John #10

Here is the next Bible Study Summary. Tony presents the material each week. I take notes during the study and of the related group discussion. This summary is my interpretation and ordering of those notes. All but the most recently posted study are now located together under the new "Present Study" tab located on the home page. I will continue to post the most current study here on the blog page. Peace, Linda

This week’s study includes a general look at the women in the Gospels. It does not bear directly on the Lazarus story, but is made up in large part of the evening’s conversation. Our Lazarus study continues next week…
As well as the Gospel and letters of John this Bible study uses the book “Written That You May Believe: Encountering Jesus In The Fourth Gospel” by Sandra M. Schneiders (2003) Crossroad Publishing Co. New York, NY.

Background reading to study # 10- Written that you may believe chapter 10.

The Gospel of John #10 – The Community of eternal life (Part 1) 07.22.10
We have been using Schneider’s book to provide a framework for understanding John’s Gospel. Her process is to first explore the text as literature, then historically, theologically and finally spiritually. Like in much of the Gospel, she sees the author as having constructed most of the narrative in Chapter 11. While there seems to be a traditional oral source for the story of the raising of Lazarus, it is also clearly marked by Johannine theology and concerns. It is the highly constructed culmination of the Book of Signs. It marks the turning point in the Gospel that leads to Jesus’ arrest. In the Synoptics this event is the (historically more likely) closing down of the temple sacrifices. For John, the raising of Lazarus is the event that makes Jesus untenable for the Jewish authorities. Chapter 12 is a bridging chapter that leads to the Book of Glory. There the anointing by Mary points to Jesus’ death, and the triumphal entry into Jerusalem to his resurrection. The Book of Glory begins in Chapter 13 with the events leading up to the Passover.

At John 11:2 there is a reference to an event that has not yet happened (Mary’s anointing of Jesus). This implies a strong familiarity with the oral tradition within the Johannine community. Jesus travels to Bethany after hearing that Lazarus is ill. Lazarus is the brother of Martha and Mary. Martha is not a proper name rather it is a word that means “mistress of the home” or “Lady”. It is the feminine of maran (as in maranatha “come Lord”). Mary could be Mary Magdalene – who was named for a place “Mary of Magdala” rather than the more usual “daughter of x” (bath). The Mary in John 11 could have lived as a “sister” to the lady of the house in Bethany. Mary of Magdala is mentioned first by name in Jn 19:25 and then appears in the resurrection accounts. The logic is that it is highly unlikely there would be two Marys of such critical intimacy to Jesus, one to anoint him prior to his passion, the other to be first witness of the resurrection.

Mary is Jesus’ disciple – she sits at the feet of Jesus (Lk 10:38-42). Jesus defends Mary’s decision in a society that excluded women from taking this role. In John 12:1-8 it is Mary who anoints Jesus as Messiah – again breaking the rules. In Jn 11:17 it is Martha who meets Jesus on the road to Bethany. She says, “Lord if you had been here…,” and then goes on to say “But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him”. She instigates a conversation (like the Samaritan woman at the well) that leads to one of Jesus’ crucial “I am” sayings: “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (v.25-26).

At the time of the Gospel’s composition Christians were dying. A lot of the original witnesses had also died. It was a contemporary concern – the meaning of death in a post-resurrection world. They had expected Jesus to return soon, had not expected to have to deal with death. This passage helps understand the meaning of death – that even if you die, you don’t die.

Martha declared Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world. This is equivalent to the declaration by Peter at Caesarea Philippi in Matthew. It is the most developed confession in the fourth Gospel. Again it gives pivotal status to a woman.

Martha goes home and calls Mary using the words “the teacher is here” (v.28) underscoring Mary’s role as disciple. When Mary Magdalene greets Jesus in the Garden after his resurrection she calls him “Rabbouni” which means “beloved teacher”. This might be another indication that Mary of Bethany is in fact Mary Magdalene. Mary goes quickly to greet Jesus repeating Martha’s words “Lord if you had been here…” She kneels at his feet (reminiscent of sitting at his feet). Unlike Martha who makes a powerful theological statement, Mary weeps. Jesus is “greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved” (v.33). It is at this point, rather than after the big doctrinal statement, that he is moved to raise Lazarus.

Mary models human anguish and Jesus enters into her pain. The raising of Lazarus is not just the story of overcoming death, but of human anguish, the catastrophe of death and separation. Mary is the representative figure who brings Jesus into this space, in the same way that she appropriates the role of anointer. Her tears anoint him into the human condition and his role within it.

The Gospel Women
It is not easy to get all of the women (especially the Marys) in the Gospels straight. Mary was a prestigious, and therefore common name - Miriam being the sister of Moses. At the cross Mary of Bethany is not mentioned, however, Mary Magdalene is. In Jn 19:25 standing at the cross are “his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene”. Mary the wife of Clopas could be the other of the two disciples mentioned in the post-resurrection account found in Luke 24:18 (the walk to Emmaus), one of whom is called Cleopas. “The one of them whose name was Cleopas, answered him…” It is possible, even likely, that the second disciple was his wife – Mary.

Luke does not mention the women around the cross – but after the resurrection they are listed as Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and other women. (Lk 24:10). Joanna is the wife of Herod’s steward (Luke 8:1-3) and Mary the mother of James refers to Jesus’ mother, Mary. James was known as the “brother of the Lord” by the early church. Mary is not named as Jesus’ mother by Luke because Jesus’ teaching in the Synoptic Gospels was so fiercely against giving any prestige to his birth family, both because of the character of the kingdom and possibly as a way of deflecting any attempts at building a family dynasty. Mary is also named as the mother of Jesus’ brothers in Mark 15:40 “Mary the mother of James the younger and Joses”. Compare also Mk 6:3 “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” Only in John’s Gospel is Mary clearly named as Jesus’ mother. John uses Mary to illustrate the crucial importance of women to Jesus, making use of the natural role and prestige of a woman close to him, his mother. However, for John she is a powerfully symbolic figure, representing “woman”, i.e. the earth, wisdom, femininity. This is signaled by Jesus calling her “woman” rather than “mother”.

Jesus’ mother Mary became prominent in the 4th and 5th centuries. This was related to the theological arguments that were occurring at that time – was Jesus considered to be God after his baptism (when the spirit alighted upon him – “adoptionism”) or from the womb? Orthodox Christianity concluded that his divinity was integral to his humanity – that it was not an added layer – and must therefore have been present from the beginning. Mary therefore began to be known as the “Mother of God”. It was a doctrinal decision that attempted to uphold the true divinity of Jesus connected to his humanity– but it had the effect of making Mary less human and more divine. The later doctrine of the Immaculate Conception cemented this.

In John 8: 2-11 there is the account of the woman caught in adultery. The earliest Greek manuscripts do not include the story. It appeared to have been a free-floating account that was eventually placed at this point in John’s Gospel (probably because of John’s sympathy for women) in the 5th century. It has a different writing style, however, and may actually fit better in Luke 21. Traditionally the woman has been associated with Mary Magdalene (from whom “seven demons had gone out” Lk 8:2) but there is no scriptural evidence for this.