Mark 15:47Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

So we must also in this age of time be crucified to the world; but in the seventh day, that is, when a man has paid the debt to death, our bodies indeed must rest in the grave, but our souls after good works in hidden peace with God; till in the eighth period, even our bodies themselves, glorified in the resurrection, receive incorruption together with our souls. But the man who buried the body of the Lord must needs by his righteous merits have been worthy, and by the nobility of worldly power able to perform this service. Therefore it is said, An honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God. He is called in Latin, decurio, because he is of the order of the curia, and served the office of a provincial magistracy; this officer was also called curialis, from his care of civic duties. Arimathæa is the same as Ramathain, the city of Elkanah and Samuel.

Yet, he chose not to impede the sincere devotion of those who were less affluent but shared the same reverence for Jesus’ memory. Once the burial was completed, those involved dispersed to their own homes to observe the eve of the Passover Sabbath, the most significant feast of all. This day was particularly somber and sorrowful for Jesus' disciples and friends, especially for His mother and for Peter, who mourned not only the loss of his Master but also his own denial. This overwhelming grief consumed him, making it difficult to comprehend the shocking and tragic reality of the moment. The future appeared shrouded in darkness, while memories of the past brought little comfort. The recollections of Jesus' miracles and His former glory made the cross and the tomb seem even more horrific. Until this point, His disciples had traversed a difficult and often painful path, yet they followed in their Master’s footsteps, empowered by the divine authority of the Son of God, drawing admiration from many and sharing in His glory, uplifted by hopeful visions of what was to come. The situation felt desolate and hopeless! The depth of sorrow among Jesus' disciples would not have been as profound had they not been so assured of His greatness. Their pain might have morphed into despair regarding the One who so abruptly transformed their expectations by facing death. Yet, their affection and veneration for Jesus remained unwavering in the hearts of the grateful. Their souls were bound to Him by an everlasting spiritual connection. His tomb emerged as a sacred space, a haven for their holy thoughts, pure aspirations, and steadfast faith. With this sacred love, they were constantly confronted by the haunting thought, "He is dead! He is not what He was, the One we revered! He is not the Messiah! He who meant everything to us!" The prophecies of Jesus regarding His death and resurrection should have alleviated their sorrow and dispelled their doubts. Yet, as we have noted, these predictions either went unnoticed or seemed beyond their understanding. Unable to fathom how the Messiah could die, they did not consider His resurrection. And Jesus’ repeated assurances at the Last Supper, promising that they would soon see Him again, had been forgotten or misconstrued. If someone had proclaimed, "He will rise again; we shall see Him," a heart in grief, beset with doubt, might have responded like Martha once did, "I know that He will rise again at the resurrection on the last day; then we shall see Him." It was only after the Lord's resurrection that His disciples recalled the instances when He had foretold His rising.

The scene shifts dramatically when we see these faithful women at the crucifixion of the Savior, where the degradation and horror of death obscured the divine splendor of the heavenly messenger from human sight. The Shepherd was astonished, and His disciples fled in fear; even Peter, who had vowed to die alongside Jesus, denied Him three times. Despite this, these devoted women did not forsake the Lord amid the agony of death. They followed Him to Golgotha, filling His path with tears of compassion. They remained with Him on Golgotha, their gaze fixed on their beloved Teacher. Some observed His sufferings from a distance, filled with empathy, while others stood nearby at the cross. Neither the fury of the crowd, the hostility of the scribes and Pharisees, nor the arrogance of the soldiers could drive them away from their divine Teacher. They later witnessed where He was laid to rest and stayed opposite the tomb (Matthew 27:61).

Others view Mary Josiah as the sister of the Most Holy Mother of God and the spouse of Cleopas, referring to the passage in John (Kalm in chapters 27, 51): “Standing near the cross of Jesus were His mother and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas” (John 19:25). Thus, these two Marys, along with other women, as the holy Luke recounts, who accompanied Him from Galilee, witnessed the tomb and observed how His body was laid (Luke 23:55); they intended to return with ointments to anoint Him.

Instead, they were consumed by the sorrow of losing Jesus and all that came with Him, compounded by a painful awareness of their own failings. In their hearts, they recognized that they had lost everything in Him. All their aspirations for the glorious reign of the Messiah had crumbled to dust. Their faith in Jesus and the promise of His glory lay overshadowed, leaving them powerless, devoid of miracles they once experienced, and lacking any assistance or resources for their deliverance. Everything had been taken away with their Master, who had gone to the grave. They could expect no better fate from their fellow countrymen.

Through their close association with their Divine Instructor, they had nurtured a genuine love for Him. How could they not love Him when He loved them so deeply? How graciously He dealt with them! He offered them life-saving guidance and defended them against those who opposed Him (Matthew 12:2, 3, etc.). Even prior to His suffering, He showed concern for them (Lk. 22:36, 31, 32; Jn. 13:18, 19; 18:8, 9-11). Who could possibly exhibit enough love to repay Him for His? Would it not be more unfeeling than stone to remain indifferent towards Him? His heart was wide open to them, revealing secrets of the kingdom. As their Lord, He regarded them as friends. But now that Jesus was gone, could they truly face their actions toward Him without shame? At the very least, each should feel justified to say within: I remained faithful to You, O Divine Teacher, until the very end, sharing all with You; only some unforeseen force took You from our grasp. But inwardly, their consciences whispered: you were not worthy of His everlasting presence.

They clearly remembered the trials He endured on His last night with them, when He prophesied that one among them would deny Him thrice by morning, to which they all insisted, “No, it cannot be” (Matthew 26:35). What were their feelings when Jesus was seized? They were ready to relinquish their final possessions in an effort to escape the hands of His accusers (Mark 14:51). Although He sought to draw them close to share in their heavy foreboding, they were incapable of comprehending His sorrow. He invited them to pray with Him, yet they succumbed to sleep. He sought to convey the dangers that lay ahead, but they failed to grasp His message (Luke 22). As He spoke of the suffering He would soon endure, their argument turned to which of them would rank highest in the kingdom. Was not the traitor among their ranks? Thus, every source of comfort and every glimmer of hope was engulfed by the disciples’ agonizing sense of loss—especially in those early hours following the dreadful events on Golgotha (Mark 16:10).

The hour had come that Jesus had forewarned them about during the Last Supper: “you will weep and wail, and the world will rejoice” (John 16:20); “you will seek Me, and you cannot come where I am going” (John 13:33). Gradually, they began to gather, yet they found no comfort in each other's presence, alienated both in solitude and company. Others close to Jesus could not help but share their grief, notably the Holy Mother of Jesus, who witnessed His suffering on the cross and lamented the anguish of her beloved Son. The prophecy of Simeon was fulfilled in her: a sword pierced her soul. Each drop of Jesus' blood weighed upon her heart. The shame and disgrace of being counted among the wicked struck her hard, for she had known Him as the Son of God even before His birth, foreseeing that all generations would honor her because of Him. Although the compassionate Son sought to shield His Mother from the sight of His last sufferings, this effort provided small relief from her sorrow.

The mothers of the apostles James and Judas, as well as Salome, mother of the two sons of Zebedee, were likely with the Blessed Virgin at John’s home in Jerusalem, sharing their tears. Witnesses to the sufferings of Jesus returned from the grim scene, their hearts heavy with grief: what anguish must have filled the hearts of the women bound to Jesus by blood, affection, and cherished aspirations? Lastly, the devoted and loving Mary Magdalene, present at the cross along with Jesus’ Mother, felt the weight of her great love for Him. The sisters of Lazarus, who had brought their brother back to life, now mourned, regretting that their faithfulness had ultimately led to the Sanhedrin’s ruthless judgment against Jesus. Joseph and Nicodemus, who had kept their allegiance to Jesus hidden, came forth to pay their last respects to the One abandoned by all. In essence, all who had known Jesus, whether deeply or superficially, found themselves enveloped in the same sense of profound loss as the apostles.

The site features only remnants of a couple of Arab towers and the modest tomb of the village chief as its main attractions, surrounded by a landscape that appears barren, with only a single palm tree marking the sparse vegetation. Despite its dreary appearance, the setting holds an underlying beauty. About Mary Magdalene, the same Evangelist Mark notes that the Lord expelled seven demons from her (Mark 16:9). It is likely that due to her healing, she became a devoted follower of the Lord, accompanying Him and many other women during His travels and serving Him through her means, as recorded by Mark (Mark 15:40-41; cf. Luke 8:2). After the Lord's ascension into glory, it is said that Mary preached the Gospel, went to Rome to speak out against Pilate, and eventually died and was cremated in Ephesus. There is a tradition in the West that she preached in Gaul, died in Provence, and that her relics reside in Marseilles, although this legend lacks ancient substantiation. In 1279, it is claimed that her remains were discovered with an inscription indicating they were hidden in 716 due to fear of the unrighteous Saracens, suggesting the legend originated only in the 8th century. In contrast, the Life of St. Willibald (commemorated on July 7), a bishop from Eichstadt who traveled to the East in the 8th century, states that her grave was pointed out in Ephesus as early as 745. It is well-supported that her relics were later transported from Ephesus to Constantinople under Emperor Leo the Wise (889-912), housed in the monastery of St. Righteous Lazarus (July 22), with support from the compiler of Basil's Monthly Calendar in the 10th century and other Byzantine historians. Another significant figure among the women mentioned is Mary of Cleopas, also referred to in the Gospel of Matthew as Mary, the mother of James and Josias (Matthew 27:56). Some commentators assert that this Mary is the same as Mary of Cleopas, whose husband Cleopas was the brother of Joseph and whose wife was likely related to the Virgin Mary. The children of Mary are named James, Josias, Simon, and Judas, suggesting they are cousins of the Lord, being Joseph's nephews. This raises questions about their portrayal in close proximity to Joseph and Mary in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. If we identify Mary of Cleopas as a cousin of the Mother of God, it remains puzzling why, in the gospel accounts detailing the presence of those close to the Lord at His crucifixion, only Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Josias—who would be Christ's aunt—are mentioned, while His own mother, as noted in the Gospel of John, is present but not mentioned (John 19:25-27). Thus, it seems more appropriate to differentiate Mary of Josias from Mary of Cleopas and interpret Mary of Josias as referring to the Most Holy Mother of God. Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria, in his commentary on the 27th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, notes that “Mary, the mother of James and Josias, is called the Mother of God, given that James and Josias were the children of Joseph from his first wife. Since the Theotokos was acknowledged as Joseph’s spouse, it is fitting that she is recognized as the mother of his children.”

Only a few gazes linger sorrowfully on the lifeless form, while some hearts quicken in anticipation of Joseph’s return. Among those present are Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and Joseph, and perhaps a few more devoted women from Galilee (Mt. 27:55-56, 61; Mk. 15:40-41, 47). Also waiting there is the beloved disciple, whom the deceased cherished, and the holy Mother, whom He entrusted to that disciple's care. In addition, another secret follower of the Lord, Nicodemus, who sought Him for a conversation in the night, is also present.