Not much is said about the Friday after His death. Mark 16:1 records that “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.” Luke 23:56 records that “Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.”
Reconciling these two things is a matter of debate. Mark’s account appears that the Sabbath mentioned is the weekly Sabbath (Saturday) because verse two says that they went to the tomb on the first day of the week. In Luke’s account, verse 55 says the women watched where Joseph placed the body, and then they went home to prepare spices. So, what is the timing of the women and the spices? Did they have spices at home to prepare, or did they buy the spices after the Sabbath before going to the tomb? And if the latter is the case, then when did they prepare the spices?
Earlier, we learned that Yeshua was taken off the cross and placed in the tomb before sunset. By the time the women got home to prepare the spices, it would have been the Sabbath. That doesn’t fit with Luke telling us they observed the Sabbath. Mark tells us they bought the spices after the Sabbath and went to the tomb early in the morning. The Sabbath ends at sundown on Saturday. Where would they buy spices in the dark of night, and when did they prepare them if they went to the tomb very early in the morning?
There is a remedy for all of this. After Joseph and Nicodemus rolled the stone in front of the tomb, the High Sabbath was about to begin they all went home. After that Sabbath, they bought spices and perfume, as Mark records. This would be on Friday, Yeshua’s second day in the tomb. The weekly Sabbath would begin at sundown Friday night, so the women observed the Sabbath on the morrow like Luke records. Thus, though not much is recorded about this Friday, a lot happened for the women on this day.
His passion shifts to the women.