THE MYRRHBEARERS (Part II)

My beloved brothers and sisters in Our Risen Lord, God and Savior,

CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN! ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! ΑΛΗΘΩΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ!

THE MYRRHBEARERS (Part II)

The Evangelists seem to a certain extent to disagree about what time it was and how many women were there. This is because there were many myrrhbearers and they did not come just once to the tomb, but two or three times. They all came at dawn, but not at precisely the same time, The Evangelist Matthew says, "There came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary," who was obviously the Mother of God, "to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for an Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door of the sepulchre, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men" (Matthew 28: 1-4).

All the other women came after the earthquake when the keepers had fled, and found the sepulchre open and the stone rolled away. The Virgin Mother, however, was there when the earthquake took place, the stone was rolled away; the tomb opened and the keepers were still present, though shaken with fear. When they got to their feet after the earthquake they immediately took to flight, whereas the Mother of God delighted herself i the sight without fear. It seems to me that the Life-bearing tomb opened first for her sake (because everything in heaven above and on earth below was opened first for her, and through her for us) and that the Angel shone like lightning on her account, so that even though it was still dark, by the Angel’s abundant light she could see not only the empty tomb, but also the graveclothes lying in order and bearing witness in may ways to the fact that He Who had been buried there had Risen.

The Angel who announced the Good News was surely Gabriel himself. For when he who had originally said to her, "Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God" (Luke 1:30), saw her hastening to the tomb, he made speed now to come down and greet the Ever-Virgin once more with the same words, to announce the Good News that He Who had been born of her without seed had risen from the dead, to take away the stone, and to show the empty tomb and the graveclothes as confirmation to her of his tidings. "And the Angel," it says, "answered and said to the women, "Fear not ye: do ye seek Jesus, which was crucified? He is Risen. Come, see the place where the Lord lay" (Matthew 28:5-6). "Even though," he says, "you see the keepers struck down with fear, you are not to be afraid. I know that you seek Jesus Who was crucified. SHE IS RISEN, HE IS NOT HERE. Not only can He not be held by the locks, bars and seals of Hades, death and the tomb,but HE is also Lord of us, the immortal, heavenly Angels, and He alone is Lord of all." "Come see," he says, "the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell His disciples that He is Risen from the dead" (Matthew 28:6-7).

"And they departed," it says, "with fear and great joy" (Matthew 28:8). Once more it seems to me that it was Mary Magdalene and the other women who had gathered with them by this time who still felt fear. For they had not understood the force of the Angel’s words, nor could they fully perceive the light so as to see and discover exactly what had happened. It was the Mother of God, on the other hand, who was possessed of great joy, because she understood what the Angel said and was completely filled with light, being utterly purified and full of Divine Grace. Therefore she knew the truth for sure and believed the Archangel, since his trustworthiness had long since been demonstrated to her through works. As the Divinely wise Virgin was present when thee things happened, how could she fail to understand what had been accomplished? She saw an earthquake, and a great one at that, an Angel descending from heaven, flashing forth as lightning, she saw the keepers being struck down as dead, and, and the stone being moved, and the tomb empty. She also saw the great miracle of the graveclothes, which had not been undone and were held together with myrrh and aloes, but were visibly empty of the body. In addition to all this, ther was the Angel’s joyful appearance and message to her. But whey they had departed after these good tidings, it was ass if Mary Magdalene had not heard the Angel, or perhaps his greeting was not for her, since her only precise statements was that the sepulchre was empty, and she made no mention of the graveclothes. "Then she runnerth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciples," as John tells us (John 20:2).

The Virgin Mother of God, on the other hand, returned in the company of other women to the place whence she had come. And behold, as Matthew says, "Jesus met them, saying, All hail." Notice that the Mother of God saw Him Who for our salvation suffered in the flesh, was buried and rose again, even before Mary Magdalene. "And they came," it says, "and held Him by the feet and worshipped Him" (Matthew 28:9). When the Theotokos, together with Mary Magdalene, heard the Good News of the Resurrection from the Angel, only she understood the meaning of the words. In the same way now when, in the company of the other women, she met her Son and God, she was the first of them all to see and recognize the Risen Lord, and falling down before Him she grasped His feet and became His Apostle to the Apostles. It is from John that we learn that Mary Magdalene was not with the Mother of God at the time when the Lord met her as she was returning from the tomb, appeared to her and addressed her.

The Ever-Virgin was the first to come to the tomb and receive the Good Tidings of the Resurrection, but afterwards many women came together and they too saw the stone rolled away and heard the Angels. Then after seeing and hearing, they separated. Some, as Mark tell us, "fled from the sepulchre, for they trembled and were afraid" (Mark 16:8). Others followed the Lord’s Mother, and these it was who had the good fortune to see the Master and be addressed by Him. Mary Magdalene, on the other hand, went to tell Peter and John, and returned with them to the tomb on her own. When they left she stayed, and she too was accounted worthy to see the Master, and was sent to the Apostles. Once more she came to them to tell them, as John says, "that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her" (John 20:18). Mark tells us that the Lord appeared to Mary Magdalene early in the morning (cf. Mark 16:9), which means when full daylight had come, obviously after dawn had passed, but he does not state that the Lord’s Resurrection happened then or that it was the first time He had appeared.

So now we have a thorough explanation of everything that concerns the Myrrhbearers, and, as we have sought all along, agreement between the Four Evangelists on this subject. On the very day of the Resurrection the Apostles heard from the Myrrhbearers, from Peter and from Luke and Cleopas, that the Lord was alive and had appeared to them, but they did not believe. That is why they were reproached by Him when He appeared to them later when they were gathered together. HOwever, once He had shown Himself in many ways and on many occasions to be alive, not only did they all believe, but they preached everywhere: "Their sound is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the worlds" (Psalm 19:6; Romans 10:18),"The Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following" (Mark 16:20). For signs were absolutely necessary until the word had been preached throughout the world. (Resources: The Homilies by Saint Gregory Palamas)

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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
+ Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in Our Risen Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George