What Does Luke 23:56 Mean?

And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment. The faithful women demonstrate devotion even in grief. The phrase hypostrepsasai de hētoimasan arōmata kai myra (ὑποστρέψασαι δὲ ἡτοίμασαν ἀρώματα καὶ μύρα, 'and having returned, they prepared spices and ointments') shows immediate action—they return from seeing the tomb (v. 55) to prepare burial materials. Arōmata (ἀρώματα, 'aromatic spices') and myra (μύρα, 'perfumed ointments') were expensive materials used to anoint corpses and mask decomposition. Their preparation shows love and honor—they give their best to the dead Christ.

Yet faith and law balance: kai to men sabbaton hēsychasan kata tēn entolēn (καὶ τὸ μὲν σάββατον ἡσύχασαν κατὰ τὴν ἐντολήν, 'and on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment'). Despite urgency—bodies decompose quickly in Mediterranean heat—they hēsychazō (ἡσυχάζω, 'rest, be quiet, cease from labor') kata tēn entolēn (κατὰ τὴν ἐντολήν, 'according to the commandment'). They obey the Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:8-11) even while mourning. Their Sabbath rest contrasts with the religious leaders' Sabbath murder-plotting. True piety honors God's law; false piety manipulates it.