Other than Mary, and Mary wife of Clopas (Jesus’ Aunt) no one stood at the foot of the Cross until Mary Magdalene, and John showed up. What prompted these two to come so close. Mary Magdalene had been observing from a distance with other women, and John had fled along with all the other Apostles. But, here they are standing as close to Jesus as they could at the center of the drama of Calvary, even putting their lives at risk. The mother and the Aunt being there is understandable, but why these two. What made them different from all the others. I believe there is a simple answer, LOVE. The love of Christ had taken them both, and they were now being controlled by a magnificent obsession. Mary was smitten by the love of Jesus in their first encounter, when she was made whole in His presence and by His overpowering, life changing love. She was ruined forever from that point forward for anything but Jesus. His intoxicating presence had so inebriated her that she never wanted to sober up, and she lived all her days wasting her life on Jesus. John, who early on was called a Son of Thunder was transformed in the upper room when he laid his head on the breast of Jesus. He evidently heard more than the physical heartbeat of Christ, (I believe like Mary, he encountered the true nature of the heart of Christ) and from that point forward he referred to himself as the Disciple who Jesus was always Loving. That had become his new identity. These two, In a unique way had been wrecked by the love of Jesus, and there they were loving Him back at the foot of the Cross.
