There were also women looking on from afar

 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 in to 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 rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.  And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was laid.

- Mark 15:40-47

On Saturday, we read that when the sixth hour had come on the day of Jesus' crucifixion, 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.   My study bible says that the faithfulness of the women shows that in Christ, divine order is being restored to the fallen world.  Eve was created, says Genesis (Genesis 2:18) in order to complete Adam, but instead led Him to sin (Genesis 3:6).  But these women disciples are the ones who remain faithful while the men flee and hide!  It is the women who bring the message of the Resurrection to the men (16:9-11, Luke 24:9-11) -- thereby restoring that which was broken through sin.

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 in to 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 rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.  And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was laid.  My study bible notes that had the apostles buried Christ, doubters could have suggested His body was simply hidden away.  As Joseph of Arimathea is well-known both a council member and a good and just man, this refutes the possibility of deception by the apostles.   The women note where He is, as they plan to come to anoint Him for burial, after the Sabbath is over.

The crucifixion is over.  Jesus has died.  The place without mercy in which He was crucified is now history for Him.  Our last reading ended with the centurion declaring, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!"  From the moment of Jesus' death, grace makes an appearance, life shifts.  Despite the circumstances, things are different.  Here in today's reading, we receive the great good news of the role of women in the ministry, death, and Resurrection of Christ.  They've been with Him since Galilee, we're told.  They're an essential and important part of the whole story.  The text tells us that they were ministers to Him, the great Minister!  My study bible carefully expresses what is acknowledged in the tradition of the Church:  the participation of women indicates yet another important "correction," an undoing of the Fall, a sign of the restoration of right-relatedness in the world.  Everything about this ministry, even unto His death, is healing, and brings restoration and healing into the world.  And then there is Joseph of Arimathea, "a prominent councilmember,"  comes boldly to Pilate and asks for Jesus' body.  He's obviously wealthy, possessing this tomb hewn of rock, and purchasing the fine linen for burial himself.  He takes great risk not only at letting Pilate know what he's doing for Jesus, but also in doing something that jeopardizes him with his fellow Council members.  This is a prominent member of the ruling class, and here his loyalty to the Kingdom and to Christ are expressed as his top priority.  It's another important kind of rehabilitation, and setting right.  It doesn't matter that he's a prominent member of the Council that sentenced Jesus to death knowing He was innocent, Joseph of Arimathea's "right-relatedness" comes first and is established in faith, as he is one who is not satisfied with his earthly life, but rather "waiting for the kingdom of God."  Let us consider how any stereotype is broken in the Gospel story, how faith in Christ works to undo all the stumbling blocks and assumptions we might have based on cast or race or class or gender or anything else that separates us.  In fact, Christ's whole impact is one of the personal.  That is, we are given relationship and relatedness through the Person of Christ, in the love of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- the three Persons of the Trinity.  Our faith is defined by personhood, by the reality of what is inside of a person and what relationships are formed between persons.  That may sound complicated, but if you think about love as defined and given in God and in Christ, and in the relationship offered to us and for us, then it makes more sense.  Love has to acknowledge the fullness of a person, of the heart, and the need for the love and relatedness to God and others.  It is in this Kingdom that we find this true image of what it is to be a creature of God, a human being, made in image and likeness of God.  Each finds the fullness of their real selfhood, the women who watch from afar even through Jesus' painful and agonizing death, who are with Him in death to care for His body at the tomb.  It is Joseph who courageously goes to Pilate and donates tomb and fine linen for burial.  All of them defy worldly assumptions about their places and identities.  They are all "set right" in relationship to Christ, and in faith they become much more than any "demographic" or class description.  Our Lord breaks all boundaries for us, liberates us from all categories and assumptions.  This is the reality of the Kingdom, which we must do our best to live and to know, and to recognize in one another and in Him.  God's love gives us courage, expanding who we are, defying all stereotypes.  Christ's love takes us beyond who the world might tell us we are.  Let us strive to be like these examples before us in today's reading.