And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar

 

 And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons.

Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.  This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him.  When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.  And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.

On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, "Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise.'   Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead.'  So the last deception will be worse than the first."  Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how."  So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.

 

- Matthew 27:55-66 

 

Yesterday we read that, when Jesus was crucified, from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"   

 

  And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons.  The Gospel gives us a partial picture of what takes place at Christ's crucifixion, and the witnesses there who've ministered to Him since His ministry in Galilee.  My study Bible comments that Mary the mother of James and Joses is seen by most patristic writers as the Virgin Mary, as she was in fact the stepmother of James and Joses (see Matthew 13:55, compare Mark 15:40, 47).  Theophylact summarizes the teaching of the Church Fathers thus:  "James and Joses were sons of Joseph by his first wife.  And since the Theotokos was called the 'wife' of Joseph, she is rightly called the 'mother' of his children, meaning 'stepmother'."  It is notable, also, that it is the women who remain faithful witnesses here, while the male disciples fled and remain hidden.  It is considered a sign of the divine order restored to a fallen world, in which a woman companion led a man to sin (Genesis 2:18, 3:6). 

Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.  This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him.  When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.  And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.  My study Bible comments that to ask for the body of Jesus is a bold public act for this wealthy man, showing that his faith has overcome any fear.  Joseph of Arimathea was a prominent member of the Council (see Mark 15:43, Luke 23:50-54), and together with Nicodemus, his action in the Gospels tells us that there were members of the ruling religious parties who did not side with the decisions of the authorities and were followers of Jesus.  My study Bible also comments that Christ is buried in a new tomb so that no suspicion might later arise that another had risen instead of Christ.  

On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, "Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise.'   Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead.'  So the last deception will be worse than the first."  Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how."  So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.  The stage is set for what is to come.  There will be no doubt about what the women will witness.

The women wait and watch, looking on from afar, witnesses to all that has taken place.   They have been with Jesus since His ministry in Galilee, and have followed Him all the way to the Cross.  We get the image of a silent group, watching perhaps on a hill, waiting and staying with Him in their own way, faithful to the end.  It is these women who will be the ones to witness the almost unbelievable news that will follow at the tomb.  But for now, let us watch them, silent as they witness and observe.  What they have is their faith, and one imagines that this is what they hold fast to, what they cling to within themselves.  When there is nothing else to do or to say, this is what we can do:  we can witness and we can cling to our faith -- and that is still doing what we can do.  These women serve as an example today, because they teach us about what to do when it seems like there is nothing we can do.  It is Jesus who has repeatedly warned the disciples that the time is approaching when the best they can do is "watch and pray."  When we enter into times -- as most certainly is this time recorded for us in the Gospel -- in which all seems upside down, unstable, the unthinkable happens, times of great confusion, then it is time for us to consider what these women do.  They do not desert Christ, they do not desert their faith, but they do as they can do.  They watch and they pray and they witness.  They do not flee and do not panic.  They wait on the Lord and they wait in this time, as silent witnesses.  In contrast to the men, they keep their heads and their hearts in place, and do the one thing they can do.  They watch and wait, and witness.  There is a poem by Rudyard Kipling called "If--" (found at this link).  It used to be an oft-quoted poem, and is ostensibly about what it is to become a man.  It begins, "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs . . ."  It seems to me that it is these women who exemplify in the Gospels what it means to "be a man" as described in the poem by Kipling.  They set us an example.  By their forbearance and tenacity they will become the ones who first witness what the men cannot, the ones to whom Christ first appears.  And notably, as my study Bible reminded us, in the story of Jesus Christ they are the ones who turn the story of the Fall upon its head.  They are the steadfast ones who resist temptation and struggle through this terrible time of testing, and they are the ones upon whose shoulders the rest of us will stand when the story of Christ is repeated and Resurrection proclaimed.  There are times in our lives when there is nothing that we can do but wait and watch.   In a modern world, this type of thinking seems sadly out of step with the endless encouragements to "be the change you want to see" or to be on board with a new slogan making the rounds.  But the Gospels, in their wisdom, remind us that there are times when we can but watch and pray, and the best we can do is witness and continue practicing the things we know are good while we await a new juncture, a new sense of where we are and what we need to do.  Forbearance and patience become assets and virtues, filled with meaning, at the Cross.  For there we find ourselves, even when the world would proclaim that the only thing that matters is decisive action and effort.  The power to bear pain properly, to endure, is something understood perhaps only with experience.  Wisdom teaches us at times that patience takes effort, and so does quiet strength, even silent witness of the time.