Page 19 - laten-08-06-2020

Man with a Jar

A Mysterious Community at Lord’s Supper

Luke 22: 9-11, Mark 14: 12-14
Introduction

n this passage we encounter a mysterious character, a jar bearer
Iat the Jerusalem gate, to be encountered by the disciples.

Some scholars believe the arrangements Jesus made for his
last supper, suggest a pre-arranged sign. For example, Howard
Marshall states: ‘As the disciples enter the city, they will be met
by a man carrying a jar of water. This would be an unusual sight,
since men normally carried leather bottles and women carried
jars or pitchers (containing smaller quantities). The instruction
sounds like a reference to a pre-arranged sign.’
Why would a man be apparently acting like a woman and
carrying a water jar in Jerusalem? While updating the situation;
why would a man today be wearing a skirt? A good reason would
be if he was Scottish. Men from Scotland sometimes wear a kind
of skirt called a kilt because this is their traditional clothing. So
was there a group of Jewish men who traditionally did carry
water jars? The answer is ‘yes’. The Essenes were largely celibate,
hence their men necessarily carried both water jars and leather
bottles. Thus, as Bargil Pixner points out, the man carrying a jar
of water must have been an Essene. The Essenes did not only
have a community in Qumran. Josephus tells us that the Essenes
‘occupy no one city, but settle in large numbers in every town’.
Evidence that the Essenes had a community in Jerusalem comes
from several sources, including the Dead Sea Scrolls themselves.
Josephus mentions an Essene teacher lived in Jerusalem.

Essene, ancient Jewish sect. Essene, member of a religious sect
or brotherhood that flourished in Palestine from about the 2nd
century bc to the end of the 1st century ad.

It may seem strange that the Pharisees and Sadducees

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Lenten Meditations Re - Imaging People