Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women
Today is the second Sunday after Pascha, so we turn to our attention to the burial of Jesus and the discovery of the empty tomb. Though we celebrated these events during Holy Week and on Pascha, the church again draws our attention to these events—though, now, with a special emphasis on the other players within the story.
It was Joseph of Arimathaea who asked for Jesus’s body from Pilate and who buried it in his own tomb. And, it was the myrrh-bearing women who went to anoint Jesus’s corpse but discovered an empty tomb instead.
Upside-down Stories
Today, as we hear these stories, they seem coherent. Nothing stands out as especially odd or out of place. But, this is a result of our own ignorance of the gospel.
Like the disciples, we’ve fallen into the trap of thinking we know what’s going on, but we’re actually a little cloudy in our understanding of these events. Over and over again, in his ministry, especially in the Gospel of Mark, the disciples didn’t get the point of Jesus’s ministry or what he meant when he told them he must go to Jerusalem and die. Now, it seems, we’re in the same position!
Think about it.
From our perspective, we know that Jesus’s death was how God’s glory was to be shown on earth. Through the crucifixion, we see, simultaneously, what it means to be both human and divine. The death of the Son of God is what tramples down death by death and becomes God’s victory. And, from our perspective, we know that Jesus’s death isn’t permanent—it’s the doorway to resurrection.
The Unsettling Questions
So, if we’re aware that Jesus’s death isn’t permeant and his death must happen for creation to be renewed, why would Jospeh ask for Jesus’s body for burial? (Actually, in the text, Joseph asks for Jesus’s “body,” but receives his “corpse.” What does that mean?) If he knew that Jesus is destined to rise, this doesn’t make sense.
In other words, if Joseph was truly “awaiting the Kingdom of God” and he’d paid attention to Jesus’s ministry, it’s comical for him to “seal” Jesus’s corpse in a tomb. In fact, with this perspective, it’s almost as if Joseph is trying to be a hindrance!
And, the myrrh-bearing women … if they were also with Jesus during his ministry, then they had also heard Jesus teach about his death and resurrection. And, if they truly believed that he would rise from the dead, as he said he would, why bother anointing a corpse that won’t stay dead?
Why be amazed when the angel proclaims, “He has been raised; he is not here”? Of course, this leads to their bewilderment and muteness. They end up, according to St. Mark, not saying anything to anyone!
All this is a far cry from how we usually think about these saints. Typically, we think of them as great evangelists, saints who went on to herald the ancient proclamation of the gospel.
But, if we only see them this way, then what Mark is trying to tell us becomes cloudy. We have to come to the text with fresh eyes to hear what Mark is actually telling us. In this way, the gospel will be unveiled and we’ll be able to gain some insight into this strange account of Joseph and the Myrrh-Bearing women.
Scripture: Mark 15:43-47; 16:1-8 (click here to read)
Bottom Line: Stumbling blocks open our eyes and ears to a new reality!
Discussion Questions
- As I described Joseph and the Myrrh-bearing women above, it makes them sound like failures. What do you think? Someone once asked how, on one hand, Mark could write about them as misfits, yet, on the the other hand, the church could proclaim them saints. What do you think?
- Perhaps, Mark is simply writing about what historically happened. Yet, Mark uses it to announce a deeper theological truth? What truth do you think Mark sees in the story of Joseph? What truth do you think Mark sees in the story of the Myrrh-bearing women?
- Have you become like Joseph, trying to seal Christ into a tomb? How so? How can you over come that?
- Have you become like the Myrrh-bearing women, trembling and afraid to go and tell the Good News of the resurrection? What steps will you take to overcome that fear?
Moving Forward
If we do a close reading of Mark’s story of Joseph and the myrrh-bearing women, we end up with more questions than answers. The reader who started from the beginning of the Gospel has been duly prepared to accept Jesus’s death as necessary and as life-giving.
So, Joseph’s entombment of Jesus’s corpse and the myrrh-bearers’s attempt to anoint the corpse doesn’t jive with our expected, yet still surprising, resurrection. Their actions and silence are not what we would expect from people looking forward to Jesus’s resurrection. These saints are a stumbling block for us. They’re a speed bump that should cause us to slow down and examine what’s going on, what Mark is trying to tell us.
Joseph, the Sealer
Joseph’s sealing of Jesus’s corpse is exactly what the Judeans and the Roman authorities wanted: to shut up Jesus’s message. Jesus was upsetting the whole system and, by the time of the crucifixion, had become a hindrance that needed to be “dealt with.” Surprisingly, it’s not the Judeans or the Roman authorities who successfully lock Jesus away—it’s someone who is typically seen as a saint.
If we push our investigation forward, we can say that Joseph is representative of the entire legal and temple system.
The temple authorities and political leaders, in their understanding and practice of the Law (Torah), thought that they were doing what was required of them by God. They thought they were doing what was needed to make themselves holy.
But, one of Jesus’s main messages, and the message of the prophets, was that these authorities had twisted the Law. They were using it as a way of keeping people away from God. The religious and political authorities had become hypocrites. In short, they had sealed God in a tomb.
Psalm 50 (LXX) clearly states God’s purpose, what the Law was meant to do:
“For [God has] no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, [God] would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
The Law was intended to make everyone a neighbor and to increase love between neighbors.
Mark’s message is that God can’t be shut up in a tomb. The intent of his Law will go forth into the world. He will bring all peoples to himself and make them neighbors. Love will win the day.
The Silent Discovers of the Tomb
The failure of the myrrh-bearing women also becomes a stumbling block of us. How could these pious women remain silent? After all, we are Christians 2,000 years later and we still tell the story of Christ’s resurrection.
Our gut reaction is to simply proclaim Mark wrong. In fact, some scribes were so troubled with this ending that they added not one, but two extended endings. In their minds, the story needed to be resolved differently.
But, this misses the power of Mark’s original ending. It misses the literary ingenious of what Mark has done.
By ending his Gospel on this unsettling note, he forces us to go back and reread the gospel. If these women were so startled, what have we missed? Perhaps, we need to start again at the beginning and now read the story of Jesus with new eyes—understanding that his death is necessary and life-giving.
It’s for this very reason that we are now reading John during the Paschal period (daily readings). John is the “theological Gospel.” It’s the one that starts with Jesus as the Logos, the crucified Lord. We see, from the very beginning, how Jesus’s ministry is a fulfillment of all that had been written of him. Mark’s original ending is meant to upset us so that we go back and “chew” on the text another time. It forces us to see Jesus with new eyes in a new light.
Stumbling into Answers
Both Joseph and the myrrh-bearing women are stumbling blocks for us in the Gospel of Mark. Their stories should upset us and cause us to think. It should cause us to rethink our own lives and expectations.
The story of Joseph exposes the hypocrisy of the 1st-century system. Have we fallen into the same trap? Are we also hypocrites who have, in actuality, sealed the gospel into a tomb?
Have we become like the myrrh-bearing women, afraid of the gospel and not telling anyone about it? Do we need to go back and rethink the gospel and how it applies to our lives? Have we allowed ourselves to be transformed by the “Good News,” or are we simply zombies going about our normal business?
Brothers and sisters, the story of Joseph and the myrrh-bearing women should cause us to pause and say, “What’s going on here?” This is our opportunity to hear “Christ is risen” with new ears and allow ourselves to be transformed by this saving message, lest we too stand trembling, sealed in a tomb.
Changing Your Mind
“So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” (Mark 16:8)