The Other Marys
John 3:1-17 (I recommend the RSV)
Yesterday, we looked at the life of Mary Magdalene, the leader of the women who followed Jesus in his earthly ministry. Today, I would like to lift up the women whom Mary led.
One thing we need to understand is that “Mary” was the most common name for Jewish women. Even today, “Mary” or Maria” are the most popular female names in the world. I married one and I am sure you may know a number of Marys as well. On the surface this may seem like an episode the Newhart TV show…“This is my sister, Mary, and my other sister, Mary!” But the Marys I am thinking of would have been a formidable group of ladies. And to make things a little easier to follow, I’ll give each of them a kind of nickname.
“The Marys” to whom I am referring would be Mary, the Mother of Jesus (Nickname - Mary MOG); Mary, the wife of Clopas (Nickname - Mary C); Mary, the Mother of James and John and married to Zebedee (Nickname - Mary Z); and Mary of Bethany, sister to Martha and Lazarus (Nickname - Mary B). Can you imagine sitting down to lunch with these wonderful ladies?
At the point that Jesus’ ministry would have brought these women together, Mary MOG, would have been the eldest, most likely in her mid-to-late 40’s. This Mary would have been not only the most respected of the group, but also the most frail simply because of her age. With the exception of the Wedding at Cana, which took place at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, we do not see this Mary MOG until Jesus takes his final trip to Jerusalem. She may have made the trip under the guise of celebrating the Passover, but she also had known how her son’s earthly ministry would end and wanted to be there for it. Remember how Luke records (Luke 2:35) how Simeon, the old man who prophesied at Jesus’ dedication the “…and a sword will pierce your own soul, too.”
Tradition tells us that Mary C, was also the sister of Mary MOG. Clopas, you will remember, was the brother of Joseph of Nazareth, Jesus’ earthly father. This Mary was also the mother of three of Jesus’ disciples; James the Younger, Matthew (or Levi), and Jude Thaddeus (or Lebbeus the Zealot). Also, by her side in all this was her daughter, Salome (not the dancer). Obviously, the family that follows Jesus together, stays together.
Next we have Mary Z, the mother of the disciples James and John, the “Sons of Thunder”. Tradition relays to us that Zebedee was the brother of Mary MOG. Are we beginning to see a pattern here? Five of the disciples of Jesus were his first cousins. More, if you want to count Salome in with them. And even more if you want to include John the Baptist who’s mother, Elizabeth, was a cousin of Mary MOG.
Lastly, we add Mary of Bethany to this mix. The three Marys list above were related by blood. But Mary of Bethany was related by The Blood! The Blood of Christ. John identifies Mary of Bethany as the one who took a pound of precious oil and anointed Jesus’ feet…then wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair. She was chastised by Judas Iscariot for doing so, but Jesus defended her actions by pointing out that this same oil would be used for his burial. Martha and Lazarus obviously were important parts of Jesus’ circle of followers, but it was Mary of Bethany who stuck with Jesus through thick and thin.
These four Marys would have been wonderful enough, but I would also like to draw your attention to Mary, the mother of John Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark, as an auxiliary member of “The Other Marys”. Neither is mentioned by name in the Gospels, but early traditions identify this Mary and her family as the providers of both the donkey that Jesus rode into Jerusalem and the “Upper Room” in which Jesus celebrated his “Last Supper” and as what we might call “underground” disciples of Jesus in Jerusalem. I would also suggest that as secret followers of Jesus, they may have also provided a “Safe House” for Jesus in Jerusalem before his Passion and for the Eleven afterwards.
What did these Marys do? Scripture tells us that they provided for the financial needs of Jesus and his disciples, but they must have done so much more. They would have also supported each other. They also would have interacted with any women who may have come to Jesus in order to follow his teachings. It would not have been easy or acceptable (in “polite society”) for them to travel with a group of men. Each of them had their own burdens to bear. You might even consider them to be the first chapter of United Jewish Women! Their contributions were essential but offered humbly. We can also assume that their important ministries continued for some time during the early days of the Church. We know this because the Bible simply mentions their names, usually without explanation. That means that their stories would have been known via the oral traditions that circulated amongst the earliest followers of Christ.
It is unfortunate that the back stories of the Jerusalem Cadre of Jesus were probably lost with the destruction of Jerusalem and Judea by the Roman general Titus and his armies in the summer of 70 AD. In their effort to extinguish the Jews, the Romans also crushed the early Jerusalem Christians who, at the time, were still considered Jews. The Jews lost the Temple as well as the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the desert Essenes. The Christians lost their local leaders and whatever writings or records they may have had.
My prayers for you all, my sisters and brothers in Christ, is that we honor and support the ministries of the women in our midst. The women of the New Testament as well as the Old are preserved in both scripture and tradition because they were valued as integral participants in the ministry of Christ and the formation of His Church. Their contributions are often discounted but they should never be, for these women were among the first to “get” what Jesus was all about. And they “got it” long before many of the men in Jesus’ circle. Maybe that is why we always refer to The Church in the feminine…as the “Bride of Christ.”
Blessings and Joy,
Jim McGrath
