Gospel of Mary 6 & 7
Last week in the Gospel of Mary we read about the panic disciples felt when Jesus commissioned them to share good news with the world. They were afraid they would be killed as he had been killed. Mary calmed them by reminding them that Jesus was present with them always and would support and encourage them in this important work. In essence, Mary becomes the leader of this disciples.
In today’s passage, Peter seems to acknowledge that leadership, assuming that Jesus had given Mary special teaching the other disciples hadn’t received and asking her to share that wisdom with them all. We have this introduction to the teachings we’re going to read next week. This introduction helps us put the gospel in second century context.
In the small bit of the Gospel of Mary we have, there are two ways that people “see” Jesus after his death. At the beginning the disciples find themselves in the presence of Jesus who is teaching them the key points of the good news they are to share. He seems to be physically present with them. They can see him and hear him. In this passage Mary reports a vision of Jesus. She hears him as if in a dream, but he isn’t physically present. Both of these appearances seem strange to us. In our time we don’t expect to see visions or resurrection appearances. But they were common in the time this gospel was written. Not only followers of Jesus had these experiences, but messages from Greek and Roman gods were expected among the populace. People were guided in their living by dreams, visions and appearances. Because people expected to receive these messages, they did. Because people today don’t expect visions, we don’t often have them. But we are inspired in other ways. We read or hear scholars or preachers share information about their faith and we receive that as an insight from God. We’ve spent time this year thinking about God’s vision for the world, and we hear that teaching as God’s wisdom for us to follow. The UCC slogan tells us “God is still speaking.” When we believe that, we hear God’s voice guiding us to live in God’s way. If we expect it to be possible to receive guidance from God about best ways to live, we are inspired by those messages.
Jesus praises Mary for being willing to hear what he’s teaching her without fear. Being in the presence of God is calming. It brings inner peace and confidence. In contrast the disciples had been afraid of their mission until they remembered what Jesus had taught them. Aligning our lives with his teaching, remembered or inspired, gives us peace.
Then Mary asks Jesus if visions are seen with the soul or the spirit. That’s a second century question we rarely discuss today. It would have been common at the time the gospel was written. The soul was what we call our spiritual nature today. It’s the connection between our human life experience and the presence of God. Early church leaders and those who followed other religions debated whether the soul was good and holy or whether it was tied to the earthly body. There were a variety of answers. Those who believed body and soul were connected tended to think that both were tainted by sin or earthly mistakes everyone makes over a lifetime.
Those who felt that the soul was separated from the body believed that it was pure and holy. The Gospel of Mary holds that view. It differentiates between the soul and the spirit with the soul being the spiritual part of life we’re aware of and the Spirit being the eternal nature we have set aside to become human and we’ll pick up again when life ends. It’s our eternal self. When we started this journey we learned the slogan, “We are not a human being having a spiritual experience. We are a spiritual being having a human experience.” The priority of the spiritual this gospel calls the child of true humanity. Our essence is spiritual, not physical. The physical is a temporary habitation. The Spirit is eternal. Jesus then tells Mary that her vision is a product of her mind. The mind makes sense of what Jesus teaches her. It’s logical and true. It’s consistent with the values we’ve been focusing on. If we want to know if a vision from God is authentic, we can compare it to Jesus’ teaching. Is it loving? Does it respect each person’s value? Is it kind or generous? Is it hopeful?
In today’s world there are a variety of views about what God wants for humanity. How do we tell which ones are true and which are misguided? We compare the teaching to the words and actions of Jesus. When someone tells us they have been inspired to speak for God, we hold their words up to the standard Jesus taught us. This gospel calls the presence of God “the Good.” The standards which are truly godly are good for everyone. They don’t advantage some over others. They don’t wish ill for anyone. They are words of hope and peace.
Most of us are reluctant to put ourselves ahead of others. The principle of freedom of religion makes us slow to say to another person, “You’re wrong.” Mary gives us a measure to judge whether a vision is true. We use our minds to decide if a teaching reflects what Jesus told us. Does it love our neighbor? Does it share the goodness of life with everyone else? If not, we can reject what is false. Instead we hold up the values of Jesus as our way to live and encourage others to follow those values. We call forth the child of true humanity within us all and form communities which lift up all people to see the Good among us. That is a vision we can trust.