Lent Devotion – From the Cross to the Grave – Week 5

Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons… Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
Matthew 27:55-56,61

Finding Remarkable in the Ordinary

We aren’t told how the news first reached the women. Maybe it was a brief, hurried conversation in the dead of night: “The Jewish leaders seized Jesus while he was with his disciples in Gethsemane.” It might have been a few words whispered in the wee hours of the morning: “The chief priests and the elders sent Jesus before Pilate in hopes of having him executed.” Or perhaps it was a hastily delivered update: “He’s been sentenced to crucifixion, and he’s on his way to Golgotha right now.”

Regardless of how the women found out, they came. They huddled at the foot of the hill as their teacher, mentor, and friend hung suspended from the cross. They heard his last words: forgiveness for the soldiers, hope for the criminal next to him, love for his mother. They experienced the darkness and the earthquake. They witnessed Jesus’ death.

Of course, the women didn’t go home immediately. How could they? Preparations for the Sabbath were waiting, and the day of rest was quickly approaching. But they had cared for Jesus’ needs during his life, and they weren’t about to stop now with his death. They followed as Nicodemus and Joseph took the body away from the cross. They watched as the linen-wrapped corpse was laid in Joseph’s own tomb. And they waited until the stone was rolled across the entrance to the tomb before going home—to rest on the Sabbath, yes, but first to prepare spices and perfumes for a trip back to the tomb early on Sunday morning.

In one sense, the women’s actions were remarkable. They faithfully followed Jesus to the cross even when all his disciples (except John) abandoned him and showed their devotion in the midst of horrific circumstances. But in another sense, the women behaved exactly as expected. They had likely prepared spices and perfumes before for other deceased family members and friends. They were simply carrying out their common, ordinary, everyday vocations in faithful service to their Lord.

How did the news first reach you? Was it a brief, hurried phone call late at night sharing the details of a termination at work? A few words texted in the wee hours of the morning lamenting the breaking of curfew again by a wayward teenager? A hastily delivered update from a family member or friend on their way to the doctor or hospital? And, regardless of how you found out, did you come? Did you bring help and prayers and words of Christian counsel? Did you simply carry out your common, ordinary, everyday vocation in faithful service to your neighbor?

Our lives today are very different from those of the women in Jesus’ day. And yet, we share a common calling with those women. As God’s holy and dearly loved people, we are called to serve those he places in our lives, whether that’s our dearest friend or someone we’ve just met. And best of all? When we faithfully carry out our vocations, when we show love and kindness to even the least of those around us, we are showing that same love and kindness to our Savior. How remarkable!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being. Lead us to see those you have placed in our lives, those who need our care and kindness. Bless our actions as we seek to faithfully carry out our vocations, and remind us that all this is done in service to you. Amen.

Written by Kristi Meyer