Today I am extracting from the reading but two verses.

Matthew 27:55-56

55Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. 56Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

via Daily Lectionary Readings — Devotions and Readings — Ministries & Programs — GAMC.

Jesus lived a life that would challenge us. It is clear that he got food and money from the women discuples. Unlike in art, the women were at a distance — which makes sense. The Mockers and the executioners were up close. Two of the women were mothers of the disciples: they were seeing the death of the man their sons had given their loyalty and lives to.

Women have, throughout history, and proportionate power to their social position. The Queen or the gentlewoman may have managed tens or hundreds of servants (or slaves). Poor women, like poor men, had no power. The text continues that Joseph arranged for Jesus’ body to be washed and buried — on the day of the resurrection these same women were going to the tomb to do that task, which they saw as their duty.

But the picture here — a detail in the suffering — is one of pain and despair.