The Death of Jesus, part 2
And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"
There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Mag'dalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salo'me, who, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered to him; and also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.
Gloss - After the Evangelist has related the Passion and the death of Christ, he now goes on to mention those things which followed after the death of our Lord. Wherefore it is said: "And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom."
Pseudo-Jerome - The veil of the temple is rent, that is, the heaven is opened.
Theophylact - Again, God by the rending of the veil implied that the grace of the Holy Spirit goes away and is rent from the temple, so that the Holy of holies might be seen by all; also that the temple will mourn amongst the Jews, when they shall deplore their calamities, and rend their clothes.
This also is a figure of the living temple, that is, the body of Christ, in whose Passion His garment is torn, that is, His flesh.
Again, it means another thing; for the flesh is the veil of our temple, that is, of our mind. But the power of the flesh is torn in the Passion of Christ, from the top to the bottom, that is, from Adam even down to the latest man; for also Adam was made whole by the Passion of Christ, and his flesh does not remain under the curse, nor does it deserve corruption, but we all are gifted with incorruption.
"And when the centurion who stood over against Him saw." He who commands a hundred soldiers is called a centurion. But seeing that He died with such power as the Lord, he wondered and confessed.
Bede - Now the cause of the centurion's wonder is clear, that seeing that the Lord died in that way, that is, sent forth His Spirit, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God." For no one can send forth his own spirit, but He who is the Creator of souls.
Augustine - This also he most of all wondered at, that after that voice which He sent forth as a figure of our sin, He immediately gave up His Spirit. For the Spirit of the Mediator shewed that no penalty of sin could have had power to cause the death of His flesh; for it did not leave the flesh unwillingly, but as it willed, for it was joined to the Word of God in the unity of person.
Pseudo-Jerome - But the last are now made the first. The Gentile people confesses. The blinded Jew denies, so that their error is worse than the first.
Theophylact - And so the order is inverted, for the Jew kills, and the Gentile confesses; the disciples fly, and the women remain.
For there follows: "There were also women looking on afar off, amongst whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome."
Origin, in Matt. Tract. 35 - But it seems to me, that here three women are chiefly named, by Matthew and Mark. Two indeed are set down by each Evangelist, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James; the third is called by Matthew, the mother of the sons of Zebedee, but by Mark she is called Salome.
Bede - He means by James the Less, the son of Alphaeus, who was also called the brother of our Lord, because he was the son of Mary, our Lord's mother's sister, whom John mentions, saying, "Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother and His mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene." [John 19:25]
And he seems to call her Mary of Cleophas, from her father or some relation. But he was called James the Less, to distinguish him from James the Great, that is, the son of Zebedee, who was called amongst the first of the Apostles by our Lord. Further, it was a Jewish custom, nor was it thought blamable after the manners of an ancient people, that women should furnish to teachers food and clothing out of their substance.
Wherefore there follows: "Who also when He was in Galilee followed Him, and ministered unto Him."
They ministered unto the Lord of their substance, that He might reap their carnal things whose spiritual things they reaped, and that He might shew forth a type for all masters, who ought to be content with food and clothing from their disciples. But let us see what companions He had with Him, for it goes on: "And many other women which came up with Him into Jerusalem."
Pseudo-Jerome - As the female sex through the Virgin Mary is not shut out from salvation, so it is not thrust away from the knowledge of the Mystery of the Cross, and of the Resurrection, through the widow Mary Magdalene, and the others, who were mothers.
- text taken from Catena Aurea - Gospel of Mark by Saint Thomas Aquinas, translated by William Whiston, 1842