Sweet Sisters,
This Sunday is Easter.
Easter is specifically dedicated to celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. Many of us actually celebrate this powerful event every day because it was the crushing blow that defeated Satan and his power over us.
When I read the different accounts of Jesus’ resurrection in the Gospels, my favorite account is in John 20. I am drawn to John’s account because of the relationship that John portrays between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene’s story is filled with a lot of speculation. The New Testament tells us very little about her.
We learn in Luke 8:1-3, that Jesus cast seven demons out of her and that she was part of a group of women who traveled with Jesus and the disciples. They took financial responsibility for making sure their needs were met.
8 After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.
In Matthew 27:55-56 she was part of a group of women who watched the crucifixion of Jesus from a distance.
55 Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph,[f] and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:1, Luke 24:10 and John 20:1 all tell us that she was a part of a group of women who went to the tomb early Sunday morning. John gives us the most detail about what happened that morning.
Sweet Sisters, pretend you are hearing this story for the first time and let me tell it to you from my perspective.
Last week I ended our lesson by saying that I believed that God wants our actions to be fueled by what is in our hearts. I said that love was a deliberate decision.
I believe that Mary Magdalene loved Jesus with all her heart. He had freed her from seven demons who had made her life hell, and from that moment she followed Him. She did whatever she could to make sure He had whatever He needed. She listened to Him teach. She saw Him do miracles. She believed He was who He said He was.
When He was taken to the hill outside the city and nailed to a cross she watched from a distance. It must have broken her heart to witness her beloved teacher dying in such a horrible way.
When Passover was completed, she was one of a group of women who headed for the tomb to complete the necessary tasks for His burial. John tells us that when they arrived the stone was moved and Jesus’ body was gone. Mary immediately runs to tell Peter and John (the one Jesus loved). The two men run to the tomb to check it out. They find it just as she said and they leave.
Mary followed them back to the tomb and after they leave, she remains outside the tomb. She is confused and overcome with grief. Once again, she looks into the tomb. This time she sees two angels sitting where Jesus had been laid. She doesn’t seem to comprehend who they are. They ask her why she is crying.
Mary responds, “They have taken my Lord and I don’t know where He is.”
Listen to her again: “They have taken MY LORD…”
Jesus was her LORD, her teacher, her world. She couldn’t fathom what was going on. All she knew was that He was gone. Something causes Mary to turn around. She sees a man standing there but, in her grief, she doesn’t realize who he is. She is totally focused on finding her Lord. And then He says her name, “Mary.”
I love it that Jesus knew Mary’s heart. He didn’t leave her standing there in her grief and confusion. He specifically chose to appear to her first after His resurrection. He could have appeared to Peter and John (the one Jesus loved) but He didn’t. He could have told them to go tell others what they had seen, but He didn’t.
Instead, Jesus appeared first, after his resurrection, to a woman who loved Him with all of her being, and gave her the privilege of being the first one to say, “I have seen Jesus and He is alive.”
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 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.
The Bible doesn’t specifically mention Mary Magdalene after this. In Acts 1:14 it says:
14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
I am pretty certain that she would have been among “the women” mentioned.
Sweet Sisters, if we follow Jesus like Mary did, with all of our heart, I believe it greatly pleases Him. Jesus freed Mary from the demons that sought to destroy her. Jesus frees us from the demons that want to destroy us.
Mary’s response was a grateful heart and a willingness to follow Jesus no matter what. She never wavered. She followed Him when it was difficult. She followed him when she was scared, confused and overcome with grief. She followed Him when she didn’t understand. He was her Lord and her teacher. He was her world.
Jesus’ response was to reassure her that He was still with her and to call her by name.
Debbie❤