And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
Jesus had been crucified on a Friday and buried before sundown, when the Jewish Sabbath — a weekly holy day of rest required by God's law — began. No work of any kind could be done during the Sabbath, which ran from Friday evening to Saturday evening. The moment it ended, three women who had been followers of Jesus — Mary Magdalene, another Mary who was the mother of a disciple named James, and a woman named Salome — immediately went to purchase burial spices. Their intention was to go to the tomb where Jesus had been placed and properly anoint his body, a final act of care and honor. They had no idea that when they arrived, they would find the tomb empty.
Lord, some mornings I show up with my spices and no idea what I am walking into. Thank you that you have always had a habit of meeting grieving, ordinary people in their most ordinary acts of love. Give me the courage to keep moving toward you even when I cannot see past the stone in front of me. Amen.
They didn't know. That is the thing nobody says about this verse. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome woke up that first Sunday morning carrying grief with no exit. They had watched Jesus die. They had seen where the body was laid. And so they did the only thing available to them — they went to the market, bought spices, and made plans to go finish the work of honoring someone they loved. They were not walking toward resurrection. They were walking toward a corpse. There was nothing theological about it. It was just love with nowhere else to go. You probably cannot see past your current grief either — the diagnosis, the relationship that ended, the prayer that has gone unanswered for so long you've stopped tracking it. These three women teach us something without meaning to, because they weren't trying to be brave or faithful or symbolic. They just went. They picked up their spices and they went, because what else do you do? And somehow, the most astonishing morning in human history happened to meet them in the middle of that ordinary, sorrowful errand. They brought what they had. They showed up in the dark. Whatever you are carrying right now — what would it look like to simply pick up your spices and go?
Why did the women have to wait until after the Sabbath to visit the tomb, and what does the specific detail of them buying burial spices tell us about what they expected to find when they got there?
Think of a time when you kept showing up — kept doing the next faithful thing — without knowing how a situation would resolve. What did that feel like, and what, if anything, did it teach you?
These women were heading to anoint a body — they had no framework yet for resurrection. What does it say about God that he chose to meet them in that ordinary, grief-soaked errand rather than in some dramatic, prepared moment?
Who in your life is in their own 'Saturday' right now — in the grief or uncertainty between a loss and whatever comes next? What does this verse stir in you about what you could do for that person?
What is the 'next faithful thing' in front of you right now that you have been postponing because you cannot see the outcome? What would it look like this week to simply pick up your spices and go?
And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,
Luke 8:2
The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
John 20:1
And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.
Luke 23:56
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
John 19:25
In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
Matthew 28:1
Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
Matthew 13:55
Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning , they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
Luke 24:1
Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
Matthew 28:10
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome purchased [sweet-smelling] spices, so that they might go and anoint Him.
AMP
When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.
ESV
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the [mother] of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him.
NASB
The Resurrection When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.
NIV
Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.
NKJV
Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body.
NLT
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could embalm him.
MSG