Today, on Good Friday, my church remembers the day that Jesus died. Our pastors enter the worship space in silence, then lie face down on the floor to humble themselves before the great sacrifice Christ made. We hear the Gospel story of the crucifixion, and then members of our community take turns carrying a large wooden cross so that everyone can reach out and touch it, thanking Jesus for what His love has meant for them.

Today stands among the most powerful days of the year in my faith.

But one year, everything changed for me.

In our church, we celebrate Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday as if they were one long liturgy, each day leading into the next. That year, after our Holy Thursday service had ended, I caught the smallest movement out of the corner of my eye as I gathered up my family’s coats to head home.

Two women were silently folding the altar cloths. Together they repeated the familiar movements: stretch the fabric wide, join the ends together, meet in the middle, and take up the ends again until the task is done.

As a child, I helped my mother fold sheets, blankets, and tablecloths like this. As a mother, I taught my children to do the same. So on that dark night as I watched the women do this quiet, faithful work, preparing the church for what would come next on Good Friday, I felt tears rise to my eyes.

Here were the women staying with Jesus all the way, as they have done since the beginning.

Each Gospel tells the story of the women in different ways. Luke describes Jesus meeting the women on the road to Calvary: “A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children” (Luke 23:27-28 NIV).

Mark focuses on the faithful women who followed Jesus: “Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there” (Mark 15:40-41 NIV).

John describes an unforgettable encounter between the risen Jesus and Mary Magdalene, who came to the tomb alone and in the dark: “Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’)” (John 20:16 NIV). Mary was willing to seek the Lord, to stay weeping at the tomb after others left, and to spread the good news Jesus gave her — and her faithfulness changed the world.

And one of the most powerful — and often overlooked — moments that Jesus shared with a woman in the final hours before his death comes from the Gospel of Matthew. While in Bethany, Jesus speaks a stunning proclamation about the woman who anointed his head: “When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” (Matthew 26:12-13 NIV).

The loving, faithful, abundant service of women is at the heart of the Gospel.

The woman who anointed Jesus. The women who wept for Him on His way. The women who stayed at the cross. The women who cared for His body after death. The women who found the empty tomb. The women who told of the resurrection.

The women who stayed show us the way.

We don’t need to have all the answers to stay faithful to Jesus. We don’t have to understand exactly what God is doing. We don’t need to have power, resources, or the world’s attention. We only have to stay as close as we can to Jesus.

You are already following in the footsteps of these holy women. You are staying in the hard places where God is asking you to stay — or coming alongside those who need companions.

You stay with Jesus when you bring Him your broken heart: your care for loved ones, your concerns for your community, and your work in the world.

You stay with Jesus when you stay close to those in need: suffering friends, struggling relatives, or sisters and brothers across the ocean.

You stay with Jesus when you are willing to set out while it is still dark, while your heart is fearful but you decide to seek God anyway.

You stay with Jesus when you weep with those who weep. When you keep speaking the truth. When you are open to hearing God’s voice in a way you have never heard before.

Like the women folding the altar cloths in that empty church, Jesus’ faithful followers are hidden in plain view. We see them in our friends, families, churches, and even ourselves.

The women speaking out against injustice. The women reaching out to offer help. The women rallying their communities. The women caring for young and old. The women rising to serve and kneeling to pray. The women weeping at the news and asking, “God, what can I do?”

The women stayed with Jesus all the way — on the road, at the cross, to the tomb, and beyond.

Like them, we can stay with Jesus, too. We will not leave Him, and He will never leave us.

For more of Laura’s writing, check out her essays on spirituality in everyday life at The Holy Labor.

 

Listen to Laura’s devotion here or wherever you stream podcasts.

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