11. The women visit the tomb (pages 22-23)

Text from the book

'Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?'

After his death, Jesus' body was taken down from the cross and placed in a tomb. The Bible tells how the women, who were among his closest friends, went back to the tomb to put spices on his body. After all that had happened they wanted Jesus' body to be treated with love and respect.

Find out about the different ways in which people show love and respect for their friends and family who have died.

Aims of the book

Pupils will:

• explore some of the key sayings of Jesus;
• be aware of what friends and enemies said about him;
• reflect on the layers of meanings in the words.

Learning objectives

Pupils will:

• explore a Biblical account of events following the death of Jesus;
• recognise the mystery within these events;
• raise questions about the meaning of these events for Christians.

Background

Women were not counted amongst the twelve disciples but they played a very important role in the life of Jesus. It was they who went to the tomb first; they who were at the foot of the cross; they who worried how they would enter the tomb; and they who would be first at the empty tomb. Women, at the time, were not recognised as reliable witnesses in the court of law, yet here, they will be the ones who first experienced the empty tomb. The disciples had to rush to the tomb to confirm what the women say.

Bible reference: Mark 16.3

Ways of using the picture

Why should the women, Mary Magdelene, Mary, James’ mother and Salome, who were at the crucifixion, want to go to the tomb?

What do you think their feelings would be? Why should they take spices to anoint the dead body? The Gospel says the three women were worried about the weight of the stone. Why? What do you think the writer wants to tell his readers?

Key words

• Death
• Love
• Respect
• Friendship
• Loyalty

Activity

In the Gospel of St Mark, it describes how Mary Magdalene, Mary James’ mother and Salome waited for the end of the Sabbath before they went to Jesus tomb. Discuss the Jewish custom of ‘keeping the Sabbath day holy’ (Deuteronomy 5.8 and Exodus 20.8). Consider why it would have been unthinkable for the women to have done anything at this time.

In groups, discuss the women’s feelings at different points in this story, such as:

• their misery at the horrific death of their friend;
• their determination to get to Jesus’ body as soon as possible to anoint it (an act that should have been done straight away);
• their frustration when they realise that the tomb will be inaccessible to them because of the large stone sealing the entrance;
• their astonishment when they see that the stone has been rolled away
• their fear at what might have happened to Jesus’ body;
• their doubt that their friends will believe them or even take them seriously when they tell them what has happened.

Role-play these different scenarios.

If the pupils were writing about these events as a story, how would they continue it? Ask them to devise some different endings in answer to the question, "So what happened next?" Groups could present their ideas to each other before reading the account in Mark’s Gospel. (This Gospel also has two different endings!)

Learning outcomes

Pupils will have:

• learned about Jewish Sabbath customs;
• considered the experiences and feelings of some of Jesus’ friends after his death;
• recognised the mystery that lies at the heart of this story.

Extension work

Explore ways in which the quotation on page 22 "Who will roll away the stone for us…" could be metaphorical language. What was the author trying to say about the impact of this event on the people in the story? What layers of meaning could these words contain? Collect together words that describe ideas or knowledge being revealed (such as 'disclose, divulge, unveil, unmask').

Alternatively, collect together words that describe expressions, such as 'be let into the secret, make public, come to light, show its face, shed light on the subject, expose the truth'.

Web sites

http://www.montana.edu/news/1017017709.html

An archaeologist gives some interesting background information on burial procedures in Jesus' time.

http://www.gardentomb.com/

This is the web site relating to the garden tomb, believed by many to have belonged to Joseph of Arimathea and possibly where Jesus was laid after his crucifixion. There are a number of images of the tomb.

http://www.textweek.com/art/burial_of_christ.htm

This is an impressive web page, listing some 50 web sites with images of the entombment of Jesus. To give a contrast in artistic styles, try http://www.getty.edu/art/collections/objects/o1953.html by an unknown Flemish artist and http://sunsite.dk/cgfa/h/p-henner2.htm by the 19^th Century artist Jean-Jacques Henner.

© Alan Brown and Alison Seaman, 2002

Top of the page