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There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.
Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went into Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate marveled that He was already dead, and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time. So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph observed where He was laid.
- Mark 15:40-47
On Saturday, we read that when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, "Look, He is calling for Elijah!" Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down." And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last. Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!"
There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem. Over and over again, the Gospels will remind us of the variety of those who followed and ministered to Jesus, who helped Him in His ministry and supported Him. Many of those who traveled with Him -- and here we can see, who remained with Him to the end -- were women. These women are those who have been healed and helped by Him as well as relatives of those who are among His disciples. Several of these women are titled "Apostle to the Apostles" or "Equal to Apostles" in the Eastern Church. There is no one left out of Jesus' ministry and His spiritual family.
Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went into Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. My study bible says here: "Not all members of the Sanhedrin are opposed to Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea is an exception, as is Nicodemus (John 3:1-4; 7:50; 19:39). Joseph was waiting for the kingdom of God, sympathetic to the message of Jesus. According to tradition, Joseph went on to evangelize the British Isles."
Pilate marveled that He was already dead, and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time. My study bible tells us that Pilate marveled because crucified men usually lived for many hours, or even days, after being hung on the cross.
So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph observed where He was laid. My study bible explains, "According to custom, tombs were carved out of soft rock in a cavelike fashion, sometimes with several chambers. Then a flat, circular stone was rolled into a prepared groove to shut the opening." It also points out that in the Eastern liturgy (of St. John Chrysostom), after the gifts of bread and wine are placed on the altar for sanctification, the priest proclaims of the crucified Jesus: "In the grave with Your body, but in hell with Your soul as God, in Paradise with the thief, and on the throne with Your Father and the Spirit, O Christ You are uncontained." In the Eastern tradition, Christ's soul descended before His Resurrection, so that all who ever passed are included in His grace.
From the moment of His death in crucifixion (see Saturday's reading) the Gospel introduces us to the characters surrounding His ministry, the people who populate the stories of the Church that surround the events of His death and Resurrection. On Saturday we read about the centurion, who proclaimed, "Truly this Man was the Son of God." By church tradition, we know him as Longinus, who went on to become a martyr for the early church. Here in today's reading we have more people who make up these early characters in His ongoing ministry, after His death. There are first the women who have ministered throughout His time in Galilee (those who will play a role in the Resurrection story), and then Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent and courageous member of the Sanhedrin. In the immediate aftermath of Christ's death, therefore, we have unlikely-seeming characters who popular this ministry and this faith. There is first of all the Roman centurion who is the leader of the guard at the crucifixion (and by tradition is also the leader of the guard placed by Pilate at His tomb), secondly the women who continue to minister to Him even at His death, and there is Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Council that sought, in the first place, to put Him to death. These are all unlikely members -- and heroic ones -- of these stories in the Gospels. And without them, there would, essentially, be no story. Each one is integral to our faith and what we understand of our faith. Somehow by his proximity to Jesus on the Cross, the centurion becomes a faithful believer and saint. The women in their faithfulness will minister to Him even after death, as we shall see in the readings that follow. And a powerful man among the Jewish leadership, Joseph of Arimathea, not only provides a new tomb hewed of rock for Jesus but boldly goes to Pilate and asks for His body, and provides for His burial with fine linen, as if he were caring for his own burial. No, each of the somehow unlikely characters is a pillar of our faith, a pillar of our Church, and we should not forget what the Gospels tell us: that we cannot tell where faith will come from, where it will manifest, how it will work, and which character or which person will fulfill one role or another. The Gospels are careful to let us know that we never know where faith will come from, we cannot generalize about any people, any group of people, any gender, or any history of a person in judging where and in whom faith will come. In John's Gospel, Jesus explains to Nicodemus, another member of the Sanhedrin, when He tells Him of being reborn in the Spirit: "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” We cannot tell, we do not know. All we can do is accept the work of the holy, the work of God, the Spirit in our world. It is the Spirit -- and active faith --that truly forms family in the context of Jesus' teaching. It is active faith that denotes neighbor. And it is active faith that tells us who He will have with Him. It is not for us to judge who will fulfill these roles by any outward appearance, but it is up to us to discern His will, to follow His commandments, honor the work of the Spirit in the world wherever -- and in whomever -- it will be found. Let us remember these early beginnings of His Church, these who minister to Him Who ministers to all of us.
