And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath was coming on.
Read Chapter 23
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
Not everyone can bury Christ. Although the pious women stand far away because they are pious, they watch the place closely to bring ointments and anoint him. The anxious women are the last to leave the tomb and the first to return to it. Although stability is lacking, diligence is not. Women hesitate, and devotion cools. They are present at the time of the resurrection, and when the men were chased away, an angel commanded only the women not to be afraid. First in zeal, they summon Peter, but they are behind him in confidence. Then he arrives without fear, and he who had come later is the first calmly to enter as he who had received the keys of the kingdom, in order to open for others. The resurrection is an earthquake for the faithful, because the sluggish body awakes itself from the sleep of death. It is a cause of dread for the ignorant, because, disturbed by the trembling of the body and the movement of the earth, the ignorant depart from faith and belief in the resurrection. –.
Wise women followed our common Savior Christ, gathering whatever was both useful and necessary for faith in him. When he gave his flesh as a ransom for the life of us all, they wisely committed themselves to care for his body. They supposed that the corpse would continue to remain in the grave. Commentary on Luke, Homily
Parasceve. That is, the eve or day of preparation for the sabbath. (Challoner)
And the sabbath drew near. Literally, shined. The sabbath began in the evening, at sunset. It may, perhaps, be said to shine by the moonlight, at full-moon, or because of a great many lights that used to be set up at that time, on account of the great sabbath. (Witham)
We learn from Maim on, that all the Jews were so strictly bound to keep a light in their dwellings on the sabbath-day, that although a man had not bread to eat, he was expected to be from door to door, to purchase oil for his lamp. (Pastorini)
