According to the Commandment
The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. (Luke 23:55-56)
Grief has a way of driving us toward action. We want to do something to process the pain, to care for what’s been lost, or sometimes to cling to a sense of control. The women who followed Jesus from Galilee were no different. They had just watched their beloved Teacher suffer and die, and their hearts longed to anoint His body – an act of both reverence and affection. But with the Sabbath approaching, they faced a choice: proceed with their desire to tend to Jesus' body or honor the Sabbath as God commanded.
They chose obedience.
They rested – even in the sorrow, even in the tension of not finishing what their hearts desperately wanted to do. They honored the Lord not by rushing to the tomb, but by keeping His command. Their obedience, even in pain, was an act of worship.
This isn’t really even an issue about whether the act of anointing would technically break the Sabbath. Scripture tells us in Titus 1:15, “To the pure, all things are pure,” and Jesus often challenged the legalistic boundaries of Sabbath traditions that had been added to God’s intent with the command. But for these women who had been taught, lived by, and loved God’s law, their conscience of obedience was to rest. As James 4:17 reminds us, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”
Their surrender wasn’t just about Sabbath observance. It was about trusting God’s timing and will above their own thoughts, emotions, and desires. They denied themselves and waited – not knowing that their act of obedience would position them to be the first to witness the resurrection.
Our own griefs, unmet expectations, or sense of urgency can tempt us to take matters into our own hands. When plans fall apart or life wounds us deeply, the natural instinct is to act, to fix, to move. But sometimes, the holiest thing we can do is rest in obedience – even when it costs us something.
Jesus said in Luke 9:23, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” These women didn’t just deny themselves the comfort of caring for Jesus’ body on their own terms; they chose to follow God’s Word even in confusion and heartache. Their faith reminds us that obedience is not about comfort – it’s about trust.
May we learn from their example to prioritize God’s voice over our impulses, to obey even when emotions scream otherwise, and to rest in the truth that worship is found in surrender.