Part 14 (1/2)

And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin.

Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.--John xi, 30-45

MARY MAGDALENE.

Of Mary ”called Magdalene” (Luke viii, 2) but few particulars are recorded in scripture. We first hear of her as having been delivered by Jesus of seven devils (Luke viii, 1-3; Mark xvi, 9). Impelled, no doubt, by grat.i.tude for her deliverance, she becomes one of his followers, accompanying him thenceforward in all his wanderings faithfully till his death. She was the first person to whom he appeared after his resurrection (Mark xvi, 9; John xx, 1, 11-18) The common belief that she was a fallen woman is dest.i.tute of the slightest foundation. On the contrary, the references to her as being in the company of such women as Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward, Salome, the mother of James and John, and Mary, the mother of Jesus (Luke viii, 3; Mark xvi, 40; John xix, 25), strongly discountenance such a supposition. The error, which had no other source than ecclesiastical tradition, has been fostered and perpetuated by the stupid blunder of the translators of the authorized version in identifying her with the ”sinner” who is described in Luke vii, 37-50 as was.h.i.+ng the feet of Jesus with her tears (see head-note to Luke vii).

The Roman Catholic notion that this ”sinner” was Mary the sister of Lazarus is almost equally groundless (see Douay Bible, head-note to Matthew xxvi, and the foot-note references to Luke vii, 37, found in most Catholic Bibles). The only reason for this identification is that the anointing by the ”sinner” is described as taking place in the house of a Pharisee named Simon (Luke vii, 36, 39-40 43-44); that the anointing by the unnamed woman, as described in Matthew xxvi, 6-13 and Mark xiv, 3-9, took place in the house of one ”Simon the leper,” in Bethany; and that Mary, the sister of Lazarus, is described in John xi, 2, and xii, 3-8, as anointing Jesus in a house (apparently that of Lazarus himself) in Bethany, when a conversation ensues altogether different from that recorded in Luke vii, but similar to that related in Matthew xxvi, and Mark xiv, save that the objection to the anointing of Jesus is made, not by ”his disciples” (Matthew xxvi, 8), not by ”some that had indignation”

(Mark xiv, 4), but by ”one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son”

(John xii, 4). The demeanor of Mary, the sister of Lazarus, is, however, by no means that of a fallen and sinful though penitent woman but that of a pious and good one (see Luke x, 39, 42; John xi, 28-33; xii, 3).

Dore's ill.u.s.tration, which portrays Mary Magdalene as a heartbroken and despairing sinner, shows that he has fallen into the common error.

THE LAST SUPPER.

Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the pa.s.sover? And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the pa.s.sover at thy house with my disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the pa.s.sover.

Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?

And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.--Matthew xxvi, 17-30.

THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN.

And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples all followed him. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not in temptation.

And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.