The pseudepigrapha are the books that attempt to imitate Scripture but that were written under false names. The term pseudepigrapha comes from the Greek pseudo, meaning “false,” and epigraphein, meaning “to inscribe,” thus, “to write falsely.”
Three weeks till Easter and we are taking some time out of the “Pew” to just wander around a-bit. These are some little things and locations that get a few words in scripture but have a large impact on the story as a whole. Last week we looked at the stations of the cross in many other writings. It’s also referred to as the Via Dolorosa which marks the path of Jesus’s journey to the cross and the events that occurred during that walk. We do not find this in the Bible, so to speak and the events that took place for the stations of the cross occurred in the New Testament. Another place of interest that will take just a second to mention would be in 35 BC King Herod built a palace on the Temple Mount, it was placed there to protect Temple courts and was located on the north west corner of the Temple Mountain and called the fortress of Antonia and it housed about 600 Roman soldiers. In your Bible, you will find that Paul spoke there at the Antonia Fortress. It was here that Paul gave an address to the people that’s in Acts 22:1 – 21. Now without getting too complicated or confusing it is believed by early Christians that Jesus was taken to the Fortress Antonia for His trial before Pilate. Pilate used the fortress as his home whenever he was in Jerusalem. For your consideration… Do you know the names of the thieves that were crucified that day with Jesus? Their crosses were to the right and left of Christ. One of our favorite sources GotQuestions.org lists Dismas and Gestas as the names sometimes mentioned as the two thieves crucified to the right and left of Jesus. While they are mentioned in the New Testament writings, their names are never given. We must be careful to make it plain that these names do not come from the New Testament writings but another source not included in the New Testament canon. They come from a pseudepigraphal book. Fact is that there were two other men that died that day but we truly do not know their names, at least from a reliable source. I have left the Link in blue above in tact so that if you wish you can check it out for yourself.
As I wrote we are just kinda out of the “Pew” and wandering a bit. One subject that has always interested me was who were there at the cross that morning…we can list a few but to determine a number I believe would be impossible. The simple account of who were there is as follows…At the cross during Jesus’ crucifixion, the Gospel accounts indicate the presence of Jesus’ mother, Mary, Mary Magdalene, Mary the wife of Clopas, some other women, the “disciple whom Jesus loved” traditionally understood to be John , Roman soldiers, and the two criminals crucified alongside Jesus. We have referred to the two criminals crucified alongside Jesus but we sometimes let it slide by about that other group…The Chief Priests, Scribes, and Elders of the Sanhedrin, who at this moment were most likely pleased to see their agenda come to fruition. Mary?…How many Marys are there in the Bible? In the time of Christ Mary was a common Female name. New Testament writings lists six different Marys. I like the fact that I am able to share some little things beyond the word that we just don’t ponder about a lot. The Hebrew name would be Miriam (or Miryam), given to the sister of Moses. Miriam is the sister who watches over her baby brother Moses among the bulrushes on the banks of the Nile. Back to our question about the number of Marys. There is Mary…The Mother of Jesus…Then Mary Magdalene…her name distinguishes her from the other Mary…Luke 8:2 says Jesus had cast seven demons from her…Mary of Bethany… This Mary was the sister of Lazarus and Martha. An interesting insight is in Matthew 26:6-13….I don’t want to confuse anyone, so remember each of these Marys has a distinct place in the closing weeks leading up to the Crucifixion of Jesus…Next on our list would be the one who is sometimes called the “other” Mary. She was one of the women who brought spices for Jesus’ body and met an angel instead… A fifth Mary in the Bible is Mary the mother of John Mark. This Mary’s son is the author of the Gospel of Mark…A sixth Mary in the Bible is mentioned as a member of the church at Rome. She is methioned in Romans 16:6 by Paul in closing one of his letters.
Thanks for coming along with us this week, we almost made this wandering into a journey. One of my main references for this week’s Blog was gotquestions.org . I cannot say enough for how great this web site is. It is simple enough…you got questions about the Bible give them a look-up…you won’t be disappointed.
I thank each of you for joining us each week…God Bless
Life is Good jk
From The Pew 