There is a statue so moving it stopped me in my tracks at the Basillica in Orvieto, Italy. It told me immediately that the sculptor understood the relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus as something much more intimate and more serious than anyone credits it for. She was hanging on to him for dear life- like the two were one.
Recall where Mary is annointing Jesus with oil (nard) so expensive Judas goes off the hook protesting essentially - Look at her! That oil is worth x days wages and should have spent on the poor! -because, we are told he is pilfering from the common treasury.
What does Jesus say. - LEAVE HER ALONE! She is annointing my body for burial.
One- how did she know to do that if he didn't tell her.
Two- Recall who actually it was who did annoint his body with oils for burial.
MARY MAGDALENE.
Mary is there before and after with the burial oils. Recall it is Mary Magdalene who came to the tomb with the burial oils.
Who does this to a body absent a professional mortician? The closest family member. His mother wasn't oiling his body for burial. His closest apostle or the one he allegedly loved most wasn't there with the burial oils- the closest relative does this because it is a very intimate process - and Jewish law forbade anyone NOT a relative from even gazing on a dead body. [Open casket viewings are to this day prohibited in jewish funerals for that reason.]
His Wife annointed his body with burial oils.
Recall where Mary is annointing Jesus with oil (nard) so expensive Judas goes off the hook protesting essentially - Look at her! That oil is worth x days wages and should have spent on the poor! -because, we are told he is pilfering from the common treasury.
What does Jesus say. - LEAVE HER ALONE! She is annointing my body for burial.
One- how did she know to do that if he didn't tell her.
Two- Recall who actually it was who did annoint his body with oils for burial.
MARY MAGDALENE.
Mary is there before and after with the burial oils. Recall it is Mary Magdalene who came to the tomb with the burial oils.
Who does this to a body absent a professional mortician? The closest family member. His mother wasn't oiling his body for burial. His closest apostle or the one he allegedly loved most wasn't there with the burial oils- the closest relative does this because it is a very intimate process - and Jewish law forbade anyone NOT a relative from even gazing on a dead body. [Open casket viewings are to this day prohibited in jewish funerals for that reason.]
His Wife annointed his body with burial oils.
"Family members" prepared the body for burial, and annointed with the oils.
"In Mary Magdalene's time, the medicinal properties of spikenard would have been known, including the beneficial effects on skin diseases such as leprosy. (Coincidentally, the anointing in Mark's gospel takes place at the house of 'Simon the leper' - perhaps a sufferer of a skin complaint, but not necessarily leprosy as we know it.) It was also a good treatment for hair and had sedative properties and would have been well known to early Christians in Rome, for whom it is thought Mark's gospel was written.
It is thought that spikenard was associated with both marriage and burial rites. The broken alabastrons sometimes found in graves may have been more an expression of grief than a part of the anointing process. It was not the special anointing oil used by the priests, but it was poured onto Jesus' head in the style of a priestly anointing and Jesus accepted it and the love of the giver in a scene framed by the murderous plots of the chief priests and his betrayal by Judas Iscariot.
The alabastron and the tears, whether symbolic of Mary Magdalene or not, are rich symbols that invite us to look for their deeper meanings - not only in the life of this intriguing woman, but in our own lives as well."
It is thought that spikenard was associated with both marriage and burial rites. The broken alabastrons sometimes found in graves may have been more an expression of grief than a part of the anointing process. It was not the special anointing oil used by the priests, but it was poured onto Jesus' head in the style of a priestly anointing and Jesus accepted it and the love of the giver in a scene framed by the murderous plots of the chief priests and his betrayal by Judas Iscariot.
The alabastron and the tears, whether symbolic of Mary Magdalene or not, are rich symbols that invite us to look for their deeper meanings - not only in the life of this intriguing woman, but in our own lives as well."
No comments:
Post a Comment