Mary Magdalene, Lover of Jesus Christ

Mary Magdalene, Lover of Jesus Christ.  John 20.1-9                                                      Click to read: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2020.1-9&versi...                   Key verse:  Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. John 20.1

Good Day!

It is a familiar scene in most of our minds… a woman approaching the rough-hewn cave-like tomb very early in the morning, while it is not fully daylight.  (You can picture it with me, right?)  After all, it was the middle-eastern custom to visit your loved one’s tomb for at least three days, believing that the spirit of the dead person stayed ever close to the tomb for that long.  In the case of Jesus, he had been put in the tomb on Friday, so Sabbath-keeping Jews would not have made the trek on the Sabbath, as to do so would break the law.  But Mary Magdalene loved Jesus greatly and could stay away no longer.  She was the first to go, though it was so early . . . the Greek word for ‘early’ indicates that it was the time between 3 am and 6 am.¹  That’s early!

My friends!  Please clear from your mind right now the besmirched, greatly embellished, impressions you have been given of Mary Magdalene from popular fiction including The DaVinci Code and even the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar” from the 1970s.  Actually those have done great harm to the real Mary Magdalene, devoted follower of Jesus Christ. 

Who was Mary Magdalene?  Magdalene was not her surname; no, she came from a fishing village called Migdal², which was later called Magdala and was on the Sea of Galilee.  In Luke’s gospel³, we learn that Mary supported Jesus’ ministry, and that early on, Jesus cast seven demons out of her.  (No wonder she loved Jesus and supported his ministry … he had set her free!  Have you ever seen a possessed individual?  Constant torment, no rest—physical or mental, just torture.  Jesus healed her of her torment, and gave her peace.)

Before I go back to the tomb, I should like to make a parenthetical statement here--  Paul warns Christ-followers about deception…⁴  How sad it is that Mary Magdalene’s image has been so altered by popular culture that she really bears no resemblance to the passionate woman of God that she really was, who Scripture describes!  She has been cast as a voluptuous beauty, a temptress, the wife of Jesus (what?!), when really she was an important historical figure and a sold-out disciple of Jesus Christ, Son of God.  And in fact, she was so honored by God that she was the first person to know that Jesus rose from the grave!  Mary Magdalene was last at the cross, first to the tomb, and the first to know that the tomb was empty.

Think of it:

>To Mary Magdalene, it was first revealed that Jesus Christ had defeated the grave. 

>We will soon see that the resurrected Lord chose to reveal himself FIRST to Mary Magdalene; yes, she was the first person to whom Jesus spoke! 

Oh, this is good, this is powerful … and it is exciting.  Friends, when we discuss how Jesus destroyed the cultural mores of his day by his treatment of women, consider how much he loved Mary Magdalene, a formerly demon-possessed female, that he would appear to her first!  Ah no, do not be deceived by either watered-down or adulterated gospel accounts; accept only the truth of God’s Word. 

I look forward to meeting you one day, Mary Magdalene, devoted follower and lover of Jesus Christ our Lord. 

“Lord, thank you for how you take us, clean us up and set us free, and then----if we will follow you, you will use us in your work---just like you did Mary Magdalene.  Clean me up, set me free, use me, Lord.  Amen.”

Christine

1) William Barclay, Daily Study Bible-John, Volume Two; 2) “Mary Magdalene’s Modern Makeover” by James Patrick Holding; 3) Luke 8:1-3; 4) Colossians 2.4