My friend the late Dr. Marcus Borg published a book entitled "Evolution of the Word." This simple volume consists of the New Testament, New Revised Standard Version, with the books in the order written. Traditional Bibles contain books by type and length. Surely this is a first, as the reader can now begin with I Thessalonians (50 C.E.) and read through to the final book, II Peter (120 C.E.) One can see how Christian thought developed and changed, and how stories were altered to accommodate the agendas and concerns of the communities authoring them. Many Christians are unaware that all of Saint Paul's letters were written years before there was a first gospel, that the first gospel did not appear until forty years after the earthly ministry of Jesus, and that the contents of the New Testament were not even finalized until 397 CE.
To illustrate the value of this unique volume, I am sharing how one story travelled through time, the tale in today's gospel reading, John 12: 1-8, the anointing story which all gospels agree took place in Bethany, though they disagree as to when. In Mark, the earliest version of the story, an unknown woman comes to a dinner party at the house of Simon the Leper, bringing costly ointment, and she anoints Jesus' head. In Matthew, the woman uses her hair to apply the perfume to Jesus' head. In Mark the dinner guests criticize the cost of the ointment which could have been sold to help the poor. In Matthew, only the disciples are critics.
When we arrive at Luke's gospel, the venue is a Pharisee's house. The woman with the perfume is a well-known sinner who weeps and anoints, not Jesus' head, but his feet. Jesus tells a story and then forgives her sins, to the dismay of those at table. Finally, in John's gospel the venue is the home of Lazarus, Martha and Mary; and the party is being thrown in Lazarus' honour. His sister Martha is preparing the meal as Mary anoints Jesus' feet with her hair. The question about the cost of the perfume is raised by the mysterious figure Judas (the name means 'the Jew' as he represents all the Jews who didn't convert to Jesus.) When he complains, the reader is told that Judas the betrayer is also an embezzler and would like to convert the money that could be realized from the sale of the perfume.
What do we hear in John's tale? First, the woman is violating several taboos. Women were not permitted to touch a man other than the husband. Women were never to let their hair down in front of anyone but the husband. A woman was not permitted to talk to an unrelated male, especially a rabbi, except indirectly through the husband or, if widowed, male next-of-kin. But Jesus doesn't flinch. He seems to see women as more than the property of men and baby-making machines. In fact, our Lord is treating her as the equal of any man and accepting her incredibly humble ministry. Usually only slaves washed feet. To me that confirms the rightness of the decision of the Episcopal Church to open all offices and all ministries to women, including the office of Presiding Bishop. We have consciously chosen not to be a church of us and them. With Jesus there is only an us. We are beloved brothers and sisters, regardless of our gender, race, nationality, opinions or sexual orientation.
Second, we see in the portrayal of Judas the immense anger of the Johannine community at the failure of mainstream Jews to convert to the Jesus Movement. Some scholars believe that Judas is actually a fictional character made up to symbolize the greed and duplicity that community wanted to impute to all Jews. His name is not even mentioned in the writings of Paul, and he first appears in a text forty years after the death of Jesus. Luke is also anti-Semitic. Consider the Lukan account of Judas in Acts where he is a greedy businessman who spends his betrayal money (thirty pieces of silver, based on Zechariah 11:12) to buy land and then dies of a stroke. That is a very different 'Judas' from the pathetic figure who, in Matthew's gospel, returns the betrayal money, repents, and in his grief commits suicide. We resist all stereotyping and hatred of the Jewish people, as well as prideful supersessionism which asserts that God lies or goes back on God's covenant promises. In fact, we are not to judge anyone. Instead, we must focus on our commission, which is to build the Reign of God. We commit to respect, love, and serve all in that process.
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