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And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.
Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'" And they remembered His words. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.
- Luke 23:56b-24:11
Yesterday, we read that it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.'" Having said this, He breathed His last. So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, "Certainly this was a righteous Man!" And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned. But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man. He had not consented to their decision and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near. And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. They they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.
And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. My study bible explains that the first day of the week is the day after the Sabbath; this is Sunday. In Christian tradition, Sunday is called the Lord's Day, the day of worship (in Greek, it's "Kyriaki" - literally, day of the Lord).
But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. The stone is not rolled away in order to let the all-powerful Lord out, but rather for all of us so that we may witness His Resurrection through these women.
Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. The shining garments give us an image of divine light; these are angels.
Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'" And they remembered His words. My study bible says that in order to dispel any doubt, the angel confirms his message by recalling Christ's very words to them. When the third day is calculated, we begin with Friday -- the day on which Christ died before sundown. Saturday, the Sabbath, was the second day in which He rested in the tomb. The third day, which begins after sundown on Saturday according to Jewish spiritual tradition, is the day of Resurrection, Sunday.
Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. Commentators like St. Ambrose of Milan point out that while Genesis teaches us that temptation to the Fall was offered by Eve, here in the Gospels it is the women who offer the good news of Resurrection. We note that the apostles can't believe what they hear! These "myrr-bearing women" become Apostles to the Apostles with the good news of Resurrection.
I don't think we can even imagine the good news here in all of its real ramifications, and how much it keeps "doing" for us so many centuries later. Many commentators by tradition see this scene as "rehabilitation" of a type of woman-kind, at least as far as the Scriptures go -- setting the Fall of human beings aright with the "good news" borne by women. In that sense it's a "rehabilitation" of the image of women, but it's also much more than that. Christ's Resurrection is to bring "good news" to everyone. The early Councils of the Church focused on just exactly who Christ was -- man or God, all-man or all-God, two natures in one, or two natures? So many questions could be asked, and were. But many of the fathers (and mothers) can be summed up in the Church's teaching on just "who" Jesus was in the following statement, often ascribed to St. Athanasius: "God become man so that man could become a god." What that statement really tells us is of Christ's mission to transform everything about us. Rehabilitation isn't just about an external image and it's not just about one issue or another: it's a renewal of all that is. The Resurrection means new life in everything and for everything, and this is the true identity of Jesus Christ for us. In this vein it is the women to whom the good news is revealed and they become the apostles to the apostles, just as Christ was born into the world through the faith of a woman, His mother. In the paradox of our faith, a human woman gave birth to God. The world is renewed and transformed, and these ministers -- the faithful women who have supported Jesus' ministry all along the way from Galilee -- become apostles. Nothing is left out in this transformation of any one of us from mere human being to someone who can be "like God," that is, a person who shares in the attributes of the divine, capable of so much more than we can understand. It is the Resurrection that elevates and transforms, and brings us into touch with our true capacities for faith, for strength, for truth, for courage, for producing "good fruits" into the world. We turn to the Resurrection as the ultimate victory over anything "fallen," whatever seems "less than." And this is the great purpose and meaning of salvation and what it is to be truly "saved." This is the purpose of the mission into the world by Christ. He came down to lift us all up with Him. The ramifications of this truth are ongoing, unfolding, bringing us into something new every day, and it is really up to each one of us to understand and to experience what this means in our own daily lives. When we are struggling with difficulty, we turn to faith and have to find our own crosses, and our own resurrection in Him. Nothing may turn out just the way we expected it to, but in return we may find something much, much better once we become accustomed to the "good news" we may not even understand nor give any value to at first hearing! But here we see these women and their great role given in this particular story, which is the greatest and most profound story, the best and most outstanding news possible. Let us remember whom He elevates and what He brings to us, and let us never lose hope for our own part in this story of Resurrection. He came to save, and to bring each one of us up with Him.
