That They Might Come and Anoint Him

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Both St. Mark and St. Luke mentioned in their Gospels that the two Mary bought and prepared spices to anoint Christ, "Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices that they might come and anoint Him" (Mark 16:1); "Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared" (Luke 23:56; 24:1). As for St. John he did not mention anything about the spices of Maries but he precisely explained, "And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury" (John 19: 39).

The purpose that made Jews anoint the dead using spices and aromas was a useless trial of immortalization of the body and of denying the truth of its corruption as soon as it died. This truth was clearly proclaimed by the fetid odor that would smell from the body soon. Therefore we can understand that when Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus and the two Mary approached the body of Jesus they were sure that He would have been subjected to corruption. They did not deal with Him as a live person but as dead one who needed someone to cover His corruption and stench by spices made by humans. This made Nicodemus exaggerate a lot in this by bringing a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes which is a huge amount enough to anoint hundreds of bodies!! He was trying, out of his excessive love to Christ, to keep His body without corruption or stench for the longest possible time. He was thinking that the more the amount of spices and aroma increased the more he would be able to keep Jesus' body from corruption!

But it seems that Nicodemus had not been taught the lesson yet. May be the rebuke of Jesus Christ to him saying, "Are you the teacher of Israel and do not know these things?" (John 3:10) was not in vain. As it was very hard for him to understand how man can be born from the Spirit, it was even harder for him to understand that "It was not possible that He should be held by it (i.e. by death)" (Acts 2:24).

As for the spices of the two Mary, it reminds us with the water pot of the Samaritan woman. She thought that her pot would be able to quench Jesus thirst. This was the same attitude of the two Mary who thought that their spices would protect His body from corruption and stench. They all dealt with Him not as Messiah who would give the water of eternal life, nor as God "who alone has immortality" (1 Timothy 6:16). Behold the two Mary left their spices in the tomb exactly like the Samaritan woman who left her pot beside the well. This made the abandoned spices and pot a clear sign that they accepted the declaration of the truth of Jesus Christ and they received Him as a live God in their lives.

The attitude of Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, the two Mary and the Samaritan woman is the same attitude adopted by the contemporary man who, in his misery, takes God not as a living God who grants life but as a dead God who is overwhelmed by death.

Who is more miserable than the one who projects his own corruption unto the Incorruptible One and sees his illness in His True Physician who is the source of his cure?!

Who is more miserable than the one who extracts from God all His glory to rob this glory and deify himself?

Who is more fool than the dead one who sees the Live One dead?!

In fact the contemporary man, who suffers under the burden of the ego, the world and the devil, is in great need to be in touch with the truth of Resurrection. The Resurrection alone is capable of making God a living truth in the minds and hearts of human beings. It alone makes the relationship between man and God effective, dynamic and testifying that there is a live God for His children, present for them and in them all the time, "Because I live, you will live also" (John 14:19). Jesus' resurrection is the greatest evidence and declaration of His divinity and incorruptibility. Whoever believes in this resurrection will no doubt abandon his spices in the tomb and his pot beside the well shouting joyfully, "My Lord and my God!"

Bishop Youssef
Bishop, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States