Page 124 - Disciples News Today

About the gospel accounts, the new testament, is the fact that at the time of the crucifixion, the guys all run away. and that becomes a very interesting matter. it seems to indicate that, in fact, in terms of the rising of faith and the continuation of the movement, women played a primary role, and in particular, mary magdalene. ♪ >> in the gospel of john, mary magdalene is the first person to whom jesus appears after he rises from the dead. >> so theres this poignant moment of epiphany, this...

Jesus as the messiah. so by the end of the 1st century, disagreement had become a deepening divide, further driving christians from the jewish faith. >> by the time we get to john, we hear talk of those who respected jesus being thrown out of the synagogue. yes, and how the enemies in johns gospel are the jews. it left a terrible legacy in christianity. >> if you read your gospel carefully, then sometimes you would stop and be rather perplexed by this, because jesus is a jew, his disciples are j...

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. ...

Expectation. >> and it began with a baptism, as the gospels tell us, performed by the man who tradition and scholarship say was jesus cousin and boyhood friend. john the baptist lived in the wilderness wearing camel skins, eating locusts and wild honey, and baptizing people in the jordan river to cleanse them of their sins. this was a radical new spin on the jewish purification bath. john was turning an ancient ritual into a new sacrament. >> john the baptist. he recognized jesus at the baptism....

>> outside of the women, who remained there watching, the picture we get from the gospels was that most of his followers actually ran away and hid because they were afraid for their own safety. >> that should have been the end of the jesus story, and it might have been if not, the gospels tell us, for the women, namely mary magdalene, and mary, mother of jesus. three days after his death, they discovered his empty tomb. as he promised, jesus had risen from the dead. >> this is the key moment. wh...

Remained there watching, the picture we get from the gospels was that most of his followers actually ran away and hid because they were afraid for their own safety. >> that should have been the end of the jesus story, and it might have been if not, the gospels tell us, for the women, namely mary magdalene, and mary, mother of jesus. three days after his death, they discovered his empty tomb. as he promised, jesus had risen from the dead. >> this is the key moment. what happened in the days after...

So the romans burned the temple to the ground, and titus and his men seized the spoils of war. >> the gold was melted down. the silver was melted down, and these precious metals were actually used in the facing of the coliseum, to adorn the coliseum. as all conquerors do, they took the wealth for themselves. >> the destruction of the temple was devastating and symbolic, further dividing jews and christians. jesus had prophesied the end of the temple. "truly i tell you," he said to his disciples,...

Miracle workers, both pagan as well as jewish. the book of acts has other exorcists who were not part of jesus contingent but they do seem to be successful exorcists. >> we can put him on the continuum buzz he breaks the mold. >> more than miracles, jesus reaches beyond social boundaries to include women prominently among his disciples. one woman who followed jesus has become second only to his mother in his life. yet mary magdalene has not exactly been regarded as a virgin. >> christian traditi...

Returned home, found his first disciples among galilean fishermen. and soon he called attention to himself, by casting out demons, and healing the sick. >> those healings would have attracted greater and greater crowds, and those crowds then would have provided the base for jesus other teachings. was jesus a healer and an exorcist? oh, i think so. quite a good one, in fact. >> a healer, an exorcist and soon, a miracle worker. according to the gospel of john, jesus first big public miracle was at...