Mark 16:1–3

For the third time these three devoted women — Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome — come before us. It seems they had already bought sweet spices to anoint the Lord's body once the sabbath was past. Unbelief expected to find the Lord's body in the grave, and ignorance would try to keep it there. But the Spirit of God delights to take what is precious out of what is worthless. He dwells on their devoted love, which led them to buy the spices and come to the grave at sunrise.

The women stood by the cross when all the men who had claimed to be devoted to Him had run away, except John. The women were the last at His tomb on the night of His death, and the first there on the morning of His resurrection. He showed Himself alive to them before any of the men knew He had risen. And Mary Magdalene was the chief among those women, and the first to see Him.

In this chapter we see the women coming to the grave of Jesus with love, but with no understanding of resurrection, and so in deep confusion. They had "bought spices" so that they might come and anoint Him. The Lord had told the disciples plainly that He was about to rise from the dead. The faith of even these saints of God was so small that, on the very day He had prepared them to expect His rising, they were busy with what suited a dead Christ only, not the risen and living One.

Three things are clearly shown by this: first, their affection for Christ; second, that they had no expectation of the resurrection; and last, their true godliness, seen in their submission to the word of God. They longed to pour out the signs of their deep love on the dead body of their Lord. But the sabbath came at once, so these holy women — Mary Magdalene the best known among them — waited and rested in obedience to the commandment before they carried out their plan.

The Sabbath closed at six, as is known, and from Saturday at six in the evening the women were free to buy their spices, or to do anything else.

Other women had bought spices to embalm the Lord. They may have bought some before the sabbath began, so that they could rest during the sabbath day. And after the sabbath was over — that is, at six o'clock — they certainly waited till the morning to embalm Him.

They had bought sweet spices in order to anoint His body, but they would never use them. Mary of Bethany had anointed Him before, and He credited her with doing this in view of His burial (Ch.14:8). They may not have known that the stone had been sealed and a guard set. But they knew how hard it would be to roll the stone away, and they asked who would do it. Yet their love for Him brought them there.

The woman who anointed the Lord's feet in Simon's house showed more real love, and more understanding of God's truth, than those who brought their hundred pounds of sweet spices to His empty tomb. Their loving act came at the wrong time, for He was not there — He had risen. And there was no decay there needing rich perfume to cover it.

So Christ lay in the grave that sabbath, but now He is risen — risen on the first day of the week, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep... So we do not celebrate the rest of the old creation; we were completely lost as part of it. We celebrate the resurrection of our blessed Lord, as the foundation and beginning of the new creation, when redemption is accomplished.

The first text speaks of the Sabbath that came before the resurrection day, not of the resurrection day itself. It points to late on that Sabbath, at the dusk of evening. By Jewish reckoning, that was when the next day was to begin. In Matthew, verse 2 starts a distinct paragraph referring to that first day. The second text tells us that when the Sabbath was past, the women it names bought the spices to embalm Him. But when they came to the tomb very early next morning, they learned that the Lord had risen. So says the third text. The fourth tells us of two separate visits by Mary of Magdala. On the first she saw the stone taken away. On the second He appeared to her for the first time.

Here Mark gives us a little bit of light. They were there at the rising of the sun. They must then have been there twice. I do not doubt it. Whether they went back overnight is not the question. They came out at sunrise. But before they got there, and before the sun was up, the blessed Lord had risen.

This shows three things very clearly. First, their affection for Christ. Second, they expected no resurrection at all. Third, their devout piety, seen in their obedience to the word of God. They longed to lavish the signs of their ardent love on the dead body of their Lord.

Unbelief thought to find the Lord's body in the grave, and ignorance would seek to keep it there. But the Spirit of God delights to take what is precious out of what is worthless. He dwells on their devoted love, which led them to buy the spices and come to the grave at sunrise.

The disciples kept the commandment by observing the Sabbath. Then they hurried — at least the women devoted to the Lord did — to come at dawn on the first day of the week. They wanted to honour the body of their loved Master by embalming it at last. But they arrived too late. The power, righteousness, glory and love of the Father had gone before them in raising Christ from among the dead. What a glorious morning! The beginning of an eternal era for the redeemed.

But what a sunrise that must have been, though their eyes did not appreciate it! Let no one tell me that the day dawned like other days, or that all nature did not exult in that great hour. There must have been a triumph and a fragrance in it that no rising of the sun had ever known before.

The memorial of creation rest was the Sabbath, not the first day. The law imposed it in due time as a most holy commandment, bound up in a special way with God's authority and honour. The resurrection of Christ has brought in a new creation, after He had by Himself purged our sins on the cross. So the first day is the day of open and triumphant life in Christ, who is our life. On that day our hearts go out in worship, communion and service. There was no transfer from the seventh day to the first, and the first is never called the Sabbath day. The New Testament closes by stamping this day as "the Lord's day" (Revelation 1:10).

In this chapter we have the women coming to the grave of Jesus with love, but no understanding of resurrection, and so in deep confusion. They had "bought spices" so that they could come and anoint Him. The Lord had told the disciples clearly that He was about to rise from the dead. The faith of even these saints of God was so small. On the very day He had prepared them to expect His rising, they busied themselves with what suited only a dead Christ, not the risen and living One.

No grave ever buried brighter hopes than the grave of Jesus. No hearts were ever more empty than the hearts of those women. They shuddered in their sorrow as the great stone rolled into place at the door of that tomb and shut the body of their Lord away from their tear-filled eyes... The Jews had rejected His kingship... the crowd had gone home saying He was no king at all. But to those women He was King, and more. He had lost the kingdom, yet He would lie in His tomb as a King if they could manage it.

Coming to the grave, these devoted women find that God had been there before them, and the stone is rolled away. God did not move it so that the body of the Lord could leave the grave. He moved it so that disciples could go in and see that the place where they laid Him is empty. No stone, however great, could hold the body of the Lord in the grave.

This is what resurrection can do; this is the power that comes with it. The hindrance was beyond their strength to move, and the stone that blocked the grave was very great. But this made no difference to God, and it was now rolled away.

To the reasoning mind of the natural man, there is still a great stone at the grave of Christ. Cut off from God, fallen man finds the truth of resurrection an obstacle he cannot get past. The Greek philosophers, like the philosophers of today, may claim to believe that the soul never dies. But they refuse to accept the resurrection of the body. Man likes the thought that his soul lives on after it leaves the body. But raising the body would clearly take the power of God, and men hate God — so the thought of depending on Him disgusts them. Leave God out and resurrection is impossible; bring in God, and His power, and all difficulties vanish — the stone is rolled away.

We may, like Mary, feel like crying out, "Who will roll away the stone for us?" Who? The risen Jesus. Grasp resurrection, and you rise above the power of every burden... How often have we shrunk from the thought of some trial or burden! In the distance it looked like a dark cloud on the horizon. Yet when we came near it, we "found the stone rolled away from the tomb." The risen Jesus had rolled it away... She had come to the tomb expecting a great stone between her and the One she loved. Instead she found the risen Jesus between her and the difficulty she dreaded.