Page 66 - Disciple News Today

When you think of the temple, its a place where theres a lot of activity, a lot of coming and going. no pews. then he would not necessarily have stood out to everybody. >> and his execution might have been equally obscure. >> the romans executed hundreds of thousands of people in the holy land in the 1st century b.c. and a.d., and another person being crucified, its almost part of everyday activity. >> in fact, the jesus story looked to be over even before he died. after all, jesus had been betr...

Shedding more light on how provocative and interesting and insightful that second century was. with all the diversity of thoughts so that even a figure like judas can be linked to the good news of jesus. >> so, too, can mary magdalene. for centuries mistakenly depi depicted as a repentant prostitute, she is the chief gnostic in her novel and more than that to jesus in the gnostic gospel of phillip. >> its said that jesus loved mary magdalene more than the other disciples and used to kill her oft...

And some of them must have read that and said, aha! thats what it was. his birth was a miracle. >> whatever the truth of the bethlehem story, the star of the tale was jesus, not mary, whom the gospels mention just 13 times and not always by name. >> shes in there by virtue of her relationship to jesus, both as his mother and also, as luke portrays her, as a disciple of jesus. but the gospel writers were not interested that much in her story. >> so early christians and later scholars have had to ...

Of judas has been discovered, shedding more light on how provocative and interesting and insightful that 2nd century was, with all the diversity of thoughts so that even a figure like judas can be linked to the good news of jesus. >> so, too, can mary magdalene. for centuries mistakenly depicted as a repentant prostitute, she is the chief apostle in her own gnostic gospel and much more than that to jesus in the gnostic gospel of philip. >> in the gospel of philip, it is said that jesus loved mar...

>> this is my body, which will be given up for you. >> its difficult to know if he actually said these things. our reports are decades later. but i think he certainly had a last supper, and he may well have anticipated that he was going to be killed soon thereafter. >> according to the gospels, thats exactly what happened. betrayed among the olive trees in garden of gethsemane by his own disciple, judas iscariot. throughout christian history, judas has been made the arch villain in jesus death. ...

His mother was impregnated by a god. its what you do, okay? and so, certainly, that emphasis on jesus special birth, the wise men, the angels, all of it, you know, have to do with showing that this is somebody you can expect great things of. and, of course, precisely, thats what happens. >> believers in jesus took that from the prophecy they found in isaiah, where they read the saying, "behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and call his name jesus." and some of them must have read that...

Befell mary of magdalene. not a harlot, scholars say, but a cherished disciple. >> as i think of the historical mary magdalene, i think of a woman who is a very strong woman, who must have been a very vocal kind of person, who could influence people and was very smart, and was able to cut through arguments and to understand jesus as jesus wished to be understood.

>> but first, jesus would fulfill the ritual duties of his religion, and eat the passover seder with his friends, a meal known today as the last supper. >> according to our earliest accounts, he knew that he was in trouble and was likely to be arrested. and so he took the symbolic foods of the passover meal and installed new significance in them. >> it is a communion recreated today in churches everywhere. >> this is my body, which will be given up for you. >> its difficult to know if he actuall...

Anticipated that he would be killed soon there after. >> according to the gospels, thats exactly what happened. betrayed among olive trees in the garden of gethsemane by his own disciple, judas iscariot. what did he betray? >> it is possible that jesus taught the disciples privately, when the kingdom comes, you will be the rulers and i of course will be the king of this coming kingdom. if thats what he was teaching them, then everything else falls in place. what judas betrays to the authorities ...

And so, i would say that she was a working girl. >> while the virgin marys home town of nazareth has become a shrine to her memory, mary magdalenes home is a neglected ruin. >> theres not much of magdala left. in fact, theres hardly anything left. there are the ruins of a sixth century byzantine monastery built there six centuries after mary magdalenes time. and theyre very beautiful ruins. theyre closed to the public. >> the magdalenes reputation is all the more surprising, given what the gospe...