Mary Magdalene and Jesus
Mary Magdalene and Jesus
One can hardly walk into a bookstore or library these days without practically tripping over books like "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown; "Holy Blood - Holy Grail" by Michael Baigent - Henry Lincoln - Richard Leigh; "Bloodline Of The Holy Grail" by Sir Laurence Gardner, the world renown genealogist; and a dozen other titles by authors who are interested in either solving or debunking the mystery of Mary Magdalene.
Trying to perceive Jesus and Mary Magdalene through all this literature is like trying to see the world through the famous stained glass windows showing Mary Magdalene giving her heart to Jesus ... a pleasant and loving light is shining in, but you cannot see through to what is really out there.
What little light comes through this literature convinces us of Mary's enlightenment and the resistance she encountered from other disciples. Would it be valuable to know that Mary Magdalene's heart was wide open and she undoubtedly experienced substantial enlightenment just from being present at sessions with Jesus? Possibly.
Would it serve any good purpose to understand that there was great hesitation and reluctance on the part of the Jerusalem brothers of Jesus to recognize her enlightenment. Maybe.
Could it be useful to know that the original reticence regarding Mary apparently grew into downright hostility in the organized Pauline Roman Christian Church as bishops and popes endeavored for centuries afterward to downplay the rapport between Mary and Jesus and wipe out to every degree possible any interest in her true significance? Perhaps.
Much less clear is the conclusion of many modern authors and readers (a conclusion based more on sneaky suspicion than real evidence) that in fact Jesus and Mary Magdalene were husband and wife.
Below are the three most plausible arguments based on Biblical passages which seem to point to the possibility of Mary Magdalene and Jesus being married:
1)The Wedding at Cana
1: And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
2: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
3: And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
4: Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.
5: His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
6: And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
7: Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
8: And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
9: When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
10: And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
(John 2:1-10)
It is argued by modern authors that historically at a Jewish wedding the guests would never give orders. By Hebrew law and courtesy only the groom, the groom's mother, and the governor could give orders. The servants should have ignored any orders from guests. The groom would have been alerted if wine was running low and would instruct the servants. If Jesus' mother were merely a guest, it would have been extremely unlikely for her have heard of the lack of wine before anyone else. If Jesus had been only a guest, then other wedding guests would have considered it a horrible insult for Jesus to break wedding tradition by giving orders.
On the other hand, it is argued, if Jesus were the groom at his own wedding then the passage would make perfect sense according to custom. Throughout this entire Bible chapter the groom is only asked by the governor why he hid the best wine until the end to give it to the guests. Could he be asking Jesus himself?
2)Ancient Jewish Teachers were Married Men
Modern authors claim that throughout the Gospels Jesus is called a teacher or rabbi and yet by historical Hebrew law only married men could be teachers.
Certainly to teach about the Jewish religion, it is thought, Jesus would have had to have been married. It is argued that in the Jewish society of that day, the moment people heard that Jesus wasn't married they would have refused to listen to him.
3) The Visit to the Tomb
1: And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
(Mark 16:1)
Modern authors argue that historical Hebrew law allowed only women family members to anoint a man who has died. They argue that for Mary Magdalene to even attempt to anoint Jesus would be unthinkable under Hebrew law unless she was married to Jesus.
As tempting as these arguments might sound, they are no more solid than a foundation built on the edge of a mudsliding Malibu cliff. The Gospel stories which Church leaders nearly 400 years after the events accepted as Canon (our Bible) were only written down after years and years of passing by word of mouth, and anyone who has taken a modern communications class can tell you how stories get twisted in the telling. Furthermore, the Roman Church had a powerful vested interest in using those stories which had been embellished with pagan tradition in order to more easily sell the Christian religion. There is simply nothing in the Bible or in any ancient literature that can be counted on to provide meaningful hints about Jesus and Mary.
Then once the modern Magdalene literature ventures beyond entertaining the sneaking suspicion of marriage, it quickly degenerates into fanciful flights of fantasy like all wispy conspiracy theories. If the modern Magdalene and Holy Grail authors were to be universally believed it would be the same as conjecture, hunch, imagination, cluelessness, apperception, guesswork, opinion, belief, excogitation, assumption, reflection, and speculation winning the Super Bowl.
Which is not so far-fetched for what critics call the "undiscerning religious mind." But users of his Course like to believe Jesus has taken them beyond gullible religiosity, wouldn't you say?
Users of Jesus' Course are very aware of the ego's mantra: "Under no circumstances are you to be at peace!"
What kind of devices will the ego use to keep one's mind unpeaceful?
You guessed it. Conjecture, hunch, imagination, cluelessness, apperception, guesswork, opinion, belief, excogitation, assumption, reflection, and speculation ... not to mention sneaky suspicion.
At one point in the process of hearing and writing down the Course, Helen Schucman asked Jesus: "Is reincarnation so?" which, as a question with no easily verifiable answer, is the same ego device as asking: "Were you married, Jesus?"
Jesus answers: "Your only question should be, 'Is the concept useful?' And that depends, of course, on what it is used for. Like many other beliefs, it can be bitterly misused. At best such misuse offers preoccupation and perhaps pride in the past. At worst it induces inertia in the present. In between, many kinds of folly are possible. It would not under any circumstances be the problem to be dealt with NOW."
Jesus cuts through Helen's devices and takes her to the bottom line: what is your ego using the concept for?
Would you like to believe Jesus was married? What is your ego using the concept for?
Right here, right now, dealing with what is right before you in the now moment ... does it make a difference whether Jesus was married or not?
Here's a clue. If it would have served a purpose for our spiritual opening, for our experiencing the glory we are being asked to let ourselves experience, Jesus would have told us in his Course who Mary Magdalene was and why she is important to us.
But remember, the Course is a written down version of our own inner voice. Which means if it would serve to open us spiritually and lead us to experience continual out-of-this-world love, peace, and joy ... we would hear inside right now who Mary Magdalene is and why she has meaning.
If a user of the Course listens inside and hears Jesus saying, "No, I was not married," then Jesus would like that to be the end of it.
Anything further is an ego device.
Of course it's possible to imagine Helen Schucman hearing a voice saying, "Please take notes. This is a course in miracles. I am Mary Magdalene speaking." If that had happened, we would have reason to take note.
As it is, in Southern France for 12 centuries, until the Catholic Church finally wiped out the cult of the Magdalene, precisely that could have happened. There literally could have been a French Helen who heard inside, "Take down a course in miracles. This is Mary Magdalene speaking!"
Why would the Course have come from Mary in Southern France in those days and not Jesus? Because almost everyone in Southern France until the 1300s worshipped Mary Magdalene perhaps more than Jesus ... and the Holy Spirit always uses the most efficient means for a particular culture.
In Shiite Iraq today the Course might come through in very un-Christian terminology, and it's author might identify himself as Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, Ali.
When your inner hearing is developed through a great deal of painstaking practice, you will hear the Course in the language most appropriate to your culture and most appropriate to the work you are being asked to do in your culture. Angels paraphrase the old saying when they tell us: "In a Christian culture, you get to be a Christian!"
Yet the Holy Spirit uses everything the ego creates, true or false?
So the Holy Spirit uses all the interest in Mary Magdalene these days and uses Mary Magdalene as a teacher.
Immediately we see Mary Magdalene asking us if we are ever going to tire of finding devices to keep us from right now experiencing the absolutely radiant and overwhelmingly powerful spiritual experience Jesus would have us experience. She is telling us we can have all the earthly kingdoms of conjecture, hunch, imagination, cluelessness, apperception, guesswork, opinion, belief, excogitation, assumption, reflection, and speculation ... and she's confident all along that we will recognize the temptation for what it is, and we will instead choose the miracle.
Choosing the miracle, we are home free. Yet the last vestige of ego looks one last time upon the famous stained glass windows and notices Mary's hands on her heart and Jesus giving from his soul. One final time the seemingly human yields to temptation and looks into the Bible for the teaching of Jesus regarding marriage and reads:
34: And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:
35: But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:
36: Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. (Luke 20:34-36)
Suddenly the world begins to fade away as the mind is boggled by the recognition that just as Jesus was said to expand upon his teachings with Mary Magdalene, so this very passage of the Bible is expanded upon for us by Jesus in A Course in Miracles:
As the joy expands to overwhelming proportions, the last realization we are aware of is that Jesus and Mary Madgalene are one and the same ... and this one is who we are.
Then there is only a universe of light ... and incomprehensible peace.
Join us more often
Course in Miracles eGroups on Yahoo!
than once a month for fun!
If you received this message via email and wish to no longer be on our email list, please reply with the word "remove" and your full name or the nickname you gave us when you originally contacted us.
MIRACLES HEALING CENTER