|
by
Doug Ward |
In the 1980s sitcom Newhart, three Vermont woodsmen were among the cast
of eccentric characters. Larry, their spokesman, introduced the other two as
"my brother Darryl" and "my other brother Darryl."
I
can't help thinking of the Darryls when I read John 19:25, which says that
those standing near the cross of Christ included "his mother and his
mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene." Since the
mother of Jesus was named Mary, three different Marys are mentioned in this
verse.
The
presence of three Marys together is not as unusual as we might imagine at
first. Available data indicate that the name Mary (Miriam in Hebrew) was held
by nearly a quarter of the women in Judea in the first century AD. There are
reasons this name was so popular. The original Miriam, the sister of Moses, was
a prophet of Israel. Shortly before the time of Jesus, two wives of Herod the
Great bore that name, so it was a name associated with queens and princesses.
The
Bible tells us about additional women named Mary among the first followers of
Jesus. One of them was Mary of Bethany, who anointed Jesus' feet with ointment
about a week before the crucifixion (John 12:1-3). We also know that the mother
of John Mark, author of the Gospel of Mark, was named Mary (Acts 12:12).
Mary
the wife of Clopas is perhaps the least familiar of these Marys. According to
Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History (Book 3, Chapter 11), Clopas was a
brother of Joseph, the husband of Jesus' mother Mary, making Clopas' wife the
sister-in-law of Jesus' mother.
Clopas
and Mary had a son named Symeon who became the leader of the Christians in
Jerusalem after the martyrdom of Jesus' brother James in 62 AD. Symeon held
that position for many years, eventually dying as a martyr himself (Book 3,
Chapter 32).
Since
Mary is identified as "the wife of Clopas" rather than as the mother
of Symeon, she and Clopas were likely known for more than just being Symeon's parents. In his book Gospel Women, scholar
Richard Bauckham points out that in the early church, a number of married
couples worked together to spread the gospel. (Think of Prisca and Aquila as an
example, or Andronicus and Junia-Romans 16). Among
these couples were relatives of Jesus (1 Corinthians 9:5), so Mary and her
husband Clopas may have been such a husband-and-wife team of evangelists.
Each
of the Marys mentioned in the Gospels made a unique contribution to the early
Christian movement, and it is worthwhile to learn what we can about their
lives. The example of Mary the wife of Clopas highlights the substantial role
played by the family of Jesus in the early church.
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