When Did The Women of Galilee Buy Spices?

Sixteen years ago, I did a post called "Two Sabbaths of Matthew 28" where we investigated Herbert Armstrong's Wednesday crucifixion timeline and his claim there were two Sabbaths in that week. We saw several things, one of which was the timing of when the women from Galilee purchased and prepared spices to anoint Jesus' corpse. It recently dawned on me there is no article on As Bereans Did dedicated specifically to this topic. We do go over it in the article I mentioned, but you wouldn't know it was there unless you stumbled over it. I want to correct that. This article is only going to focus on this topic - the women of Galilee and their spices - with no side quests.

To understand this article, you must be familiar with the Wednesday crucifixion scenario. I am going to assume you know it already. In summary, it claims Jesus died on a Wednesday, Thursday was an annual holy day, Friday was a normal week day, and Saturday was the weekly Sabbath. Clearly different from the traditional Friday crucifixion timeline.

Time to dust off the old As Bereans Did patented gauntlet! Will Armstrong's version survive or come out a wreck?

THE SPICE MUST FLOW

For the "final clinching proof" of his Wednesday timeline, Armstrong said this:

"There is only one possible explanation: After the annual high-day Sabbath, the feast day of the days of Unleavened Bread - which was Thursday - these women purchased and prepared their spices on Friday, and then they rested on the weekly Sabbath, Saturday, according to the commandment (Ex. 20:8-11)."
-Herbert Armstrong, "The Resurrection Was Not On Sunday", 1972, p. 13

Is it the only possible explanation, though? Let's find out.
But first, just to be thorough, let's put up the two verses we need.

(MAR 16: 1) Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.

(LUK 23: 55-56) 55 And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.

The women from Galilee are usually recognized as Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome, Joanna the wife of Chuza, and Susanna. There may have been others besides these who went unnamed in the Gospels.
Now, notice Mark says "bought" and Luke says "prepared". They did not have to buy spices twice. Nothing precludes it, but it isn't necessary.
Also notice Mark says after the Sabbath and Luke says before the Sabbath. That's the key here. A contradiction? No. There are explanations. Armstrong says his explanation is the only one and it clinches the debate. Other authors from the Armstrong tradition copy and reprint his booklet almost verbatim, so they must agree. I used to agree, but no longer.

Let's put this into a chart to help you visualize when the women could buy and prepare spices.
The following chart compares the Wednesday and Friday crucifixion scenarios. It gives the date in half days, then shows when the ladies could work versus when they had to rest for religious reasons. The chart starts on the day Jesus was crucified. The chart stops before the Sunday morning when they found Jesus alive.

	Nissan 12 Wednesday	Nissan 12/13 Wed/Thu	Nissan 12/13 Thursday	Nissan 13/14 Thu/Fri	Nissan 14 Friday	Nissan 14/15 Fri/Sat	Nissan 15 Saturday	Nissan 15/16 Sat/Sun
	Day	Night	Day	Night	Day	Night	Day	Night
Wednesday	Work	Rest	Rest	Work	Work	Rest	Rest	Work
Friday	----	----	----	----	Work	Rest	Rest	Work

All the green cells in that chart are opportunities for the ladies to purchase and prepare spices.

In the Friday scenario, the events before Friday are not relevant to the spice purchase. In this scenario, the women prepared spices and oils on the Friday on which Jesus was crucified, rested as commanded, then bought more spices on Saturday evening after the Sabbath ended.

In the Wednesday scenario, Herbert Armstrong tells us the only possibility was that the women purchased and prepared spices on Friday. But you can see for yourself Friday was not the only opportunity. Remember, Jewish days begin and end at sundown, not midnight. Their options were Wednesday evening before sundown, Thursday evening after sundown, all Friday until sundown, and Saturday evening after sundown.

I want you to consider something ---  a Friday spice purchase is not necessary at all in the Wednesday scenario.

Armstrong prefers a one-time purchase and preparation - his entire case stands on it - but nothing in the Gospel narrative demands this. In the Wednesday scenario, the women could have done it in the same way as the Friday scenario - meaning, on two different days. But look at the chart. They could have purchased spices on any of three other opportunities beside Friday. He never explains why he ignores those opportunities. He simply concludes one purchase on Friday and that is that. But if nothing in the language demands it, and there are clearly other options, then why should we insist on it?

We know that Nicodemus brought 100 pounds of myrrh and spices to anoint Jesus before His entombment (JON. 19: 39). Apparently this was something one could do rather quickly. So, there is no good reason to exclude the evening before the crucifixion.
Also, we know from historical sources that shops would be open to the last possible moment before Sabbath began, then they would reopen as soon as possible in the evening after sundown when Sabbath ended, especially at this very busy time of year (for example, read Nehemiah 13: 19). So, there is no good reason to exclude Thursday evening after the annual holy day or Saturday evening after the weekly Sabbath.
These three opportunities are legitimate opportunities.

In case someone from the Armstrong camp wishes to eliminate Saturday evening as an option because Jesus was resurrected on Saturday in their scenario, I remind you this is not about when Jesus was resurrected. This is only about when the ladies bought spices. They didn't know a thing about the resurrection yet. Whether Jesus was resurrected on Saturday evening or Sunday morning is neither here nor there to either scenario.

The Wednesday crucifixion scenario has all the time the Friday crucifixion scenario has plus an entire free day. So, already we have proven Armstrong's version of events is not the "only possible explanation". He simply declares it so.

ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD

Herbert Armstrong ignored another important point. The biggest issue I have with his explanation is the eagerness of the women to go to the tomb.

One must ask why did they not visit the tomb on Thursday evening or Friday or Saturday evening?

As I said, the Wednesday crucifixion scenario has all the time the Friday crucifixion scenario has plus an entire free day. This is very bad for Armstrong's explanation. If Nicodemus can obtain what he did in such short order, then these women couldn't possibly need all that time. They weren't afraid to travel in the dark, which only adds more time. They could have visited Him at any time on Friday. Why didn't they go? If they were so eager, then why wait until Sunday morning?
In Armstrong's timeline, we must conclude the women were not actually eager at all ...except, inexplicably at 4 AM on Sunday. They sat around for days until they took off like a shot in the dark. This requires some explanation, because the Bible narrative here is about how eager the women were and Armstrong contradicts this. But no explanation is given.

Now, they didn't have all the time in the world. There is a hard stop in there. If we take a note from John 11: 39, they knew the body would stink by day 4. No point in anointing at that stage. In the Wednesday scenario, day 4 would be Sunday. Why would the women waste good time then rush to the tomb when it was too late?

In the Friday crucifixion scenario, there is a very good reason for why the women were so anxious to get to the tomb on Sunday morning - this was their first real opportunity.

Does the Wednesday scenario provide the better explanation versus the Friday scenario? I cannot agree that it does. It makes the ladies seem rather aloof and lazy, like the lazy grasshopper who sat around while he should have been working then had to rush, versus the industrious ant who worked hard the entire time.

EASTER SEAL

I ask you to consider another point which greatly complicates Armstrong's timing. The Romans sealed the tomb on the Sabbath after the crucifixion.
Let that idea roll around in your head a bit.

In Armstrong's Wednesday crucifixion scenario, LUK 23: 56 must happen on Friday. Allow me to quote it again, "After the annual high-day Sabbath, the feast day of the days of Unleavened Bread - which was Thursday - these women purchased and prepared their spices on Friday." (Even though "after the Sabbath" began Thursday at sundown.)
But have you read verse 55? It says, "...they observed the tomb and how His body was laid..." It is quite clear, they saw the body.

Now, let's consult Matthew's rendition.

(MAT. 27: 62-66) 62 On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, 63 saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.

On the Sabbath which began after the crucifixion - Thursday, according to Armstrong - during the daylight hours, the Romans sealed the tomb.
How, pray tell, could the women go to the tomb on Friday and see the body if the tomb was sealed on Thursday? They could not.

To fix this, we might imagine a day-long gap between Luke 23 verses 55 and 56. The women went to the tomb and saw the body on Wednesday evening - insert gap here - then, on Friday they prepared spices. That seems like the only way to solve this. But it also seems like convenient excuse making. There is nothing in the original Greek which precludes this, but nothing to support it either. In fact, verses 55 and 56 read strongly like one continuous action. Luke is the most chronological of the Gospel writers, after all.

For the sake of argument, let's grant that gap. Now, let's see the issue it has caused.

The ladies took their spices on Sunday morning before sunrise, expecting to have the stone rolled away so they could anoint the body, but the tomb was sealed almost three days before, on Thursday. The women obviously were not yet aware of this seal and guard.
This causes us to ask - why didn't the women know this?

The sealing was quite public, after all. This was not done in a corner. The chief priests and Pharisees all went in a cluster to the Romans, risking ceremonial uncleanliness on a high holy day. It is a hard sell indeed to claim it took three days for word about this to get around.

Now, which makes more sense regarding the women on Sunday morning:
A) The tomb had been sealed since Thursday, for almost three days now, but the women had not heard about it yet, or
B) The tomb was sealed Saturday, a half day at this point, but the women had not heard about it yet?

I am going with option B!
Considering the amount of interest these ladies had in the death and the amount of time they would have had in a Wednesday scenario, it makes practically no sense at all to go with option A.

The timing of Luke 23: 55-56 is one continuous thought with no gap, taking place immediately after Jesus was taken down from the cross on Friday. The ladies observed the way He was buried, then returned to prepare spices in the limited time they had that same evening. They rested on the weekly Sabbath while the Pharisees plotted further. At sundown Saturday, they busied themselves with more spices. Then, at the first opportunity early on Sunday - roughly between 4:30-5:00 AM - they hurried out, not yet aware the tomb was sealed and under guard.

So, insert the gap between verses 55 and 56 of Luke 23 to save the Wednesday timeline and you only cause an issue with Sunday morning which harms the Wednesday timeline. The Friday timeline, however, fits naturally.

CONCLUSION

Did Armstrong really deliver the crushing blow of arguments? Does the timing of spice preparation clinch the victory and demonstrably prove there were two Sabbaths? I have no choice but to conclude no. Wednesday scenario is indeed the only possibility if we insist on one spice preparation. However, there is no good reason to insist on this. If we opt for two separate spice preparations, Wednesday scenario dissolved completely. I think that, when we look at all the details critically, the Wednesday scenario is not a clincher at all but is quite weak because there is more to it than just spice preparations.

Decide for yourself which scenario best explains the behavior of the women of Galilee. Did they buy and prepare spices during the limited time available then rush to the tomb at the first opportunity, or did they lazily take their time over multiple opportunities, avoiding gossip about Roman guards, then inexplicably decide they needed to rush to the tomb on Sunday morning after the corpse should already have started to stink?

If we only read Herbert Armstrong's material, the explanation he offers will seem to work. It is only when we question it critically that the issues arise. Armstrong simply ignored the problems his scenario created and hoped we wouldn't notice.

Rather than clinching the argument, we are left clenching two logical fallacies in the Wednesday scenario:

Circular Reasoning (using something as evidence for itself)
How do we know the crucifixion was on Wednesday? Because the ladies bought spices on Friday. How do we know the ladies bought spices on Friday? Because the crucifixion was on Wednesday.

Begging the Question (assuming the truth of the conclusion without supporting it)
Armstrong concludes the ladies bought spices on Friday, but ignores the opportunities on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. He offers no other support for this. He just declares Friday the only option, when it was not.

The flaws in logic we see here are not unique for Armstrong. They are less a one-off mistake and more a way of life.

I know many will punt to "three days and three nights" (we have an article for that), or argue for there being two Sabbaths in Matthew 28 (we have an article for that, too). Today's post is not about those things, so we did not get into them here. I invite you to read our other material on the Categories page which address any additional concerns you may have.

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )

Acts 17:11

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