Mark 15:42-47 ~ preparation

 Earthquake in the Temple with the Veil being torn

Mark 15:42-47

It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. 45 When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.

 Entombment of Christ, painted by Carl Bloch

 46 So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.

 The Women See Where Jesus is Entombed, painted by James Tissot

62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first."

65 "Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

Luke 23:55,56

55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

John 19:38-41         Also records the body of Jesus and the spice details.

38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.

Italian News - radioactive waves emanating from the Shroud are measured reports the Shroud dates to Jesus' crucifixion.

 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders.

What will you remember from the readings of late Good Friday (Preparation Day), Holy Saturday (Passover or Special Sabbath) and early the first day of the week (Easter Sunday)?

If you are focusing on the details of the embalming spices, you are either fortunate to have not have lived through a trauma or you are seeing a "mistake" in the gospels. Mary Magdalene ; the other ladies were not merely making a mistake by bringing a second round of spices to a sealed tomb. This is, more than likely, not a mistaken detail in the Gospels.

In an extreme trauma, people all react differently. Some bring spices in an effort to do the last possible thing for one whom they have given their heart to, Jesus. Some will be focused on observing the ritual to pull them through, like following step a to step b, believing life will go on more easily if all the steps are followed appropriately. Some will cling to the Jewish burial customs because they are numb and unable to focus properly. Some come to the tomb because they are trying to believe Jesus' tragic death did occur. Some will come to be near Jesus, a first step in good-bye.

During Jesus' trial, His suffering and His death, all the Temple authorities heard Jesus declare He was God's Son. Pilate heard Jesus say He was a King and declared so himself by posting the sign in three languages. The Roman Guard knew Jesus' death was of an innocent, declared to be God. The crowd waited with morbidity to see if a miracle would occur. Those guilty in His death placed damage control in place.

The disciples were hiding in fear. Jesus lived defiantly through an attempt to stone Him, Once the temple guards wouldn't take Him, because they realized He spoke unlike anyone else - with authority from His Father. Jesus lived through several attempts to seize him. Some believed they would be next to be destroyed by the Temple authorities. The beloved disciple, John, knew he had directly seen the most evil the spiritual realm had to offer. John believed for the rest of his life, the world would end soon. Some of the disciples were defiantly angry - Thomas. Some of the disciples were ashamed. All were afraid and heart broken.

Mary, the mother of God, is not heard from. She was probably beyond being seen by others. Simeon had told about Mary's sorrow in Luke 2:34-35

Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too."

Yet the people involved with Jesus and Good Friday had one emotion in common, they were in sorrow. And unknowingly,  all were waiting.

The Roman Empire would be waiting during the next 350 years to eradicate Jesus. The gates of hell have not prevailed.

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