Not An Ivory Tower: My bit of research about the three Marys at the foot of the cross

The Three Marys

'Were you there when they crucified my Lord?' go the words of the Passiontide song. Who was there? Or, more specifically, which women?

According to Matthew, there were 'many women' on Calvary who had 'followed Jesus from Galilee' and 'had provided for him'. These included Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee (Matthew 27.55-56). Mark records that among the women there were 'Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome', who had followed and provided for Jesus 'when he was in Galilee'. Mark also mentions there were 'many other women' who had come up with him to Jerusalem (Mark 15.40-41). Luke is the least specific, recording only that all Jesus's acquaintances 'including the women who had followed him from Galilee' stood at a distance ((Luke 23.49). And finally, according to John's gospel (19.25): 'Standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.'

If you list all these women by name and description, it seems as if there were at least 7 women at the foot of the cross, six of whom were named Mary! So let's work out who's who.

The easiest of all is Mary Magdalene: she is clearly named.

Then there is Mary, the mother of James and Joseph. Now, James and Joseph (or Joses) were two of Jesus's brothers, so this is most likely Mother Mary. The small fly in the ointment here is, however, that James the brother of Jesus was known, according to tradition, as James the Just, not 'James the Younger'. James the Younger, also translated as James the Less is often identified as being the son of Alphaeus. Centuries later, Jerome, just to confuse matters even more, identified James the Less/Younger as being the same man as James the Just, that is, the brother of Jesus. Notwithstanding all that, I think Jesus's mother was there with Mary Magdalene at the foot of the cross. So, moving on!...

The sons of Zebedee were James ('the Greater') and John. According to tradition, their mother was Salome. So now, we have identified three women at the foot of the cross: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Salome.

So what about the claim in John's gospel where Salome is omitted and replaced with 'his (Jesus's) mother’s sister, Mary of Clopas' - often with the addition of the word 'wife' to make this Mary the wife of Clopas. Who was she? This is the only time she is explicitly mentioned in the gospels. A first century chronicler of the early church, Hegesippus (c.110-c.180 C.E.) suggested that Clopas (also known as Cleophas) was the brother of Joseph, husband of Mother Mary. Setting aside the rather bizarre notion that two brothers, Joseph and Clopas, married two sisters both named Mary, it would make sense for sisters-in-law to be referred to simply as 'sisters'. But according to the surviving fragments of the work 'Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord' by Papias of Heirapolis (c.70-163 C.E.) Cleophas and Alphaeus were the same person: 'Mary the wife of Cleophas or Alphaeus, who was the mother of James the bishop and apostle, and of Simon and Thaddeus, and of one Joseph'. (Thaddeus is also known as Judas Thaddeus, one of the Twelve... but let's not go there!)

Now, turning to a non-canonical gospel, the Gospel of Philip, we learn that: 'There were three who always walked with the Lord: Mary his mother, and her sister, and Magdalene, the one who was called his companion. His sister and his mother and his companion were each a Mary'. Thanks, Philip, but not a lot! Was Mother Mary's sister also called Mary, as already suggested by Hegesippus, although that would seem rather odd, or was it Jesus's own sister who was called Mary - which seems more likely. And let's not even think about Jerome (347-420 C.E.) who came up with the idea that Mary of Cleophas was not only the sister of Mother Mary, but also the mother to those who were called the brothers and sisters of Jesus... This would keep Mother Mary as the supposed virgin, but sorry, Jerome, but I don't think so.

Finally, there is the suggestion in the Roman Martyrology that 'Mary of Clopas' was not the wife of Clopas but his daughter, and that he (Clopas) was one of the husbands of Anne, the mother of Mother Mary - which would make them half-sisters. Despite the early belief, attested to in a sermon by John of Damascus (675-749 C.E.) that Anne (sister of Sobe, mother of Elizabeth) was married to Joachim, by late medieval times legend held that she was married first to Joachim, then to Clopas, and then to Solomas, and that each marriage produced one daughter, all of whom were called Mary: Mary the mother of Yeshua, Mary of Clopas, and Mary Salome (wife of Zebedee).

Try as we might, we can't neatly tie in Salome the mother of the sons of Zebedee with Mary the wife of Clopas; and no, before you think it, Zebedee is not Clopas, Clopas is not Zebedee! The best conclusion we can reach is that Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene were at the cross, with either Salome (wife of Zebedee, and mother of James and John) or Mary ('of Clopas', and possibly sister-in-law of Mother Mary), or, of course, both. That said, there are (of course!) traditions that Salome is actually 'Mary Salome' and that Salome's mother Mary was the sister of Jesus's grandmother Anne, thus Aunt to Mother Mary, and Great Aunt to Jesus. In the early 2nd century Greek Gospel of the Egyptians, Salome is a disciple of Jesus and asks him how long death would hold sway. He says to her: 'So long as women bring forth, for I come to end the works of the female', to which Salome replies: 'Then I have done well in not bringing forth'. And, finally, as regards Salome, in the Second Epistle of Clement (late 1st century), it is written: 'When Salome inquired when the things concerning which she asked should be known, the Lord said: When ye have trampled on the garment of shame, and when the two become one and the male with the female is neither male nor female'. Clement adds: 'In the first place, then, we have not this saying in the four Gospels that have been delivered to us, but in that according to the Egyptians'.

But, back to the foot of that hideous cross. Why is it only John who specifically mentions three Marys? Was it simply a matter of different sources recounting events differently? We all know how that happens: if two people are present at the same event, their stories about it will inevitably have differences. Over time, and as the story spreads, more differences are likely to occur. This may be what has happened throughout the gospels, or the variations may have been enhanced according to the purpose of the story-teller. So, if John's choice of the three Marys was a deliberate one, the question is why?

It has been suggested that John was intending the three Marys to be a symbolic reflection of the three parts of the Trinity present at the crucifixion. That may seem rather a stretch, especially given that the gospel was probably written around the end of the first century, and the doctrine of the Trinity was not 'officially' formulated until the Council of Nicea in 325 C.E. But the three 'persons' of the Trinity are identifiable as being present during the lifetime of Jesus: God-the-Father, his heavenly father, God-the-Son, himself, and God-the-Spirit, who descended 'like a dove' - a feminine representation of the divine - at his Baptism. How might the three Marys represent these? One idea is that Mother Mary represents the parental aspect of God, the first person of the Trinity; Mary 'of Clopas' represents the son, the argument for this being that Clopas/Cleopas is a shortened form of the common Greek name Cleopatros, meaning 'son of a renowned father'; and this means that Mary Magdalene reflects the presence of the Spirit. All rather speculative! but John is the only one of the four canonical gospels not to record Jesus as quoting from Psalm 22 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' Does this imply that God not completely absent but rather was fully present at Jesus's death, and present in the three women who stand by him to the last - and beyond, for it is they who are the 'Myrrh-bearers' (the 'Spice Girls'!) going early to the tomb to complete their care of Yeshua's body.

What happened to the three Marys after that?

We know (Acts 1.1-14) that Mother Mary was present in the upper room in Jerusalem, after Jesus's ascension, along with Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (the son of Alphaeus), Simon (the Zealot) and Judas (son of James) along with 'other women' and Jesus's brothers. After that, she is never again mentioned.

We don't definitely know anything more of Mary of Clopas, although I like to think that she was one of the women in the upper room along with Mother Mary, and Mary Magdalene, that 'Tower of the Flock', the 'Stronghold', the 'companion' and 'beloved disciple' of Jesus, first witness to the resurrection, and 'apostle to the apostles', whose name previously was always mentioned first - she disappears entirely.

But there is another instance of Three Marys being together. The medieval 'Golden Legend' of Jacobus de Voragine tells how Mary Magdalene, Mary Jacobi ('mother of James and sister of the Virgin'), and Mary Salome (mother of the apostles James and John) landed, with 'the maid' (or maiden?) Sarah, at what is now known as Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, in Provence. With them were Martha and Lazarus (sister and brother of Mary Magdalene/of Bethany), Joseph of Arimathea, and possibly others, including Cedonius (who was blind) and Maximinus. Some versions tell that Mary the Mother of Jesus was also in the boat, and, according to another tradition, they carried with them the relics of Mother Mary's mother Anne, which were subsequently found by Charlemagne on Easter Sunday, 792 C.E.

Phew. And now some questions for you, dear reader!

Why do you think that it is only women who are named as being at the foot of Jesus's cross, and not his male disciples?
In John 19.26-27, we are told that 'When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.' Setting aside anything you might have been told about this, who do you really think was the disciple whom Jesus loved, and why?
What do you think might have been the reason why we hear nothing more of Mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and 'the other Mary' in the canonical gospels?
Who is the main character in the Gospel of the Egyptians, and when & where was it first used? Do you think there might be a connection here?