Good Friday 2024: Mary the Wife of Clopas

 In the 1980s sitcom Newhart, three Vermont woodsmen were among the cast of eccentric characters.  Larry, their spokesman, introduced the other two as "my brother Darryl" and "my other brother Darryl."

I can't help thinking of the Darryls when I read John 19:25, which says that those standing near the cross of Christ included "his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene."  Since the mother of Jesus was named Mary, three different Marys are mentioned in this verse.

The presence of three Marys together is not as unusual as we might imagine at first.  Available data indicate that the name Mary (Miriam in Hebrew) was held by nearly a quarter of the women in Judea in the first century AD.  There are reasons this name was so popular.  The original Miriam, the sister of Moses, was a prophet of Israel.  Shortly before the time of Jesus, two wives of Herod the Great bore that name, so it was a name associated with queens and princesses.

The Bible tells us about additional women named Mary among the first followers of Jesus.  One of them was Mary of Bethany, who anointed Jesus' feet with ointment about a week before the crucifixion (John 12:1-3).  We also know that the mother of John Mark, author of the Gospel of Mark, was named Mary (Acts 12:12).         

Mary the wife of Clopas is perhaps the least familiar of these Marys.  According to Eusebius'  Ecclesiastical History (Book 3, Chapter 11), Clopas was a brother of Joseph, the husband of Jesus' mother Mary, making Clopas' wife the sister-in-law of Jesus' mother.  

This information helps answer one of the main questions raised by John 19:25:  How many women are being referenced there? In one reading there are four:

1. Mary the mother of Jesus
2. An unnamed sister of Mary.
3. Mary the wife of Clopas.
4. Mary Magdalene.

But since Mary the wife of Clopas was the sister-in-law of the mother of Jesus, and since the word for "sister" in John 19:25 can be used for a wider range of relationships than just "sisters," there may be only three women in John 19:25:

1. Mary the mother of Jesus
2. Mary's sister-in-law Mary the wife of Clopas.
3. Mary Magdalene.

Richard Bauckham considers this reading to be the more likely one  (see Chapter 6 of Gospel Women).

Clopas and Mary had a son named Symeon who became the leader of the Christians in Jerusalem after the martyrdom of Jesus' brother James in 62 AD.  Symeon held that position for many years, eventually dying as a martyr himself (Book 3, Chapter 32).  

Since Mary is identified as "the wife of Clopas" rather than as the mother of Symeon, she and Clopas were likely known for more than just being Symeon's parents.  In his book Gospel Women, scholar Richard Bauckham points out that in the early church, a number of married couples worked together to spread the Gospel. (Think of Prisca and Aquila as an example, or Andronicus and Junia---Romans 16.)  Among these couples were relatives of Jesus (1 Corinthians 9:5), so Mary and her husband Clopas may have been such a husband-and-wife team of evangelists.  

Each of the Marys mentioned in the Gospels made a unique contribution to the early Christian movement, and it is worthwhile to learn what we can about their lives.  The example of Mary the wife of Clopas highlights the substantial role played by the extended family of Jesus in the early church.  

Seder 64: Psalm 69---Lament of a Righteous Sufferer

 Psalm 69 is traditionally associated with David and is attributed to him by Paul in Romans 11:9.  

David comes to God in an unidentified desperate situation, likening himself to a drowning man.  He has calling out to God to no avail.  He has been enduring false accusation and suffering for God's sake, and he worries about the effect his situation will have on other followers of God (vv 1-6).  While he has been at the temple, praying and fasting, others make fun of him (vv 9-12).  David asks God to deal justly with his tormentors (vv 22-28).  He looks forward to the time when he has been delivered and publicly thanks and praises God, giving encouragement to others who suffer (vv 30-36).  

Christians from the beginning have seen David's experience here as a type of the experience of Jesus, the ultimate righteous sufferer.  In the New Testament six different passages from Psalm 69 are referenced:

• John 2:17 quotes Ps 69:9a (``zeal for your house has consumed me'') in connection with Jesus' first temple cleansing incident.
• In John 15:25 Jesus seems to be referring to Ps 69:4 (or perhaps Ps 35:7) in discussing the fact that his disciples could expect to be persecuted because he was.  The fact that David was hated without a cause indicates that the Messiah would be also.
•  In John 19:28-30 reference is made to Ps 69:3, 21 when Jesus is given sour wine on the cross.  Similarly, Matt 27:34 refers to Ps 69:21.
• In Acts 1:20 Peter applies the imprecation in Ps 69:25 to Judas, Jesus' betrayer.
• In Romans 11:9-10, Paul applies Ps 69:22-23 to describe the temporary stumbling of those in Israel who did not recognize Jesus as Messiah.
• In Romans 15:3 Paul applies Ps 69:9b ("the reproaches of those who reproached you have fallen on me") to Jesus in holding up Jesus' endurance of suffering without a cause as a moral example for his followers.

Not all of the material in Psalm 69 seems to apply to Jesus.  For example, David's admission of his sins in verse 5 is not something Jesus would have said.  Jesus on the cross did not level imprecations at his persecutors---in fact, just the opposite (Luke 23:34).  The New Testament writers applied Psalm 69 selectively, as Ben Witherington points out in his book Psalms Old and New.

Seder 52: Exod 11-12---Departing with Treasure

 After nine plagues Egypt was reeling, but Pharaoh still pretended to himself that he was in control.  He threatened Moses when Moses would not agree to his demands, as if somehow Moses were his real problem (Exod 10:28-29).  

Moses announced that there would be one more plague.  At midnight God would kill all of the firstborn of people and livestock in Egypt, and then Egypt would beg the Israelites to leave (Exod 11;4-8).  

In preparation for leaving, the Israelites were to ask the Egyptians for their silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing.  Israel would then leave Egypt with great wealth.  This is a detail that the Bible mentions several times.  It was even prophesied to Abraham generations earlier.  (Gen 15:14; Exod 3:21-22; 11:2-3; 12:35-36)

Scholars refer to this event as the "despoliation of Egypt".  Why was it important?  There are several lessons that we can learn from it. 

1.   God is in control of history and keeps his promises (Gen 15:14; Exod 12:35-36).
2.   God is a God of justice.  The Egyptians had exploited the Israelites as slaves and were required to pay wages or reparations at the end.
3.   God was also requiring Eygpt to keep the Torah, which specifies that masters should provide servants with some financial help when they set them free (Deut 15:2-4).  
4.   God is consistent.  There is a pattern here.  Abram left Egypt with wealth (Gen 12-13).  Jacob left Laban with wealth (Gen 31:17-19).  The Philistines returned the ark of the covenant with golden treasure (1 Sam 6:8,11).  When Jews return from exile in Babylon, King Cyrus gives them gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:7-11).  Finally, the prophets envision a future exodus from exile when those who afflict Israel "shall become plunder for those who served them " (Zech 2:9: 14:4).  

In a sermon on Seder 52 at Church of the Messiah on April 17, 2021, Kyle Kettering observed that the real treasure leaving Egypt were the people from Israel and the nations (Exod 12:37-38).  God's purpose is to use Israel to bring blessing to all nations, and the Exodus is one step in that program.  

A further step occurred at the Cross.  Kyle made a connection between Exod 11:1 and Jesus' statement on the Cross:  "It is finished" (John 19:30)  Since the time of Jesus, God has been claiming treasures from the nations for himself.  They leave slavery behind.  

As Paul envisioned it, the time had come for the nations to come to God.  They were not to convert to Judaism, but to walk alongside the Jews in following God.  This has been happening ever since.

Seder 32: Psalm 34---Try God's Way: It Works!

 Psalm 34 is an acrostic wisdom psalm traditionally associated with a specific incident in David's life:  At one point when he was fleeing for his life from Saul, David briefly took refuge in Goliath's home town of Gath (1 Sam 21:10-15).  His visit was short because he was quickly recognized.  With his cover blown, David feigned madness in order to escape.  (Commentators often point out an irony here:  David could control his madness, while Saul was controlled by his madness.) 

An imaginative story links Psalm 34 to this incident.  According to this story, David had at one point thanked God for all the wonderful things he had created, especially wisdom.  "But," David asked God, "Why did you create madness?  That seems like such an insane thing to do.  Madness serves no constructive purpose."  God replied, "A day will come when you will have use for madness."  David later remembered what God had said when he was in a tight spot in Gath.  He did indeed have use for madness.  Afterwards he prayed, as in Ps 34:1, "I will bless the Lord at all times"---both in times of sanity and in times of madness. 

In any case, David speaks as one who has put his trust in God and experienced divine deliverance.  "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!" he declares in v. 8.  "Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!"  He notes that "the young lions"---representing the wealthy (LXX) or those who do not follow God---are never satisfied, while "those who seek the Lord lack no good thing" (v 10).  

David acknowledges that the righteous endure their share of suffering:  "Many are the afflictions of the righteous" (v 19).  But he goes on to affirm that God is watching over his people:  "But the Lord delivers him out of them all," verse 19 concludes.  God protects us "in detail": "He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken (v 20).  

Psalm 34 is referenced in two New Testament books.  Verse 20 is referred to in John 19:33-36 in connection with the fact that the Roman soldiers did not break Jesus' bones on the cross.  "The Lord redeems the life of his servants," Ps 34:22 states, and God indeed raised Jesus from the dead.  

The apostle Peter seems to have had Psalm 34 in mind, along with Isa 53 and other scriptures, when he wrote 1 Peter.  In that epistle, Peter encourages Christians who are suffering.  Some suffering is to be expected, he says, because we are called to follow in Jesus' footsteps (1 Peter 2:18-25).  But it is also the case that, for those who have taken David up on his offer to "taste and see that the Lord is good" (1 Peter 2:3), God watches over those who follow him.  Peter quotes Ps 34:12-16 in 1 Peter 3:10-12 as he urges Christians to turn away from evil and do what is good, heeding David's wise instruction.

Passover 2020 Sermon: It is Finished

In his sermon for Passover, Rob Wilson reflected on Jesus' words on the cross recorded in John 19:30:  "It is finished."

The Greek word for "it is finished" is tetelestai, related to teleo, meaning goal or purpose.  Jesus had accomplished the goal of his mission to earth.  There was still more to do.  It wasn't a termination, but a fulfillment.

Passover is a time to consider God's redemption in past, present, and future.  One lesser-known account of God's rescuing his people is 3 Maccabees, in which an Egyptian leader, Ptolemy IV, attempts to kill many Jews in Alexandria but is miraculously prevented from doing so.

3 Maccabees 5:27 is the only place in the LXX where the Greek word tetelestai appears.  This verse describes one stage in God's rescue of the Jews in Alexandria.

Rob noted that we have been "passed over" by the death angel many times, since we are still alive.  God has preserved our lives for a purpose, and we should live to carry it out, so that one day we can also say, "It is finished."

Seder 3 Sermon: Behold, the Man

During our current isolation because of the COVID-19 virus, congregations are not able to meet physically, but they are supporting each other electronically.

For Seder 3, Kyle Kettering gave a sermon linking Gen 3:22 and John 19:5.  When he expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, God said,

"Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil." 

Kyle noted that it is possible to render the verb "was" rather than "has become" in Gen 3:22, which emphasizes all the things that Adam and Eve were losing--immortality, close fellowship with God in the Garden, moral clarity, the fertility of the earth....

A midrash pictures God moaning when Adam and Eve choose to eat the forbidden fruit.  

Kyle then linked Gen 3:22 with Pontius Pilate's unwittingly prophetic statement in John 19:5, when he presented Jesus to the crowd on the day of his crucifixion:

 “Behold the man!”

As the apostle Paul taught, Jesus is the second Adam, the one who regains what the first Adam lost, the one who has defeated death (1 Cor 15:20-26).  

Pilate's pronouncement has also been associated with a messianic prophecy in Zechariah 6.  Kyle adds an important link to this scripture chain.