Daily Devotional for Monday, November 20

The Grief

“And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun,” Mark 16:2.

These three women desired to honor the body of Christ by anointing it with spices. It was customary for the bodies of the deceased to be rubbed with oils and spices to keep the smell of decomposition at a minimum. Even though Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus did put a mixture of myrrh and aloes on the body (John 19:39, 40), the women wanted also to pay respect to Jesus by doing the same thing.

One of their concerns was the fact the huge stone which was used to seal the entrance would keep them from entering, for it was too heavy for them to roll it away. Though this was a consideration, it did not stop them from coming to the tomb. In fact, this was an afterthought because they did not discuss it until they had arrived. All that was on their minds was doing for the body of Jesus what was tradition to do. This showed they cared for and loved Jesus.

This passage also shows a lack of faith. By tradition, they came to the tomb although Jesus had spoken of His resurrection several times. Nevertheless, He was dead, His body would be there. So they thought! “And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31). Jesus said the phrase “three days,” referring to His resurrection, three different times in the gospels. This phrase was also repeated several more times by people who heard Him speak. No doubt, the things that Jesus spoke

spread quickly. In either case, these women heard of His resurrection by Jesus Himself or by others who heard it. Though they heard, they did not believe.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT: Check your belief! Do you believe all the words of Jesus or just some?

Karry Irizarry