Mark 15:40-47
40 Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.
The example of love and dedication for Jesus that we see of the women who stood by the cross of our Savior, in the last hours of His life as He was dying and also three days later on the morning of His resurrection at His tomb, should be an inspiration and spiritual lesson to everyone who has put their faith and trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord of their lives.
In most instances, the love and devotion someone has for another is demonstrated by their actions. We see this kind of love and devotion in the women who were committed to Jesus not just as followers but as women who demonstrated their love for Jesus by their actions. Mark 15:41a, “In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs.” But on the day of Jesus’ crucifixion, a day of judgment and punishment by the Roman’s, these same women demonstrated their love and dedication for Him in spite of the danger of being associated and identified as Jesus’ disciples.
William Barclay gives us his explanation about these women of action exemplifying their love and devotion for Jesus.
“In the end Jesus was not absolutely alone. At his Cross there were these four women who loved him. Some commentators explain their presence there by saying that in those days women were so unimportant that no one ever took any notice of women disciples, and that therefore these women were running no risk at all by being near the Cross of Jesus. That surely is a poor and unworthy explanation. It was always a dangerous thing to be an associate of a man whom the Roman government believed to be so dangerous that he deserved a Cross. It is always a dangerous thing to demonstrate one’s love for someone whom the orthodox regard as a heretic. The presence of these women at the Cross was not due to the fact that they were so unimportant that no one would notice them; their presence was due to the fact that perfect love casts out fear.”
1 John 4:16-18, 16 God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
Throughout the centuries many people have followed charismatic political and cult leaders, and have dedicated their lives in hard work and even have given their lives for that leader’s cause. However, Jesus was not just another one of these persons. This was proven by what He did not just by what He said. Jesus said in John 14:11, “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.”
These women were not following another political leader who they hoped would free them and their nation from Roman domination. Nor a popular religious leader who everyone else was following. These women were dedicated and committed themselves to follow Jesus much before they even knew on what cruel Roman device of death Jesus was going to die on. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23.
These women were not only were convinced of who Jesus was because of what He said, but also accepted His words because they knew where Jesus came from and that God sent Him. “For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.” John 17:8
Who were these women who exemplified their love and devotion at the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus? William Barclay gives us this information about them.
“Of one, Mary the wife of Clopas, we know nothing; but we know something of the other three.
(i) There was Mary, Jesus’ mother. Maybe she could not understand, but she could love. Her presence there was the most natural thing in the world for a mother. Jesus might be a criminal in the eyes of the law, but he was her son. The eternal love of motherhood is in Mary at the Cross and her love was such that it could never die.
But in this passage, there is something which is surely one of the loveliest things in all the gospel story. When Jesus saw his mother, he could not but think of the days ahead. He could not commit her to the care of his brothers, for they did not believe in him yet “For even his own brothers did not believe in him.” John 7:5. So Jesus committed Mary to John’s care. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.” John 20:26-27.
There is something infinitely moving in the fact that Jesus in the agony of the Cross, when the salvation of the world hung in the balance, thought of the loneliness of his mother in the days ahead. He never forgot the duties that lay to his hand. He was Mary’s eldest son, and even in the moment of his cosmic battle, he did not forget the simple things that lay near home. To the end of the day, even on the Cross, Jesus was thinking more of the sorrows of others than of his own.
(ii) There was Salome, the mother of James and John. The strange thing about her is that she had received from Jesus a very definite and stern rebuff. Once she had come to Jesus to ask him to give her sons the chief place in his kingdom and Jesus had taught her how wrong such ambitious thoughts were. 20 “Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. 21 “What is it you want?” he asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom. 22 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered. 23 Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.” Matthew 20:20-23.
Salome was the woman he had rebuked–and yet she was there at the Cross. Her presence says much for her and for Jesus. It shows that she had the humility to accept rebuke and to love on with undiminished devotion; it shows that he could rebuke in such a way that his love shone through the rebuke. Salome’s presence is a lesson to us on how to give and how to receive a rebuke.
(iii) There was Mary from Magdala. All we know about her is that out of her Jesus cast seven devils. Luke 8:1-3, “8 After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.”
Matthew and Mark, both tell us how the love and devotion for Jesus by these women was displayed even after his death on the cross. Mark 15:47, “Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.” Matthew 27:57-61, 57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (“the mother of James and Joses” Ver. 56) were sitting there opposite the tomb.
Even though Mary, the mother of Jesus, did not take the responsibility of claiming the body of Jesus, possibly because of her grief, there were other women who demonstrated their devotion to Jesus by seeing where Jesus’ body was laid. Because of their love and devotion demonstrated by their actions, it made it possible after the Sabbath to return to the tomb to complete the burial process of Jesus.
The women’s love and devotion demonstrated by their actions put them in a place to be the first to see Jesus and used by Jesus to tell the others of His resurrection.
Luke 24:1-11, 24 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'” 8 Then they remembered his words. 9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.
We see that the early morning hour, the sealed tomb, the guards at the tomb, were not obstacles that prevented the women’s love and devotion for Jesus to be expressed. Matthew 27:65-66, 65 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
The women’s love and devotion for Jesus being expressed early that morning also gave them the blessing and opportunity to be the first to see the empty tomb and first to see the resurrected Jesus. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” 11 While the women were on their way, … Matthew 28:9-11
How many opportunities is our love and devotion for Jesus allowing us to experience the resurrected Jesus in our lives? Do we realize that our personal experience is also a tool that can be used by God to tell others of Jesus’ resurrection?
Pastor John
