Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. (John 11:25-26)
A little over a month ago, I attended the memorial service for my cousin’s 8-year-old daughter. She was tragically hit by a car while attempting to get on her school bus. During the heart-wrenching service, her mother bravely spoke, and her words were Spirit-filled and awe-inspiring. She said, “My strength is from Jesus and His promises to me that I’m going to see my baby again. I can live with that and it’s enough. His promises are enough.” Her faith and love for Jesus remind me of Mary Magdalene, Jesus’ faithful disciple.
Mary Magdalene is mentioned by name by all four Gospel authors a total of twelve times in the New Testament. Eleven of those mentions are the accounts of her witnessing the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The one time she’s referenced elsewhere, we learn the only biographical tidbits Scripture provides: she had been delivered from seven demons by Jesus and, along with some other women, she traveled with Jesus and the disciples from one city to another as they proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God, and she contributed financially to its support. (Luke 8:1–3).
She wasn’t from a family with the surname Magdalene; she was from the village of Magdala. She was called “Magdalene” in order to distinguish her from the other women named Mary in the New Testament, including Mary of Bethany and Mary, the mother of Jesus.
The tiny village of Magdala was located on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was known for its fishing industry, but some scholars believe it also had a reputation for prostitution. Mary did have a troubled past, though we are never told that she was a prostitute or anything that would justify the common association of her name with sins of immorality. But Mary was indeed a woman whom Jesus had freed from demonic bondage.
The symptoms of demonic possession in the New Testament varied. Often demonic possession caused physical ailments such as blindness (Matthew 12:22), deafness (Mark 9:25), muteness (Matthew 9:32–33), seizures (Mark 1:26; Luke 9:38–40), and general sickness (Luke 13:11–13). In some cases, it caused the individual to do evil, Judas being the main example. In every case, demon possession is portrayed as an affliction, not a sin. Such as Mary Magdalene, tormented with seven demons. I imagine she must have felt like a hopeless prisoner living isolated in the dark. How and when she was delivered is never spelled out for us, but Jesus set her free, and she was free indeed. Having been set free from demons and from sin, she became a slave of righteousness (Romans 6:18).
She was profoundly grateful and demonstrated the new life she had found in Jesus by her faithful service to Him. She was one of the women who “followed him and took care of him” (Mark 15:41). When Jesus hung on the cross, she did not abandon Him, but instead stood there watching with other women as her Lord gave His life (John 19:25). She and Mary, mother of James the Lesser, secretly followed Joseph of Arimathea to the tomb and “were looking on to see where He was laid” (Mark 15:47). Her devotion was never more evident than in her response to His death, and desire to give him a proper burial.
She had watched as His lifeless body was wrapped in linen and left alone in the tomb. She thought she was going to the tomb for one final expression of love to her Master—to whom she knew she owed everything.
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb.... But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” (John 20:1–3,11–13)
She was so distraught with sadness and the new grief of thinking someone had stolen His body that she overlooked the empty grave clothes and did not hear the angel's triumphant news that He had risen from the dead (Matthew 28:7). There seemed to be no thought of resurrection in Mary Magdalene’s mind or the disciples despite Jesus’ clear foretelling in the Gospels that He would be raised to life on the third day.
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." (Matthew 16:21)
"The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life."
(Matthew 17:22-23)
"They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!" (Matthew 20:18-19)
Just like Mary Magdalene and the disciples, we can quickly forget His promises in the midst of overwhelming circumstances and grief. They had seen Jesus raise people from the dead, but the idea of Jesus' resurrection wasn't yet part of their understanding and they were overwhelmed by the thought of Jesus leaving them.
Mary turned away from the tomb and saw Jesus standing there. But she didn’t recognize him. Jesus spoke to her, “Woman, why do you weep? Who are you looking for?”
She, thinking that he was the gardener, said, “Sir, if you took him, tell me where you put him so I can care for him.”
Jesus said, “Mary.”
Turning to face him, she said in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” meaning “Teacher!”
Mary’s grief instantly turned to joy, and she embraced Him as if she would never let Him go. Jesus’ words, “Stop clinging to Me” (John 20:17), is a testament to the extraordinary character of Mary Magdalene. He needed her to understand that He had a mission - to return to his Father – and she had a mission as well.
“Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.” (John 20:17-18)
Jesus called her by her name and she was chosen to be the first person to see and hear the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. He entrusted her with telling the disciples about His impending ascension to the Father. A woman with a troubled past would be the last person anyone would have expected to be chosen for this first. But Jesus said that, in the kingdom of Heaven, “the last will be first” (Matthew 20:16).
What was true of Mary Magdalene is true for each of us: we all need the presence of Jesus. He sees us, He speaks to us through the Word, and He calls us to faith (John 20:29-31). As I left the memorial service that night, I knew that in the midst of a mother’s overwhelming grief, she had pursued Him as relentlessly as Mary did and He reminded her of His promises that He foretold and fulfilled. Let us give thanks to God who sent His Son to die for us, and raised Him on the third day so that we, too, might live with Him in eternal resurrection. We should put our faith and our hope in this God, the God who “raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens” (Ephesians 2:6).