I. TO THE WOMEN. AUTHORITIES: Mt. xxviii. 1-10; Mc. xvi, 1-8; 'Mc.' xvi. 9-11; Lc. xxiv. 1-12; Jo. xx. 1-18. AT a distance from the Cross, where the Lord hung, a large2 group of women-disciples stood and witnessed His death. Their names were known and held in honour by the Church in after years, for in Galilee they had ministered, out of their wealth or their poverty, to the wants of Jesus and the Twelve, and when the time came for the last journey to Jerusalem, they had gone up with Him, and endured to the end. Among them were Mary of Magdala, out of whom the Lord had cast seven devils, and another Mary, mother of two early disciples, James the Little and Joseph; Salome, the mother of the Apostles James and John, and perhaps also Joanna, the wife of Chuza, steward of Herod Antipas, and Susanna.5 1 Mt. Mc. Lc. ἀπὸ μακρόθεν. Lc. viii. 3 avтoîs. 5Lc. viii. 3, xxiv. 10. 2 Με. ἄλλαι πολλαί. 4 Lc. .c., Mc.' xvi. 9. A. L. A When all was over, the two Marys, at least,1 lingered behind as if spellbound; and as the darkness lifted, they saw the two members of the Sanhedrin who were disciples of Jesus, Joseph from Arimathaea2 and Nicodemus,3 prepare the Lord's body for burial, lay it on a shelf in Joseph's new garden-tomb, which happened to be close to the place of crucifixion, and roll to the opening the great circular stone used to protect rock-tombs against intruders. Then at length the last of the women made their way back to their lodgings in the city, for darkness was approaching and the Sabbath drew on. On the Sabbath they rested, as the Law required; 4 but after sunset, when the legal rest was over, the women stole into the streets again to buy spices for the body of the dead Master. Perhaps from their distant place of observation they had not seen that it was embalmed by Joseph and Nicodemus ; or, if they had, they desired to add their own. tribute of devotion. That night, it may be believed, they slept little; and before daybreak on the first day of the week 1 Mt., Mc.; cf. Lc. 4 Lc. xxiii. 56. 6 2 Mt., Mc., Lc. 3 Jo. xix. 39 ff. Mc. includes Salome. 6 Μt. τῇ ἐπιφωσκόυσῃ, Mc. λίαν πρωί, Lc. ὄρθρου βαθέως, Jo. σκοτίας ἔτι οὔσης. Μ.'ς ὀψὲ σαββάτων and Mc.'s ἀνατείλαντος (v.. ἀνατέλλοντος) τοῦ ἡλίου can hardly be pressed in view of this consensus. they were on their way to Joseph's garden. ⠀ Our first Gospel, which reports that on the day after the Crucifixion the tomb had been sealed and guarded by Pilate's soldiers at the desire of the Sanhedrin, supposes that their purpose was to gaze at the tomb again from a safe distance; but the older narrative of S. Mark says plainly that they went with the intention of anointing the body.1 Plainly they knew nothing of the sealing or the watch, and it was not until they were well on their way that it occurred to them to ask how the great stone, which they had seen rolled to the door, was to be removed.2 A gloss in one of the MSS. of S. Luke says that twenty men could hardly have rolled it away-an exaggeration, of course; but it would certainly have defied the strength of a few women. The difficulty, however, melted away almost as soon as it was realized: they were now in view of the tomb, and in the growing light of the dawn they could see that the stone had been pushed aside. Here the first Gospel again interposes a statement which is not in the others: there had been a great earthquake, which had 2 The apocryphal Peter-Gospel suggests that if unable to carry out their purpose, they intended to lay what they brought at the door of the tomb (§ II κἂν ἐπὶ τῆς θύρας βάλωμεν ἃ φέρομεν). 88ν μόγις εἴκοσι ἐκύλιον (cod. D). rolled it away. In any case the women, whose simple story is given by S. Mark, did not stop to inquire the cause of the stone's removal. The sight of the open tomb quickened their steps; and presently they were pushing their way in, when they were startled by a bright light inside. Afterwards, when they came to tell their tale, impressions were found to differ; one thought she saw a white-robed youth sitting on the right of the entrance; another reported that two men in dazzling attire appeared to them.1 A third story was that an angel of the Lord had rolled away the stone, paralysing with fear the soldiers who were watching the tomb, and that it was he who now shewed himself to the women on their arrival at the tomb. What happened cannot now be determined exactly, but some startling phenomena must lie behind these independent accounts. The women were dumb with fear, whereupon a voice bade them fear not; they were seeking Jesus who had been crucified; He was not in the tomb; He had risen, He was alive; let them go with speed and tell His disciples, and Peter in particular, that He was risen, and was going in advance of 1 Με. νεανίσκον καθήμενον. Lc. ἄνδρες δύο ἐπέστησαν αὐταῖς. 4 Με. καὶ τῷ Πέτρῳ. * Με. ἐξεθαμβήθησαν. 4 them into Galilee, where they would see Him as He had promised.1 One of the party, as it appears, did not see the vision of angels or hear their message. 3 At the first glance, which shewed that the tomb was empty, or perhaps as soon as she realized that it was open, Mary of Magdala had hastened back to the city, to seek Peter, the first of the Apostles, and John, the disciple whom Jesus had loved, and with whom His mother now was. The Magdalene's tale roused the two men from their stupor; here was indeed a new turn in the course of events, under which they could not sit still. They ran together to the tomb to see for themselves what had happened; and John, arriving first, was satisfied by one eager look that the body was gone, since the linen wraps were lying where it had been. Peter, who followed, with characteristic promptness entered the cave, and noted further that the head-cloth had been separated from the rest of the linen, and rolled up 5 by itself, doubt 1Mc. καθὼς εἶπεν ὑμῖν: cf. Mt. καθὼς εἶπεν. another version of the words (xxiv. 5-7). Lc. has quite 4 Sanday, Criticism of the Fourth Gospel, p. 91: 'He is fleet of foot and outstrips his companion, but he is also of a finer and more sensitive mould, and when he reaches the tomb a feeling of awe comes over him and he pauses for a moment outside.' 5 ἐντετυλιγμένον. |