Something to think about as we read the accounts of Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection on this Good Friday…
Luke tells us that, after Jesus was crucified
“The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.” (Emphasis mine) (Luke 23, 55-56)
Luke begins Chapter 24 with
“On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but, when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.” (Luke 24, 1-2)
Note that the women had missed the resurrection. By the time they got there, Jesus was already risen and gone. Indeed, the resurrection itself is not recounted in any of the canonical gospels and, as far as we know, there were no witnesses to the actual resurrection.
This is a shame, but…
what if the women, instead of “rest(ing) on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment,” had instead gone right to the tomb as soon as they prepared the spices and perfumes? Did they miss the resurrection because they were being attentive to the commandment? Does therein lie one of the many “sub-lessons,” if you will, of the passion, death, and resurrection stories? How often do we miss what’s really important because we are too narrowly focused on following the rules, on adhering to what are construed as the commands of the church to which we belong?
Blessed Easter, all year, to all of you!
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