Mark 15:40-41 40And there were also some women watching from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and Joses, and Salome. 41When he was in Galilee, they were following him and ministering to him; and there were many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.
Mark mentions several women by name who stood near the cross and witnessed all the events from a distance. There is no mention of male disciples at this point because they all had fled. There are several insights we can gain from these two verses. One is that these women were close enough to witness all that took place. They are the ones who heard what the scoffers said in ridicule and what the centurion proclaimed in awe. They may have heard the final words Jesus said. Basically, we have the information about these events because these women were there, witnessed the events, and later told the other disciples.
A second insight comes from the names of the women who were present. Mary was a popular name for women at that time, with a number of different women named this in the New Testament. The first Mary was from the small village of Magdala located on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Mark 16:9 and Luke 8:2 indicate that Jesus had freed her from demons. From that point on, she became one of his most faithful followers. She was the first to witness Jesus’ resurrection. The other Mary is identified as the mother of James and Joses. According to 6:3, Jesus had two brothers with these names, so it is a good possibility that this Mary was Jesus’ mother. James the younger might differentiate this James with James, the son of Zebedee and the brother of John. If this was Mary the mother of Jesus, then the James mentioned here could be the one who wrote the letter in the New Testament with that name. Salome is mentioned only here and 16:1 when the women came back to anoint Jesus’ body. Although we know nothing else about her, she was one of the faithful few who bravely stood by and followed Jesus through death and into resurrection.
A third insight comes from the backstory mentioned in verse 41. These three women and others had ben faithful followers and supporters of Jesus for some time. They were from Galilee and had followed Jesus all the way to Jerusalem. This reference indicates that Jesus had many more disciples than just the twelve who get most of the attention. The verb tense for following and ministering is imperfect, indicating continuous action in the past. These women were faithful and steady in their commitment. Once they met Jesus and he brought healing to them, they never turned back but were with him the whole time. The word for serving (diēkonoun) is the common word in the New Testament for ministry and is often used for compassionate care in a physical sense. These women sacrificed and worked hard to care for Jesus’ physical needs. They are rarely mentioned in the Gospels but were there helping out the whole group in tangible ways. These three women were not the only ones, with many others following Jesus to Jerusalem.
Although we have few details about these women, they serve as good examples for other Christian women who often are the ones to keep ministries going. They often serve behind the scenes and get little recognition, but without them, the ministry of the church would be greatly hindered or even non-existent. Women were limited in that culture of what they could do. These women did the best they could within that culture, and for that, they were rewarded with being witnesses to both Jesus’ sacrificial death and the power of his resurrection.
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