The Sabbath, with its corpse-handling restrictions, had ended as the stars came out on the Saturday night.  But practical safety demanded that the women wait until first light on Sunday before they could fulfil their desire to honour Jesus and anoint His body.  It was a token gesture for Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had already encased Jesus body with 34 kilograms of embalming spices under tightly wound linen strips (John 19:39-40).  But it was their own personal way to say that they loved Jesus, like leaving flowers on a grave or accident site.  It was simply an act of devotion, the only thing they could do to relieve their grief.

Mary Magdalene and another Mary knew the location of the burial site; they were there when Joseph put Jesus' body into his own tomb (Mark 15:47).  They had seen the heavy millstone rolled down the stone slot to obstruct the entrance.  Later official seals were applied to prevent unauthorised opening and guards had been set (Matthew 27:65-66).  There was no way into the burial cave in the rock.

Logic should have said, 'We cannot get to the body of Jesus so we will not bother to go'.  But this was beyond logic; it was that dreadful mixture of love and grief.  So, having collected what spices they could between them overnight, they carried the aromatic jars to the tomb at daybreak.  This was a women-only expedition, and they knew that the stone was far too heavy for them to roll it up the inclined groove.  It was not until they were well on their way that they wondered which men might help them, despite knowing that there was a severe penalty for breaking the seals.  But the powerful inner emotions of love for Jesus defied logical objections that morning.  They had no idea that the Lord would task an angel to remove all obstacles (Matthew 28:2), so that they could meet a Divine appointment they did not anticipate.

Not every illogical urge is of God; indeed most are not.  But when the Almighty plans to use us in a unique way, there will be no logical precedent.  Our relationship with Him is not driven down advertised railway lines enabling us to predict the route, we simply have to follow Him.  Unlike fleshly passions, every desire of ours to be closer to Jesus contains His own spiritual agenda which will surprise us.  Like Peter on the water, the impossibility becomes irrelevant as we respond to His call (Matthew 14:28-29).  This may not suit our 'must-be-in-control' mindset, but we must understand that the Lord is not bound by our logic, if we are to serve as true disciples of Jesus.  In retrospect, faith is very logical but at the time faith is marked by obedience to His call.  So much for the theory ... the practical class starts today!