Bible Study - "The Women at the Foot of the Cross"

Scripture: Mark 15:33-47

Can you believe they were there...Martha, Mary, Mary Magdalene, Johanna, Susana, Salome and the other girls that have served Him?

"Some women were there watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph) and Salome. They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee. Then they and many other women had come with him to Jerusalem. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where Jesus’ body was laid.” Mark 15:40-41, 47.

What gave these women the strength and courage to stay with their Master until the last moment? They were bolder and braver than the disciples—those strong and dedicated men who had lived very close to Jesus in His last years on earth. The disciples had seen God’s power in every moment of Jesus’ life, but now where were they? Almost all of them abandoned their Lord and Master like frightened children.

These women were brave. They didn’t give any importance to the Roman soldiers who wouldn’t let them get any closer. What gave them the strength to see their Lord tortured and humiliated? It was heart wrenching. Maybe they had the courage to stay because they found something that they never had found before in another man. These were women who were trapped by laws that had given them a profound loneliness. They lived lives with silent screams from the bottom of their souls. They lived in a neglecting silence—never saying what they truly felt. These were women who hid their thoughts because they didn’t have the right to speak out. They were women who wanted to be listened to, valued, and loved. How many men understood their them? They interacted with fathers, brothers, neighbors, friends, and husbands. What kind of impact did men make on their lives? These women suffered from discrimination, denial, taunts, and beatings. They had deep scars that kept them in sadness and silence.

It was significant for them to find a man who loved them with a forgiving, freeing, unconditional love that gave of itself without asking anything in return. It was an unexpected love. It spoke with actions that impacted their hearts and left footprints of sweetness in their souls. It was a love that was unforgettable. These women suffered years of isolation and loneliness before they were touched by Jesus’ love. Nobody had ever talked to them before with such “wonderful words of life.” They believed Him and believed in Him

But now at Calvary their faces reflected their pain. They saw their Lord suffering, yet these women stayed at the foot of the cross. They wanted Him to know that they loved Him in return. They stayed because His boldness gave strength to their weakness. They stayed because He taught them how to live in abundance despite their poverty. They stayed because He gave them light in the darkness and courage where there was fear. They stayed because they were willing to risk everything, even their lives, because He told them it’s not about this life, it’s about eternal life. They stayed because He was their Master, their Lord, and their Savior.

Are you at the foot of the cross? Why do you stay?

Written by: Rebeca Orsatti