Standing at a Distance

Darkness came over all the land from the sixth hour until the ninth. Mark measures the time and leaves the darkness over it. The women who had followed Jesus from Galilee were in Jerusalem now, and Mary Magdalene was among them. The journey had brought them to His crucifixion.

At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice. “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” Mark gives the words and then their meaning: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” The cry enters an account that has marked three hours by darkness.

Some of those standing nearby heard it and said, “Behold, He is calling Elijah.” Someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and held it up for Jesus to drink. The action came with words: “Leave Him alone. Let us see if Elijah comes to take Him down.”

But Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed His last. Mark does not report another reply from those who had spoken about Elijah. He moves from the death to the temple, where the veil was torn in two from top to bottom. Then the account returns to the man standing in front of Jesus.

The centurion had seen how He breathed His last. “Truly this man was the Son of God!” he said. Mark records his declaration without giving a response from anyone beside him. The soldier’s words stand there, after the cry and the torn veil.

Then the account makes room for the women. “And there were also women watching from a distance.” Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. After the voices of the people nearby and the centurion, these women are named without any words of their own.

They had followed Jesus and ministered to Him while He was in Galilee. Mark puts that earlier work beside their presence here, carrying the road into this place of watching. There were many other women too, women who had come up to Jerusalem with Him. Mary stood within a company that had a history together.

John also names Mary Magdalene at the cross. In his account she stands near it with Jesus’ mother, His mother’s sister, and Mary the wife of Clopas. John’s telling brings us close enough to hear Jesus speak to His mother and to the disciple whom He loved. It does not explain how the women’s positions relate to the distance Mark describes.

Jesus saw His mother and the disciple standing nearby. He said to her, “Woman, here is your son.” Then He said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that hour, the disciple took her into his home.

Mary Magdalene is present in that account, but no speech is given to her. The words belong to Jesus, and the action that follows belongs to the disciple. Her name remains among those standing near the cross. Both accounts place her there, each preserving the company around her.

In Mark’s telling, the women watch after the account has brought Jesus to His last breath. Their presence is followed by the approach of evening, with the Sabbath drawing near. The body is still to be taken down and buried. Someone will have to ask Pilate for it.