[40] There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. [41] When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.
(Mark 15:33-41 ESV)
At the end of those three hours Jesus called out in a loud voice "My God, My God why have you forsaken me?"
Can you imagine the pain Jesus would have had? To have his father, to have God abandon him?
Think about it for a moment. Your parent, the one you have bonded with, listen to, obey, love deeply, abandons you. In a relationship with NO SIN in the mix. That relationship broken.
The people nearest Jesus didn't understand him, thinking he was calling for Elijah, but at least one of them cared for him. Getting him a drink and lifting it up for him, but Jesus gave a loud cry and died.
When he did so the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
A remarkable thing to me is this: A centurion who was standing near by, saw how Jesus died, and recognized that Jesus truly was the Son of God. A man, with no vested interest, who probably took part in the mocking and beating of Jesus, recognized him for who he was by the way Jesus died.
We learn that many women watched him die, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and Joses, Salome among others.
As I read this passage I wonder two things:
1. How would I have reacted to Jesus crying out. Would I have like others have not understood him? Would I have gotten him a drink of water? Would I have reacted like the Centurion and recognized the Jesus was indeed the Son of God?
2. Does my life and how I live help others to see God? Can they tell that I am one of God's own children?
I have to admit, I don't always know the answers to those questions. I wish I could say that yes I would have leapt forward to get Jesus something to drink or to have tried to find a way to ease his suffering, even just to talk to him, but I fear that I would have been like the women, watching from a distance. There but not really doing anything.
I HOPE that people can see from my life and how I live that God is an important part of my life, but admittedly I don't always know. I don't always live the way I should, and when I do I am not always open about my faith. I should change that you know? Be more open all the time about why I do what I do.
May God continue to work in my life.