I feel I am very blessed. Not only does my faithful wife attend the class I teach, but also I have some wonderful friends who faithfully attend, support me and pray for me. I cannot thank them enough. One of these friends is a man who stuck by my side thru the "thick and thin" or waxing and waning of my teaching. No matter how tumultuous things seem to get in my life (and the waves within), there he is next to me every week. He's there for the good times, too. So I will give him credit where credit is due. I believe he's one of the intelligent guys who has discernment enough to realize that spirituality is not "women's things" as many guys seem to think (although do not openly admit it). How do I know many guys feel that way? I know that because they do not participate in class (not only mine) the way the women do even though the women implored their husbands to come and hear me teach. (As a matter of fact, some of the ladies love to hear me teach so much that they said to me they would come incognito to hear me speak at our church's "men's breakfast". I told the guys to gently pull on the mustaches of the guy sitting next to them). If guys came to my classes, they'd realize (like my friend) that it's not all mushy sentimental stuff or emotionalism that spirituality is oftentimes compared to. As a matter of fact, I teach the same things in my class as on this site. You know what they are--- Biblical history, covenants, prophecy, even some scientific and mathematical relationships from the Bible. I think the guys would really enjoy all that but I suppose they think I'm teaching something mushy or sentimental. Why else would women way outnumber the men (or I should say man) in my class? These guys haven't a clue, but I hope they fully realize the women can handle the subjects I teach quite well, thank you.
Women in all the classes outnumber the men by about 2:1. Actually, there are two other adult classes in my church, but one is a group of ALL women. Well, what about it? I have no problem with that. I wish more guys came, but I am quite comfortable with women and my personal friends are mostly women who outnumber the men by about the same ratio. Therefore, this message is to all the rest of my friends who are the women that support me. You know what? Without your support, I'm not sure I would have made it. What are so special about women? My female friends are from various backgrounds and all ages. Jesus seemed to have gotten along very well with them and esteemed them highly. As a matter of fact, I always found out that if you want the job done, get a woman to do it (with maybe a few exceptions such as the fellow in my class).
That reminds me of Jesus' burial. This is not only a message about women, but also another brief study about Jesus' FULL three days in the tomb. "How do they relate?" you may ask. Well, the Scripture that comes to my mind is Mark 16:1 and Luke 23:54-56. You see, the women took charge of preparing the burial spices for our Lord. "Well," says a stern theologian who secretly thinks little of women, "the culture of the day demanded the women do that!" I don't care if that was the case or not. Don't give me any bunk. You know what? This is my personal opinion, but based on the rapport Jesus had with the women in his life, I still believe they would have done that even if the men were supposed to have done it! You know how a guy would handle it, don't you? Did you ever watch a guy cook? "Here ladies, you can do this better." It's not a question of "women's work" per se. Rather, I think the guys would generally try to get out of doing it. So these women were faithful to Jesus.
You want further proof of what I just said? Bear with me on this. Let's look at Mark 16:1 first:
And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
Now let's look at Luke 23:54-56:
And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.
Notice that in the first passage the women bought spices AFTER the Sabbath. Now, in the second passage, we see that Jesus was laid in the tomb in time for the NEXT day to commence (the feast of Unleavened Bread). This was at sunset. In other words, His death and the (quick) preparations for his burial took place on the 14th of Nissan, but as that stone was placed over the tomb (giving a resounding echo if you will just like in the movies), the sun was setting and the NEXT day was dawning. Some people argue that if Jesus was buried 5:50 PM, the last ten minutes would still constitute the same Jewish day of the week as the crucifixion. This belief deals with that "inclusive reckoning" nonsense. No, God's "countdown" for the three days in the tomb started the NEXT day as foreshadowed by the feast days. Jesus had to be there IN TIME for it to start. Notice that the women then went back to prepare spices AND then rest on the Sabbath. The conjunction "and" usually denotes the next additional event--- it is equivalent to adding mathematically. I understand that in this educated society of ours that it does not matter what order one adds. They could have rested first and then prepared spices if we were talking about adding. However, in language, that conjunction "and" denotes not only an addition, but also an add-on after the first event mentioned.
Now here's my question. IF Jesus was crucified on a Friday, then how could the women prepare the spices first and then rest for the Sabbath but then buy the spices again AFTER the Sabbath? THIS IN ITSELF PROVES TO ME THAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT TWO DIFFERENT SABBATHS. If our scholarly theologians would read the Bible carefully, we'd see without a doubt the fallacy of a Friday crucifixion day (rather, He died on a Wednesday as my other messages show). You know what I think? I think most of the "guy" theologians do not give the women's story credit enough to admit their serious error. They cling to the traditions of men and dismiss these brief passages hoping you will miss them. Probably they are saying, "Silly women. They forgot some of the spices and had to go back for some more!" No. I do not "buy" that. These women knew EXACTLY what they were doing and in spite of their loss of Jesus, they had their wits about them.
THAT is the point I wanted to make. I am not really certain women get the attention they deserve. And because of that, I believe that these passages were brushed aside because few believed they were important enough for you to know the truth about Jesus' time in the tomb. In other words, had it not been for THOSE WOMEN (the faithful ones), the story would not have been told clearly enough to PROVE a Wednesday crucifixion. The test of a prophet is if what he says comes to pass. The FULL three days in the tomb is a critical criteria regarding Jesus' death and resurrection. Mess with this and one messes with the foundation of the faith. Now, after all this talking of mine, don't get me started on which sex the Lord appeared to first after his resurrection. Need I say more regarding the importance of women?