Transcript Jesus’ Ministry in Galilee

Women of the Gospels
Caravaggio, Martha and Mary Magdalen, c.1598 (Detroit, Institute of Fine Arts)
Hidden History
Scarcity of sources in ancient
history
– Loss (recent finds:
Dead Sea Scrolls,
Nag Hammadi Library)
– Question of reliability
– Values of recorders:
www.nag-hammadi.com/
Who/what was considered worth saving?
Biblical Women’s History:
Victims of Silence and Denial
• Denial of physical presence
– Case in point: feeding the 5,000
– Synagogue service required min. of 10 men
• Denial of testimony (no validity in Hebrew court of
law)
• Denial of education (“The words of the Torah will
be destroyed in the fire sooner than be taught to women”Talmud)
Looking for
Clues
• An effort must be made to “uncover traces
of a significant women’s presence and
examine indicative and revealing pieces of a
far wider reality that lies hidden and, like an
underground stream, from time to time
trickles out of the written texts, then comes
up to the surface” (Ricci 23)
Jesus’ Travels
http://www.preceptaustin.org/bible_maps.htm
Jesus’ Travels
Jesus’ Ministry in Galilee
• Luke 8:1-3
Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages,
proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of
God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women
who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary,
called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and
Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of
their resources.
Jesus in Jerusalem
• Matthew 27:55-56
Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had
followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. Among them
were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and
the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
• Mark 15:40-41
There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were
Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of
Joses, and Salome. These used to follow him and provided for him
when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had
come up with him from Jerusalem.
Women at the Crucifixion
• Matt: Mary Magdalene, and Mary the
mother of James and Joseph, and the mother
of the sons of Zebedee (Matt 27.55-56)
• Mark: Mary Magdalene, and Mary the
mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. (Mark 15.40-41)
• Luke: All his acquaintance including the women who had followed
him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. (Luke
23.49)
• John: his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene (John 19.25)
Women Witnesses of the Empty Tomb
• Matt 27:61
Mary Magdalene & the other Mary
• Mark 16:1-8
Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother
of James, and Salome
• Luke 24:1-10
The women were terrified and bowed
their facers to the ground . . . Now it
was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary
the mother of James, and the other
women with them
• John 20:1-2 Mary Magdalene
came to the tomb
Women May Be Present But
Unmentioned
• Matthew and Mark speak of women
following Jesus in Galilee only in
the closing stages of their narratives,
but clearly numbers of women were
accompanying him all along and
supporting his ministry.
• Why the delay in mentioning
women followers? (except in Luke)
Androcentric Environment
• Little interest in presence
of women
• Tendency to ignore them
unless exceptional
circumstances arise
• When men are present,
women need not be noticed
or mentioned.
"Saint Mary Magdalene approaching the
Sepulchre" Gian Girolamo Savoldo, ca. 1530.
Women’s Witness Becomes
Important When?
• When men are absent.
• And when where male witnesses absent?
The Disappearance of the Disciples
• Matt. 26:56 “Then all the disciples deserted him and fled”
• Mark 14:50 “All of them deserted him and fled”
• The redactors, unable to cite the witness of the
male disciples, are forced to mention the women
• Questions to consider:
– . . . .What if the male disciples had stayed for
the crucifixion? . . .
– . . . . Were women at the Last Supper?
The Marys
Mary by Louis Glanzman
Mary, the Mother of God by Louis Glanzman
Mary Magdalene by Louis Glanzman
Mary Magdalene
• Original home?
– Magdala in Galilee
• Special healing?
– Jesus cast out seven demons
• Present with Jesus in what cases?
– Followed Jesus wherever he went
(Lk 8:2)
– Present at crucifixion (Mrk 15:40;
John 19:25)
– Observed Jesus’ burial (Mrk 15:47)
– Observed resurrected Jesus (Matt.
28:1; Mrk 16:1; Lk 24:10; John 20)
Magdalene of the Night Light : Georges de la Tour
Mary Magdalene & the “Gardener”
Discuss:
• Apostola apostolarum?
– Garden of Eden restored?
• Importance of their
conversation?
– “Who are you looking for?”
– “Mary”
– “Do not hold to me”
Noli Me Tangere by Carravaggio 1625
What the Bible Does NOT Say
About Mary Magdalene
•
•
•
•
Prostitute
Anointed Jesus’ feet
Jesus’ wife
Fled to Southern
France
to be continued . . .
Mary Magdalene by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Other Women in the Gospels
Henryk Siemiradzki. Christ and the Samaritan Woman. 1890.
Proper Social Convention
Unconventionality
Peter’s Mother-in-Law
Mark 1:29-34
• Conventional features?
– Identified by relationship to male family member
– Male family members represent her to Jesus
• Unconventional features?
– Jesus goes to her room and touches her
– She “ministers” to Jesus-same verb used when angels
“ministered” to him in Mark 1:15
Social Impropriety
Propriety and Order
The Woman in the Crowd
Mark 5: 24b-43
• Her problem?
– “Unclean” (12 years bleeding
disorder)
• Her violations of social propriety?
– Respectable women do not travel
unattended by male family member
– Respectable women do not touch
men outside family
• How does Jesus supply ALL her needs:
– “Daughter” and healing
Woman with Hemorrhage by Glanzman
Lowly Girl
vs. High Priest
Mark 14:66-72
•Trial?
•Jesus interrogated by high
priest in court
•Who is in lower courtyard?
•Maid stares at and questions
Peter.
Gerrit van Honthorst The Denial of St. Peter,c. 16201625
• Ironies?
– High priest rejects truth of Jesus’ divinity
– Lowly maid insists on truth of Peter’s discipleship
The Samaritan Woman
Culmination of Biblical Meetings at Wells
TheSamaritanWomen by Louis Glanzman
John 4:4-42
• How does Jesus transform
symbolism of water?
– New understanding of
marriage, fertility, and
life
• How does Jesus shock the
disciples?
– Defies conventions of
talking to women &
interacting w/Samaritans
End of Part I
The Marys
Mary by Louis Glanzman
Mary, the Mother of God by Louis Glanzman
Mary Magdalene by Louis Glanzman
Mary,
the Mother of Jesus
Probably of tribe of Levi (cousin ElizabethLuke 1:5,36)
Engaged to Joseph (tribe of Judah)
Home in Nazareth (Galilee); traveled to
Bethlehem; escaped to Egypt;
returned to Nazareth
Scolds Jesus at the temple (Luke 2:48)
Asked for help at wedding in Cana (John 2:14)
Had other children to care for (Matt 13:55)
Tries to take Jesus home (Mark 3:20-31)
Stands at foot of cross (John 19:25-27)
Was present at Pentecost (Actsd 1:14)
Artemesia Gentileschi
Mary and Martha
• Sisters of Lazarus
• Home?
– Bethany, near
Jerusalem
• Martha’s stories?
– Complains to
Jesus (Luke 10:38-42)
– Testimony of faith
Raising of Lazarus by Guercino
(John 11:27)
Martha by Louis Glanzman
Mary of Bethany
• Family?
– Sister of Martha and Lazarus
• Her stories?
– Neglected household duties
(Luke 10:38-42)
– Upset with Jesus when he did
not come (John 11:20,28-33)
– Anointed Jesus at her home in
Bethany (John 12:1-8)
Raising of Lazarus, by Guercino
c. 1619
Mary Anointing Jesus
John 12:1-8
Mary of Bethany at home
w/Lazarus & Martha
Jesus en route to Jerusalem fo
Passover
Costly nard--extravagent love
Judas complains
Foreshadows death &burial
Foreshadows Jesus’
footwashing for disciples
(John 13:1-20)
“New Commandment”
Courtesy Denim & Lace
Anonymous Anointings
Mark 14.3-9 and Matthew 26.6-13
• Unnamed woman at home of Simon the
Leper in Bethany
• Anoints Jesus’ head
• Expensive, aromatic oil in alabaster vessel.
• Disciples complain of waste
Luke 7:36-50
• Sinful woman of the city anoints Jesus’ feet
at home of a Pharisee.
Mary Magdalene
in the Gnostic Gospels
Karen King (Harvard Divinity
School): The Gospel of
Mary of Magdala
Elaine Pagels: The Gnostic
Gospels and Beyond Belief:
The Secret Gospel of
Thomas
Nag Hammadi Library
• Nag Hammadi Library:
an earthenware jar, 1945, Egypt
• 13 leather-bound mss. “codices” of 52 books dating
from 350-400 A.D. (140 A.D.)
• Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Philip, etc.
• Gnostic: Insight, knowledge
• Early Christian group with different teachings later
considered heretical, therefore suppressed
• Affirmative of women’s role in spiritual community
Mary Magdalene in Gnostic
Gospels
• Mary Magdalene: close companion of Jesus
• Gospel of Philip: Jesus “used to kiss” her often
• Disciple, evangelist, teacher, mystic (visions) who had
esoteric knowledge of Jesus’ teaching
• MM rivals Peter for leadership of the early church; Peter
& Andrew challenge her authority
• Peter: “Did he [Jesus] really speak to a woman secretly,
without our knowledge, and not openly? Are we to turn
and all listen to her? Did he prefer her to us?”
Pope Gregory’s Decision
She whom Luke calls the sinful woman, whom John calls
Mary, we believe to be the Mary from whom seven devils
were ejected according to Mark. And what did these seven
devils signify, if not all the vices? . . . It is clear, brothers,
that the woman previously used the unguent to perfume her
flesh in forbidden acts. What she therefore displayed more
scandalously, she was now offering to God in a more
praiseworthy manner . . . She turned the mass of her
crimes to virtues, in order to serve God entirely in
penance, for as much as she had wrongly held God in
contempt.”
--Revoked
by Catholic Church in 1969--
Miscellaneous Marys
• Mary, mother of James & Joseph (Matthew) or Joses
(Mark), witness resurrection, burial, and empty tomb
• Mary, the mother of the sons of Zebadee, James & John
(Matthew 20:20-23; 27:56), asks Jesus to let her sons sit at
his right and left hands in heaven. In Mark, the sons ask
for themselves.
• “The other Mary” (Matthew 27:61 & 28:1)--could be one
of the Marys above or another one)
• Mary, the wife of Clopas (John 19:25), stands at the cross.
Bibliography
Books:
• Murphey, Cullen. The Word According to Eve, 1998.
• Newsom, Carol A. and Sharon H. Ringe. Women’s Bible Commentary.
• Ricci, Carla. Mary Magdalene and Many Others.
Graphics:
• “At the Foot of the Cross” The Society of Saint Mary Magdalene.
www.st-mary-magdalene.org/
• Footwashing: denimandlace.50megs.com/ alabasterbox2.html
• Glanzman, Louis : www.louisglanzman.com/biblewomen.html
• Jesus Travels Map:
http://www.fbbc.info/discipleship/bigpicture/year%20of%20popularity.htm
• Nag Hammadi Library manuscript: www.nag-hammadi.com/
» next page
Bib. Cont.
• “Raising of Lazarus” Detail by Guercino 1619
www.magdalene.org/lazarus/guercino.htm
• “Saint Mary Magdalene approaching the Sepulchre" by Gian Girolamo
Savoldo www.hometown.aol.com/ listenwv/9.html
• “Deposition from the Cross” and “Noli me tangere” by Corregio and
“Martha and Mary Magdalene” by Caravaggio: from Web Gallery of Art
http://www.wga.hu/index.html