Jesus’ True Friends
“And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto Him:”…..”When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple”. Matthew 27:55;57
When a loved one passes away, the customary process for the survivors is fairly uniform across the south. We have to plan the funeral which entails visiting the funeral home, selecting a casket, planning the services, including what songs to sing, the date and time, the location, whether at a church or at the funeral home, who is going to preach the funeral or deliver the eulogy, whether or not to have visitation or a wake, as some call it, and many other things that have to be decided. This is something that takes precedence over everything else. It is not something that one can put off. Death can be sudden, without warning, and waits for no one. I have had to plan or help plan four funerals in the last several years, but it is something that one never gets use to. It is not a pleasant task, but it is important to honor the life of the one who has passed.
When Jesus died on the cross, even though He had told His disciples several times that He would die in Jerusalem, it was still a shock to them, particularly as to the way that it was carried out–a kangaroo court, false charges, a hateful crowd crying “Crucify Him”, and death by crucifixion, the Roman method of execution. Jesus told His disciples at their Passover meal that they would be offended that night because He would die, and they would all flee, but then He would rise again. However, the shock and hurt they felt when Jesus was crucified apparently took over their thought processes, and they forgot what He had said, or it never registered with them when He said He would rise again. Thus, the disciples, the women who followed Jesus, and His other close friends weren’t looking for Him to rise from the dead. His disciples had seen Jesus raise the dead several times, but for some reason, they didn’t think about Him being brought back to life.
In preparation for Jesus’ burial, His friends immediately went to work to make sure that He received a proper burial. It was almost the Sabbath, so they had to hurry. Joseph of Arimethaea, a rich man and either a member of or a counsellor to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling body, went to Pilate and implored Pilate to let him take possession of Jesus’ body. He was a secret follower of Christ and would not consent to the plans of the religious leaders to destroy Jesus (Luke 23:50-51). There was another man who was a Pharisee, Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus and learned from Him that one must be born again by the Spirit of God in order to enter the kingdom of God. He must have taken Jesus’ words to heart because he brought 100 pounds of spices with which to anoint Jesus’ body. The two men wrapped Jesus’ body in clean linen and laid Him in Joseph’s own tomb. This was not a task that the women could do. Even though Jesus had died, it would not be proper for women to wash and wrap His body. The linen cloth was symbolic of purity and righteousness (Revelation 15:6)
There were many women who had become followers of Jesus. Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joses. After Joseph and Nicodemus completed the task of carefully wrapping Jesus’ body in the linen cloth, these two women came to inspect. I think that they wanted to make sure that every proper step was taken in the preparation of His body so as to honor Him in death. Women are usually more concerned about details than men. After the inspection, they all departed the tomb, and Joseph rolled a great stone over the entrance. It is most likely that God had that stone ready to seal the tomb, and it must have been nearly perfectly round in order to be able to be rolled.
The two Marys did not leave the area with the others but sat down just outside the sepulcher. They had to be in a great state of shock, disbelief, and grief. The experience of losing a close loved one suddenly is overwhelming to the body and mind. It is difficult to function in a normal way. It is so painful that one believes only his or her own death can bring relief from the misery of the loss. These two ladies needed some time alone to grieve and mourn and try to figure out what to do next. They were believing that Jesus was gone, never to return. Grief is probably the most painful emotional experience that one can suffer. When one loses a close loved one, it takes some time to get over the grief, but the sadness never goes away. The two Marys were sad. They loved Jesus. He had been so good to them, but now He was gone. I am sure they felt lost, but their loss would turn to joy in a couple of days. They wouldn’t be able to return to the tomb the next day because it was the Sabbath, but first thing Sunday morning, would they ever be surprised!