Day 4: Eclipse at the Closing Tomb
“God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.” (Genesis 1:16)
“Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.” (Matthew 27:59-61)
On the fourth day, God fills the sky. The sun, the moon, the stars are lights set in place to govern time, to mark seasons, to shine with purpose. The light created on day one is no longer just present, but ordered, named, and given rhythm.
Mary Magdalene knows what it means to live in the dark and what it means to have light break in. At the beginning of her story, she was tormented, overwhelmed by forces she couldn’t control. Until Jesus stepped in and drove the darkness out.
But now, she sits in front of a different kind of darkness. Now, she sits across from the tomb where the Light of the World has been buried. An eclipse forms as the textured stone is rolled in front of the Son.
Yet, this time is different. This time Mary has the hope of all she has learned from Jesus. She sits in the dark with his Mother as they face the tomb. Magdalene has experience in the dark. But she also knows what it means for light to return.
Matthew makes a point to tell us that Mary was there sitting across from the tomb, watching it sealed. It’s a small detail, but it matters. Because later, when she declares that the tomb is empty, no one can say she went to the wrong place. Meaning, her pain watching the Jesus’s light eclipsed by the closed tomb was the basis for here testimony that he was resurrected.
Present hardship could be the basis for future testimonies.
