I imagine the women of the Easter story were like women of today.
They probably got tired of cooking, doing laundry, cleaning up messes, weeding the garden, hauling things, working at home, working away from home, maybe working in a pasture with smelly sheep or goats.
But the Bible doesn’t give us a lot of detail about these women.
However, we do know that Mary #1, Joanna, Mary #2, and their girlfriends met Someone who forever changed their lives—a man named Jesus. And they followed Him, not like on Facebook or Instagram. They put on their sandals and got blisters following Him.
They even followed Jesus to Jerusalem, where the three most significant days in human history unfolded.
Day One-darkness and death—the unimaginable
Day Two-the day in-between
Day Three-Light and Life—THE Unimaginable
Luke 23:49 records this:
But all those who knew him (Jesus), including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
What were they watching? Not just the execution of an innocent man, but the crucifixion of the Son of God.
Jesus was dead. They saw it with their own eyes.
Try to imagine their shock and horror. Try to feel their despair and hopelessness.
Day One ended. Day Two, the day in-between, began. What would they do now?
We get a hint in Luke 23:46:
Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.
After watching Jesus die, I’m not sure I would be able to eat or sleep or think coherently, much less gather items for His burial and obey the law as a proper Jewess would.
But what a surprise awaited these women on Day Three—THE Unimaginable.
There was new information from reliable sources (Angels-it doesn’t get more reliable than that!): “He (Jesus)is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while he was still with you in Galilee.” (Luke 24:6)
The women did remember and naturally rushed to share the news with Jesus’ disciples. Interestingly enough, the guys thought their words seemed (to them) like nonsense. (Luke 24:11b)
‘Nonsense?’ Really?
‘That nonsense’ forever changed the world.
In our day and age, Christians tend to focus on Good Friday (Day One) and Easter Sunday (Day Three) and for extremely good reasons. But Saturday (Day Two) has no special name or emphasis.
And yet I find great inspiration from these Biblical women on Day Two. They not only witnessed Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, but they survived the worst Saturday ever—when all hope was gone.
How did they manage?
- With devotion to Christ. They prepared to do the last loving thing they could do for Him.
- With devotion to truth. They obeyed the fourth commandment.
Let’s be honest. Life is full of ‘Day Twos,’ days when we might want to abandon devotion and fall prey to all manner of hopelessness. We might want to give up and head back ‘to Galilee.’
But don’t!
Those ‘in-between days’ will end at some point while the reality of John 3:16 will live on:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
None of us were there when Christ died and rose from the dead. In my heart of hearts, I want to be like those Biblical women who were there. I want to live out John 14:21:
(Jesus said) “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show Myself to them.”
I’m writing this on Saturday, Day Two, the ‘day in-between.’ I hope it encourages you in some way, and I pray Resurrection Sunday, Day Three, will be your greatest celebration ever!
Happy Easter!
Until next time…
