Biblical Views: The Last Man Standing

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In the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), none of the twelve disciples is mentioned as a witness to Jesus’ crucifixion. Mark, the earliest gospel, tells us that “All of them deserted him and fled” (Mark 14:50). While the Twelve are conspicuous by their absence, the female disciples, including Mary Magdalene, witnessed from afar (Mark 15:40, cf. Matthew 27:55–56). Luke seems to imply a wider group of witnesses: “All his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things” (Luke 23:49). Once more, however, no mention is made of the Twelve—not […]

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Footnotes

Although the one whom Jesus loved is called a “disciple,” he was not necessarily one of the Twelve, who later came to be known as “the apostles.” The Twelve were his closest, but not his only, disciples.

What is especially significant about this is that Jews in the first century believed that the spirit of the deceased departed after three days. After four days, there could be no doubt: Lazarus was dead.

Scholars generally date the Fourth Gospel to the last decade of the first century C.E., thus the latest of the four canonical gospels.