God’s Word for You
Mark 15:40-41 The women
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Thursday, March 28, 2024
40 There were also some women looking on from a distance. Among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 When he was in Galilee, they used to follow him and serve him, and there were many other women who traveled with him up to Jerusalem.
The woman who stands out among the others was Mary Magdalene, the Mary from Magdala, a village on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Her first connection to the Lord was that Jesus had driven seven demons from her (Mark 16:9), but after that she followed him and served him faithfully for the rest of his ministry. There was also a Mary who was the wife of Clopas. Their sons were named James and Joses. She was also the sister of Jesus’ mother; she is referred to as “the other Mary” by Matthew in the resurrection account. Another woman at the cross was Salome, who Matthew tells us was the mother of James and John the apostles; she was the widow of Zebedee. A fourth notable woman who was present is not mentioned here by Mark, but of course she was Jesus’ mother, also called Mary (John 19:25), and a fifth was a woman named Joanna. Luke tells us that this Joanna was the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod’s household. “These women were helping to support (Jesus and his disciples) out of their own means” (Luke 8:3).
These women pooled their money together—perhaps with Joanna, it was part of her husband’s fortune. With the widow of Zebedee, her inheritance. Or they might have had some other income—it is even possible that they found temporary work in fields, homes, farms, or inns, wherever Jesus happened to be preaching. But since “the worker deserves his wages” (Luke 10:7), they wanted to provide for Jesus’ needs. And Paul says, “Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor” (Galatians 6:6). And the Lord commanded Moses: “No one is to appear before me empty-handed” (Exodus 23:15).
These women found great joy in this task, for they could hear Jesus wherever he went, listen to his preaching, hear his parables, witness his miracles, and like Mary Magdalene they themselves could be healed and cured and have the demons driven away.
Mark tells us that this association began in Galilee, where his preaching began, but that they had followed him “up,” which is south toward Jerusalem. Mark uses a word that should be easily recognized by classical Greek students: they had made the “anabasis” together with Jesus. To make or travel an “anabasis” is to make a journey upward, or into the interior of a country. It is famous because “The Anabasis” is the title of an historical account of such a journey by the Greek soldier Xenophon and ten thousand mercenaries after a disaster stranded them in Asia Minor in the 5th century BC. In the case of the women who followed Jesus, they traveled with him out of Galilee and into the region across the Jordan (Perea), since it was after leaving Perea that he came through Jericho and then up into Jerusalem just before his crucifixion (Mark 10:1).
By hearing his message and putting their faith in him, these women demonstrated the difference between Christianity and the world’s pagan religions. Women have the same rights in God’s kingdom that a son had in the ancient world: the full rights of inheritance. A woman is not a second-class citizen in heaven, but has all of the rights of sons. For Christ came “to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Galatians 4:5). And all of us who have received this sonship, the inheritance of faith, forgiveness, the resurrection of the body, and eternal life in heaven, have not received it because of our personal worthiness or merits, but through and because of the grace of God. And since we have also received the Holy Spirit, our bodies are all temples of the Holy Spirit. This will not mean that everything will go our way in life—these faithful women looking now at the dead body of their Savior had more than an ample lesson in that truth—but it means that the blessings of salvation and eternal life are the same gifts given to all. The Christian confesses: “I believed. Therefore, I have spoken: ‘I am greatly afflicted’” (Psalm 116:10). And there are many times when “those who are rescued are in great trouble and disgrace” (Nehemiah 1:3). But Job confessed to his wife: “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (Job 2:10). The life of the believer is blessed with good things. On the one hand, there are good things that many receive: health, a loving Christian spouse, fine children, success—perhaps even a good reputation—and most especially we are blessed with faith and our baptism. But at the same time, these things help us to stand up under troubles when they come. A man in pain might be able to encourage his own spirit by saying, “I cause my Savior pain with each sin I fall into; since he can bear with me, I can remember his patience during my physical pain, and rejoice that my Savior loves me.”
Faith leads us to confess that whatever we once were, we are now changed in Christ. “Before I was brought low, I was like a stone lying deep in the mud. Then he who is powerful came and in his mercy pulled me out, and lifted me up and placed me on the very top of the wall (Psalm 69:14). That is why I must shout aloud in return to the Lord for such great good deeds of his, here and now and forever, which the human mind cannot measure” (St. Patrick).
The last point to remember here as we see the women is that they did what the apostles apart from John could not do. They watched the cross; they answered his command, “Watch and pray” (Mark 14:38). They endured the mocking of the Sanhedrin and of Caiaphas the high priest of Israel. They endured because Jesus endured. Jesus is the true high priest, who by his divine sacrifice ended the priesthood and the very office of Caiaphas and all the sacrifices, forever. His blood and death on the cross brought forgiveness and peace to all the world. These blessed women, Mary, Mary, Salome and the others, were witnesses, and their witness would continue from the cross to the empty tomb.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.