Mark 15:39 – 41
39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” 40 Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, 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.
Jesus had many disciples that followed him. We’ve recently heard about the ones that didn’t want to believe that he would die, most who were hoping to see him enthroned and crush the Romans and some that were clamouring for who should be greatest and rule with him. These men were absent here at the cross now that the delusions of glory and power or fear or whatever else had led them to desert Jesus. In the distance we see some faithful disciples, the women, who have been serving Jesus all along the way. The passage doesn’t tell us how they are feeling, but we know that three days later they went to prepare the body to be embalmed so they believed that their master and teacher had died and left them and were likely grieving.
Isn’t it a wonderful thing that Jesus’s plan to save us, to die for our sins, didn’t depend on the disciple’s understanding this and having faith or doing the right thing? Isn’t it comforting knowing that we don’t have to get it right first to receive the gift of forgiveness of sins and eternal life with him?
With the gift of hindsight, we know what happened that day on the cross. This pivotal moment in history. “Surely he is the Son of God!” Spend some time meditating on this, bring your burdens to the cross, and accept the gift of forgiveness and freedom from him.
Petrina Rangiawha – Creek Road
