Finding the New Teacher - Part III of Three

It turned out that after that last miracle in our synagogue in Capernaum, my – Jairus, that is - meeting the new teacher was not going to be easy. Seems he had got wind of the increasing hostility of our religious leaders and experts in The Law. As a result, he was staying away from our town and synagogue. He was meeting people on the hillsides and lakeshores of the Sea of Galilee. I also heard that, likely for similar reasons, he had also begun to make his teachings more veiled. The plain message of repentance and forgiveness was being replaced by stories, parables like our other rabbis also sometimes used.

I was pondering how to pursue my quest to talk with this Jesus when it happened, but not at all how I envisioned it. Our dear daughter became ill. Nothing we could do, no help that we could find, seemed to be leading to recovery. My wife and I were afraid she was going to die. 

Then it struck me. This Jesus had performed all kinds of miracles. Could he heal our daughter? Part of me wanted to drop everything and go and find him and ask him if he could do us this favour. But did I have enough faith? That always seemed to enter the picture. Was there some sin her mother or I had committed that needed forgiveness? That was another factor that had been part of some of these healing episodes. All these questions and doubts. What’s more, what would my associates think? Here were our spiritual leaders thinking this man had crossed a line that deserved death. What would happen to me if they learned I had gone to ask him for help? Would I lose my position as synagogue leader? or worse?

Meanwhile, our daughter was beginning to look like she was indeed at death’s door. I told my wife what I was thinking and she accepted my plan. I threw all caution to the wind and hurried out to find Jesus.

I did not have to go far. In the distance, I could see a large crowd gathering at the seashore. I practically ran to the edge of the crowd and then began jostling to get nearer to Jesus. People who knew me helped part the way for me to get through; some of them knew our daughter was ill and maybe they wondered if I was coming to get help. Suddenly, there he was, right in front of me. I looked into his eyes and was so overcome by his returning gaze I threw myself at his feet. It was like he was just waiting for me to state my case. I didn’t care anymore what anyone thought. I just wanted our daughter well.

“Teacher, rabbi,” I cried, “Our daughter is at the point of death. Please, please, come to our place and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” I could see the tears well up in Jesus’ eyes as he bent over and took my hands and pulled me to my feet. Without a word, he put his arm across my back and began walking quickly with me towards our home.

The crowd was still pressing around Jesus as we tried to make our way. People were reaching out to touch him, hoping to get his attention, to be healed. Suddenly Jesus stopped. Oh no, I thought, please, hurry. Then I caught myself. How could I be so selfish. If Jesus wanted to give his attention to someone else, I was sure he knew that he could still fulfil my wishes. Just being with him was giving me that confidence. It was strange, but I was feeling calm, no longer panicky. 

Out of the corner of my eye I had seen a woman fall to the ground behind him and just brush his cloak with her outstretched hand. Jesus turned and asked, “Who touched me?” His followers, those young men who had gathered around him said, “Jesus, the crowd is so tight – everyone is touching you.” He did not let that stop him. Still, he looked around. Sensing she could not get away, the woman whom I had seen touch him came forward and fell before him. Shaking in fear, she told him her long story. Again, I saw the look and tenderness with which he reached out to her. I can only describe it as real compassion, even love. He seemed so genuinely moved by the needs of those he encountered. He gave her his hand and said, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease.”

The crowd had stopped in its movement as this happened but even before those words were out of Jesus’ mouth I saw some friends hurrying towards us. The looks on their faces told me everything. They rushed to my side and in hushed tones told me what no father wants to hear, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further,” they added. 

Before I could even begin to think of what to do now, Jesus, having obviously heard our friends, turned to me: “Do not fear,” he said, “Only believe.” Oh, how I wanted to do that.

Then he turned to the crowd. Raising his arm toward them he said, “My teaching, my work with you is done for now. Please leave me go and complete another work I have to do.” Turning to his followers he singled out three of them and signaled them to go with us. 

We hurried on in silence to our home. Already from a distance we could hear the keening of the mourners. It really struck me then. Our daughter was dead. What could Jesus do now? We were too late. If only we had not stopped earlier. Again, I dismissed such negative thoughts. Jesus had reassured me and, somehow, I still felt calm entering our home with him.

I could see he seemed a little irritated with all the commotion and noise. He looked around at all the mourners and spoke, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” Really? Did Jesus know something we didn’t? Jesus went on, “Can you please all leave?” Some of those present were laughing at Jesus, even sneering at him. “The girl is dead,” they insisted. But his look told them he meant business and they went outside. He guided my wife and I to our daughter’s side, with the three men close behind. Again, he reached down, took our daughter’s pale hand and said, “Little girl, get up.” I held my breath, but what did I see? Our daughter’s eyelids flickered, then her eyes opened wide. Seeing us all around she got up off the bed and rushed into our arms. Then she pulled herself away and took a circle around the room, stepping so lightly it was as if she was dancing. Indeed, with the smile on her face she was. 

We were astounded. I was sure she was dead when I had seen her lying there so pale and lifeless. Our friends would not have told us so if they did not think she was dead. Had this Jesus just raised her from death? Who was this man indeed? Before I could say anything, Jesus asked us to give her something to eat. Her mother quickly complied. While our daughter was happily munching away, Jesus said, “Don’t tell anyone what you have just seen.” With that, he turned and left, with his three followers close behind.

Meeting the New Teacher Again - Part II of Three

I, Jairus, am writing again. 

I had written earlier about the new teacher in our area, this man called Jesus. As a leader in the synagogue, one needs to do a bit of homework around whom we let teach in our synagogue – if we have the choice. As I said last time, we need to protect or Law from misinterpretation and our synagogue and the privileges it enjoys from being abused. You will recall that this Jesus had come to our synagogue one Sabbath by surprise, so I was caught off guard at the time. 

I had asked around and learned a bit more about where this Jesus came from. He was indeed the son of a carpenter, Joseph, and his wife Mary, from Nazareth. He had several brothers and sisters. When I asked about the origins of his family I was stunned to find out he was not a real Galilean, but that his ancestors were Judeans, from Bethlehem in fact. Indeed, when we had all had to go to our homelands when a previous governor, Quirinius of Syria had ordered that for a census – orders that came from the Emperor Augustus in Rome by the way – this family had returned there and that was where Jesus had been born. Could there be something to those rumours of his possibly being the Messiah? I did not dwell long on such thoughts though. If Jesus’ birth was indeed important in that regard, our religious leaders would have found that out already. Instead, I was already hearing about caution coming from them about this man, if not outright questioning of his apparent authority and powers.

Just the same, the stories of what the people believed to be miracles he performed kept coming in. When I actually got to talk about these with some of those directly involved, you could not deny the truth of their story and the strength of their faith in this man. Indeed, for some at least, the performance of a miracle not only changed them in the area of healing involved, it seemed to mark for them the beginning of a brand new phase of their lives. It was like they had been reborn in their outlook, their attitude to life and to our faith. Regardless of their circumstances, and many of these people were poor and came from backgrounds many in our society frowned on – even hated tax collectors and prostitutes! – they seemed somehow happier, more confident, more at peace and content. Sometimes I had wished I could feel that way, what with all the stress of my position.  

Some of them then began to say that, along with the healing, Jesus had told them their sins were forgiven. My ears had perked up at that. This was a new twist. None of our miracle workers had ever added that to their incantations. Only God could forgive sins. Everybody knew that. For a human to say that would amount to blasphemy. Indeed, some of our more prominent leaders I got to ask about this said they were beginning to think what Jesus was saying was blasphemous in these and other areas. He seemed to be making preposterous claims for himself, allying himself with God in an easy and familiar way that none of our other teachers ever dared.

I was beginning to feel pulled in two directions. Part of me said, stay away from this man, he is dangerous, don’t even let him back in your synagogue. Another part of me said, go and hear this man some more, make up your own mind about him. Well, my chance came sooner than I expected. I had heard that this Jesus and his followers were touring around Galilee, teaching and performing miracles. He had evidently even cured a leper. That was something none of our healers could do. Only the prayers of the priests, following the rules laid down by the prophet Moses – well, actually given by God - had ever accomplished that. And this man was no priest.

Then I had heard that Jesus was back at the place in Capernaum he called home. I heard that a crowd had gathered to hear him speak so I decided to chance it and go and hear what he had to say. I say ‘chance it’ because I knew by now that there were those among our leaders who were not in favour of him and might question my presence there as the local synagogue leader.

I had not even reached the door of the home – well, in fact, I could not get near for the crowd – when some sweaty young men carrying a stretcher rushed towards us. Apparently, the pale and twisted body lying on it was their friend who had become paralyzed, unable to walk. They were hoping Jesus could heal him. However, the crowd was so thick there was no way they were going to penetrate that mass of humanity. After some words between themselves and those around I noticed them go around the aide of the house and next thing I knew they were on the roof, tearing away at the straw and tiles! Then, they dropped the man on the stretcher down into the room! A hush came over the crowd and even I could hear Jesus speaking out loudly and clearly to the man. They had surely gotten his attention by that feat!

“Son, your sins are forgiven.” What? So, this Jesus did say those things! I heard some talking amongst those inside but I could not make out the words. Then I heard Jesus say, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk? So you might know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” then he must have turned to the man dropped through the roof again, as he followed with “I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.” Before I had much of a chance to process what I was hearing the crowd parted and a young man, his face beaming but at the same time looking puzzled, as if he did not know what had just happened, passed by us. He was carrying his mat and quickly joined by his friends who had hustled back down from the roof, stretcher and all. They were so happy, slapping him on the back and saying how happy they were, but also thanking Jahweh.

Many in the crowd too were praising Jahweh and saying things like “We have never seen anything like this!”

Some of the crowd was leaving now, among them a small group of men I recognized immediately by their dress and accent to be from Jerusalem or at least Judea. Their faces were stern and they, unlike the rest of the crowd, were not praising God, but instead were talking about how this man was blasphemous and not to be listened to. They were not only saying this to themselves but warning the crowd as they passed through it and left. Fortunately, not being local men, they did not recognize me or they might have asked me why I was there. Mind you, I could have asked them the same. Seems we are all curious about what this Jesus is saying and doing.

Now, I had heard with my own ears some of the sayings our leaders have been concerned about. To tell someone your sins are forgiven, and that you have authority to do this – that seems a bit much. And to refer to himself as the Son of Man. That is a very sacred title, not used lightly. I had never heard anyone say that about anyone I knew, or anyone else for that matter, let alone about their own self. It is only a title one reads in our holy writings.

Yes, and there it is indeed connected in some places with the one to come, the Messiah. Was Jesus really saying he was The Messiah? It hardly seemed probable. He certainly did not fit our expectations in that regard.

I was really no closer to making sense of this all when another Sabbath rolled around and Jesus showed up again in or synagogue. I noticed that some of those same men, or ones like them, that I had seen at his home a few days back, were tagging along close behind him in the crowd following him. Then I noticed that one of our citizens whose hand had become shrunk and deformed was there, right in front of Jesus it seemed. A hush descended over those assembled as everyone watched to see how Jesus would react. They did not have to wait long.

Jesus saw the man and said, “Come forward.” The man hesitated but then he stepped out in front of Jesus. Jesus turned and looked at the crowd, and I saw he looked directly at those visiting religious leaders: “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill?” A flash of anger crossed his face as he said this, especially facing those visitors. It was replaced just as quickly by a look of deep sadness when no one dared to answer. I don’t blame them. Who would dare give an opinion in front of those leaders, those Pharisees and their friends. 

Turning back to the man, Jesus said, “Stretch out your hand.” People gasped as he did, not only that he was able to but that it now looked and moved perfectly normally. The man looked at his hand, opened and closed his fist, bent his wrist up and down. He was stunned, but then he realized, he had just been healed. He could not contain the joyful grin that spread across his face. He bowed and thanked Jesus profusely. The crowd’s response, indeed that of the man, was now considerably more muted than what I had sometimes seen and heard before. I understood. 

Jesus had placed his healing in the context of the Sabbath and according to our laws, or at least our traditions, that was work and not allowed. One could understand that with all that our other healers required of people to be healed, but with Jesus it was different. He did not seem to do any ‘work.’ He just spoke, and it happened. It was like how our scriptures talk of Jahweh at Creation – everything happened just by his word. Who was this man? Was there something divine about him?

The healed man could see that those visiting religious folk were not impressed. Had he just taken part in something wrong? Was he in trouble? They did not say anything to him, so he just turned and slipped away.

Meanwhile, I could hear those Pharisees, those teachers of the law, murmuring amongst themselves. They were talking about how Jesus was blasphemous, how he was breaking our laws, and that meant he deserved the death penalty. In fact, I heard some of them say as they rushed past me to leave, that they were going to report this to King Herod’s people.

Wow! Things were moving fast indeed. Would they really arrest this man? Charge him with these offenses under our law? I understood where they were coming from but I tell you, I was also deeply troubled. This man did not seem to be doing anything really wrong. Should it not be right to help people on the sabbath? What kind of god would prohibit that? Jesus seemed to say things with such authority. To him it all seemed so clear. I wished it was that clear to me. I resolved that before he came to our synagogue again, I would see if I could get an audience with him. I had a lot of questions. He seemed to have answers.

2018 11 4 Sermon – Living in the Shadows: Mary Who? - John 20:1-2 & 20:11-18

I.             Introduction

Good morning. Today we are two thirds through this sermon series Living in the Shadows, addressing feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt we sometimes experience. These messages are to ‘reframe’ our notions of self-worth by observing the lives and legacies of biblical characters who seem to have played secondary roles in the scriptures. Instead of comparing ourselves with the lives of others who seem to be more gifted or successful, looking at these ‘shadow’ biblical characters and how God used them, we [can see that the lives of each one of us has meaning and a special place in God’s plan. We need to get God’s perspective on our personal worth, significance and legacy.

II.           Women in The Old New Testament vs. The New Testament

Today’s text takes us from the Old Testament to the New, with two significant changes:

1.    None of the women written up in the Old Testament came as close, literally, to God, as these two women.  

2.    Whereas the stories of the women of the OT are generally left there, for the most part unchanged, the stories of these two women continue on past the time of the writing of the Bible into the Early Church and beyond with lessons for us from those periods as well as from the Bible.

III.          Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Bible Story

1.    Called… 

Let’s look first at Jesus’ mother Mary, whom we meet first. Our introduction to this young woman is the familiar story of an angel appearing to her and telling her, as recorded in Luke 1:30, “…you have found favor with God! You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 1:32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.”

Our first thought here might be – Mary must have been one special person. To find such favour with God! One thing one might say Mary had going for her to begin with was her royal lineage - she was a descendant of King David. She was nowhere near the throne, but this had to be her place to fulfil prophecy, as Jesus was to sit squarely in Israel’s history as a king. We also know from Matthew’s gospel that she was already engaged. So, she was following the customs of the day. Someone found her desirable as a future wife and mother – besides God!

If we think back to other stories we have already looked at though, were we told anything about the person’s character or what they did that caused God to give them the appointed task before they were called? No, our call comes from God’s grace and that’s usually the first time we hear of these characters. We don’t earn God’s favour. That’s a basic lesson we never seem to totally accept. I believe we have these stories to show that God, when he comes calling, wants our obedience, and these stories are examples for us to learn that from.

…And obedient

Mary’s greatness in God’s story likewise comes only after her calling. What if Mary had said, “No, I can’t do this. Who am I?” Perhaps her asking how is this possible because I have never had sex was a way of saying that. But no, Mary was obedient from the outset. She submitted to God’s calling, to his will.  

2.    Tested…

As the story unfolds we begin to see what kind of a woman she was. She does not appear to have been timid, one to hold back. The first thing we read after accepting the word of the Lord is that she treks off across the Palestinian countryside to visit her aunt in Judea. I can’t imagine that it was an everyday occurrence for young pregnant women to go travelling. She likely did not travel alone in those days either. She was probably accompanied by a male relative. Still, there had to be a certain amount of strength, bravery there. 

And that was not the end of her travels. Just before Jesus is born, she has to obey an imperial edict and travel with her betrothed, Joseph, from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Not long after Jesus’ birth, she and Joseph have to flee with their newborn to Egypt. This was in obedience to another angel-delivered command from heaven, to prevent Jesus falling prey to the murderous wrath of King Herod. His visit with the wisemen who came to see the baby Jesus led him to believe someone had been born in the Bethlehem vicinity with the potential to become a king, and he could not accept that. One has to think that these travels were something of a test too. Travel was not easy in those days. But again, Mary was obedient.

…  and faithful

Mary also appears to have been a good Jew from a religious standpoint. She and Joseph did their duty by going from Bethlehem to the temple in Jerusalem shortly after Jesus’ birth for her purification. They also presented an offering in lieu of their new firstborn son. And when Jesus was 12, they took him from Nazareth to Passover in Jerusalem. 

Mary also had a thoughtful nature, as we see from the brief comment that follows the story of Jesus staying behind in the temple. The story says she “pondered these things in her heart.”  Her idea of introducing the possibility of a miracle when Jesus turned water into wine at Cana also tells us she had already heard or seen something of what Jesus could do and kept it in mind. 

3.    Mary the Devoted Mother

Mary was also a concerned and caring mother. We are told that on one or two occasions she took Jesus’ brothers, no doubt for moral support, and went to see Jesus after he had begun his ministry and was in Capernaum. She seems to have been of the opinion that Jesus was overdoing things. Maybe she thought he needed to come home for a rest and some good home cooking.  Jesus reply to Mary though seems almost rude to us; he seems to scarcely give her an audience at the time.

But she did not give up on Jesus.  She was there, as a mother, at what was surely the most trying time of her life – when Jesus was on the cross. It seems she stayed in Jerusalem after the crucifixion and resurrection, as we are told in Acts 1 that both she and Jesus’ brothers were with the rest of the disciples when they continued to meet there before Pentecost, waiting for the Holy Spirit.

IV.         Mary Magdalene, the Bible Story

1.    Called…

Then, there is the other Mary. We are introduced to her in Luke 8, as one of a group of women who traveled with Jesus. According to verse 2 she had been “healed of evil spirits and disabilities.” In other words, she was “possessed’. Somehave come to believe she was a prostitute, but nowhere in the Bible does it say that. In fact,I would really like to dispense with that idea and get it out of the way so we can look at the biblical and Early Church Mary Magdalene.

… and obedient

To help with this, I quote Walter Unger, former President of Columbia Bible College.He writes: She was not connected to [Jesus]in any other sense [than as a disciple]. If she were related to a male, the Gospels would have recorded this as they did of the other women in [this] group.

What about Mary’s severe case of demon possession, as indicated by the number “seven”? [Knowing what we do about the use of the number 7, this could simply refer to her having been delivered from a very large number of demons, or very troubling ones]Jesus delivered Mary from what was undoubtedly a very distressing existence, yet there is no reason for connecting the demons with immoral conduct. Such possession is more usually associated with mental disorder.”

2.    Faithful…

In any case, Mary Magdalene appears to have become a devoted follower. Traveling with Jesus and his disciples, she was responding to what Jesus had done for her. As Unger says, “Jesus entered Mary’s life to do for her what she could not do for herself. He gave her sanity, serenity and wholeness, and she was forever grateful.”

Because Mary is included in the group of women who are described as “[providing] for them [Jesus and his disciples that is] out of their resources” Unger writes: Mary must [therefore] have been a woman of independent means, which was very unusual in first-century Palestinian society. She shared of her means in support of Jesus’ ministry, and travelled with Him, as pupil with rabbi. Supporting a rabbi was one thing, but for a woman to leave home and travel with a rabbi was unheard of. Indeed, according to the Talmud, rabbis were not allowed to teach women… 

Jesus broke such oppressive patriarchal norms. He welcomed women into His company, accepted their devotion, and taught them… Jesus treated Mary Magdalene and His other women followers with dignity, showing them that women and men were equally worthy before God. That view of women was revolutionary in that society…

… and courageous

Quoting Unger again: It also took enormous courage for Mary Magdalene and other women to follow Jesus. One can just imagine the gossip and innuendo as people saw these women moving in our Lord’s entourage.

Three aspects of Mary’s journey with Jesus are especially heroic [though].

1. Along with other women, Mary Magdalene stood by Jesus in His suffering on the cross (John 19:25). It was risky to be found in the proximity of the crucifixion of an enemy of the state, but Mary Magdalene’s devotion to Jesus outweighed such danger. It is noteworthy that it was women who stood by Jesus when all the disciples except John had fled in fear.

2. Second, Mary Magdalene was prepared to anoint our Lord’s body. This was another courageous act, for being near the grave of an enemy of the state was just as risky as being found near the cross (Mark 16:1). [End quote]

But it was the faith and courage of this woman that was rewarded with the highest of honours when it comes to the resurrection story. This is the third noteworthy feature. 

            3. Her rewarded firsts

3. Quoting Unger again: Mary Magdalene was the first to see the empty tomb, the first to see the resurrected Lord. According to John 20:17, when Mary saw Jesus, hesaid, “Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” And, just like the other Mary, Jesus’ mother, this Mary was obedient. She went and informed the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” and told them what Jesus had said to her. She was “the first to announce His resurrection (Luke 23:54–56; 24:1–12; Mark 16:11; John 20:11–18)...  In Luke and Mark, it is recorded that Mary’s words seemed to the disciples as an idle tale. Of course. In that culture, the credibility of a woman’s testimony was zero. The male disciples did not believe Mary and the other women’s initial reports of the empty tomb and the angels’ words until they went to see for themselves. Again, our Lord struck at such tyranny against women by entrusting the announcement of the most revolutionary event in the history of the world to a woman – Mary Magdalene.

Mary Magdalene was thus, in Unger’s words, if we can use a literary versus biblical term, a true “heroine, a woman transformed by Jesus and willing to risk all to follow Him. Her mission to announce “Jesus is alive!” is the mission of every true believer today.” 

3.    Mary of Nazareth in the Early Church

Mary of Nazareth seems, after the resurrection and ascension of her son, to have been given a prominent place as the matriarch of the young male disciples. She appears from the biblical story to have met them early in Jesus ministry. They certainly saw each other at the miracle of the wedding wine in Cana, perhaps even before. She was together with them in Jerusalem after Jesus’ resurrection. No doubt she had a lot to share with them and they had a lot they could learn from her. Not just stories about Jesus, but from all those attributes of herself we have discussed this morning, as a model of obedience, including through some very trying times, faithfulness and devotion.

4.    Mary of Magdala in the Early Church

And in time, Mary Magdalene seems to have been given credit.  Many bible scholars, basing their conclusions on their reading of the New Testament stories and other non-canonical writings as well as those of the Early Church fathers, believe Mary Magdalene held a prominent a place at the time. She was given the title, Apostle to the Apostles, for being the first one to tell the good news of the resurrection to the 11 male Apostles, a title still honoured more in the Eastern Church. When it came to the women, she seems to have equaled on behalf of the women the place Peter held as a male in the Early Church. 

Indeed, there is a nice little story in the non-canonical Gospel of Mary. The disciples after Jesus’ Ascension are feeling abandoned, rather hopeless, grieving and simply not feeling motivated. It is Mary Magdalene who gets their attention and basically say, “Come on, men, ‘buck up!’ Jesus gave you a mission and the power to do it. Get to work!” The disciples seem to shake their collective heads and say, “Yes, you’re right” this time. Perhaps the lesson of Mary being the first to tell them of the resurrection, which they had not believed at first, had been learned. 

Warning – Patriarchy returns

However, sadly, old traditions don’t go away that easily. By the 3^rdcentury, the leadership of women in the church began to fade, not to revive in a large measure till the 20^th century.  This was due in part to the union of church and state that began to take shape then and which held sway until not that long ago. I would say the loss of the voice of women was an evil, a result of the church moving away from where God in his wisdom, as part of his plan, began to include women in a wonderful way and from where it should have continued! The politics of the state and church for the most part since, have been the domain of the male, so it is not surprising that women lost their place and their voice.

There are other warnings in what has happened in the stories of the lives of these two women. They have to do with what happened after the Bible was written.

5.    Lessons from the Post-Early Church Era

A.  Mary, the Perpetual Virgin

When it comes to Jesus' mother, I refer to what the Roman Catholic Church has done with what some call Marianism or Mariology. I have to acknowledge my indebtedness for much of this Catholic history to A Short History of the Catholic Churchby theologian Hans Kung who, admittedly, is not popular with many Catholics, especially the leadership. They refer to Jesus’ mother nowadays in capital letters as The Perpetual Virgin. Their theologians believe it is essential to believe that Mary remained a virgin, as that is how they explain the fact that she could be selected as the mother of sinless God. This began already in AD 431 when the Council of Ephesus moved from calling Mary the Mother of Jesus to the Mother of God.  This really took hold in the 12^thcentury with Bernard of Clairvaux describing Mary in cosmic terms as The Queen of Heaven. Pope Sixtus IV formalized the Doctrine of Immaculate Conception in 1476 as a dogma and as recently as 1854 Pope Pius IX made it his mission to promote this to further traditional piety and reinforce the Roman Catholic system. Indeed, Jesus was God, but Mary was only the mother of his human form. God, the full Trinity, has no mother. 

Then, in spite of the Reformation’s fight against idolatry, the Catholic Counter-Reformation supported increased veneration of Mary to the point where Mary herself became the subject of numerous statues in the churches, an object of worship and even pray to. Ironically, Mary was being promoted in Catholicism by a totally patriarchal hierarchy. One more fanciful dogma that Pope Pius XII introduced in 1950 was that Mary, like her resurrected son, was taken up into heaven and never died! Apologies to Roman Catholics here but so much of this is contrary to what we believe the Bible clearly teaches, that Jesus alone is our mediator with God and worthy of worship. Mary, for all the good that can be said of her, was no more than an ordinary mortal, but given a special place in history because of God’s call and her obedience. However, from the biblical point of view, her story essentially ends with Acts chapter 1.

B.   Mary the Harlot

As for Mary Magdalene,I quote again from Walter Unger:

Preceding the passage [in Luke 8 about Mary following Jesus], in the last part of Luke 7, is the story of the sinful woman..., who washes the feet of Jesus with her tears and anoints His feet with ointment. The proximity of these two stories has led many to believe these two women were one and the same – a prostitute.

The immoral Mary myth really took hold after AD 591 when Pope Gregory the Great preached a sermon on Mary Magdalene in which he turned the sinful woman of Luke 7, and Mary Magdalene of Luke 8:2into one woman, and, according to him, she was a fallen woman. Once this medieval pronouncement of Mary the Harlot was made, artists began to embellish the story of Mary Magdalene, the reclaimed courtesan, until the real Mary got lost. Hundreds of voluptuous Mary Magdalenes were splashed onto canvasses throughout Europe. In the 20th century, movies and musicals like Jesus Christ Superstarcontinued to portray Mary as a prostitute,[not to mention novels by writers like Dan Brown and his The Da Vinci Code.]

So, what the church did with Mary of Nazareth, though not biblical, could be said to have elevated her in human eyes into a holier and saintlier position than what the Bible really calls for. When it comes to the story about Mary Magdalene, my warning is thus of a different nature. What man was done with poor Mary Magdalene since the days of the early church has been to turn her into little more than a trashy prostitute. Here the Church is guilty of making someone’s reputation worse, not better. What Pope Gregory had said about Mary Magdalene opened the floodgates to literally paint this Mary in an increasingly questionable and negative way. 

6.    Comparing the Two Marys

Beginnings

Some would say Mary of Nazareth got off to an ideal start – a pure virgin, of royal lineage. We don’t know the whole story of the other Mary, but it was obviously nothing like Jesus’ mother’s when Jesus found her. One could say she got off to a pretty bad start. 

Their call

But both Marys ended up in their respective respected and beloved positions because they were singled out, called by God, to their places in God’s story. God sent an angel to announce her mission to Mary the mother of Jesus. Jesus himself singled out Mary Magdalene and cured her of demon possession, freeing her to follow him.

The lesson

Mary Magdalene’s story disproves the idea that a bad life is an obstacle to God's grace. The lives of both women illustrate the point that God takes us where he finds us and can turn our life around from there in unexpected ways. We just have to obey and follow his call. In the end, both of these women were immensely privileged by the role they were given in God’s story.

A new place for women in God’s Kingdom 

These two women exemplified a new place in God’s kingdom for the female sex that had simply not been there before. Protestants now also recognize that there is some benefit in paying more attention to Mary of Nazareth, Mary Magdalene and other women in God’s story, partly to counter patriarchy, but simply because half the world is women and their representatives in God’s story also need to be upheld for what they can teach us! Interestingly, on a personal note, my very first sermon, preached 50 years ago, was about these women and how their place in God’s story supported that women be treated as equals and be given the vote in the Mennonite community!

Out of the shadow: Mary Magdalene, A new model of love and the first missionary

Indeed, if we disregard those negative influences on the stories of the 2 Marys I have described, which I would say are none other than the efforts of Satan on who Mary of Nazareth and Mary Magdalene are, but just go by what the Bible and Early Church said, we will arrive at a much lovelier and purer understanding of these woman, especially Mary Magdalene. 

Mary of Nazareth did not receive much extra attention in the biblical story after Jesus birth and early years, other than being at the cross and later in Jerusalem with the other disciples. It is humans, not God, who have elevated her to god-like status. 

If we look at the bible account and the Early Church, it is obvious that humans have given little positive attention to Mary Magdalene when she played a much more significant role in God’s plan. No one else appears to have had a more model relationship of love and devotion to Jesus. No one else has been as fortunate in that regard, to experience this, then Mary Magdalene. Apart from Jesus' mother, she appears to be the only other woman who most fully lived in the brilliant light of the love of Jesus as a human to human, indeed, as God to human, something we can only yearn for and imagine. Maybe she did think, “I don’t know how to love him, I don’t know why he moves me, he’s a man…”as in the well-known Andrew Lloyd Webber song from Jesus Christ Superstar. But we can ignore the rest of the song for it still wants to see Mary as possibly a prostitute. But this was a pure love, not a sentiment of desire or lust. And again, God, in the form of the resurrected Jesus, chose her to be the first missionary, a woman, the first to begin the spread of the good news of Jesus’ resurrection, the gospel. I hope that what I have said about her today, paints her in a much more positive light, and that we keep her there as a reminder that God does great things even with those humans consider less important! 

Lorne Brandt, 2018 11 4