He Ain't Here - Part 1 (John 20:1-2)
It is early Sunday morning and in the cover of darkness heartbroken women are going to the tomb of their recently fallen Rabbi, their former Leader, and the One they believed to be Messiah in order to show genuine if not effective kindness (Mark 16:1; Matthew 28:1). Only a few days earlier these devoted followers had watched their innocent Jesus vilified by His enemies, suffering with the results of a scourging that had taken chunks of flesh away from His back, and then crucified before their eyes. And then they saw and heard His pain as He hung on a cross in shame crying out to His Father about being forsaken (Psalm 22:1; Mark 15:34). Finally they saw His body buried (Luke 23:52-55); they were eyewitness to the place of Jesus burial and thus they know exactly where to find it even in the darkness of dawn (John 19:39-40). Their plan is to anoint His bloodied, broken, and now decaying body with an offsetting aromatic collection of spices.
Why are they doing this? Jesus' body had already been prepared with nearly 100 pounds of myrrh and aloe before it was buried. Were they unaware of what Nicodemus (John 3:1; 7:50; 19:39-40) had done? This seems unlikely as they were present when the body was buried and such a large quantity of spices and wrappings would have been noticed. Further, the wrapping would have taken time. Since the women were present when Jesus died and when He was buried it is logical to think that they were near when the body was prepared by Nicodemus. Why are they doing this? Because such was their devotion:
These things were all part of their dedication to Jesus. And even after His passing their devotion undaunted. Their plan, in view of what had already been done for Jesus' body, is not necessarily logical but it is loving. They are at the tomb in the wee hours of the morning to anoint a decaying body that had already been prepared for burial because they love Jesus. It is illogical but the acts of love keep coming. As we think on their crazy love for Jesus we are reminded of God's crazy love for us (John 3:16). But things are not going according to plan.
They saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb (John 20:1). Based on the other gospel accounts we know that they also noticed the body was gone and that they tried to tell these things to the other disciples. But the other disciples could not understand what had happened (Luke 24:11-12). Two of Jesus' closest disciples go to see for themselves. What they find will leave one disciple confused and the other disciple convinced.