On Line Bible Study - For the Week September 23-29, 2013

Lesson 577
As you read this listen, you can also listen to Peter Philips' (c. 1560-1628) setting: O Maria Mater.

John 19:  26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

In our previous lesson we explored some of the conversation that occurred at the foot of the cross as recorded by Mark, Matthew and Luke.  With this lesson we will explore a particular conversation recorded only by the Gospel of John.  Father Raymond Brown takes this text almost word by word as he unpacks it for us.  We begin with the word "saw".

In the Gospel of Luke we read that people came and "saw" what had taken place at the cross (23:48).  In John we read that Jesus "saw" his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby.  Though the English translation can use the same word: "saw" - they are different words in Greek.  The "saw" from Luke 23:48 - ὁράω- suggests seeing as a spectator, and perhaps from some distance.  In John 19:26 -  εἴδω - the seeing that is taking place  is "nearby" - closer, more intimate.

The "disciple whom [Jesus] loved" is the only one of the Twelve who accompanies Jesus to the cross.  Peter, following his denial, "went outside and wept bitterly" (Matthew 26:75).  Luke has Peter following, but "at a distance".  (Luke 22:54.)  Matthew and Mark tell us:  All the disciples deserted him and fled.  (Matthew 26:56; Mark 14:50.)  John tells us that "another disciple", known to the High Priest, was responsible for getting Peter into the courtyard.  We assume this "other disciple" to be the same one that is at the cross with Mary - the disciple whom [Jesus] loved.

Jesus' mother only makes two entrances in John.  She is at the wedding in Cana of Galilee (John 2).  In the exchange the exists between Jesus and Mary in that scene, Jesus notes a difference in their agenda.  Mary recognizes an immediate need; Jesus believes his time has not yet come.  In this exchange on the cross, Jesus' time has come.  His work is finished.  Now, his agenda and his mother's agenda intersect.  While some interpret this exchange to be primarily about Jesus' concern for Mary's future security, Raymond Brown suggests more subtle and far reaching theological meanings.

Perhaps there is an association being made with Eve (Genesis) and passages in Revelation.

Eve rejoices in having a son to replace the one who had been killed.  (Genesis 4:25.)  In Revelation 12, a woman "clothed with the sun" gives birth to a child who "will rule all the nations".  Satan chases the woman, but she is protected.  Ultimately the dragon (Satan) is hurled down to earth where he "makes war against the rest of her offspring..." (Revelation 12:17).  These "offspring" are identified as "those who keep God's commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus".  In other words, the woman of Revelation is the mother of the disciples of Jesus.

When considered in these terms, this new relationship between Mary and the "beloved disciple" takes on a whole new meaning.  It is not so much about Mary's future security as it is the association between Mary and the true disciples of Jesus.

In our next lesson we will reflect on the death of Jesus on the Cross.

On Line Bible Study - For the Week September 16-22, 2013

Lesson 576

At The Foot of the Cross
As Jesus was dying on the cross, the synoptic gospels (Mark, Matthew and Luke) record for us some of the activity and conversation that was going on.  Assuming that Mark offers us something closer to an original source, both Matthew and Luke include Mark's record and make slight but significant contributions to the scene.

Mark 15: 29 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 come down from the cross and save yourself!” 31 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself!32 Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

Power:  People who didn't necessarily know Jesus other than what they had heard about him - that is, passers-by - hurl their insults at him.  His reputation for having power to heal seems to work for others, but not for himself.  How can one who claimed to be able to destroy and rebuild the temple in a matter of three days now be so powerless to help himself?
Jesus demonstrates the most difficult kind of power - the power of self-restraint.  Whether he could have actually gotten himself off the cross we can't say; but he certainly could have behaved such that he never would have been crucified to begin with.  The true irony here is that the one whom we believe did have the power to save himself and didn't, is ridiculed by those who think they do have power to save themselves but don't.
One wonders if Jesus' ministry isn't ending just as it began - with temptation.  Were the religious leaders correct in their assessment of the crowds - would there have been true faith if Jesus had come down from the cross on his own power?

Salvation:  How do you define "salvation"?  What is the connection between your belief that you can take care of yourself over against the notion that you depend on God to take care of you?  How large is the gap between those two realities?  One way to stave off ethnic prejudice against the Jewish people and their religious leaders in this text is to see the universal truth hidden in plain sight.  If Jesus had never experienced physical death, could he have been a savior?  Or would he have become a dictator?  
Matthew and Luke are more explicit in their theology of the "God who suffers".
  
In Matthew 27 we read:  43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him; for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'

Jesus is offering a very different understanding of "God" and "Salvation" from what people in his day (and in our own) hoped for.

The Conversation:  Both of those crucified with Jesus also mock him ... except in Luke.  In the midst of the darkness of this hour, Luke offers a glimmer of light and faith.  One can't help but wonder if the words of one criminal to the other weren't intended for all of us to hear:

Luke 23:  40Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

Might this hearken back to Luke 6:42 (and Matthew 7:5):  42 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

With the plank of his own guilt front and center, Luke tells us one of those two criminals finds his way to true salvation - and even in the final hours and moments of his life, a profound blessing is received.
John has no mention of any of this in his record.  But he does give us another conversation that is worth our consideration.  That's what we will look at in the next lesson.