Lesson
#12
The Old Testament:
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the
Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me
all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very
dry. He said to me, "Mortal, can these bones live?" I answered,
"O Lord GOD, you know." [Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these
bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the
Lord GOD to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.
I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you
with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I
am the Lord."
So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there
was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I
looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin
had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me,
"Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus
says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these
slain, that they may live." I prophesied as he commanded me, and the
breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast
multitude.]
Then he said to me, "Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel.
They say, `Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off
completely.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am
going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and
I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the
Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people.
I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on
your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will
act," says the Lord. (Ezekiel
37:1-3(4-10)11-14)
Anonymous: The following description of Jesus, supposed to have been written during his life on earth before his sufferings, is probably spurious, but it certainly is a wonderful word picture of a wonderful man:
There
lives at this time in Judea a man of singular virtue, whose name is Jesus
Christ, whom the barbarians esteem as a prophet, but his followers love and
adore him as the offspring of the immortal God. He calls back the dead from the grave and heals all sorts of
diseases with a word or touch. He is a
tall man, well shaped, and of an amiable and reverend aspect; his hair of a
color that can hardly be matched, falling in graceful curls, waving about and
very agreeably couching upon his shoulders, parted on the crown of the head,
running like a stream to the front after the fashion of the Nazarites; his
forehead high, large and imposing; his cheeks without spot or wrinkle,
beautiful with a lovely red; his nose and mouth formed with exquisite symmetry;
his beard of the color of new wine suitable to his hair, reaching below his
chin and parted in the middle like a fork; his eyes bright blue, clear, and
serene, look innocent, dignified, manly and mature. In proportion of body most perfect and captivating; his arms and
hands delectable to behold. He rebukes
with majesty, counsels with mildness; his whole address, whether in word or
deed, being eloquent and grave. No man
has seen him laugh, yet his manners are exceedingly pleasant, but he has wept
frequently in the presence of men. He
is temperate, modest and wise. A man
for his extraordinary beauty and divine perfections, surpassing the children of
men in every sense.
The Gospel:
Early on the first day of the
week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the
stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and
the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have
taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid
him." Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb.
The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached
the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying
there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went
into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had
been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place
by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in,
and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that
he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.
[But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look
into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus
had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her,
"Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken
away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." When she had
said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know
that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom
are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him,
"Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I
will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and
said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said
to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the
Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, `I am ascending to my Father and
your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced
to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he
had said these things to her.] (John 20:1-18)
· The Top Icon is an ox, symbolic of strength, patience and sacrifice. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Mat 11:30)
· Main Window: Jesus, now in white, holds a cross blazoned flag – symbolic of victory - draped over a cross shaped crook. He is definitely no longer beat to a pulp and is even radiant. Notice the scars in his hands, feet and side. The Roman guard, asleep, and two disciples, below in the window, behold the risen Christ. This in an interesting juxtaposition from the sleeping disciples at Gethsemane.
· The Bottom Icon is the third foundation stone of our windows. This image, however, contains the mystical phoenix which bursts into flame into death and arises from its own ashes to new strength and life.
If anything was more surprising in Jesus’ life than the resurrection, then I’m hard pressed to come up with possibilities. Resurrection, as a concept, was certainly not unknown during Jesus’ life. In fact, it was a huge point of theological debate between the Pharisees, who firmly favored belief in resurrection, and the Sadducees, who thought life ended in the grave (Mat 22:23). Even so, it was a remote – hoped for – concept. For example, consider Martha’s words regarding Jesus prior to the resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus said unto her, your brother shall rise again. Martha said unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
As Martha held a resurrection belief common during her day, she still pushed any expected fulfillment to the future. I suspect the disciples did the very same thing every time that Jesus tried to tell them about his impending death and resurrection (Mat 26:31-32).
We
Christians generally have habit of looking down our spiritual noses and blaming
all kinds of things on the Pharisees as if they were the mortal enemies of
Christ. In reality, Jesus’ own theology was clearly more in line with the
Pharisees. If you boil down what he believed and taught, there is
virtually nothing different [with the exception of divorce] about what he
believed and what the common Pharisees believed. This liberal school of
thought is known as the School of Hillel.
This included most of the common people of the area. In
contrast was the Pharisaic leadership that was strongly fundamental and
conservative known as the School of Shammai.
There were a lot of other sects of
Judaism during Jesus' life, too, including the Sadducees, Hasmoneans, Essenes,
etc. In short, the Sadducees accepted only the first five books of the
bible and believed in no resurrection whatsoever. One of my
professors used to say this is why they were "Sad You See".
In fact, if the first five books of the bible were the only ones
accepted, then there would indeed be a shortage of resurrection
scriptures. With the addition of the rest of the Old Testament, the
theology of resurrection is a little more obvious, albeit subtle. Historically, belief in a resurrection
became a religious fact – especially to the persecuted. Actual resurrections in the OT such as with
Elijah were cited as proof and offered great hope (1 King 17:22-23).
The
reason for the need of a resurrection was largely political. Vicious conquerors such as Antiochus
Ephiphanes and others were forcing Jews to convert to paganism at the pain of
death. Those of the Sadducee belief found it hard to justify keeping the
faith since it was all over at death. In contrast, the Pharisees reached
deep into their spiritual roots and found a resurrection with rewards for
faithfulness. Thus the persecution endured by Judaism prior to the first
Advent greatly strengthened the theology of resurrection. In fact, it was
one of the reasons why the persecution of Jews ultimately failed. For
this reason, the idea of resurrection with a corresponding reward also became a
strong political force with other groups such as the Zealots.
Mary Magdalene has taken on more personas in scripture than Sybil. In some of the primal church sects, she was revered as one of the greatest apostles and in some cases - the primary apostle. This is largely due to her being the first witness of the resurrection. Not only that, Jesus charged to her to tell the rest of the boys about his resurrection. In many historic churches and even some modern churches, this would have been a sin worthy of church discipline and perhaps excommunication.
Over time, she and the other female disciples were largely marginalized in the patriarchal church that resulted. To this day, there are some churches that do not permit women to formally address men in worship and limit their roles to teaching kids in Sunday School. If you want an example, try to find Harold Camping's (reformed protestant) radio show called "Family Forum" weeknights around the 90's on the FM dial [89.5 at 8p in Birmingham]. A good historical example would be in watching the new movie about Joan of Arc called the Messenger (Catholic) and Yentl (Jewish). Fortunately, most modern churches are not so bad but few ordain women. Choose your sides on this argument. I personally favor the equality of women in ministry (Gal 3:28). To me, Jesus seemed to have no qualms whatsoever about sending women to spread his good news. He was surrounded by them, talked with them and sent them out, whereas the patriarchal Judaism of the day was astonished by such (cf John 4:9, 27).
Traditionally, Mary Magdalene has evolved into the prostitute that was almost stoned, washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and even declared to be Mary of Mary and Martha by one Vatican edict. In fact, I'll admit that I used to teach this until a Baptist asked me to prove it with scripture. When I tried, I discovered that the scriptures treat her with great deference. She is at many of the important parts of Jesus’ life including the crucifixion and resurrection. The only disparaging aspect to her life is the scripture about seven demons being cast out of her (Mark 16:9).
Modern literature has noticed her role in the so-called 'lost books' of the bible - specifically a quote from the Gnostic gospels which calls her "companion and lover of the Lord". Thus, "JC Superstar" and especially "The Last Temptation of Christ" consider the possibility of her potentially being his wife. Consider: first-century Jewish males were normally married at around age 18, it would be outrageous for a spiritual Jewish male to be single and the gospels are silent about spouses anyway except for oblique references (Mat 8:14, 1 Cor 9:5). Thus, in my opinion, the Gnostics have a better claim to their beliefs about Mary than traditional Christians do about Mary being a harlot.
Mary came to the tomb while still dark and found it empty. She ran back and told John and Peter that someone had stolen the body. Some have suggested that her fear on this matter meant that it was a credible possibility that the authorities might have stolen his body. When they heard, Peter and John ran to the tomb. Strangely, the author of John points out that John got there first. For this reason and others, some believe that John was a teenager. When Peter arrived, he went into the tomb and examined the linen wrapping, which was in two pieces - one for the head and the other for the body. Many criticize the shroud [one piece] of Turin because of this.
Mary was outside weeping when someone spoke to her. She looked at the man and thought he might be the gardener. FREEZE FRAME. Her last view of Jesus was of a man marred beyond comprehension (Isa 52:14). According to traditional beliefs, Jesus was physically restored at his resurrection - except for the stigmata – his wounds in his hands, feet and side. Even if he looked like Jesus, which I'm sure he did, to my mind, Mary would have expected to have seen a half dead Jesus if it were possibly him. CONTINUE. She asks him about the body and he responds, "Mary". FREEZE FRAME. Regardless of what she expected to see, her ears had no such expectations. They recognized the voice as it said her name. CONTINUE.
She
apparently lunged to hug him which caused him to have a very interesting
response, Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the
Father. For whatever reason, this was true at this moment.
However, Jesus let people handle him later even letting Thomas touch his
wounds. There have been many views on this. The one I personally
favor is that he was on his way to the 'heavenly temple' to complete a required
task [whatever that might be] and her touching him would in someway mess things
up. Afterwards, such was not an issue.
If a poll of the most well known disciples were taken, Thomas would be on most lists. At different times in my life, I have identified with Peter and perhaps a few others. The more I learn about myself, I find myself identifying with Thomas seeking to know through experience. After all, such is the scientific method which doesn’t mix too well with faith. Jesus said, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed (John 20:29).
I used to read this and feel terrible because of my similarity to Thomas. Then I realized one day that Thomas was not kicked out because of this. In fact, Jesus seems to have gone out of his way for Thomas so he could believe. To go even further, Jesus seemed to have a proof display for the rest of the disciples following this incident with Thomas. And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: (John 20:30). Honestly, I think we would all like to see something like this.
Another pair of disciples decided to walk to Emmaus after hearing of the news. Along the way, they debated what they believed about Messiah. Along the way, Jesus joined them and had a big conversation. Like Mary Magdalene, they didn’t recognize Jesus either. Their conversation was very enlightening and the disciples wanted their new friend to stay and teach them more. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed [it], and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, Saying, The Lord is risen indeed (Luke 24:29-34).
In one of Jesus’ parables, there is the story of the rich man who died and went hell. Across the gulf, he could see and talk to father Abraham and begged for a sip of water. After Abraham told him it was impossible, the rich man discussed ways of warning the rest of his family before they died. Abraham said they had the Moses and the Prophets [i.e. the scriptures]. The rich man then told Abraham that they wouldn’t listen to the scriptures but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he [Abraham] said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, even though one rose from the dead (Luke 16:30-31).
This makes no sense to me because I personally feel that witnessing a resurrection would have great effect. Apparently, this is not the case. Consider that even though Lazarus was raised from the dead, the authorities wanted to reverse it! But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death (Luke 12:10).
Being like Thomas and seeking evidence is perhaps ok. Believing without evidence is perhaps better. I, however, wonder about those who end up getting evidence of some type and somehow end up forsaking such. May it not be so with us.
In loving memory of Janie Turner Duncan and Newman Lee Duncan
