(61) Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
(61) ἦν δὲ ἐκεῖ Μαριὰμ ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ καὶ ἡ ἄλλη Μαρία καθήμεναι ἀπέναντι τοῦ τάφου.
This verse struck me this morning as a reminder about the detail of Scripture. In an effort to discount any supernatural explanation for the empty tomb on Easter morning some have guessed that maybe they went to the wrong tomb. However, this verse makes that extremely unlikely. It is certainly possible in the same sense that it is possible that a bunch of men came into my house last night, walked around, took nothing, and left without a trace. It may have happened, but it is extremely unlikely. Steven Wright had a joke that someone broke into his house, stole everything, and replaced it with an exact replica. It's funny because of the improbability of it.
This verse also tells us that Mary and Martha were thinking ahead to Easter morning. They were going to prepare the body with spices. They had to know where the body was so they could do that. While the eleven faithful disciples fled they were at least clear-headed enough to think about preparing the body.
I know that I tend to overlook this verse as I read through Matthew. Today it bolsters my faith in the historical truth of the physical resurrection of Jesus' body. What does it do for you, if anything?
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