Twelve Extraordinary Women, Week 25
Notes
Transcript
DISCIPLESHIP
DISCIPLESHIP
Mary Magdalene joined the close circle of disciples who traveled with Jesus on His long journeys. Her deliverance from demons may have occurred relatively late in Christ’s Galilean ministry. Luke is the only one of the gospel writers who names her in any connection prior to the crucifixion. Notice the context in which she is named:
1 Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him,
2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.
There was certainly nothing inappropriate about Jesus’ practice of allowing women disciples to be His followers. We can be certain that whatever traveling arrangements were made for the group, Jesus’ name and honor (as well as the reputations of all the men and women in the group) were carefully guarded from anything that might hint at any reproach. After all, Jesus’ enemies were looking desperately for reasons to accuse Him. If there had been any way whatsoever for them to drum up doubts about the propriety of Jesus’ relationships with women, that issue would have been raised. But even though His enemies regularly lied about Him and even accused Him of being a glutton and a winebibber (Matt. 11:19), no accusations against Him were ever made on the basis of how He treated the women in His band of disciples. These were godly women who devoted their whole lives to spiritual things. They evidently had no family responsibilities that required them to stay home. If they had been in breach of any such duties, you can be certain that Jesus would not have permitted them to accompany Him. There is never the slightest hint of unseemliness or indiscretion in the way any of them related to Him.
It is true that most rabbis in that culture did not normally allow women to be their disciples. But Christ encouraged men and women alike to take His yoke and learn from Him. This is yet another evidence of how women are honored in Scripture.
Luke said Mary Magdalene and the other women were among many who “provided for Him from their substance” (Luke 8:3 NKJV). Perhaps Mary had inherited financial resources that she used for the support of Jesus and His disciples. The fact that she was able to travel with Jesus in the inner circle of His disciples may be a clue that she was unmarried and otherwise free from any obligation to parents or close family. She might well have been a widow. There is no evidence that she was a very young woman. The fact that her name appears at the head of the list of this band of women seems to indicate that she had a special place of respect among them.
Mary Magdalene remained Jesus’ faithful disciple even when others forsook Him. In fact, she first appeared in Luke’s gospel at a time when opposition to Jesus had grown to the point that He began to teach in parables (Matt. 11:10–11). When others became offended with His sayings, she stayed by His side. When others walked no longer with Him, she remained faithful. She followed Him all the way from Galilee to Jerusalem for that final Passover celebration. She ended up loyally following Him to the cross, and even beyond.
DISASTER
DISASTER
Matthew, Mark, and John all record that Mary Magdalene was present at the crucifixion. Combining all three accounts, it is clear that she stood with Mary, the mother of Jesus, Salome (mother of the apostles James and John), and another, lesser-known Mary (mother of James the Less and Joses).
There’s an interesting progression in the gospel accounts. John, describing the state of affairs near the beginning of the crucifixion, said the women “stood by the cross” (John 19:25 NKJV). They were close enough to hear Him speak to John and Mary when He committed His mother to the beloved disciple’s care (vv. 26–27).
25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
But Matthew and Mark, describing the end of the ordeal, said the women were “looking on from afar” (Matt. 27:55; Mark 15:40 NKJV). As the crucifixion wore on, crowds of taunting miscreants moved in, elbowing the women back. The women probably drew back instinctively, too, as the scene became steadily more and more gruesome. It was as if they could not bear to watch—but they could not bear to leave.
They remained until the bitter end. There was nothing for them to do but watch and pray and grieve. It must have seemed the greatest possible disaster, to have the One whom they loved and trusted above all torn from their midst so violently. There they stood, in a crowd of bloodthirsty fanatics who were screaming for the death of their beloved Lord. With the screaming-mad furor of hatred at the very pinnacle of intensity, they could easily have become victims of the mob. But they never shrank away completely. They never left the scene until the bitter end. And even then, they stayed close to Jesus’ body. Such was the magnetism of their loyalty and love for Christ.
In fact, it was only thanks to Mary Magdalene that the disciples even learned where Jesus’ body was laid after His death. Mark records that Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Christ in order to give it a proper burial. Joseph had access to Pilate because he was a prominent member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of Jewish leaders (Mark 15:43). They were the same group who had conspired to bring Jesus to trial, condemned Him, and voted to put Him to death that very morning. Joseph, however, was a secret disciple of Jesus (John 19:38), and “he had not consented to their decision and deed” (Luke 23:51 NKJV). All four gospels record Joseph’s action of retrieving Jesus’ body. Mark added that Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses secretly followed Joseph to the tomb and “observed where He was laid” (Mark 15:47 NKJV).
The apostle John described how Joseph of Arimathea, together with Nicodemus (who was “a ruler of the Jews,” according to John 3:1 NKJV, and therefore probably also a member of the Sanhedrin and a secret disciple), “took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury” (John 19:40 NKJV). John says Nicodemus had purchased about a hundred pounds of “myrrh and aloes” (v. 39 NKJV). These were scented spices and resins used by the Jews in lieu of embalming. The two men speedily anointed Jesus’ body and bound Him tightly in linen strips (v. 40). They would have needed to hurry to finish the task before the Sabbath started (v. 42).
Mary Magdalene’s love for Christ was as strong as anyone’s. She took note of where and how He had been laid in the tomb. After all He had done for her, it must have broken her heart to see His lifeless, mangled p 181 body so poorly prepared and laid in a cold tomb. She was determined to wash and anoint His body properly. So Luke 23:55–56 says she and the other Mary began the preparation of their own burial spices before the Sabbath began. Mark 16:1 adds that they purchased still more spices as soon as the Sabbath was officially over (sundown on Saturday). First thing in the morning, they planned to give Him a burial worthy of Someone so profoundly loved.
DAYBREAK
DAYBREAK
Mary Magdalene had remained longer than any other disciple at the cross. Then she was also the first to reach His tomb at daybreak on the first day of the week. Her devotion was never more plain than in her response to His death, and that devotion was about to be rewarded in an unimaginably triumphant way.
There was evidently no thought of resurrection in Mary Magdalene’s mind. She had seen up close the devastating effects of the bitter blows Jesus had received on the way to the cross. She had witnessed firsthand as His life ebbed from Him. She had watched as His lifeless body was unceremoniously wrapped in linen and hastily prepared ointment and left alone in the tomb. The one thought that filled her heart was a desire to do properly what she had seen done so hurriedly and haphazardly by Nicodemus and Joseph. (She might have recognized them as members of the hostile Sanhedrin. Otherwise, she probably did not know them at all.) She thought she was coming to the tomb for one final expression of love to her Master—to whom she knew she owed everything.
The apostle John, himself an eyewitness to some of the the dramatic events of that morning, gives the best description:
1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”
3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb.
4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.
6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there,
7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.
8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;
9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.
10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb.
12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.
13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
Matthew 28:2 records that the rolling away of the stone was accompanied by “a great earthquake” (NKJV). We also know from Matthew and Mark that at least two other women (“the other Mary” and Salome) had come to help. They had discussed the difficulty of rolling the great stone (a massive wheel-shaped slab that rested in a trough) away from the mouth of the tomb, but by the time they arrived, the stone was already rolled away.
2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.
Mark 16:5 and Luke 24:3 both say the women went inside the sepulchre and found it empty. Mary’s first inclination was to assume that someone had stolen Jesus’ body. She immediately ran out of the tomb and back up the same trail she had come from, apparently planning to go for help. Before running far, though, she encountered Peter and John, on their way to the burial site. She breathlessly told them about the empty tomb, and they both took off running to see for themselves. John makes a point of recording that he outran Peter, but he stopped at the mouth of the tomb to peer inside, and Peter ran past him into the sepulchre itself. There Peter found the empty grave clothes and a headpiece folded and set aside. John joined him inside the tomb. Seeing the grave clothes still intact but empty was enough, John says, for him to believe. He and Peter left the scene immediately (Luke 24:12). It was probably at that point that the other women went into the tomb again to see for themselves (Mark 16:4).
12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.
Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene, overwrought with the new grief of thinking someone had stolen the body, remained outside the tomb alone. She stooped to peer in, and it was then that two angels appeared inside the tomb (John 20:12). Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell the story in abbreviated fashion, deliberately truncating some details. Each account gives different aspects of the story, but they are easy to harmonize. Of course, all the women saw the angels. Only one of the angels spoke. To the women inside the tomb, he said, “He is not here; for He is risen” (Matt. 28:6; see Mark 16:6; Luke 24:6 NKJV). Then the angel instructed them, “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead” (Matt. 28:7 NKJV). At that point, all but Mary seem to have left. According to Matthew, “they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy” (v. 8 NKJV).
Mary seemed to have remained outside the tomb, still disconsolate over the missing body. Evidently she had taken no notice of the empty grave clothes. It seems clear that she had neither heard the angel’s triumphant news, nor did she understand how elated Peter and John were when they left the tomb. The angel came and spoke directly to her: “Woman, why are you weeping?” (John 20:13 NKJV).
Through her broken-hearted sobs, Mary replied, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him” (John 20:13 NKJV).
13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
It was just then that she turned and saw Jesus. At first, through her tear-filled eyes, she did not recognize Him at all. (She was not the only one who did not instantly perceive who He was after His resurrection. Later that day, according to Luke 24:13–35, two of His disciples traveled some distance with Him on the road to Emmaus before their eyes were opened to realize who He was.) His countenance was different—glorified. If He looked the way John described Him in Revelation 1:14, “His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire” (NKJV).
Jesus spoke: “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” (John 20:15 NKJV).
Mary, thinking He was the gardener, pleaded with Him to show her where they had taken the body of Christ.
All He had to say was her name, and she instantly recognized Him. “He calls his own sheep by name … [and] they know his voice” (John 10:3–4 NKJV).
“Rabboni!” Mary’s grief instantly turned to inexpressible joy (John 20:16 NKJV), and she must have tried to clasp Him as if she would never let Him go.
His words, “Do not cling to Me” (v. 17), testified in a unique way to the extraordinary character of Mary Magdalene. Most of us are too much like the apostle Thomas—hesitant, pessimistic. Jesus urged Thomas to touch Him, in order to verify Jesus’ identity (v. 27). It is remarkable and sad—but true—that most of Jesus’ disciples, especially in this postmodern age, constantly need to be coaxed nearer to Him. Mary, by contrast, did not want to let go.
17 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.’ ”
Jesus thus conferred on her a unique and unparalleled honor allowing her to be the first to see and hear Him after His resurrection. Others had already heard and believed the glad news from the mouth of an angel. Mary got to hear it first from Jesus Himself. The biblical epitaph on her life was recorded in Mark 16:9: “When He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene” (NKJV).
That was her extraordinary legacy. No one can ever share that honor or take it from her. But we can, and should, seek to imitate her deep love for Christ.
MacArthur, John F., Jr. 2005. Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible and What He Wants to Do with You. Nashville, TN: Nelson Books.