When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. (Mark 16: 1-4)

The three women of the cross continue with their grieving, caretaking, and witness. Their return to the tomb suggests there had been insufficient time to complete the burial rituals.

Joseph of Arimathea, the slaves, and whoever else removed Jesus from the cross have all departed. Nicodemus and his hundred pounds of aloe and myrhh does not appear in Mark.

The three women are not sure how they will roll away the stone. They apparently cannot call upon their sons or others to help. They have a task to complete, but no clear understanding of how.

Many - perhaps most - modern scholars argue the burial stories are so inconsistent because the body had probably been lost and consigned to a common grave for criminals.

Whatever the historical truth, we are told of three women - physically incapable, intellectually uncertain, emotionally distraught, and in some ways spiritually clueless - who rise early in the morning to do what they can.