Today was a masterclass in gospel harmonization. It isn't always pretty. The story takes place in the house of Simon the Leper, in Bethany. You can find the narrative in Matthew 26:8-13, Mark 14:4-9 and John 12:4-11.

The stories don't overlay perfectly. Imagine yourself in a courtroom and you're hearing from three witnesses - we'll call them Matthew, Luke and John. You here three different testimonies covering the same event but each from that person vantagepoint. Your job is to harmonize those three testimonies. They witnesses have all sworn to tell the truth so you can't just discard something that doesn't fit.

We urge everyone to read the gospels like this. Very likely, your Bible will indicate the corresponding text in the other gospels. Don't just skip over that, go and read them. When you do this correctly with the gosels, you start to develop a three dimensional movie from the 2 dimensional images. A deeper, richer story emerges.

And finally getting to the story, once the full movie appears, questions naturally emerge with it. That is where Rabbit Holes begin! We flushed out two rabbits today: Judas and Mary. I've never heard any pastor consider the juxtaposition of these two characters but there it is and it couldn't be presented with any more clarity. This is the first time we actually witness Judas in visible opposition to Jesus. It is not obvious, but it becomes very clear when you harmonize these texts.

Notes for Accusing Mary

Episode Link: https://www.rabbitholesandmeditations.com/accusing-mary/