Whereas the male disciples feared for their lives and were nowhere to be found, the women followed all the way to the tomb. In that culture women were relegated to a marginal role in discipleship at best, not permitted to be disciples (see Keener 1992:83-84; Witherington 1984). Thus women, unlike men, would not be suspected as potential coconspirators with Jesus; their courage is nonetheless telling. These women had followed Jesus as disciples in whatever ways they could, even ways that would have appeared scandalous in that culture (v. 55; compare Stanton 1989:202; Stambaugh and Balch 1986:104; Liefeld 1967:240).