56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.
On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
One of the first things I remember learning in school is learning patterns. I remember it because I struggled with the concept for a long time. Yellow circle, green square, red triangle. Yellow circle, green square, red triangle. Yellow circle, green square, ________. To a five year old, you want the freedom to put in a blue octagon, but the order is red triangle.
We at times have the mindset of that five year old. We want to go and enjoy the finer things of life. We worry that life might pass us by if we don't live completely spontaneously. We go and try to fill that sequence with something other than what God intended.
The women who first went to tend to Jesus' body knew that they needed order. They needed to obey a higher calling than their instinct. Think of it. They had just lost the one that they loved. The one who loved them. They lost Jesus to a violent and unjust death. Yet instead of rushing to the tomb, they waited. They prepared. They prepared spices and ointments. And instead of running to fill in the sequence of the week with their own ambitions, they observed the fourth commandment (of the Ten): "On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment."
Because they waited for the Sabbath, instead of finding a decaying body, they came upon the resurrected Lord. We want things to happen in our own time. We want to put our own order to our lives. We want to be in control. However, the Resurrection teaches us that there is beauty in the order of life.
Prayer: God of chaos and order, help us to live according to the rhythm and order that you have for given us. Amen.
G. Thomas Martin
