A Sermon by the Reverend Ellen Rowse Spero
First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church,
Chelmsford, Massachusetts
January 22, 2006
Ancient Reading: from the Gospel of Mary, Chapter 6
Modern Reading: "Now I Become Myself" by May Sarton
Copyright 2006, Ellen Rowse Spero. All rights reserved.
Given the emphasis on the twelve male apostles, the tradition for many years (and still in some Christian traditions) of allowing only men to serve as ordained clergy, and that until the last fifty years, the scholars, commentators and authorities on the Bible and Christianity have all been male, one would get the impression that Jesus ministered to, commissioned, and taught only men. Jesus, however, more than his other spiritual counterparts like Moses, Mohammed, the Buddha, and Lao-Tze, was surrounded by women. They played significant roles, as disciples, as crucial witnesses to Jesus’ teachings, and to his crucifixion and resurrection. After his death, early Christians struggled to interpret the life, ministry, and story of Jesus, to define itself as a community, and to set itself apart as something new, women also were very present and involved. The letters of Paul and the other disciples are full of references to women who served as missionaries and deacons: Priscilla, Lydia, Tabitha, Apphia, Claudia, Anna, and Phoebe. Biblical scholar Esther de Boer argues that research of inscriptions and documentary papyri supports that "…women were apostles, prophets and teachers of theology, consecrated widows, deacons, stewards, priests, and bishops…(and)…that female leadership continued until the tenth century." (Esther de Boer, in The Gospel of Mary, edited by Marvin Meyer, p. 77).
There is much truth to the saying that the victors get to write the history, political, theological or otherwise. They also get to interpret it. We lose the voices and perspectives of those who are on the margins because they are dismissed as not important to the story. This has been true for many groups in the Bible, especially women. But in the last fifty years and the advent of Liberation Theology, the reading of the Bible from the perspective of those on the margins, those whose voices have been stifled and ignored as not of any value has opened up the way the Bible is read and interpreted. And reading it from these perspectives, listening for the voices between the lines as well as those who get to speak the lines, can shift how we in turn see things. Suddenly, we hear and see and feel and understand things we missed before. For example, it is true that Paul did say women should obey their husbands and keep quiet in church. And yet, at the same time, his letters and greetings include Priscilla, Lydia, Tabitha, Apphia, Claudia, Anna, and Phoebe. It is obvious that women were active participants in the early Church. In fact, many of the most devoted disciples were widows with means who opened up their homes for the early church houses, provided the financial support, as well as participating in the missionary and ministerial work of these new, fragile congregations. Women were not silent. So, which was it? Well, both are true, revealing one of many conflicts in this new and struggling community. That the women are still in the story, despite assertions that women had to be silent and obedient, shows that their presence was powerful enough that it could not be erased, only diminished and pushed to the margins.
Of all the women who surrounded Jesus, the most constant presence was that of Mary Magdalene. Her surname, Magdala, means "Of Magdala" or Migdal", her city of origin. But it also means "Tower of Strength." It is an appropriate title for she needed to be. She is in all the gospels, those in the New Testament and those in the non-canonical books found in the discovery of ancient Christian writings in a cave at Nag Hammadi, Egypt: The Gospel of Thomas", "The Dialogue of the Savior", "The Psistis Sophia", "The Gospel of James" and, of course, "The Gospel of Mary." That said, the Gospel writers are very tight-lipped about Mary: who she was, her relationship to Jesus and to the other apostles, male and female, and why she became a disciple. Karen King, a professor at the Harvard Divinity School, writes about what little we can probably know:
"The earliest Christian literature, including the gospels came to reside in the New Testament, portrays Mary of Magdala as a prominent Jewish disciple of Jesus of Nazareth. Her epithet ’Magdalene’ probably indicates that she came from the town of Magdala (Migdal) located on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee…Along with many other women, she accompanied Jesus throughout his ministry. She was present at his crucifixion and burial, and was witness to the empty tomb…Early Christian Gospel traditions generally accord Mary of Magdala a prominent position among the followers of Jesus, especially the women followers, as it attested by the frequent practice of placing Mary’s name first in the lists of women who followed Jesus. She is on the main speakers in several first and second-century texts recording dialogues of Jesus with his disciples after the resurrection. Indeed, she is portrayed as the first or among the first privileged to see and speak with the Risen Lord. In the Gospel of John, the risen Jesus gives her special teaching and commissions her to announce the good news of the resurrection to the other disciples. She obeys and is the first to proclaim the resurrection. Although she is never specifically called an apostle, she fills the role and later tradition will herald her as ’the apostle to the apostles.’ The strength of this literary tradition, attested as it is in multiple independent witnesses, makes it possible to suggest that historically Mary may have been a prophetic visionary and leader within some sector of the early Christian movement after the death of Jesus. This much may be said of Mary of Magdala with a high degree of historical probability. (pp. 141-42).
The danger and the opportunity of Mary of Magdala’s constant yet undefined presence is that it invites people to fill in the gaps, either to tame her or to bring her out more fully. From the fourth century until now, the purpose has mainly been to tame Mary of Magdala, to make her fit the subservient role that the Church Fathers felt appropriate. She presented them with a real conundrum. As King comments, "Despite their respect for her as a witness to the resurrection, the early church fathers seem to have had three problems with the gospel stories of Mary Magdalene, specially with the resurrection appearance in the Gospel of John:
Jesus’ command not to touch him could be considered proof that his resurrection was not physical.
Since Mary was alone when she saw the Lord, her testimony could be questioned.
The fact that Jesus appeared to her first, give her private teachings, and sent her to instruct the other disciples seemed to elevate her status above the other disciples and give a woman authority to teach the male apostles." (pp. 149-50).
Why were these problems to this new faith? Even in the non-canonical Gospels, like the "Gospel of Mary", where Mary’s leadership and apostlehood are affirmed, there are challenges to her authority on the basis of her gender. That this woman, that any woman, had a prophetic voice and authority over religious teaching was a radical notion, even to those who followed Jesus. It is important to understand that Christianity did not arise fully formed during Jesus life or even after his death. The Gospels in the New Testament and those discovered at Nag Hammadi were written much later, some a century later or more, after Jesus’ death. The authors had never met Jesus or heard his preaching. They wrote their gospels with specific audiences in mind, and with specific agendas as well. Reading those that are in the New Testament and those that were left out gives insight into the issues that were being debated: was this new faith to be more Jewish or Greek in thought and practice? What was the real nature of Jesus? His message? His ministry? His resurrection? What was the purpose of his life, his death, and his resurrection? And who had the authority to speak? Who was an apostle and who was not?
Gender was an issue because Mary was such a constant presence, because Jesus included women, because women were so active in the early Christian communities in a world where women were firmly and traditionally held to inferior to men. In Judaism and in even more so in the Greek thought and philosophy that shaped early Christianity, women were believed to be clearly incapable of the spiritual leadership and understanding that Mary’s constant presence would suggest. An exchange in the "Gospel of Mary" demonstrates this:
"After Mary had said these things, she was silent, since it was up to this point that the Savior had spoken to her. Andrew responded, addressing the brothers and sisters, ’Say what you will about the things she has said, but I do not believe that the S[a]vior said these things, f[or] indeed these teachings are strange ideas.’ Peter responded, bringing up similar concerns. He questioned them about the Savior: ’Did he then speak to a woman in private without our knowing about it? Are we to turn around and listen to her? Did he choose her over us?"’" (Chapters 9 and 10). The Church Fathers’ answer to Peter’s questions was obviously "no" which is probably why, in part, this particular Gospel didn’t make it in to the Canon.
After the fluidity and struggles of the first two centuries of this new faith, the Church Fathers to set to work choosing the orthodox interpretations of Christianity. When it came to Mary of Magdala, two portraits emerged, if she was acknowledged at all. The first was as a faithful follower but one who needed the support of the male apostles to understand the visions she had seen. The second, which came about as Christianity moved from underground to Constantine’s state religion, was of the repentant prostitute. Theologians conflated all the unnamed fallen and unclean women mentioned in the Gospels into Mary Magdalene. This is the Mary we are presented from the fourth century writings of the Church Fathers to "Jesus Christ, Superstar". Even in the novel, The DaVinci Code, Mary is portrayed as Jesus’ lover. As King observes, the image of Mary as the repentant prostitute provides a bridge between the other two Christian models of femininity: that of the temptress Eve, "…whose sin brought all of humanity under judgment of death and all women into subjugation and obedience, and Mary, the virgin mother whose impossible sexuality both idealizes and frustrates the desires of real women. Together they have form the three-legged base upon which normative Christian models of female identity are balanced." (p. 149.)
While there is little we can be certain of when it comes to the historical Mary of Magdala, Karen King emphasizes that the Gospels never name her or portray her as a prostitute. Furthermore, if Mary was a follower of Jesus the way she was portrayed in the Gospels and other early Christian writings, she was a woman of financial and social independence. Thus, she was more likely to be an older widow than a young beauty. Her relationship with Jesus, and with the other apostles was that of an equal, a woman of spiritual strength and discernment.
Mary indeed lives up to her name, a Tower of Strength. She has survived 1,500 years of attempts to marginalize and even erase her from the story. She matters because she is a source of prophetic legitimacy and spiritual leadership for women’s voices. Such women are rare, not only in Christianity but in most of the world’s religions. Reading her story, not through the lens of those who need to quiet her, but those who need her voice helps us help her become more herself. This, I believe, is the gift that Jesus taught. For Mary of Magdala, May Sarton’s words have a special resonance, "It’s taken Time, many years and places; I have been dissolved and shaken, Worn other people’s faces…Now there is time and Time is young. O, in this single hour I live All of myself and do not move. I, the pursued, who madly ran, Stand still, stand still, and stop the sun!"
Resources:
Karen L. King. The Gospel of Mary of Magdala. Santa Rosa, CA: Poleridge Press, 2003.
Marvin Meyer with Esther A. De Boer. The Gospels of Mary. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 2004.