Luke 23:56 Commentary: The Women's Obedient Sabbath Rest

The phrase “the day of the Preparation” (v. 54) refers to Friday, the day before the Sabbath (sunset Friday to sunset Saturday). Jewish law strictly prohibited work on the Sabbath, based on Exodus 20:8, 11 and additional rabbinic expansions. While some traditions allowed limited care for the dead, anointing and washing, the women likely refrained from any public activity. Gill records a Mishnaic debate about whether moving a limb was permitted; the women chose the stricter path. Their preparation of arōmata (dry spices) and mura (liquid ointments) mirrors the lavish embalming of royalty (2 Chronicles 16:14). But their devotion confronted a constraint: the holy day could not be set aside, even for their beloved Teacher.

Literarily, Luke highlights the women as faithful witnesses. They followed from Galilee (Luke 23:49), observed the tomb (v. 55), and now prepare the spices. Their deliberate rest sets up the dramatic discovery of the empty tomb on “the first day of the week” (Luke 24:1). The verse thus forms a hinge: the grief and obedience of Saturday give way to the joy of Sunday. The Sabbath rest is not an afterthought, it is the silence before the new creation.

Vincent's Word Studies notes that hupostrepsasai (having returned) is a word Luke uses thirty-two times, far more than the other Gospel writers, emphasizing the narrative movement. The women's return to the city and then back to the tomb on Sunday builds a story of faithful persistence.

The consulted sources note no significant textual variants in the Greek manuscripts for Luke 23:56. The passage is stable across the major witnesses. Adam Clarke mentions some Itala (Old Latin) copies that add extra verses in the surrounding context, but these do not affect the verse itself.

Early church writers often used this verse to emphasize the women’s piety and the continuity of Old Testament law. In the medieval period, the verse supported the practice of resting on the Sabbath (or the Lord's Day) as a moral duty. Reformers like Calvin and Luther focused on it to illustrate that faith does not discard God’s commandments, even in crisis. In modern times, the verse is frequently cited in Holy Saturday liturgies and meditations, highlighting the silent waiting between death and resurrection. The image of the women at rest has inspired hymns and artwork that dwell on the sorrow and trust of that Saturday.

Three-point outline

1. Love prepares: The women act on their devotion by gathering spices and ointments for Jesus’ body. Their love does not retreat into inaction even when hope is dim.
2. Obedience pauses: They halt their work to keep the Sabbath. No task, however holy, overrides God’s explicit command. Grief does not excuse disobedience.
3. Rest readies for resurrection: Their Sabbath stillness becomes the quiet before the greatest miracle. When we stop our frantic activity, we make space for God to act.

Five-point outline

1. Watching the grave (v. 55), the women see where Jesus is laid.
2. Returning to prepare (v. 56a), they gather materials to honor his body.
3. Stopping at the Sabbath (v. 56b), they honor the commandment.
4. Waiting through the darkness, Saturday holds faith without sight.
5. Running to the tomb (Luke 24:1), obedience and love meet the empty tomb.

Illustration hooks

• A family postpones a funeral meal until after a loved one’s memorial service because that was their custom, choosing tradition over convenience.
• A runner stops mid-race to help a fallen competitor, knowing the pause will cost them time but valuing compassion over personal record.
• After a long week of loss, someone chooses to rest on Sunday morning even when the house still needs cleaning, trusting that rest is itself a form of worship.

Questions your congregation is asking

• If the women had heard Jesus say he would rise on the third day, why did they prepare spices for a dead body? (The disciples also failed to grasp the prediction, Mark 9:10.)
• Was their Sabbath rest a failure of faith or an act of obedience? (Commentators are divided; Clarke sees despair, while others see devotion.)
• Does this verse teach anything about how Christians should observe a day of rest today? (Opinions differ, but the pattern of stopping for God’s command remains a touchstone.)

This verse sits at the hinge of Luke’s passion narrative. The women have seen their Lord crucified and buried. They have done what they can, they have watched, followed, and prepared. Now the Sabbath forces them to stop. In that forced pause, we see their obedience, their grief, and their hope (or its absence). Use these questions to explore what the rest means, both for the women and for us.

Discussion questions

1. What do we know about these women from earlier in Luke’s Gospel? (See Luke 8:2, 3; 23:49, 55.) Why might Luke emphasize their presence at the burial and their Sabbath rest?
2. Reading the verse literally, the women “prepared spices and ointments” but then “rested.” Why not go immediately to the tomb? What does their choice reveal about their view of the Sabbath?
3. Adam Clarke comments that their activity “proves they had no hope of his resurrection.” Do you agree? What other motives might explain their actions, love, duty, denial?
4. How does the rest of the Sabbath serve as a waiting period? Have you ever experienced a time when grief forced you to stop, and later you saw God move?
5. In what ways do we sometimes rush past commanded rest because we think our work (even good work) is more urgent? What might the Sabbath teach us about trusting God’s timing?
6. How does this verse connect to the creation story (Genesis 2:2, 3) and the rest God took? Could the women’s rest prefigure the greater rest Christ would bring?
7. What does it mean for your small group to “rest according to the commandment” when facing a crisis? How can you encourage one another to obey God even when circumstances press for action?