Bible Synapse
Did the women watch the crucifixion from far off, or stand by the cross?
Hard question · The death and resurrection of Jesus · raised by 1 of the lists sceptics circulate
See the passages joined in the interactive mapThe passages
After Jesus died, many women from Galilee were “beholding afar off”, among them Mary Magdalene.
And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children.
Women were “looking on afar off”, among them Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Salome.
There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;
His acquaintance and the women from Galilee “stood afar off, beholding these things”.
And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.
Earlier, his mother, her sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene “stood by the cross”, and Jesus spoke to his mother and the disciple he loved.
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
The objection
Matthew, Mark and Luke say that the women watched the crucifixion from a distance. John says that Jesus’ mother, Mary Magdalene and others stood by the cross, close enough for Jesus to speak to his mother. Critics ask which is true.
The answer
The accounts describe different moments in about six hours on the cross, from the third hour to the ninth (Mark 15:25, 34). John’s scene comes well before the end: only “after this” does Jesus, knowing that all is now accomplished, say “I thirst”, and then die (John 19:28–30). At that point a small group, Jesus’ mother, her sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene, with the disciple whom Jesus loved, had come close enough for Jesus to speak to them. Matthew, Mark and Luke mention where the women were only after telling of his death (Matthew 27:55; Mark 15:40; Luke 23:49). They describe them as they were at the end, watching from a distance, and go on to say that the same women watched the burial.
Over so many hours people would move closer and draw back again. Barnes thinks the soldiers kept onlookers away from the cross; perhaps a few were allowed nearer for a time, or ventured nearer. ‘Afar off’ is in any case a relative term: the women were near enough to see what was done and to follow the body to the tomb. The Pulpit Commentary puts the two accounts together in just this way: most watched at a distance, while some came closer to their dying Lord.
Other answers Christians give
Jesus’ mother led away
Jesus’ mother is not named among the women watching at the end. John says that “from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home” (John 19:27), and Ellicott, with the Pulpit Commentary on Mark 15:40, thinks he may have led her away before Jesus died, which would place the scene by the cross earlier still. Ellicott notes that the disciple seems to have been back at the cross by the end (John 19:35).
From the classic commentators
Courageous and loving, they had followed the procession to Calvary, and at a distance watched the woeful proceedings there. Some, we know, had ventured to come closer to their dying Lord (see John 19:25).The Pulpit Commentary, on Matthew 27:55 (1880–1897)