Luke 24:1-2 1But on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they went to the tomb taking the spices they had prepared. 2And they found the stone having been rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
At the first opportunity, the women went to Jesus’ tomb to anoint Jesus’ body with spices. There are several curious items about what they did. They must have been planning all weekend. Jesus died on Friday afternoon, around 3 pm, which is day one. Day two began that evening with the Sabbath. The third day began with what we call Saturday evening. The women went to the tomb as soon as it was light on Sunday, the third day, so they could see what they were doing.
Another item is the mention of a stone covering the tomb. Large round stones, like a wheel, were often rolled in front of a tomb as a form of seal. This stone would have been quite heavy, but a group of women could have rolled it if necessary and working together. Luke does not mention the Roman soldiers who were assigned to guard and put a seal on it (Matthew 27:62-66). The women would not have known about this fact because it was done after they had watched Joseph and Nicodemus lay Jesus in the tomb. From the women’s perspective, they would be the first and only ones to care for Jesus’ body and prepare it for a proper burial. They did not know of the other events that had taken place.
Verse 3 gives the good news of the power of God over death. The women were expecting to carry out their plans of preparing Jesus’ body for burial by cleaning it and anointing it with spices, as was the Jewish custom. He deserved the highest respect. These women, who were not named by Luke yet, like the other disciples did not understand what Jesus had prophesied about his resurrection. Their faith was not in the resurrected Jesus but in the rabbi who journeyed with them, did miracles, and taught with authority. Their eyes of faith needed to be opened to recognize Jesus as Lord. That may be why Luke inserted into his narrative the word Lord (kyriou) in this verse.
These women were like many people who like Jesus as a person but need to worship him as Lord. They like what he taught, and may even be impressed by what he did. But they need to come to the point of faith in who he is.
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