NOTE: THESE CHAPTERS ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN A MUCH IMPROVED, EXPANDED BOOK, "A SWORD SHALL PIERCE YOUR SOUL" from FriesenPress
Now when the centurion, who stood in front of him, having heard all that Jesus had spoken from the cross, now saw how he died, Mary heard him say, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” In fact, to the amazement of the women and Jesus other followers standing there, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent.”
The knot of Jesus’ followers still stood near the cross. It was if they were unable to leave, in spite of the chill in the air, and the fact that it was hours since they had drank or eaten anything. They were beginning to be aware of these things and talk amongst themselves about what they should do. There did not seem to be much purpose to remaining here. Jesus seemed to be gone. Some of the women, notably Mary from Magdala, the other Mary and Joanna said they wanted to stay to see what would happen to the body, “We need to see where they lay him so we can see if there is anything we can do to give Jesus a proper burial,” they said.
‘Yes,’ Mary thought, ‘if Jesus is really dead, that would be what we need to think about.’ She knew the bodyu would not be allowed to remain on the cross as tomorrow was The Sabbath and it could not be so desecrated by having dead bodies not given their proper burial.
They were discussing these things when they noticed some action behind them. They turned and saw the soldiers picking up some large planks lying there and to their horror, they saw them hit the legs of one of the criminals with all their might! It was all Mary could do to choke back a scream. Was this going to happen to Jesus? Some of the group, having heard stories about other crucifixions said that this was routine. The legs of those crucified were broken to hasten their deaths so they could no longer push themselves up to breath. Particularly today, as (John) 19:31 “it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies should not stay on the crosses on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was an especially important one). Mary did not want to see this but she had to watch to see if they would do this to her beloved son too. Was there no end to their cruelty?
After the soldiers had broken the legs of the other two men hanging there, they went towards Jesus. When Mary saw what was coming, she quickly averted her gaze. She could not bear to see her son attacked any further. 19:33But then she heard them one of them call out, “Cornelius,” which she took to be the centurion’s name, as he responded, “This one is already dead,” she turned back. Immediately she wished she had not because just at that moment 19:34one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out.”
‘Oh,’ Mary thought, ‘I can’t bear to see anymore. And she thought again, ‘But now Jesus is dead? Is this the end of all his dreams? What about all those things the angels told me, what Simeon and Anna said?’
Still, Mary and her friends stayed at the cross. They had to see what would become of their beloved. With all the activity of the last hours lessening, Mary became more aware of her surroundings. She noticed that John had left her side and was embracing another woman and then she saw that it was his mother. He brought her to meet Mary and she tried to console Mary through her own tears. As they stood there together, it was as if the heavens themselves had seen enough, and no longer needed to try to hide the evil done with darkness. The clouds began to dissipate and the sky became bright once again, although that was short-lived, as the darkness of night was fast approaching.
Suddenly a well-dressed man with a retinue of servants arrive on the scene. They were carrying a bundle of linen cloth. They approached the soldiers and unrolled a scroll and showed it to the centurion. Mary wondered what was going on. With the soldiers’ help, the servants took the body of Jesus down from the cross and wrapped it in the linen (Matthew 27:57-60).
Mary and her friends hurried forward. “Who are you? Where are you taking him,” they asked. The man introduced himself as a certain Joseph, from the nearby village of Arimathea. He said he too was a follower of Jesus, and had asked Pilate for the body, so that he might give it a decent burial. Mary wanted to hug the man, but she knew such a display of emotion was not acceptable. Instead she restrained herself with a sigh of relief and then a silent prayer of thanks. Something was going right. Somebody cared.
“Come with me,” Joseph said, “I have a tomb that was made for me but we can put Jesus there for now. No one has ever used the tomb.” Mary stepped forward and approached him, bowed, and simply said, “I am his mother. Thank you so much. We will follow you.”
The women still there, along with John, went together to a nearby hillside. They watched as Joseph and his attendants gently laid Jesus’ body to rest inside a tomb there. Then his servants began to roll a large stone over the entrance to seal it. Mary Magdalene rushed forward, “Sir,” she pleaded, “Do you have to do that? How can we embalm the body to show our love and respect for this our leader and Lord?”
“I too am his disciple,” Joseph reminded them, ‘but I know that the leaders have been listening to Jesus and heard him talk about rising again. If Jesus will do that, I don’t think a stone will stop the Son of God from showing his power. Others are talking of stealing his body. We don’t want that to happen, do we?”
Mary Magdalene and the others could find no argument against that. Jesus’ mother could not but help think of how, just days before, Jesus had called his friend Lazarus from just such a grave in Bethany. Now, who was there to call Jesus forth? How could he remain dead when he had raised others? And how could they do with Jesus’ body as they had hoped with that huge stone in front of it? So many questions. They had nothing to do now but wait for answers, as there was little they could do on the Sabbath, already beginning.
Mary was exhausted. When John and his mother suggested she come with them and they would walk with her to her parents, she was too tired to say otherwise. She began to realize she was a little hungry and thirsty too. They tried to get their other friends to come along, but Mary Magdalene and a couple of others insisted they were alright and would stay awhile longer. Mary thanked them all for their support. They embraced and kissed one another and then Mary, John and his mother left.
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