Mark 15:40
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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.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
What we read of the sufferings of Christ, in the foregoing chapter, was but the prologue or introduction; here we have the completing of them. We left him condemned by the chief priests; but they could only show their teeth, they could not bite. Here we have him, I. Arraigned and accused before Pilate the Roman governor (Mar 15:1-5). II. Cried out against by the common people, at the instigation of the priests (Mar 15:6-14). III. Condemned to be crucified immediately (Mar 15:15). IV. Bantered and abused, as a mock-king, by the Roman soldiers (Mar 15:16-19). V. Led out to the place of execution with all possible ignominy and disgrace (Mar 15:20-24). VI. Nailed to the cross between two thieves (Mar 15:25-28). VII. Reviled and abused by all that passed by (Mar 15:29-32). VIII. Forsaken for a time by his father (Mar 15:33-36). IX. Dying, and rending the veil (Mar 15:37, Mar 15:38). X. Attested and witnessed to by the centurion and others (Mar 15:39-41). XI. Buried in the sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea (Mar 15:42-47).
Open source ↗15:40-41 These women had supplied some of Jesus’ economic needs (see Luke 8:2-3). They were also present at the burial (Mark 15:47) and the empty tomb (16:1-8) and would be the first witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection. • Mary Magdalene, from the village of Magdala near the shore of the Sea of Galilee, was a key figure in the resurrection accounts (16:1, 9; Matt 28:1; Luke 24:10; John 20:1, 11-18). • Mary (the mother of James the younger): This James might have been James the son of Alphaeus (Mark 3:18). • Salome is mentioned only here and in Mark 16:1.
Open source ↗Cross-references
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But all those who knew Jesus, including the women who had followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching these things.
Early on the first day of the week, after Jesus had risen, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had driven out seven demons.
“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t His mother’s name Mary, and aren’t His brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
My beloved and friends shun my disease, and my kinsmen stand at a distance.
Have we no right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings.
But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.