Gtcotr/ws033121
The ninth hour of the day, which corresponds to 3 in the afternoon, is the set time priests were instructed to burn incense on the altar which sat just outside of the Holy of Holies. As the smoke of the incense rose from the altar, the priests would offer prayers for the people which would be carried heavenward to the throne of God. Only a thick curtain separated the priests from the place God chose to rest the Ark of His Covenant.
This was a well-known and well-attended daily ritual. It was more important than the changing of the guard or seeing the Queen at Buckingham Palace in London.
You may remember:
Acts 3:1 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
The accounts that took place in Mark 15 did not happen on just any ordinary afternoon, it was a high holy day, the day on which the Feast of Passover was about to begin. The incense offered on the altar would be joined with the Passover prayers of the priests. No doubt multitudes visiting Jerusalem were divided into two groups that day. The group at the Temple and the group at the Cross.
Remember, the sky had turned dark at noon and it was still dark at 3 in the afternoon as Jesus hung on the cross of Calvary … the sabbath was set to begin at sundown, in just 3 hours.
Mark 15 NKJV
34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
37 And Jesus cried out with a
loud voice, and breathed His last.
38 Then the veil of the
temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
39 So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”
40 There were also women
looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James
the Less and of Joses, and Salome,
41 who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.
There is no mention of the disciples being at or near the cross except for the brief encounter Jesus had with John concerning him taking the care of Mary, His mother. Perhaps they were afraid or could not stand to bear to look upon their leader; the one who had been arrested, tortured, and condemned to die on the cross while they ran for their lives and hid in fear.
Not one of the disciples stood by Jesus and it must have shamed them to see these women who had followed along, ministering, and were obliged to stay behind the scenes while the men took the lead in assisting with the miracles in the Galilee. Now these women, deacons as they are called here and elsewhere in the Gospels, (ministered = Gk: Diakoneo – to wait on tables; supply necessities; serve; take care of; administer; attend), outshined the disciples in faith, courage, and witness.
Those who do not stand in awe when considering the most lovely and helpful creature ever created, woman, must not know God. The first shall indeed be last and the last first. That which we esteem least the Lord esteems most. The pure hearts of these loyal maids and maidens gave their resources, their strength, and their very lives to ensure Jesus and His disciples were fed and cared for throughout His three and one-half years of ministry in the Galilee. Now we see them in loyal attendance just in case Jesus might need something they could supply. The writers of the Gospels do not choose to share the brokenness of these women as they watch their Lord suffer such injustice at the hands of wicked, evil, and ungodly men.
These women stood at the cross, not in the packed crowd, but at a distance to look upon the scene and offer their continued support to the one they loved, the one in whom they had believed. Such is the heart of a virtuous woman and he who finds one has found a treasure from God indeed.
Where would families be; where would the world be; where would the Body of Christ be if it were not for the loyal, self-sacrificing, ministry serving women? It was a woman who bore Jesus in a lonely stable cave; It was a woman who gave thanks at the dedication of Jesus and told all who would hear of the redemption of God; It was a few women who followed Christ and ministered to Him of their substance, paying the bills and providing the needs of the group throughout His ministry; It was a woman who Jesus met at Jacob’s well in Samaria who became an evangelist and brought the whole city to hear and believe; It was a woman who drew healing virtue from Jesus by her faith when she touched the hem of His garment; It was a woman who received kindness and forgiveness when caught in the act of adultery and brought before Jesus for punishment; It was a woman who gave her costly perfume and anointed Jesus’ head for burial against the harsh objections of the men who were His disciples; It was a woman who pleaded with her husband, Pontius Pilate, to leave Jesus alone; And many other women, as Mark accounts, remained at the cross to the very end; It was a woman who came to the tomb and risked her life and safety to take care of the dead Body of Christ while the men remained in hiding; Then it was a woman to whom Jesus first appeared and called to go and tell the good news of the resurrection to His disciples.
I find it of interest that at no time in the Gospels did any woman oppose Jesus or take any action against Him, or accuse Him or treat Him with malice or disdain. No woman ever did Jesus any direct harm in body or in reputation. The recorded enemies of Jesus were always and only men.
Women are survivors, peacemakers, kind, gentle, motherly, good, true, loyal, and selfless servants. They join themselves and give their hearts to serve those whom God chooses. From the beginning when God took a rib from Adam and fashioned Eve, the grace God has given women is for family and they are often tempered to sacrifice their personal needs and desires in order to serve the greater good of others they love. Find one not so and you may have found a devil.
The Bible tells of horrible, evil, selfish women driven by lust, greed, the love of money, power, jealously, anger and rage. Those who lord over others, cutting, demanding, ill-tempered, and hateful. But not these women who followed Jesus. They had committed their lives to Christ. It changed them … even the one who was herself possessed of seven devils. I cannot fully imagine what honor and what eternal blessings come to these women or to any woman who finds herself content with the will of God for her life. People change when they meet Jesus … Have you met Jesus?
Just a little more about the kind of woman who follows Jesus:
Proverbs 31
10 ¶ Who can find a virtuous
woman? For her worth is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband
safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good and not
evil All the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax,
And willingly works with her hands.
14 She is like the merchant
ships, She brings her food from afar.
15 She also rises while it is
yet night, And provides food for her household, And a portion for her
maidservants.
16 She considers a field and
buys it; From her profits she plants a vineyard.
17 She girds herself with
strength, And strengthens her arms.
18 She perceives that her
merchandise is good, And her lamp does not go out by night.
19 She stretches out her
hands to the distaff, And her hand holds the spindle.
20 She extends her hand to
the poor, Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of snow
for her household, For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
22 She makes tapestry for
herself; Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in
the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments
and sells them, And supplies sashes for the merchants.
25 Strength and honor are
her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with
wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She watches over the ways
of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and
call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many daughters have done
well, But you excel them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful
and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall
be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her own works praise her in the gates.
A woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised!
I would recommend to all women that you turn your lives over to the design and will of God and that you aspire to live the life of a virtuous woman.
As
well, I would recommend to all men that you work on yourselves, stop trying to
perfect the women in your life. Appreciate the gift they are and pray they
continue putting up with, loving, forgiving, and helping us.
