Most people I talk to want a bit more sleep. This is especially true this time of year. All the preparations, all the late night gift wrapping, the baking and shopping. It can really wear a person out. And yet there are times when coffee just isn’t enough. I hope this isn’t one of those mornings. This is Christmas morning, after all. And if you have little ones, they have a hard time waiting for you to finish your coffee before they want to open those presents.
My tradition growing up was that we could open our stockings before breakfast, but that we had to wait until after our breakfast, everyone’s breakfast, before we could sit together and open the presents, one at a time.
Don’t get me wrong, paper flew, but it was in a more controlled way. We took time to see what everyone else was getting. We tried to enjoy the process. Or at least that was the official line. You have to remember, that we, the kids, had already scoped out the presents under the tree. We had check tags for our names. We might have even tried to guess the contents. Lifting and shaking were off limits, but a little poking and x-ray vision were allowed. We knew there would be some of the standards, underwear and socks, but it was the other things that excited us.
But for the women in our text today, their two previous nights of waiting would have been much more difficult. They had been waiting to return to the tomb. And not just any tomb, Jesus’ tomb. The hasty burial prior to the Sabbath meant that their job had not been completed. In fact, it hadn’t even begun. Joseph of Arimathea had received the body from the Roman authorities and quickly placed it in his own tomb as a place of safe keeping. The Roman’s has secured the site with a contingent of soldiers to ensure no one would steal the body.
But the women, I am sure, haven’t thought of anything but the upcoming tasks. They must wash and prepare Jesus body, honoring Him with their tenderness and tears. So they might have spent some of the Sabbath day gathering the things they needed for their task. But remember, they couldn’t do work on the Sabbath. So maybe they just did all the coordination, finding where things were, devising a plan of action for that morning.
The sun slipped above the horizon and off they went, plan executing, supplies gathered, rendezvous and walk. Remember, they are visiting the area for the Passover festival. They don’t necessarily know all the suppliers and connections. But they probably did what most people do, they connected with each other. They got the ladies’ supply network engaged. They ordered from Amazon, and asked for two day shipping.
And all the while they are grieving! Jesus was dead. They were going to prepare His body. But when they get there, no body, just a young man telling them Jesus has risen! This did not compute. They were there to finish the burial, and now they are being told Jesus isn’t there. Wait a minute. He’s not here? Where is He? What do you mean He is going to meet the disciples in Galilee?
And without resolution, they leave. Their hearts are now really troubled. How are we supposed to finish our task if there isn’t a body? They don’t quite know what to do now. Would you?
The Arnold Journey 