There is a woman from the Gospels so venerated that her portrait appears in many of the world’s largest museums. She has appeared as a major character in books, movies and plays. Many books and articles have been written about her. She probably rivals the Virgin Mary in popularity. Cults have risen in her name and some people worship her. She was sainted by the Catholic Churches, Roman and otherwise. She has become the hope and symbol of the repentant. She is considered a tower of the faith. She was given the title, Apostle to the Apostles.
There is also the claim that she was the most important of the ladies because in each listing she is mentioned first, but this isn’t true either. In John 19: 25, she is listed third, actually the last.
And finally, sadly, many believe she was the wife of Jesus and a mother of his children.
Ah, yes, she is well known, but not known at all. Almost everything said about her is untrue.
According to Catholic Saints Online at some point after the death and resurrection was placed in a boat and set adrift by the Jews.
After the death of Christ, a legend states that she remained among the early Christians. After fourteen years, she was allegedly put into a boat by Jews, along with several other saints of the early Church, and set adrift without sails or oars. The boat landed in southern France, where she spent the remaining years of her life living in solitude, in a cave.
The boat ended up in France were she evangelized. Allegedly, you can go to a chapel in France and see her skull. If to some of you this sound familiar, the Catholic Saints online said the same about Martha and Mary of Bethany, and there Martha fought and killed a dragon that was flying about eating people. Martha was sainted for her deeds. As far as I know this woman never slew any dragons. I think they got her confused with Martha’s sister Mary. Not the only place she was confused with Mary of Bethany.
But wait, did she retire to France? Some claim she went South after the Resurrection into the wilderness of Egypt. There she became a hermit, living in a cave, there is that cave again, and traipsed about naked because the clothes she had on her back, her only clothes, had worn out and fallen apart.
Some legends having her traveling about evangelizing and some have her retiring from normal life, where she lived as a hermit and walked about naked after the clothes on her back fell apart. This time her life became entwined and confused with one St. Mary of Egypt.
Saint Mary, also known as Maria Aegyptiaca, was born somewhere in the Province of Egypt, and at the age of twelve she ran away from her parents to the city of Alexandria. Here she lived an extremely dissolute life.[4] In her Vita it states that she often refused the money offered for her sexual favors, as she was driven "by an insatiable and an irrepressible passion," and that she mainly lived by begging, supplemented by spinning flax.
Our woman is not that woman.
We can, apparently, thank our woman for Easter Eggs.
Tradition relates that in Italy [she] visited Emperor Tiberias (14-37 A.D.) and proclaimed to him Christ’s Resurrection. According to Tradition, she brought him a red egg as a symbol of the Resurrection, a symbol of new life with the words: “Christ is Risen!” Then she told the emperor that in his Province of Judea they unjustly condemned Jesus the Galilean, a holy man, a miracle worker, powerful before God and all mankind, executed at the instigation of the Jewish High Priests, and the sentence confirmed by the procurator appointed by Tiberias, Pontius Pilate.
Our woman is, of course, Mary Magdalen.
Let’s take a moment to deal with the novel called The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. This borrows heavily from the Gnostics and the premise that Mary Magdalene was Jesus’ lover and wife. The code supposedly goes to the Last Supper. Clues are claimed to be hidden in DaVinci’s painting and Brown claims that the character shown next to Christ is not John, but Mary Magdalene. People believing this like to point to John 13:21-24 where at the Last Supper Jesus says one of the disciples will betray him.
John never called himself by his own name in his Gospel. At the very end of this book in John 21, we have this:
24Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish? ”They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.
20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” 23 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers[b] that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.
So what do we know about this woman named Mary Magdalene? Not really much outside of the 14 verses about her in the Gospels. She appears nowhere else in the Bible.
We can surmise she came from Magdala, a city just west of the sea of Galilee, three miles south of Capernaum. Whether she was born there or just lived there at this time we don’ know. We don’t know her age. There is no real reason to believe she was a prostitute. Jesus cured her of “seven demons”. These may have been some sort of sins or demon possession, but these could have been mental or physical illnesses. She was among the women who followed and supported Jesus on his ministry. This would suggest she was a woman of means.
She is mentioned in 14 verses across the four Gospels. Luke mentions her along with Johanna and Suzanna during the first journey touring Galilee, then we don’t hear of her until Jesus’ arrest, death and resurrection.
Here is Mary Magdalene as shown in Scripture:
8 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[a] out of their means.
She joined up with these other women in Jesus first years of ministry. It was a brave act for her and the other females to travel with a man, even a Rabbi. Since these women provided for Jesus and his disciples we must assume they had financial means.
The only other note that she was with these women following Jesus is in Mark 15:40-41. “40 There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;
41 (Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem.”
Here is how some concluded that Mary Magdalen was a prostitute
Because Luke 7 ended with the story of the sinful woman who poured perfume upon Jesus and Luke 8 began with a mention of Mary Magdalene with the women traveling with Jesus, some decided the sinful woman and Mary were the same. This became known as the Composite Mary because it claimed Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany and the Sinful Woman were all Mary Magdalene.
Pope Gregory I("Gregory the Great") made an influential homily around 591, in which he identified Magdalene not only with the anonymous sinner with the perfume in Luke's gospel, but also with Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus; this interpretation is often called the "composite Magdalene" in modern scholarship. The seven devils removed from her by Jesus, according to Gregory, "morphed into the seven capital sins, and Mary Magdalene began to be condemned not only for lust but for pride and covetousness as well.
— Pope Gregory the Great (homily XXXIII)[29]
Mentions of Mary Magdalen at the Cross.
Matthew 27:59 Joseph wrapped the body in a clean linen shroud 60 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. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary the mother of Joses, sitting opposite the tomb. saw where he was laid were there
Matthew 28
Matthew 28 Now after the Sabbath was past, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 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. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
John 20 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.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 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.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic,[b] “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 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.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.
We know a woman existed named Mary Magdalen and that Jesus had cured her of seven demons of some kind. We know she then followed with other women who supported Jesus and the Apostles. We know she was at the crucifixion with these women, that she was one who saw where he was buried and among those who bought spices to anoint the body. She among a handful of women who went to the tomb early on resurrection Sunday. There they discovered the tomb empty. The women fled back and told Peter and John, who then run to the tomb. Mary Magdalen follows after them along with other women. but arrives after the Apostles depart. The other women head back, but Mary Magdalen stands outside the tomb weeping. She peeks in and sees two Angels seated where Jesus had been lain. She turns and sees Jesus standing nearby, who she first mistakes as a gardener. he tells her not to touch him and sends her back to the disciples with a message. Jesus then appears to the other women somewhere along the path from the tomb.
This is the last we hear of Mary Magdalen in Scripture. Other than what is recorded here, she disappears from history, yet rumor and myth about her are enough to make her venerated more than those other women.
ALL THE VERSES ABOUT MARY MAGDALENE IN SCRIPTURE
and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary
Mat 27:56
56 Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedees children.
And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.
Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome,
And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was laid.
Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.
Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.
It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
Jhn 20:11
11 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,
Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.
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