Show Notes
“The mere idea of you, the longing here for you. You'll never know how slow the moments go till I'm near to you. I see your face in every flower, your eyes in stars above. It's just the thought of you, the very thought of you, my love.” My wife and I have spent a lot of time on romantic vacations listening to those words sung by Billie Holiday or Nat King Cole.
If you were a first century Greek philosopher on a romantic vacation, you might sing, “The very thought of you, the mere logos of you... and foolish though it may seem, to me, that’s everything.”
The Greek word, “logos,” is normally translated into English as the word, “Word.” “In the beginning was the Word [logos: thought, idea, meaning, logic] and the Word was with God and the Word was God... All things were made through him. That which has been made is life in him... The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” That’s how John begins his Gospel in Chapter one. In Chapter nineteen, the Word in flesh hangs on a tree in a garden on the Holy Mountain.
A beast from the sea (that looks like Rome) in league with a beast from the land (that looks like Israel) nailed Him to this tree because Jerusalem who had just recently chanted “hosanna” was now chanting “crucify, crucify.” Just as the prophets foretold, Jerusalem was, in fact, a whore.
According to Irenaeus around 150 A.D., John wrote his gospel after returning from Patmos where he had received the Revelation. The Revelation is The Gospel According to Jesus, and you can see it all over the Gospel According to John. The Revelation is a call to conquer, and no one can conquer except a slaughtered lamb and those with him. “To Conquer” is the Greek verb “nikao.” It’s where we get names like Nick or Nicodemus, which means “conqueror.”
In Revelation 10:6-7, we read that “Chronos (time) will be no more. And in the days of the seventh trumpet call, the mystery of God will be fulfilled.” Then we see a woman give birth and a dragon who hates the baby. The Baby is caught up to God and His throne (which might very well be in you) and the dragon battles the little brothers and sisters of the Baby. It calls up a “beast from the sea” and a “beast from the land.” And there is a “Great Harlot” who rides the beast (She’s Babylon, Rome, and Jerusalem). A voice from heaven cries, “Come out of her, my people.” Then the Word of God, who is the Lamb riding a white horse, conquers them, cuts the flesh from all people, and the New Jerusalem descends from heaven on the very spot that the Word is now hanging on this tree in this garden — The New Jerusalem is a temple, a bride, and the body of the Lamb — the “last Adam.”
John 19:24, “So the soldiers did these things, but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene... When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished [tetelestai],’ and he bowed his head and gave up the spirit.”
Does it ever feel to you like... God is dead?
Maybe a loved one died, a marriage died, a ministry died. Jesus said, “I am the light,” but now everything seems so dark. He’s the logic (logos) of Love, but now you wonder if Love is nothing more than an idea or thought in your head. You wonder if God is dead.
The Good and the Life is hanging on that tree... and He’s dead. What are Mary, Mary, Mary, and John thinking? And why — at great risk to themselves — are they still standing there? He’s dead.
Have you noticed how all the women in the Gospel of John are either unnamed or named “Mary” except for Martha, the sister of Mary of Bethany? There’s Mary the mother, Mary the wife (bride) of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. John seems to be implying that all these women are one woman, and we are that woman. . . Mary.
Some associate Mary Magdelene with Mary of Bethany who anointed Jesus just a few days earlier. Many associate her with the “sinful woman” (most likely a prostitute) in Luke 7 who anointed Jesus with perfume and tears. She “loved much,
More from The Sanctuary Downtown / Relentless Love
Sometime around 1968, I learned about germs in school. They can be found in dirt and most of all, in the very pinnacle of depravity: poop. So, I began to wash my hands... a lot. I washed and washed, but I am a producer of human excreta, and so is everyone I know. So, it felt as if I was never finished. I was driven to cleanliness and then to the doctor, for my hands were red, raw, cracked and bleeding — open wounds susceptible to germs! I had been better off with no knowledge of “germs” and “not germs.” The doctor looked at my hands and said, “Stop (Shabat in Hebrew)! Stop washing your hands.” They hurt like hell, but it was hard as hell to stop.
John 18:38-40: “Pilate said to [Jesus], ‘What is truth?’ After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, ‘I find no guilt in him. But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?’ They cried out again, ‘Not this man, but Barabbas!’ Now Barabbas was a robber [lestes: a taker].”