Gordon Green, M.Div., M.A. Counseling
Only the Gospels mention Mary Magdalene—and just twelve times. Much of what we have read in articles or seen portrayed in the films is based on conjecture. So what does Scripture actually tells us? Mary Magdalene was a follower of Jesus who witnessed his crucifixion and beheld his resurrected body. In Luke’s Gospel, we learn that Mary Magdalen was delivered from seven demons and was helping fund Jesus’ ministry out of her own means:
…and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means. Luke 8:2-3 ESV
Some scholars contend that she must have had the significant financial wealth to travel freely with Jesus and his disciples and help support his ministry. Regardless, her generosity was a reflection of her gratitude to her Savior for setting her free from demonic oppression. But that does not fully explain why she would leave behind the comfort of her home and family to follow him. The likely explanation would be the same as that of Jesus’ twelve disciples: she encountered the Messiah, and nothing else would matter as much from that day forward. Perhaps this is best depicted in the last hours of Jesus’ pre-resurrected life. As the disfigured Son of God agonized in pain from his cross, Mary drew near to him and refused to leave his side (John 19:25). Then, at the light of dawn after the Sabbath, Mary rushed to her Lord’s tomb to attend to his body—only to discover that he had risen. Indeed, she would be the first to see his glorified, resurrected body, and would become the first gospeler to go and tell the good news:
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her. John 20:15-18 ESV
As Good Friday and Easter are just days away, we remember Mary Magdalene, who out of gratitude for her redemption, and her love for the One who perfectly loved her, proclaimed with heartfelt words of joy: I have seen the [risen] Lord—words that still echo, today. Let the redeemed say, “Amen.”
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