Mary Magdalene

Intro

Give thanks

Saying yes to everything asked by God.

Much has been said in the past about Mary Magdalene. Some of you may have read the book, or more likely in todays world, seen the movie The Davinci Code. In that book dan brown says that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus, and the mother of his children, whose descendants live today. It’s important to remember that this is a fiction book. It’s made up. But so many people have taken it to be fact. It has been said in the past that Mary was a prostitute. Despite there being no evidence of that in the bible. So then, with all these made up stories about her, who was Mary Magdalene. And Why are we talking about her on easter Sunday.

Mary Magdalene is mentioned in all four of the gospel accounts. It’s been said if something is mentioned once in God’s word you should pay attention, if it mentions something more than once you better write it down and remember it. All of the gospel writers mention Mary Magdalene. I believe there are 13 verses that specifically say her name. Now, just so we don’t get confused, you need to know there are multiple Mary’s in the new testament. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of jesus, Mary the wife of Clopas, in fact I think there are 6 or 7 different Mary's mentioned in the new testament. Mary was the most popular female name in first century Judea. The Mary we are concerned with today is called Magdalene, and was named for the town in which she came from. Magdala was a fishing village in Galilee. Jesus spent an awful lot of time there in Galilee.

It was in this region that Jesus performed so many of his great miracles. The miraculous catch of fish, that nearly sank a boat. He cleansed a leper there, calmed a storm, and fed the five thousand. There was also a woman in Galilee that had some demons. The earliest mention of Mary, in terms of Jesus’ ministry timeline, is in Luke chapter 8. Lets look at that passage first.

Luke 8:1–3 “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, 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.”

Mary was a possessed woman. Seven demons had gone out of her. Imagine the life she must of have had before she met Jesus. Luke doesn’t tell us what life was like for her, being possessed. I think about the man that Mark told us about, the one who lived in a graveyard. That man was possessed by many demons, a legion of them, and all day and night he wandered around, crying out and hurting himself. We don’t know what it was like for Mary, but I can’t think it was good. Think of the life she must have had. Think of the life you had, before you met Jesus. If you haven’t met Jesus yet, stick around for a while. Mary had her life radically transformed by Jesus, just as I did. In this passage in Luke, I see a woman who had a rough life, who probably did a lot of bad things, though maybe not all her fault. She was certainly a sinner, as we all are. And that life was changed by her encounter with Jesus, and she followed him. She was there with him as he travelled through the towns and villages. She provided for Jesus and the twelve, she ministered to them in the ways that she was able.

If you talk to others about her, someone may tell you she wrote a gospel, and that maybe you could gain insight on her life from there. I mention this because I don’t want you to be deceived. That book, called the gospel of Mary Magdalene, was not written by Mary Magdalene, and in fact wasn’t written until somewhere around a 100 years after Jesus. So all we know about Mary’s earlier life, about her interaction with Jesus, comes from this passage in Luke. All he tells us is she was possessed by 7 demons, met Jesus, and was delivered. And she followed him.

And if you read the gospel accounts, you can see that she followed him to the crucifixion. We heard last week about the events leading up to, and during the crucifixion. The pain and humiliation that Jesus went through leading up to, and on the cross. We heard about the supernatural darkness that took place for 3 hours, where God poured out his wrath on Jesus for our sins. There was the veil that was torn in the temple from the top down, the veil that separated people from the holy of holies. signifying that we are no longer separated from God. There were people there, at the crucifixion, who saw all of this, and just continued to mock and degrade Jesus. There were also people there who saw all of this and had there lives radically transformed by Jesus. And there were some there who had already been transformed by him. Let’s look at Matthew 27:55-56

Matthew 27:55–56 “There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.”

The gospel of John said that at the point Jesus died, Mary Magdalene was standing there at the cross with John and Jesus’ mother. When Jesus told John to take care of his mother. When he said this is your mother, and this your son. When I read the two passages together, what we just read in Matthew and John 19:25, it seems to me she was looking from a distance, and just couldn’t stay away. She had to be there, close to her Lord. So she moved closer. Mary Magdalene had been saved by Jesus, and she followed him all the way to the cross, where he bore her sins, and mine. She stood there and watched her beloved Jesus die, and innocent man. It would have been easy to walk away at that point. But not Mary.

She didn’t stop following Jesus at his death. She followed him to the grave. Look at the next couple of verses in Matthew 27.

Matthew 27:57–61 “When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.”

Even after he died, she couldn’t stand to be away from Jesus. There were a lot of people there when Jesus died, and only a few at the grave. Luke said in his account, that the women who had followed him from Galilee had gone and bought spices right after he died, in order to prepare his body. We know now one of the women who followed him from Galilee was Mary. He had died, and she wanted to make sure his body was cared for, so she went and spent her own money to get some necessary things in order to serve Jesus one last time. And then she went back to see him placed in the tomb. Much like everyone else, including his disciples, Mary didn’t understand that Jesus would be resurrected. She was likely very distraught. There wasn’t time for them to prepare his body properly. Jesus died at about 3 in the afternoon on a Friday. The Jewish days start at Nightfall. Friday at Sundown was the beginning of the sabbath. They couldn’t prepare his body on the sabbath. Nicodemus had also brought a bunch of the stuff needed to prepare the body, but they only had a few short hours. And so Mary was going to use what she had bought as well, but it would have to wait until Sunday. So Mary went home. And the sun set on Friday.

Saturday had to be a hard day. She had seen the man who saved her, who gave her hope, who gave her true life, murdered on the cross. She saw his blood, she heard him cry out on that cross. And she had all day Saturday to dwell on it. The Jews don’t do anything but rest and pray on Saturday. they don’t even cook. Remember the ten commandments, remember the 4th commandment, to remember to keep the sabbath holy. For six days you shall labor, but the 7th shall be a sabbath to the Lord God. That's why Friday was called the day of preparation, when they got everything done that needed to be done, so they didn't have to do any of it the sabbath, the day of rest. She had nothing else to do that day, but remember. Ill say it again, that had to be a hard day, a day full of tears. I know when I'm dealing with grief, I find it way easier to stay busy. If I can manage to do enough things that keep my mind busy, I can lessen my thoughts on those things that bring me pain. She didn’t have that option. So for one full day, she prayed, and she cried, and she felt the full weight of anguish. And then the sun set on Saturday.

Mary’s story doesn’t end there. It doesn’t end in pain. No, this story has a happy ending. Because just as surely as the sun set on Saturday, it rose on Sunday. Let’s look at what the disciple John had to say about that. In John chapter 20.

John 20:1–2 “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. 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.””

She rose early, and took the things she had bought to prepare the body, and went to do what she thought was needed. But she got there and… its empty. the tomb is empty. She didn’t understand what could have happened. So she runs back, to Peter, and to John (who is the disciple Jesus loved), and she says they took him. They took our lord out the tomb, and i don’t know what they did with him. Look at the next few verses.

John 20:3–10 “So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.”

Peter and John run to the tomb. John can’t bring himself to go in at first, but Peter could. And he sees the truth. Jesus is gone. Then John goes in, and sees the truth. Jesus is gone. They too can’t understand what happened. They went home. How defeated did they feel at that moment. They had beaten Jesus, ridiculed Jesus, flogged Jesus, mocked Jesus, and killed Jesus. And now, I’m sure in the minds of his disciples, they couldn’t even leave the body of Jesus alone. They had taken it.

One person didn’t go home though. Let’s continue reading in verse 11.

John 20:11–15 “But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 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.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 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.””

She stayed, and she cried some more. And she sees two angels. angel means messenger. There are two men sitting in the tomb that was just empty. In her grief I don’t think she could process that fact. Nor could she process that these two aren’t sad at all. They said why are you weeping. and she explains. And she turns around, and there is Jesus. but she still can’t process it. Jesus is dead, this can’t be him. And Jesus asked, why are you weeping, whom are you seeking? Mary thinks its the gardener, the caretaker, and she thinks he must have taken Jesus out of tomb. In a way she was right wasn’t she. But she didn’t realize yet. No until, in verse 16…

John 20:16 “Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).”

Jesus called her by name. When he called her by name, as he had so many times in the past, she finally sees. She finally recognized her Lord and savior Jesus. The risen Messiah.

John 20:17–18 “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.”

Mary had a lot of grief over those past few days. But as the sun rose on Sunday she experienced the greatest joy anyone will ever experience in the meeting the risen savior. Let’s not ignore the fact that it was a woman that Jesus first appeared to. Outside of the personal effects this had on Mary, it is hugely important to Christianity.

Women, in first century Judea, could not legally be witnesses in court. The reason that it is so important that Jesus appeared to a woman first is that no one, who was making up, or fabricating the story of resurrection, would ever have made up the fact that a woman reported it. The fact that the woman he appeared to, a woman who had been possessed, who had this disreputable background, makes it even more unbelievable. First century Jews simply would not have made that up if they wanted people to believe it.

There was a pagan critic of Christianity named Celsus, in the second century, who wrote a book that was an intellectual attack on Christianity and this was one of his arguments. However when thought about logically, it becomes one of the strongest pieces of evidence for the truth. And the truth is this, That on that Sunday morning the world, through Mary Magdalene, saw the greatest miracle that has ever taken place. When Jesus arose, and stepped out of that grave and called Mary by name. This fact, the reality and truth of Jesus’ resurrection, is proof of Jesus’ entire ministry. It all hinges on the empty tomb. Jesus teaching, and his claims to be God, and have the authority to forgive sins, doesn’t amount to anything if he stayed dead, if he didn’t rise from the grave. Thank you God for placing Mary Magdalene there, and giving her the strength to bear her sorrow, and be the first witness to the Risen Christ.

At the beginning of this I asked two questions. Who was Mary Magdalene, and why are we talking about her on easter Sunday, at a sunrise service. Mary Magdalene was a woman who was possessed, who had a disreputable past. Mary Magdalene had an encounter with Jesus that radically transformed her life. After that Mary Magdalene was a faith filled woman who dedicated her life to following Jesus. In short Mary Magdalene was me. I don’t think that I have ever had 7 literal demons, but I’ve certainly had my share of demons, if you take my meaning. I have a disreputable past. And then I met Jesus, and my life was changed forever. Yes, I am Mary. As are you. Who is Mary Magdalene, she is all of us. She is evidence of the power of the gospel message to change lives.

And why are we talking about her on easter Sunday. Because Jesus transforms lives. He did it for her when she met him. He did it for me when I met Him. If you haven’t met him yet, I am asking you to seek him now, don’t wait another minute, because he can change your life.

Because of what Mary witnessed on the cross, Jesus’ death, the ultimate sacrifice, your sins are forgiven if you will just accept the forgiveness.

And because of what Mary witnessed as the sun rose on the first Easter Sunday, you can rest assured that you will have resurrection, and eternal life, just as Jesus was resurrected, and just as he lives today.

Prayer