Holier Than Thou - Biblical Contradictions

Were the female followers of Jesus close to the cross or at a distance?

Matthew 27:55-56, "Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons."

Mark 15:40-41, "Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there."

Luke 23:49, "But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things."

John 19:25-27, "Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, 'Dear woman, here is your son,' and to the disciple, 'Here is your mother.' From that time on, this disciple took her into his home."

According to the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), all of Jesus' followers, particularly the female disciples, stood at a distance from the cross. However, according to John, they stood near enough to have a conversation with the crucified Christ.

"Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth." (Ecclesiastes 7:3-4, KJV)

"Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 8:15, KJV)