“The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid.” Luke 23:55 ESV
Reflection: why was it only the women who follow Joseph to bury Jesus?
In this very dark, very difficult moment of Jesus crucifixion and death, we looked at how Joseph of Arimathea demonstrated his love for the Lord in his heart through the actions he took. But Luke also mentions what the women surrounding Jesus did, and there is something so tender, so beautiful, so selfless in these verses that we need to stop and really reflect on. To start with, notice in our focus verse today that the women had not run into hiding, like most of the disciples. They were at the cross. And when Joseph came to take the body of Jesus down to bury it, they followed. They saw where it was laid. They didn’t try to interfere or intervene; just observed. Quietly, in the background. But this was more than just their mourning. Let’s read what happened next.
“Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.”Luke 23:56 ESV. The women also observed that Jesus’ body wasn’t properly prepared for burial according to their traditions, because there was no time for it before the beginning of the sabbath. In their love for Jesus, they quietly went home and prepared the spices and ointments for the body. There was no fanfare or glory in this work; they didn’t expect recognition by anyone. While perhaps tradition for close family, it was done out of pure love, in service to Jesus their Lord. And most likely, the women had been in a supporting role for Jesus and the disciples all along, so that they could focus on the teaching and the ministry.
Perhaps not a popular note in the 21st century, but let’s look way back to creation. “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”” Genesis 2:18 ESV. A helper. A partner. It was the women who thought about the need to properly prepare Jesus’ body; not the men. Not even Joseph who buried Jesus had planned that. The women followed, they did the preparation work, and, they planned to go to the grave early on the first day they could to finalize the burial preparations. “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.” Luke 24:1 ESV.
God created men and women so beautifully different, from the very beginning. And if we take a moment to observe, is not that difficult to see even in our modern culture, despite what the world is teaching. The story from Passover is a wonderful example of the hearts of the women surrounding Jesus, of their nurturing, supportive and selfless love in the background. It was the women who first went to the tomb early Sunday morning after Passover, and therefore it was the women who first found the empty tomb and got to tell the disciples about it. But, perhaps most touching moment to think about, is how the Lord Jesus first appeared as the risen Christ, to a woman. He could have chosen Peter or John, who also came a bit later to see the empty tomb. But Jesus chose Mary Magdalene. Perhaps because her heart was close to the heart of our Savior, who quietly suffered and died for us. A servant’s heart, which is
Love in the quiet.