Daily Devotions
Mark
Acts 5:13 "Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly." Acts 5:13"
Day 343 – Mark 16
“Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly.” Acts 5:13
AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE JEWISH WEEK
How did Israel count its week? Let’s consider the following ideas:-
1. Numbering the days
The Jews numbered the days of the week (ordinal numbers; Day One, Day Two etc… Cf. Genesis 1)
2. From evening to morning
This was how Moses recorded the Creation days. (“So the evening and the morning were the first day” Genesis 1:5; Cf. 1:8, 13, 19, 23, 31).
3. The Sabbath
The high point of each week culminated in the celebration of the seventh day as the Sabbath (Cf. Genesis 2:1-3).
STRICT OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH
By and large, Israel kept the Sabbath very strictly! The strict observance of the Sabbath meant that the women disciples could not make a trip to the tomb of Jesus. However, there was nothing to stop them from making the journey to the tomb, the moment Sabbath legally ended.
“Now when the Sabbath was past…
Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week,
they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.”
MARK 16:1-2
The Sabbath was significant to Israel for very special reasons:-
1. It commemorated the day God “rested” from His work of creating the earth (Cf. Exodus 20:11)
2. It was also a special sign of the Covenant between God and Israel (Cf. Exodus 31:13).
3. Long years of keeping this tradition
Given all these reasons, we can understand just why the women followers waited till the Sabbath was past, before they made their way to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus.
THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK
The first day of the week (equivalent to Sunday), the women followers weaved their way to the tomb of Jesus! They started out very early, “while it was still dark” Cf. John 20:1), and arrived at the tomb of Jesus “when the sun had (just) risen” (Cf. Mark 16:2).