Mark 16:1-2
I
have a confession to make. I often procrastinate on unpleasant tasks. That’s
right. I said it. I don’t like doing things I don’t like doing. And when I have
to do something I don’t like doing, I will often push it off into the future as
far as possible. That’s right. The guy who writes a BLOG everyday about
spiritual disciplines, walking out our faith in Jesus, living a life worthy of
the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf, that guy procrastinates!
So
why do I do it? I don’t like doing some things. It is that simple. There are
some unpleasant things that I do right away, to get them out of the way. I do
them quickly to remove the pain of prolonged procrastination. But some things
sit on my To Do list for a very long time. And to be honest, some things don’t
even get put on the To Do list, because I really
don’t want to do them. They do linger out there in To Do land, in the city of Someday.
I hope to visit there in the future.
The
women in our text have a task that I am sure they are dreading. No one likes
funerals. Even under the best of circumstances, a very old person with a life
well led and at peace with their death, having said all their goodbyes, even
that funeral would be hard.
But
these women have the task of preparing Jesus’ body, a body that was hastily
placed in a borrowed grave after what I am sure they view as an untimely and
unjust death. I mean, what did Jesus ever do to the Romans? What did Jesus
every say to the Jewish religious leaders that wasn’t true and wasn’t deserved?
They had it coming, didn’t they?
These
women had seen Jesus die from a distance. They were there when Joseph of
Arimathea received the body from the Roman authorities. They had followed him
to his tomb, a tomb that he had paid to be cut for he and his family. And then
they had to retreat to remain ‘clean’ for the Passover and the Sabbath. They
were forced to wait, to retreat, to contemplate. I am sure they spent those
multiple hours talking, crying, praying, sharing their memories. And I am sure
there were many questions swirling in their heads, and probably swirling in the
room.
The
biggest question is the one we try to avoid, but inevitably arises. Why? They
got an answer in the coming days and months, but in that moment, that question
probably loomed large. The same is true for us when we have the big ‘why’ come
our way. In the moment it looms large, but then usually fades over time, either
because we get bits and pieces of an answer, or because we get a peace that
makes the answer not so important. Either way, for most of us, the ‘why’ does
not become the center of our lives. It was just part of the grieving process.
So
these women get up at the appointed time, gather their supplies and head
together to prepare Jesus’ body. They had to buy the spices. Burial spices
weren’t something you kept in your spice rack above your stove. And even if you
did, no one had that much on hand. Remember, the spices weren’t meant to embalm
the body, just to cover the smell for a short period of time. The body would
have been left there to decompose over time. Then at some future point, the
bones would have been gathered and placed in a burial pot, or smaller niche in
the wall of the tomb.
But
for them, this unfinished business was delayed by a religious festival
celebration when family would have gathered, the past deliverance would have
been celebrated, food eaten, laughter and catching up. But none of that
happened. They had been overcome by the grief and shock of Jesus’ death. They
had expected a different outcome.