I focus on Mary in this Gospel reading of Lazarus. Mary Magdalene, of course, is mentioned in all four gospels as a witness of the crucifixion and empty tomb. In Matthew and John, she also encounters the resurrected Jesus. Only in Luke is Mary mentioned earlier in the story. Luke 8 refers to Mary, called Magdalene, as one of several women who traveled with Jesus and the disciples in Galilee.
There is a Biblical scholar from Duke University, a woman who looked at the oldest Papyrus that exists of the 11th Chapter of John and found unusual corrections that added Martha to the story of Lazarus. She observed that the scribe who transcribed Papyrus 66 seemed to be working from two source manuscripts, one that wrote only about Mary and the other that added Martha. As she explored, she found more corrections in multiple papyruses that also corrected text to add Martha
She ended up with a complete text of Codexis before
corrections. Why this reflection at this moment? We study the Bible which we
often think of as a closed canon but here are new resonant words which open up
new parallels between Lazarus and the empty tomb, between Mary declaring her
belief in Jesus as messiah as opposed to Peter. We often talk about Jesus as a
wisdom teacher. Christian faith is about lived commitment, not simply right
belief.
“Yes, Lord,” Mary
says, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into
the world” (John 11:27) instead of Martha she becomes much more of a major
character in John.
So both Peter and Mary declare belief in Jesus as
messiah. Mary actually anoints Jesus
(feet not head). Peter is warned not to
tell anyone and then rebuked for having human concerns rather than God’s. Peter betrays Jesus. Mary learns from Jesus.
Jesus asks Mary "Why are you weeping?" If we
think about Jesus weeping in this text there is a totally different context
given for the question. It is not an accusation of something that does not need
to be done but an invitation, a holy question, to explore sadness in the moment
you are feeling it, and not to bypass that sadness.
Does Easter start before the lilies of Easter morning?
Actually Easter starts in the darkness of the tomb, before the lilies have bloomed.
When the men looked into the darkness of the tomb they saw only the linen. Mary
looked into the same tomb and saw angels because she was not unfamiliar with
the darkness.
Mary looks at the resurrected Jesus and she sees a
gardener. A holy insight. Jesus is bringing new life from the ground. When he
says her name she recognizes his as teacher rabboni, an important moment that
the scripture feels must be preserved and does not translate into English
without the quoting the original word first.
When Judas criticizes Mary for spending money on the
expensive ointment Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for
the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not
always have me.”
This has so much resonance with the knowledge Mary was
there on the day of his burial.
I thought of a prayer by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer - We are not lost. Already in the dark we have found each other. What astonishes is that there are so many of us, and already with our voices we are building bridges made of light.
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