I have a question about "Jesus of Nazareth." I watched the last part a couple weeks ago and was wondering who is the man/apostle that came to the cross with John the Evangilist? Was it James, son of Alpheus (James the Less) or somebody else? Also, who are the other two woman that go to tomb with Mary Magdalene to bring the spices?
shareWho visited Jesus' tomb has been the subject of much debate. The only thing the New Testament accounts agree upon is that Mary Magdalene was there. Who was with her varies. The account in each of the four "gospel narratives" is different: (1) The book of Mark says that Mary Magdalene was accompanied by Mary, the mother of James (purportedly James the Less) and Salome (purportedly the wife of Zebedee and mother of the apostles John and James the Greater); (2) The book of Luke says that Mary Magdalene was accompanied by Mary, the mother of James, and Joanna (earlier explained to have been the wife of Herod's steward); (3) The book of Matthew says that Mary Magdalene was accompanied by just one woman, "the other Mary" (purportedly the mother of James the Less); (4) The book of John says Mary Magdalene approached Jesus' tomb alone. I believe these varying accounts are the reason why most films depicting the aftermath of Jesus' death vary with respect to who visited his tomb.
In this film, the two women who accompanied Mary Magdalene to the tomb appear to be Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus. The character of Martha was clearly recognizable as she'd appeared earlier in the film, when Jesus arrived in Bethany to learn Lazarus had already died. The character of Martha's sister Mary didn't have a prominent role in the film. She didn't speak, but she briefly appeared in the scene when Jesus arrived in Bethany. (As Jesus and Martha are speaking Mary is shown in profile, dressed in black robes and standing behind her sister.) I'm pretty sure this is the third woman who visited the tomb in this film.
Scriptural accounts place John the apostle (son of Zebedee, later called "the evangelist") at the foot of Jesus' cross from start to finish, however in this film he tended to come and go. In scripture he is not accompanied by any other apostles, yet in this film he is joined by one other. It would make sense if that second apostle were his brother, James the Greater...however he is very youthful in appearance so I think you might be correct in saying it may have been James the Less. It was very hard for me to tell the apostles apart in this film, aside from those that had large speaking roles (Peter, Matthew, John, Judas and Thomas). I would need to watch this film again before I can give you a better answer.