. The women were not trying to embalm a newly dead body but one dead for three days. While the 70lbs of aloes and myrrh Nicodemus donated at the burial would
have helped to partially preserve the body, but clearly there was still work to be done.
Imagine the smell and texture of the body for this late embalming. This would have added to the challenges these women faced. The securing of the right spices for embalming would have presented another problem.
These women were from Galilee but were in Jerusalem only for the Passover celebrations. The spices used for embalming would have been different from those used in cooking. To secure the ointments and spices in the amounts needed the women would have had to collect them from relatives and friends or they would have had to purchase them from a merchant. Or they may have had to pursue both options.
Their not being from Jerusalem, the fast approaching Sabbath, coupled with their shock, grief and presence of mind would have made their securing and preparing of the spices a small feat. The short time frame, the uncertainty of the days, the terror of witnessing a loved one crucified and the need to organize spices for a late embalming of the body are some of the adversities facing these women from out of town.
Yet in a time when leadership from the men was absent, these women in spite of their shock are processing information, planning and executing that plan. After the Sabbath they set out to execute the plan. On the way to the tomb these unescorted women discussed in the dark, the insurmountable stone at the mouth of the tomb. How would they deal with this problem? Having already revealed their substance
in rising to the occasion in such an amazing way, it would be a shame if their assignment ended in failure.
Yet there was another problem. An unknown one. Even if they could move the stone another barrier existed. During the Sabbath, soldiers had been posted outside the grave. The women did not know this, but how would they get past the soldiers to the stone?
How many shocks could a traumatized person endure/ The women arrived at the tomb to discover unconscious soldiers and a moved stone. To enter the cemetery and the tomb these women under Jewish law would have become ceremonially unclean for the day. I imagine every cautious Jew would think twice before becoming unclean especially so fast on the heels of the Passover and Sabbath.
Yet on discovering an unsealed tomb these women did not send for help, but entered into the tomb.
Now comes the shock of the missing body. And then there is the shock of engaging with the angels. When Daniel and the Apostle John engaged with angels in visions they sometimes fainted. These traumatized, unescorted women encounter angels I an enclosed space in real life.
How many shocks can a person endure? The angels shock them with the news that Christ was risen, He was alive!
These women who had already faced so much were still in the frame of mind to receive spiritual truth. The angels reminded them of the words of Christ and the women did remember what Christ had said. Next comes yet another shock. After
going through so much. After all their planning and execution of the plan when they told the men what they knew the men equated it to idle tales. What a shocking cup of cold water to be doused with. How would these loyal, radical women feel? But Peter and John did investigate the tomb. Even after such a put down, Mary Magdalene returned to the tomb and stayed on after the men had left. Why
was she alone in the cemetery? Notice as she engages the gardener what she said. Can you see this unescorted woman going to get a dead body? Can you see here going through the streets of the city with a dead body? This is exactly what this invincible, incredible woman is suggesting.
Ever since Christ’s body was assigned to this tomb Mary Magdalene has been seen hanging out in the cemetery just watching the tomb. The only time she is absent is during the Sabbath.
Ministry in Galilee was relatively easier as the disciples often travelled by boat, though storm brought their own challenges. Mary Magdalene’s group of women were not invited to be part of Christ’s ministry. Yet they followed helping out with cooking and possibly mending clothes. If not travelling
by boat walking in the sand and hot sun seemed the other likely option. These women faced the rigors of travelling with Jesus from place to place. Now they came to Jerusalem for the Passover celebrations. They had every intention of returning to Galilee after the Sabbath.
These women never imagined they would stand to witness a crucifixion. To do so required grit. To watch a loved one so violently killed was traumatic. After the crucifixion the grief and images they witnessed would not have given them peaceful rest. The very sound of a hammer meeting a nail would
be enough to trigger violent memories propelling them back to the crucifixion. Those prone to panic attacks would find sleep disturbed by images of violence being replayed over and over. When sudden death comes even the most organized person is likely to fall apart no being able
to devise sensible plans. None of the disciples envisioned the death of Christ at the Passover celebrations. They knew threats had been made but to actually witness His death was not something they prepared themselves for.
These women did not act on faith. Hope and faith would have been dealt a crushing blow with the death of Christ. Their future now seemed uncertain. It was not the Word of God which sustained them during these times since they neither understood it nor processed it correctly in relation to the
prophecies of Christ. So there was no comfort from the Word. It was not the joyous news of the resurrection that made them act the way they did. So why did these women undertake an insurmountable task under such dire circumstances?
It was love and loyalty which made them do it. It was journeying with Christ that transformed these women. In the case of Mary Magdalene it was deliverance from the jaws of oppression from seven demons that made her stir herself and others to such exploits.
Daniel 11:32b (KJV).