2009 AUG Clothesline

Greetings to all on 15 AUG 2009

Word for the Day
Goyim - the Jewish term for Gentiles

Quote for the Day
God can’t clean the house of you when you’re still in it. Anne Lamott, Grace (Eventually) [1]

Website for the Day
None this time.

Thought for the DayThis month I would like to draw a message from the seven women at the resurrection. I’m no numerologist, but the Jews did attach importance to certain numbers, such as seven and twelve.

In a previous article, we presented the significance of the leftovers in the two accounts of feeding the multitudes. As a quick review, the 5000 were Jewish people and twelve baskets (tribes) of leftovers were collected. The feeding of the 4000 occurred in the land of the seven nations (Gentiles) which can also be found in Acts 13.19 and Deuteronomy 7.1-2. Notice that seven baskets were collected in this story, which matches with the “seven nations.” The seven represents the Goyim. I believe that these two stories support the teaching that the gospel is for “you and to your children and to all that are far off,” that is, both Jew and Gentile. [ACT 2.39]

Now let’s consider the women at the resurrection. Sifting through the accounts of the resurrection gives a “variety pack” of names near the end of each gospel. I’ll admit that this is not an exact science due to there being three different Marys and at least one of the women is not named at the resurrection but was almost certainly among them. I put forth for your consideration that just as the twelve baskets represented the Jews and the seven represented the Goyim, that the twelve apostles represented the males and the seven women represented females as equals in the new kingdom.

Let’s take a look at the various accounts:

Matthew lists Mary Magdalene (1) and the “other” Mary (2). [MAT 28.1]I contend that the other Mary is the mother of Jesus and also the mother of James and Joseph. [MAT 27.61]

Mark lists Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Salome (3). [MAR 16.1] I believe that this Mary is the same as Matthew’s “other Mary.”

Luke lists Mary Magdalene, Joanna (4), and Mary the mother of James. [LUK 24.10] Once again, the same Mary.

John lists Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary’s sister (5), Mary the wife of Clopas (6) and Mary Magdalene. [JOH 19.25] This reference is at the crucifixion; John only mentions Mary Magdalene at the resurrection. [JOH 20.1]

Finally, I would include Susanna (7) as one of the other women referenced in Luke 24.10. You can find Susanna and Joanna mentioned in Luke 8.2. Notice the irony that Johanna’s money would have come from her husband who was Herod’s CFO. If you are bothered by the fuzzy math of this endeavor, let me encourage you to read with Eastern eyes, with a little sense of mysticism, rather than with our Western analytical schemata.

Notice that the women are the first at the tomb. The women are present at the crucifixion. The women are the only named financial supporters of Jesus. [LUK 8.1-3] See also Mark 15.41 for corroboration of this position. This also fits with Ray Vander Laan’s assertion that the disciples were teenagers. That is, they had no source of income either.

I believe the inclusion of women in these stories is one of the signposts pointing us toward the full inclusion of women as equal partners with men in this new kingdom. Jesus has cancelled the debt of sin. Both the curse of Adam and of Eve have been removed. Do I believe that men should be the spiritual leaders in the home? I most certainly do and research confirms that when the man abdicates this to the wife, the children will suffer spiritually.

Here’s the irony in the execution of our (male) thinking. We have insisted on male leadership in all the corporate church while at the same time abdicating the spiritual leadership of the home to our wives. Look at your friends and fellow church members; look at yourself. Have we not all been guilty of this? As is often the case, we’ve got it all backwards, or as my Dad used to say “bass-ackward.” May God grant us the time to lift up the next generation and let them stand upon our shoulders as they journey closer to the goal of equality for Jew and Goyim, for slave and free, for male and female. [GAL 3.28]

May God Bless
Mike Toole
Lori Moores, ed.

1. Christianity Today, August 2009, p.51