This painting, The Three Mary's At The Tomb, was created by Hubert van Eyck in 1425. It depicts the Gospel account of Mark 16:1,2.
When the Sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices with which to go and anoint him. And very early in the morning on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen.
Like these three women-friends of Jesus, we're living in a Good Friday world. A lot of people are suffering it today, feeling faint of heart, tired, depressed, negative, even cynical. We know the Good Friday story themes:
loss, grief, false accusation, suffering, burdens, pain, betrayal, hatred, curses, violence, prison abuse, treachery, brutality, bribery, libel, scheming, threats, indifference, abandonment, torture, loneliness, false imprisonment, false religion, fears, nakedness, shame, insults, blaming, cold calculating, dark politics, dark deal making, death, secret plotting, vulgarity, the money grab, pay offs, pressure...
Depressing. So what are we to do? Go back to the Gospel. The disciples literally wrapped things up quickly after Jesus was taken down from the cross. Time was short, the Sabbath was to begin soon—even the body of dead criminal had to be out of sight before sunset. Mark leads us to wonder if there was even time to wash the body of Jesus before placing it in the tomb.
These women disciples, having seen and heard it all, then went home, likely exhausted and overwhelmed. But instead of collapsing into a bitter heap, they did the things of love, preparing the spices and whatever else they were going to need to complete the burial of Jesus at Sabbath's end early Sunday morning. And even with the last minute snag, "Who will roll away the stone for us?" they endured and continued to love. Any ideas?
Here's a zoomed in piece of the van Eyck painting, showing one of the Mary's with a particularly beautiful spice jar. Not just an ordinary clay jar, but a specially chosen, wondrously created, decorated jar of silver and lapis. The jar itself, seeming to jump out of the darkness, suggests the continuing in love.
