Sunday, March 27, 2005
"Don't cling to me as if you're going to lose me again..." Doesn't that translation of Jesus' curious "noli me tangere" comment make much more sense than the quasi-Gnostic ("Don't defile me with your corrupt human flesh!") or misogynistic ("Ooooh...girl germs!") spins sometimes given to the text in John's Gospel? I think so. And...by the way...isn't this an awesome William Morris stained glass window?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
I love the shovel. That's really getting into the role.
;-)
Being someone who likes to play in the dirt, I thought that was a great touch too.
When I preached this text last Easter, I believe I suggested that he was encouraging Mary not to hold onto the past, but to get out there and spread the Good News.
But I like the "girl germs" reading, too. ;-)
Y...I preached about it on Sunday evening and said that Jesus was pointing out that things HAD changed..the resurrection didn't put the clock back as if death had not happened, but opened the way to a new and transformed life.
Thanks for the poem, too...I'd read it years ago and lost track of it :-)
I'd like to think Jesus' saying to Mary means "wait, my new resurrected body isn't quite ready to be touched yet--needs a bit more firming up" (his disciples do touch him later).
Or, since he adds "I haven't yet asecended to the Father" maybe it means he'll be around for awhile, she'll have plenty of time later to hug him, but right now she has a job to do--i.e. tell the others.
Or--Jesus is saying to Mary, "don't keep me all to yourself, spread the news"...Christ's life-giving spirit is only "activated" when we share it (I'd say you're doing a beautiful job of that!)
Post a Comment