The Cross from a Distance: Atonement in Mark's Gospel

"They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha. . . . And they crucified him. . . . Some women were watching from a distance." (Mark 15:22, 24, 40).At the climax of Mark's Gospel, Jesus of Nazareth is put to death on a Roman cross. The text tells us that, in that lonely hour, a group of women were watching the crucifixion "from a distance." In a sense, they are given a stance toward the cross that we can share.In this exploration of Mark's Gospel, Peter G. Bolt looks at why the cross is s...