Page 88 - Disciples News Today

Trying to tackle this problem of jesus being baptized by john, indicating jesus was in a subordinate position which was a problem for the early church. >> for all the attempts by the gospel writers to reconcile johns status with that of jesus, what is certain is that ultimately it is jesus movement that survives and prospers. >> initially, it seems that john is a mentor figure to jesus. after all, hes baptizing jesus in the river jordan and has attracted him there. but afterwards they go their s...

Cant possibly be a prophet or a messianic figure. hed never allow a person like this to touch him. >> to those present, its a shocking provocation. but whats perhaps even more surprising is how jesus responds. >> stop! ♪ >> the disciples are outraged. when jesus rebukes them, he says that, no, forgiveness is accessible to her, too. she brings ointment she uses on his feet and she cries. and then wipes his feet and dries them with her own hair. sort of a symbol of penitence and forgiveness. >> ...

So where do the gentiles fit into this? >> paul doesnt want the gentiles to convert to judaism in order to become christians, to be followers of christ. >> his letters to new christian communities, the epistles, make up a third of the new testament. his teachings show how determined he is to reach out to gentiles. >> jesus sade go and make disciples of all the nations, and that meant not just the jews. >> if i were james and id heard about paul and what paul was doing, i would be hugely frustrat...

>> but judas himself isnt the person that the author in the text is most interested in. >> regardless of whether judas was a good or bad character in this text, what most scholars would agree is that the gospel of judas is not really about the figure of judas. the disciples are the ones being criticized by the author. >> the real shock reveal of the gospel of judas is that none of the disciples are good. thats what really probably should have been the headline. none of the disciples are that gre...

>> jesus was a pretty good judge of character. anyone who jesus had chosen as a disciple must have had something going for him. >> judas was the treasurer of jesus 12 disciples. he was the one jesus trusted with the money. >> jesus saw in judas the kind of man that he wanted to be his follower. we have to assume that theyre friends and that they have this close relationship. >> hes special. he has a key place. and yet somethings going to happen in judas thats going to lead him to fall away from ...

>> the gospel of mary suggests that marys relationship with jesus is resented by peter. >> once marys finished instructing, a full scale argument breaks out between mary and peter. >> did he prefer her to us? >> what do you think? that i made this up in my heart, that i am lying about the savior? >> this is clearly a fight between the disciples for supremacy, for who is going to be the chief disciple and who properly carries on jesus teachings and missions. >> peter might have felt that it was h...

There it is. yeah. there are two moments in the gospel of phillip that really say something interesting about the relationship between jesus and mary magdalene. one is that he, jesus, refers to mary magdalene as his companion or consort. it says explicitly that jesus loved mary magdalene more than the other disciples. >> why do you love her more than all of us? >> why do i not love you as i do her? >> and theres another moment where he kisses her. he used to kiss her -- and then theres this hole...

Relationship between mary magdalene and jesus and the other disciples and thats the last folio which is in folio 51. so can we see that? there it is. beautiful. so when saying 114, we see a little argument, a little dispute, a little scene unfolding. >> the gospel of thomas tells of an angry episode when peter vents his resentment against mary. >> tell mary to leave us because shes a woman and not worthy of life, spiritual life. similar to the jewish tradition that women arent supposed to be tau...

In this way? >> leave her alone! >> jesus has been preaching this message about the poor and ministering to them and giving away your coat. and now all of a sudden hes going to let this woman pour a huge amount of moneys worth of perfume on him. >> this ointment could have been sold for more than 300 dinai and given to the poor. >> sort of one set of rules for the disciples and a different set of rules for jesus. we can see why this event would upset judas. >> this was a big turning point for ju...

That jesus and mary were very close. >> the idea that the gospels would not mention a wife if there was one doesnt make any sense. most likely, mary was a close friend of jesus and a follower, but not his wife. >> what the gospel of phillip clearly says is that there is some kind of a favored relationship between mary magdalene and jesus. that jesus does care for her more than the other disciples. and thats all it really tells us. >> but some scholars believe the nag hammadi texts do reflect a g...