Were Jesus & Mary Magdalene really married? (II of VII)

or “Is the premise of The DaVinci Code really true?”

Gospel of Mary

Again, I recommend you read several translations of the original, as this also is a much-debated text. For now, this is the beginning of Chapter 5 of the Gospel of Mary, and Jesus has just “departed”:

[1] But they [the disciples] were grieved. They wept greatly, saying, How shall we go to the Gentiles and preach the gospel of the Kingdom of the Son of Man? If they did not spare Him, how will they spare us?

[2] Then Mary stood up, greeted them all, and said to her brethren, Do not weep and do not grieve nor be irresolute, for His grace will be entirely with you and will protect you. [3] But rather, let us praise His greatness, for He has prepared us and made us into Men.

[4] When Mary said this, she turned their hearts to the Good, and they began to discuss the words of the Savior. [5] Peter said to Mary, Sister we know that the Savior loved you more than the rest of woman. [6] Tell us the words of the Savior which you remember which you know, but we do not, nor have we heard them.

[7] Mary answered and said, What is hidden from you I will proclaim to you. [8] And she began to speak to them these words: I, she said, I saw the Lord in a vision and I said to Him, Lord I saw you today in a vision. He answered and said to me, …

Remember the phrase, “made us into Men,” for later. Also note a couple of interesting things:

• It is Mary Magdalene who rallies the disciples from despair,
• Jesus is referred to as the “Son of Man,” not the “Son of God” as he is in later texts, and
• Peter acknowledges Mary is favored by Jesus, having been taught special things by him which have been withheld from the other apostles.

Pistis Sophia

Next we have the Pistis Sophia, a rather confusing and repetitive Gnostic mystery text. In it Jesus is referred to as the “First Mystery,” as having already risen from the dead, and as spending the next eleven years (post-resurrection) occupied in teaching his disciples about the “Mysteries.”

He is definitely more divine than human in this rendition, being repeatedly referred to as “the Light,” and repeatedly mentioning leaving his “garment” (his carnal body?) behind.

In the portions of the writings which still remain, Jesus appears to be encouraging the disciples to speak interpretations of the mysteries. I’m not sure, but it sounds much like the classic “speaking in tongues,” where you open your mouth in faith, and the holy spirit (Sophia/Wisdom?) speaks insight in a foreign tongue, through you.

Here’s an example from Chapter 17:

Now when [Jesus] had said these things to his disciples, he said to them: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Now it happened when Mariam heard these words as the Saviour was saying them, she stared for one hour into the air and said: “My Lord, command me that I speak openly.”

Jesus, the compassionate, answered and said to Mariam: “Mariam, thou blessed one, whom I will complete in all the mysteries of the height, speak openly, thou art she whose heart is more directed to the Kingdom of Heaven than all thy brothers.”

Notice Jesus promises to “complete” Mary, and compliments her by mentioning her spiritual enlightenment in comparison to the other disciples. Later in this text Mary is also referred to by Jesus as “Mariam,” “the blessed one,” and “Maria the beautiful in her speech.”

Here’s a particularly effusive description of her from Chapter 19, which is another indication (as in the Gospel of Mary) of her unique relationship with Jesus:

Now it happened when Maria finished saying these words, [Jesus] said: “Excellent, Maria. Thou art blessed beyond all women upon earth, because thou shalt be the pleroma [fullness, abundance] of all Pleromas and the completion of all completions.”

Jesus states quite bluntly at one point that of all his disciples, those who most clearly understand his teachings are Mary Magdalene and “John the Virgin.” I don’t know who this John is, though I’m guessing it’s the John we know as the Apostle, not John the Baptist.

Also, remember the comment from the Gospel of Mary about Jesus making Men out of them all? There’s an interesting tendency in the Pistis Sophia for the various disciples, as they speak, to refer to “my man of light” as aiding them in their revelations on the teachings Jesus is sharing with them.

Initially I wondered if they were referring to Jesus himself, but I would guess not, for the simple reason they constantly refer to him as Lord, Savior, Rabbi — as external to themselves, and with the titles apparently capitalized. The phrase “my man of light,” though, is used possessively and individually.

I mention this specifically because of the third example we have of Jesus and Mary’s special relationship, which is the Gospel of Thomas.