Key Thought

Death brings with it harsh realities. The physical absence of the person who died and the decay of the physical body are two of the harshest. The women are doing what was expected and what was necessary when a loved one in Jesus' day died. They show their honor and respect by preparing the dead body properly. When people we love die, there are necessities that have to be handled. As difficult as these are, they help reinforce that this person is gone from us. Our emotions settle in on the absence of that person and all that it means. The toughest reality about grief is that the only way past it is to go through it. Though not ready to give up Jesus to death, these women do what is necessary -- both for the dead body and for their aching spirits -- by taking care of the body properly.

Today's Prayer

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O Father, to lose a loved one is so terribly difficult. Especially true for those who have lost loved ones to death during this time of year, please give your blessings and sustaining grace through this time. Help us to take comfort and find hope that victory and reunion await those who belong to Christ. Give them strength and courage to hold on to that hope -- a hope that is ours because your Son came to earth as one of us, died as one of us, and was raised as the first of us to permanently defeat death. For this victory, I thank you. In Jesus' mighty name I pray. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

The next day after the Sabbath day, Mary from Magdala, Salome, and Mary the mother of James bought some sweet-smelling spices. They wanted to put the spices on Jesus' body. Very early on that day, the first day of the week, the women were going to the tomb. It was very early after sunrise. The women said to each other, "There is a large stone covering the entrance of the tomb. Who will move the stone for us?" Then the women looked and saw that the stone was moved. The stone was very large, but it was moved away from the entrance. The women walked into the tomb. They saw a young man there wearing a white robe. The man was sitting on the right side of the tomb. The women were afraid. But the man said, "Don't be afraid. You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, the one that was killed on a cross. He has risen from death! He is not here. Look, here is the place they put him when he was dead. Now go and tell his followers. And {be sure to} tell Peter. Tell them, 'Jesus is going into Galilee. He will be there before you. You will see him there like he told you before.'" The women were very afraid and confused. They left the tomb and ran away. The women did not tell about what happened, because they were afraid. [Some of the oldest Greek copies of Mark end the book here.]

— Mark 16:1-8 (ERV)

Easy-to-Read Version copyright © 2001 by World Bible Translation Center. All rights reserved.