The Watchers.
At various times over the years on my various church visits I always liked to look around at the people and the congregation. I loved to see the various connections that people made with each other. Music groups, people who are borrowing or lending books, various groups of friends all whispering to each other, etc.
Whilst there were those who loved to interact and socialise with each other, there were others who just liked to come along and, like me, just sit and watch the others talk and communicate amongst.
And the day of Jesus’ crucifixion was another day like any other gathering in Jerusalem. The Roman guards favoured the whippings, beatings and crucifixions of criminals. And people came to watch and stare at the spectacle.
But there were others in the crowds that particular day 2000 years ago. There were the Disciples of Jesus who were fearful about what was to happen next now that their leader was dead. Some of Jesus’ family were there also - His mother, His brothers and sisters. And they all were grieving at the terrible injustice that the Pharisees had conspired with the Roman authorities to produce. And they all stood silently and watched in horror.
But my attention was recently brought to a character who was there that day, and of which I knew very little about. Although she has been mentioned in the gospels several times, her name has seldom been used directly. Only in the gospel of Mark ch15 v40 and ch16 v1. Her name was Salome and she was the wife of a man called Zebedee and the mother of the disciples James and John.
And although she is pictured as a very caring woman around the foot of the cross and at the tomb, earlier verses show her to be a woman who had ambition for her sons….
Matthew ch20v20 Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favour of him. v21 "What is it you want?" Jesus asked. She said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom."
When Jesus spoke with the two brothers, James and John, He told them that the decision wasn’t His to make. And although they seem to have accepted this it left a bad feeling with the other disciples…
Matthew ch20 v24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers.
But at the foot of the cross they all were quiet. Perhaps the reality of what had happened to Jesus had finally hit them. They would have caught glimpses of His injured and bloodied body as He struggled to walk along the road to Golgotha. They would have heard the cheers of the Jews as Jesus was repeatedly humiliated along the way toward the north of the city.
And as the crowds were pushed back by the Roman authorities so that they could mount the crosses into the ground, this small group of Jesus’ followers stood nearby and watched the spectacle. Although Mark ch15v40 records for us that the group stood “afar off”
“….Some women were watching from a distance….”
There will have come a point when they were allowed to come closer to hear and talk with Jesus. John’s Gospel records for us in ch19 v25-27…
John ch19 v25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. v26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, "Woman, here is your son," v27 and to the disciple, "Here is your mother."
Matthew’s Gospel records for us that Salome was somewhere in the vicinity too…
Matthew ch27 v56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary who was the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee's sons (Salome).
There was no motherly ambition for Salome’s sons now. She could only share in the horror and grief of the others. But in the sharing of their grief, she also shared in their joy…
Mark ch16 v1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body....
Mark ch16 v5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. v6 "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.
So when I look at “the watchers” in the various services and christian groups, I realise that they are not all there just to look around. A lot of them are quietly working away in the background doing gentle acts of kindness, of love and of devotions to God without anyone ever knowing about them.
the emblem of suffering and shame.
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best,
for a world of lost sinners was slain.
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
till my trophies at last I lay down.
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
and exchange it some day for a Crown.
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