Misunderstood Mary

(new post later this evening)

An article the other week from MSN began, "Not only is Mary Magdalene an important woman in the Bible, but she is also a saint, and probably the most misunderstood Biblical figure in history. For centuries, Mary Magdalene's name has been linked to numerous theories, stories, and interpretations of the Gospels. Was she really a prostitute? Was she romantically involved with Jesus? Or was Mary Magdalene just a devoted apostle?"

Through the ages, people have enthusiastically employed heretical old Gnostic documents to say there was a sexual relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

Feminists purport the Gnostic gospels uniformly teach the “sacred feminine,” but conveniently leave out any mention of the infamous final verse in the “Gospel of Thomas,” in which Peter sneers that “women are not worthy of life,” and Christ responds, “I myself shall lead her in order to make her male. . . For every woman who will make herself male will enter the Kingdom.”

  

False revelation from the fake “Gospel of Philip” about how “Jesus often kissed Mary on the lips,” and considered her his “companion,” is used as supposed evidence of a divine marriage. In Dan Brown’s bestseller book The Da Vinci Code, character Leigh Teabing argues that any Hebrew scholar would tell you the Aramaic name for “companion” means “spouse.”

The big problem with this is the “Gospel of Philip” was written in Coptic, not Aramaic. The word “companion” in Coptic is actually the Greek word “koinonia,” which means “fellowship,” as in guys in a ship.

“This word was used of all the disciples, and when it says He kissed Mary on the lips, the same passage says He kissed His disciples on the lips. This was the custom.

“The word ‘fellowship’ means ‘to share in common.’ ‘Koinonia’ is the Greek. It means a partnership; a sharing together, a communion. ‘Fellows in a ship’ is exactly what the English word means; it’s exactly what the Greek word means. It’s exactly what the concept is.

*****

The Bible tells us Jesus Christ, in His earthly ministry, led a nomadic lifestyle and didn’t have a home.

On the other hand, in Matthew 8:14, we’re informed Peter had a wife (which, by the way, shoots down any case for him as Pope) and that his wife’s mother actually lived in their home with them.

“You see when you’ve got a wife, you wind up with a mother-in-law, and she winds up living with you in your house,” explains Richard Jordan. “In other words, there is baggage that comes along with married life.”

“In Mark 6:3, a complete list of the family members of Christ is given and no wife is among them. Do you think if He had a wife, it might have been good to have listed her?

“From John 19:25, we’re told both Mary Magdalene and Jesus’ mother stood around Him at the Cross, but Jesus, in addressing His disciple John, only makes mention of His mother’s care following His death.

“If your wife is standing there, and He says, ‘John, take care of my mom,’ what would you expect Him to do for His wife? Especially if they’ve got a kid! Maybe she was pregnant and didn’t know it—all the more to take care of them.

“For the people who wonder, ‘Would it have been any big deal if Jesus Christ did have a wife?’ I point them to the Apostle Paul’s wisdom, taken by revelation from the risen Christ, in which he reasons in I Corinthians 32-33, ‘He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:

But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.’

“The Lord Jesus Christ had sort of a unique mission. He’s the God-Man and the obvious reason He remains single is so He could be totally devoted to the mission He had.”

“What needs to be emphasized is that everywhere the Word of God’s ever gone, it has elevated the role of women in culture. The unique thing about the women in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ is He didn’t treat them the way the culture of His day did. He elevated them. He included them in His public ministry. He welcomed them into discussions. He allowed them to engage in public discourse. . .

“Everywhere the Gospel has ever gone it brings women out of the boot of dominion because what does the Word of God say? It makes every soul valuable to God. That’s why Paul tells husbands, ‘Love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.’ (Ephesians 5:25-26) That’s how Christ loved the church.”

*****

"As with the crucifixion and resurrection, the Old Testament presents Jesus Christ, the Son of God, only in veiled phraseology and in types," writes C.R. Stam. "The Trinity is only hinted at. This is one reason why the Jew insists that there is but one God and that He did not, and will not, have a Son.

"True, Psalm 40:7 says: 'In the volume of a book it is written of Me,' but again, who is the 'ME'? We do not find out until some time after the Son of God has appeared incarnate.

"The glory of His person is not revealed even in His ministry on earth, for from birth to death He suffers humiliation. The stable, the swaddling bands, the weariness, the hunger and thirst. He has no place to lay His head, the multitude throng Him, the leaders plot against Him, Martha rebukes Him, Peter denies Him, Judas betrays Him. His deity is veiled by His humanity; His glory is buried under poverty and shame.

"After His baptism by water He spoke of another baptism; that of the Cross: 'But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!' (Luke 12:50).

"Thank God we 'know Him no longer after the flesh' (II Cor. 5:16) for, as one has said, how could a Christ in straitened circumstances mean so much to us as the Lord of glory dispensing the riches of His grace and the merits of Calvary?

"Even in resurrection His glory was still veiled, else His disciples could not have beheld Him. Probably the greatest display of His glory, while on earth, took place at the transfiguration when, appearing with Moses and Elias, His face shone as the sun and His raiment was white as the light. Yet Peter could say: 'It is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias' (Matthew 17:4).

"Compare this with that light above the brightness of the noonday sun, which blinded Paul, as the glorified Lord appeared to him (Acts 26: 13-16).

"Once more it is Paul--and no one until Paul--who says: 'Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more' (II Cor. 5:16).

"In his one letter to the Colossians alone he presents Christ in His glory as all the other Bible writers together do not present Him.

"There he presents Christ as the Head of all creation--not just the material creation alone, but also things invisible. 'Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
[16] For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him' (Col. 1:15-16).

"There he presents Him also as the Sustainer of all, for 'by Him all things consist [i.e., cling together]' (1:17)

"There he presents Him as the Head of the Body and the Master of death. (1:18).

"There he declares that 'in all things Christ must have the pre-eminence and that it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell;' that He should be the Fount of every blessing, the Source of all supply (1:18-19).

"There he presents Christ as the sole Medium of reconciliation to God (1:20) and unfolds 'the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory' (1:27)

"There he shows Him as the One (2:3) in whom dwells 'all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power' (2:9-10).

"Little wonder he warns us lest any man 'rob' us, 'judge' us, or 'beguile' us (2:8, 16, 18) of the appropriation and enjoyment of our position and blessings in Christ!"