Her story, told honestly
The Women at the Tomb
The women at the tomb came in grief to anoint a dead body and became the first to carry the news that He was risen. Their faithful love placed them at the greatest turning point in history.
“And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?”Luke 24:5
Her story
Their story. Women who had followed Jesus from Galilee watched Him die and saw where He was laid (Luke 23:55). When the sabbath was past, very early on the first day of the week, they came to the sepulchre bringing spices they had prepared, to anoint His body. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna, and Salome (Luke 24:10; Mark 16:1). They wondered who would roll away the great stone, but they found the stone rolled back and the tomb empty. Angels appeared and said, "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you" (Luke 24:5-6). Trembling and amazed, yet filled with fear and great joy, they ran to bring word to the disciples (Matthew 28:8). In Matthew's account Jesus Himself met them, saying, "All hail," and they held Him by the feet and worshipped Him, and He sent them to tell His brethren (Matthew 28:9-10). The apostles at first thought their words "idle tales, and they believed them not" (Luke 24:11). But the women had seen, and they had spoken truly: the tomb was empty, and the Lord was alive.
What her life shows
What their lives show. The women at the tomb show the faithfulness of love that stays to the end and comes back at the first light. They had followed Jesus, supported His ministry, stood near the cross, and now came in the dawn to do the last sad service of anointing a body, expecting nothing but death. Their love did not calculate reward; they came to honor Him even in defeat. Their lives show that God often meets such quiet, persevering devotion with the greatest revelations, for it was to these grieving women that the news of the resurrection first came. It shows, too, the dignity God gives them, entrusting the founding testimony of the Christian faith to those whose word their own culture was slow to credit, so that the disciples first thought it idle tales. Their lives show that faithfulness in grief is not wasted, and that those who come seeking to love Christ, even when hope seems dead, are the ones who find the tomb empty and hear the words that changed the world.
Where it points to Christ
Where it points to Christ. The women's story stands at the heart of the gospel, the empty tomb and the risen Lord. The angel's words, "He is not here, but is risen," are the foundation of the Christian faith, for "if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain" (1 Corinthians 15:14). These women were the first to receive and proclaim the resurrection, sent by the risen Christ Himself: "go tell my brethren" (Matthew 28:10). Their spices, prepared for a corpse, became unnecessary, for the One they came to anoint in death was alive forevermore. Their encounter proclaims that death did not hold Him, that the grave is conquered, and that He lives to save. What began as the darkest of errands, tending a dead body, became the dawn of the world's hope. Through their faithful witness the message went out that has never stopped sounding: Christ is risen from the dead, the firstfruits of them that slept (1 Corinthians 15:20).
Questions people ask
Who were the women at the tomb?
They were followers of Jesus from Galilee, including Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna, and Salome (Luke 24:10; Mark 16:1). They had watched Him die and saw where He was buried, then came early on the first day of the week to anoint His body with spices.
Why is it significant that women were first?
In their culture a woman's testimony was often given little weight, yet God chose these women to be the first witnesses of the resurrection and the first to proclaim it. The apostles even dismissed their report at first as "idle tales" (Luke 24:11), which underscores that this is how it truly happened.
What did the angel tell them?
At the empty tomb the angel said, "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen" (Luke 24:5-6). The women, filled with fear and great joy, ran to tell the disciples, becoming the first messengers of the resurrection, the foundation of the Christian faith.