Women of Easter [part 1]

This is part 1  in a 2-part series on the Women of Easter. 
In part 1 -- the Women of Easter + Timeline of Holy week + What made these women different (unalike) 
​In part 2 -- the Women of Easter, + What these women had in common + What we can learn from them

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Before you read, take a few minutes and mentally or physically jot down a few answers to the below questions. 

• What is God showing you right now? 
• What insights have you come to in the midst of the crisis of COVID-19? 
• What dreams are you holding on to? 
• What hopes will you not let go of? 
• What loyalties have risen to the top?

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Have you ever stopped to think about Easter from the view of the women who saw the crisis of the cross of Christ unfolding in front of them?

• What did they see? 
  
• What were they doing there? 
  
• Why, why were they there?

And perhaps, most importantly, what can we learn from their integral role in the events that unfolded during Holy week? ​

I have spent much of the week looking closely at the four different accounts of Holy week as shared with us via the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Each of these men walked with Jesus, knew him intimately and by Easter Sunday morning firmly believed Jesus was who he said he was. All of them used the entirety of their lives (following Jesus’ resurrection and ascension) to spread the word of Jesus and his saving grace.

As I was reading through each account this week, it struck me how distinctly each writer made sure to include this common detail: The women of Jesus’ ministry were among the few who were at the crucifixion, burial and the first to find the tomb empty. And the first to be instructed to “go and tell” the others that “He is not here. He is risen!” ​

God could have chosen anyone of the Twelve to be first to witness his resurrected body. He could have chosen a gardner, for that matter.  But it was Mary Magdalene and other women who were chosen to be the ones to first see, to first believe, and then be the first to go and tell. In a culture and time period where women were never put first, Jesus sees them first. ​

Why? ​

Why these women? ​

​First, I want to set in front of you a little timeline of the Women of Easter. It was in this looking back at the role of women, not just on Easter morning, but the days and weeks that led up to that day, that brought new insight and encouragement to me--prompting me to write about it for you.

Timeline of the Women of Easter 

• 6 days before Passover - Martha serves a meal in Jesus’ honor and Mary (sister of Lazarus) anoints Jesus with expensive perfume. 
  • “Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair” (12:3). Jesus replied, “‘It was intended that she would save this perfume for the day of my burial’” (John 12:7). 
• 2 days before Passover - a woman anoints Jesus with oil
  • “While he [Jesus] was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head”(Mark 14:3 & Matthew 26:6-7). I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her’” (Mark 14:6-9 & Matthew 26:10-13).
• Night of Jesus’ arrest (Passover, day 1) - servant girl(s) 
  • “Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard [of the High Priest], and a servant girl came to him. ‘You also were with Jesus of Galilee,’ she said. / But he denied it before them all. . . . Then he went out to the gateway, where another girl saw him and said to the people there, ‘This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.’ / He denied it again” (Matthew 26:69-72, Mark 14: 66-70, Luke 22: 56-57, & John 18:17).
• Day of Jesus’ “trial” (Passover, day 2) - Pilate’s wife 
  • “While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message, ‘Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him’’(Matthew 27:19). 
• Road to Crucifixion (Passover, day 2) - mourning & wailing women
  • [As Jesus was carrying the cross to his crucifixion] “A large number of people follow him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. . .’” (Luke 23:27-28). 
• Crucifixion (Passover, day 2) - Women of Galilee 
  • “Many women were there, watching from a distance.They followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons” (Matthew 27:55-56 & Mark 15:40). “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there. . . ’ (John 19:25-27). 
• Burial - Women of Galilee (Passover, day 2) - Mary Magdalene & Co. 
  • “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb. . . (Matthew 27:61 & Mark 15:47). “The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment” (Luke 23-55-56). 
• Empty Tomb & Jesus resurrected (Passover, day 4) - Mary Magdalene & Co.
  • “Just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb . . . when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. . . . he [the angel] said, ‘. . . go, tell his disciples and Peter’” (Mark 16: 1-7).
  • Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. / They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’ / ‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she said, ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. / ‘Woman,’ he said, ‘why are you crying? Who is it that you are looking for?’ / Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.’ / Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ / She turned to him and cried out in Aramaic Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher) (John 20:10-16).
• First telling of the “Good News” (Passover, day 4) - Mary Magdalene & Co. 
  • “Jesus said [to Mary Magdalene], ‘Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father.  Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ (the words of Ruth to Naomi) / Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord.’ And she told them that he had said these things to her (John 20:17-18).“When they came back from the tomb, they told these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles” (Luke 24:9-10). 
• Jesus walking on Emmaus Road (Passover, day 4) - “our women” 
  • [Disciples tell of the women’s testimony to Jesus on the Emmaus road] “In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see” (Luke 24:22-24).

Wow!

Right?

Since I have never sat down and read the 4 Gospel versions of Holy week in the span of a couple of days, I had never before connected all these women together as instrumental to the climax of Jesus’ life on earth--his death and resurrection. Not every account includes each of these women, so unless you read them all you’ll miss out on some of them. (Go check it out for yourself: Matthew 26-28, Mark 14-16, Luke 7-8 &, 22-24 and John 12 &18-20.)

What I want to do is pour into your mind ALL the amazing ways these stories are buzzing with nuances and details that SHOUT to my heart, this is the greatest story ever told--EVER. But that would likely end up being a novel. So, I am going to skim the cream off the top and present you with just enough to make you hungry for the contents of the rest of the cup

Because I want you to walk away from this post with inspiration, encouragement and instruction. I want you to see two things: What these women did NOT have in common. And what these women DID have in common. I believe these two themes guide us to see how to apply some important truths to our own journey with Jesus and each other, on our way toward heaven.

First, what made each of these women unique (not alike)? 

• All different ages(estimated based on context clues in the text):
  • Girls (the servant girls at the high priest's courtyard) 
  • Younger Women (Mary of Bethany and Martha and Alabaster women) 
  • Middle Age women: (Joanna, Suzanna, Mary Magdalene, and Alabaster women) 
  • Older women (Mary, Jesus’s mother, and her sister, the mother of James & John)  
• All different social statuses: 
  • Servants (girls at the high priest's courtyard)
  • Wife of the highest government official (Pilate’s wife)
  • Wife of a manager of Herod’s household (Joanna) 
  • Wealthy (Mary Magdalene, Suzanna)
  • Not wealthy (Mary, Martha, and others) 
• Different marital statuses: 
  • Married 
  • Single
  • Widowed 
• Different roles in the life of Jesus (each pertinent to the death and resurrection, or the words of Jesus coming to fruition)
  • A close look at the timeline and the Scripture reveals that each woman's actions provided an opportunity for Jesus’ ministry to culminate in his death on the cross and then his commissioning for all to go into all the world making disciples among all the nations. ​

I hope you can see this very clearly--one’s age, socio-economic position, or marital status did not determine admittance onto Jesus’ ministry team nor did those determine who was included in the redemption plan of the Father. It didn’t then and it doesn’t now. Each of these women had a unique set of actions to contribute to the fulfillment of the story. And these were birthed out of their location, devotion, and proximity to Jesus. The Father placed each of them in their time and place. And he has done the same to us! God uses women (and men) from all backgrounds, statuses, and areas of achievement in his mission of the Kingdom. He places. He uses. He determines none of these on worldly standards or labels. ​

But for as much as these women were not alike, there is also an abundance of commonalities among them. It is these that I believe lend well to us learning how to take the words of Scripture and apply the inspiration found there to instruct our actions, attitudes and perspective. 

In short, these women had the following in common: 

• Saw what others didn’t see 
• Didn’t hold back 
• Chosen (to be used to fulfill the purpose of Jesus’ call to come down to earth to save us all)

And that is where I am going to pause you for today, because that is just a lot to think about and embrace. If you have found inspiration and encouragement from today's post,  I look forward to having you to come back tomorrow for Women of Easter [part 2]: the Women of Easter + what these women had in common + what we can learn from them.   

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Jaclyn is a wife, mom, educator, visionary, and avid runner who uses her writing to pick up and examine life, culture, faith and running, probing to discover the awe of God who is sovereign over it all. Join her on her journey at jaclynloween.com. She is a firm believer in the powerful, effectiveness of the body of Christ united together to live out theGreat Commission. Because we are stronger, healthier and lovelier when living on mission together, she desires to help others know their unique design and purpose for such a time as this. Invite her to come teach at your event or retreat by heading to her Go & See. page. ​