Across the 4 gospels, only 8 followers of
Jesus are specifically mentioned as being present at His death. Debate as to
whether a few of the given names refer to the same person reduces this number
to 5 people. 4 of these are women: Mary – Jesus’ mother, Mary Magdalene, Salome
and another Mary. The last is named only as ‘the disciple whom [Jesus] loved’
(John 19:26) – though this is often taken to mean John. At the point when
nearly all of the disciples and the majority of those who had identified as
supportive of Jesus during His three years of teaching had deserted him, these
women refused to succumb to fear and remained on Calvary as Jesus breathed His
last breath.
The fact that Peter’s fear of being
arrested caused him to deny Jesus three
times shows us that identifying as a follower of Jesus at that point was
extremely unsafe! Yet still the women stayed. It’s true that as women it may
have been slightly more acceptable for them to be there than the men – at least
in the eyes of the Roman soldiers charged with the crucifixion – but that doesn’t
detract from the courage and commitment it would have taken for the women to
stand their ground.
Over
this Easter Triduum, let’s stand our ground and remain with Christ. Take
advantage of the invaluable opportunities to sit in His presence in front of
the altar of repose, be with Him at 3pm on Good Friday, rejoice at His
resurrection on Easter Sunday, and most of all proclaim the Good News of His
sacrifice to anyone and everyone around us – even in the simplest of actions. Let’s
be faithful to the end.
May we remember this Easter that choosing to identify as followers of Christ is not about our own fears or insecurities, but about the man who gave
His life to take them away.
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