A Mystery — Mary Magdalene

Why was Mary chosen to see Jesus outside his empty tomb? Three women named Mary had watched him die on Friday. But this Mary — she alone was the first person to see him alive on Sunday!

Mary Magdalene was from a town several miles from Jerusalem. She is identified by name in the gospels fourteen times. Her association with Christ began after she was saved. The Bible is silent about her prior life.

The Davinci Code insinuates that Mary Magdalene became the wife of Jesus. There is no valid evidence of that at all. Jesus was unmarried and had no children. He knew his life would be cut short so he chose not to have his own family. He did have half-brothers and half-sisters. They were born to Mary and Joseph after Jesus. There are many scriptures about his siblings: Matthew 13:5356, Mark 3:31-34, Luke 8:19- 21, John 7:3-13. Today Jesus’ family is huge — everyone everywhere who is born of the Spirit!

Mary Magdalene became a devoted follower of Jesus (Luke 8:1-3). She and other women are listed among his supporters and part of his team. The respect Jesus had for women ran contrary to Judaism. Pharisees treated women like slaves or property. The kingdom that Jesus preached and demonstrated was creating a counter-culture of honor. This is seen in the community of his ministry team. That core of people was a small church being formed of both men and women disciples. Women sat at Jesus’ feet to learn and were included in the 120 in the Upper Room at Pentecost. In this, Jesus was radical. Prejudice against women was out of character for Jesus then. It still is now.

Mary Magdalene is famous among Christians for two things: her deliverance from seven demons and for being the first eyewitness of Jesus’ resurrection. Concerning her deliverance, her torment by evil spirits came to an end on the day Jesus set her free by expelling the demons from her. Mary was privileged to see the risen Savior first. In Judaism, women were not allowed to testify as eyewitnesses. As you study the parallel passages in the gospels, it seems that Jesus timed his appearance so that his male apostles, all of whom had been cowering behind closed doors for fear of the Jews, were sidestepped so that Mary – a woman with no ticket to fame except the devil had tormented her and now she loved Jesus – was chosen to be his first eyewitness. Why did Christ choose her? A key to this mystery, I think, is the tears she wept beside the tomb. She loved much and for that Christ cherished her.

Jesus’ resurrection is celebrated by the whole church all around the world. He changed history. His resurrection split the world’s calendar into BC or AD. This is a fact. This holy day is rightly “Resurrection Day.” By the way, the early church called Sundays “The Lord’s Day” in honor of His resurrection. We are fortunate. With the Jewish Sabbath on Saturday and Christian gatherings on Sunday, humanity gets a bonus — weekends!