Local Preachers’ Group on John's Gospel
Notes of meeting held 22nd March 2010
John 20: 11 - 18
As we read the passage through together we discovered that in some versions Mary speaks in Hebrew while in others she speaks in Aramaic. We spent some time wondering about the significance of this. Would Mary speak differently to the gardener? The particular word used is a strengthened form of rabbi used to describe God and as a call to prayer. It is, therefore, the language of the temple or synagogue, not normally used by ordinary people. We recognised that, in this passage, the words used particularly by both Jesus and Mary are virtually a reprise of chapter 1 verse 38 where Jesus asks the first disciples what they looking for and they call him rabbi. We felt that John had deliberately brought his Gospel full circle. (See note below on information following the meeting)
We then wondered what tone of voice Jesus would have used in calling Mary by name and thought that this passage should be read with some attention to these details. We believed Jesus would have used a personal private voice that Mary would have instantly recognised. We linked this to our own approach to grief-stricken people when we tend to speak hesitantly and with empathy. Sometimes a hug is what is needed, not a word, and we assumed that that was what Mary was trying to do when Jesus stopped her. In one commentary Jesus words are translated as “stop what you are doing”. Mary has to understand that from now on she cannot relate to the physical Jesus but must rely on the Spirit.
Mary is given the first commission as Apostle to the Apostles. The use of Mary in this way suggests that the story must be true, as no-one who wanted people to believe what they were saying would be likely to use a woman to be the first to take the message of the resurrection.
Mary thinks that Jesus is the gardener. This links back to Genesis where God provides the garden and Adam is the first gardener. Is Jesus then representing Adam or God or both? There are so many layers of meaning in John’s gospel we always assume another layer even when we cannot see it. But these different layers mean that this gospel can appeal to all from the literally minded to the allegorically minded.
We felt that some of our congregations would believe this account word for word but some others would wonder about the story. They would believe that something wonderful must have happened for the story to be written, but would not be sure exactly what that something was. We thought that Easter and the resurrection are more important than Christmas. Christmas facilitates Easter. As at Christmas we are likely to have some irregular church goers in the congregation on Easter Sunday morning, and this was a special opportunity to witness. Some thought that All Age worship on Easter Sunday made the tackling of these huge spiritual beliefs difficult, while others felt that the children might not have the same hang-ups about the resurrection as the adults. In TV programmes, such as Doctor Who, bringing people back to life is not so unusual.
One of our group found the account of the angels’ appearance to Mary difficult, while others did not have a problem. Angels accompany an act of God, and these two angels are positioned in the same way as the Cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant. Does Mary see the angels because she needs too? Whereas the two disciples do not?
Conveying the message of Easter is an important task, as the resurrection is all about faith not proof. We believe that God created everything, and the more that scientists uncover about the universe the more there is to discover. Neither Quantum physics nor the discovery of dark matter disprove God; they just show how wonderful the universe is and that anything is possible - “Now we see through a glass darkly” as Paul says. This amazing universe and what can God is capable of is the WOW factor of Easter. Some of us felt that over the years God had been dumbed down and was too much like a close friend, not the magnificent God of Isaiah 6. We felt that the marvellous news of Easter was that the God of Isaiah 6 raised Jesus, and through Jesus this God was also our friend and brother. God raised Jesus through a mighty act, and John wants his readers to understand that Jesus is the Christ, Son of God, and that through him a relationship is offered with God as a family member. This is the message we too have to convey!!!
Taking the whole lectionary passage, John 20: 1 – 18, and briefly looking forward to 20: 19 – 29, we saw that John has shown how different people come to faith. Some only need to see and accept the empty tomb, some need to see angels and hear Jesus’ voice calling them, some need to see Jesus, some need to have the conditions they set for belief met. Most blessed are those who can believe without conditions at all.
What would we preach on in John 20: 1 – 18?
1. About coming to belief in different ways, showing how the two disciples and Mary all came to understand the significance of the empty tomb in different ways and at different times.
2. The WOW factor. As God created everything in our universe, then anything is possible and this can inform our lives and sense of hope in many ways.
3. Mary - the first apostle - the resurrection of women! - after centuries of male domination. A point not taken seriously by the early church fathers and only recently (over the last century) being taken notice of by some.
Note from one of the group on the difference between Hebrew and Aramaic.
A Jewish solicitor friend said that Hebrew & Aramaic are not the same although they use the same script. He told me that one of the funeral prayers, the Kadesh, in their prayer book that is used regularly is in Aramaic and he finds it not so easy to read and follow although of course he knows its context. Aramaic was the language used by the ordinary people in Biblical times. I found this interesting and it may explain why John might have specifically mentioned this. After all Mary Magdalene with her background must have been VERY ordinary - rather bottom of the pile perhaps so she would naturally have spoken it.
SC