Sermon Tone Analysis

There are those women who followed Jesus in his ministry.

They are often overlooked, but nevertheless it must be acknowledged that they were the main supporters of this ministry, albeit if they are sorely neglected in their importance because of the culture of their day.

It is believed that this group of women were not only facilitators of the ministry of Christ, but probably also helpful in bankrolling his cause.

The book of Luke shares twice that these women are the women of Galilee.

Matthew and Mark interestingly state “many” women were present at the death of Jesus, but only two at his burial.

Mary, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Clopas, and Salome and other women make up this entourage of persons involved in witnessing the death of Jesus and being involved in preparing for his burial- and of course being involved in the story of his resurrection.

All depends on the gospel writer you read and the perspective that is being given.

Because Jesus was crucified and died on the day of preparation, it was necessary to have his body off the cross and in a tomb before the Sabbath.

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, according to John, came and removed his body ffom the cross and hurriedly took it to a tomb cut in the rock.

It was a tomb no other body had ever been placed in.

The preparation of his body by Joseph and Nicodemus was certain to be rushed.

Being Jews, it was absolutely necessary that no work be done on the sabbath day.

The day of preparation was the day before the Sabbath.

All work had to be done on this day, because on the sabbath day no work would be done.

The men worked hurriedly to place Jesus’ body into the tomb.

These women of Galilee were visitors to Jerusalem for Passover.

They would not have known their way around and so they followed these men to see where the body of Jesus would be placed.

These women, in their devotion to Jesus, planned to return on the day after the Sabbath in order to properly prepare the body of Jesus for burial.

Devoted to him in life, they would continue that devotion in death.

Now there was really a collision of events that had brought these people to Jerusalem.

It was Passover.

The celebration of the escape from Egypt.

The paschal lamb, the blood on the doorposts, the plagues of Egypt- and the worst of all plagues- the death of the firstborn.

On that night, death passed over the Hebrew children and their homes because of the blood placed over their doorposts.

And they walked out of Egypt- free.

And God led them through water and desert .

Free.

And God fed them and cared for them- free.

It was Passover!

Jerusalem had swelled over these days.

Josephus recorded over 3 million people!

(It was probably more like 130,000.)

Nevertheless, it was one of three major festivals that required Jews to return to Jerusalem to celebrate.

That would make this day of preparation a little more important- it was the day of preparation before a “high” Sabbath.

It was special, and it was important to get the preparations done ahead of time so no work would be done on the sabbath day.

Having viewed the tomb of Jesus- having noted how Joseph and Nicodemus lay his body in the grave, they were now prepared to return to Jerusalem.

They knew where this tomb was and now they could return at the earliest possible time and prepare Jesus body for burial.

There are so many things I want to say to you this morning.

But there is only so much time.

Please take note of the passage that is on the screen right now.

The three action verbs are what i want to focus on this morning- I’ll help you out before I get started.

They returned.

They prepared.

They rested.

They Returned

Have you ever had to go back?

Go back to something that was never going to be the same again?

Passover had always been a high holy event for the Jewish people.

These women had been here before most certainly.

But there was new meaning in this event now.

A few days previous they had watched as their Teacher had mounted a donkey and entered Jerusalem.

People were throwing their coats in his way.

They were waving palm branches as he rode.

They were singing and celebrating, “Hosanna!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

By all appearances, everyone was happy.

They celebrated that the masses were now coming to a conclusion that they had probably made long before this.

This was the Messiah- this was the Promised One.

Israel would be saved, Roman oppression would cease- and the Day of the Lord would be here.

But today, as they “returned”, there was no singing, no joyful crowd.

There was sadness and heartache in them and in those they loved.

Things had changed and they could never be the same ever again.

I remember when I was a small boy.

We lived in the house at 2207 Michigan Avenue in East Liverpool, Ohio.

When you entered the front door of that 2 story wood frame home you immediately entered the main living area.

In my childhood, that room held a couch, a chair, 2 large aquariums (my father was great with tropical fish), a television and an organ (my sister was a church organist).

I watched movies in that room, I wrestled my brothers in that room, I played, I sang, I listened, I grew, and I had many, many happy memories in that room.

But one day when I was about 11 years of age, the ravages of cancer had gripped my father for 5 long years.

And one day they brought a hospital bed and placed it in that room.

The organ was hastily moved to another room and there in that bed my father lay until his death in 1974.

I watched my father suffer, cry, pray for mercy and pray for death in that bed.

One summer July day in 1974 I returned from somewhere and as I looked down Michigan Avenue towards my house I saw an ambulance backed up to the front door of my home.

It was sitting in the front yard where we had played ball, played tag, and pretended a hundred different games in my young life.

I ran towards that house to see them take my father out of the bed and place his half-dead self into the back of that ambulance.

My father never came home again.

You know, that house is gone now.

But in the later years of my life there was rarely a time that I entered that front door of my childhood home that I didn’t see my father’s hospital bed in that far wall.

Gone were so many joyous memories and family stories as they were overcome by that one story of what cancer had done to my father and to his family.

To this day, if I drive down that street even though the house is gone I can see that house and that front yard- and I see that ambulance parked there with its back doors open.

The kickball games are gone, the tag is gone- those things are forever seen through the lens of a tragedy that happened in that location.

That is what these women were returning to.

They were going back to a place that they had been to before, but it would never be the same.

They would always have the events of that day etched in their hearts and minds- the arrest in the garden, the trial and the beating- the keepers of their faith demanding that the teacher they loved be not only arrested but murdered- and they would never forget the brutal death they had witnessed on a hill just outside of Jerusalem.

For them, the most Holy City would always be a reminder of the most unholiest event they knew: the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

As they returned to the city, they returned to those thoughts and those things.

And they prepared.

And they prepared.

They prepared.

It was, after all, the day of preparation.

They gathered the spices and the ointments.

They knew that once the Sabbath day began they could do no more work.

As much preparation as they made now would allow them to get to the tomb that much earlier on the day after the Sabbath.

They prepared.

You’ve got to see everything that is found in this word, “Prepared”.

It is not only that they made the necessary material preparations- ointment and spices.

They were “prepared” in the sense that they were resolute in their determination that at first light, the day after the Sabbath, they would be on the spot taking care of their Master, Jesus.

They were determined, as it were, to follow through.

There would be no half ways, no partial job by Nicodemus and Joseph- these women would see that the job was done, done right, and done completely.

As they lay down their heads that night, as the High Sabbath started, they would know that they were ready- that their next act of duty would come because they were ready for it to come.

I don’t know what it would have cost these women to prepare the body of Jesus for burial.