Great Canadian Bible Study 2024

Several months ago, I saw a painting of three women who could have been among the women who watched Jesus die on the cross. The painting made me think about the Gospel accounts of the women at the foot of the cross and how little I knew about them.

When we read about Jesus’ death on the cross, we understandably focus on Jesus, not on the crowd of onlookers. Furthermore, other than Jesus’ instructions to John about his mother, references in the texts to the women at the foot of the cross are marginal and their presence diminished by the fact that they “watched at a distance.” The women at the foot of the cross don’t really come into their own until the resurrection. But when I saw the painting of these women huddled together and braced against unbelievable heartache, I began to wonder how God wanted to speak to me through them.