The Magdalene

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other 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.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” 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.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because 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 she told them that he had said these things to her.

Mary Magdalene has been one of the most controversial characters in the Bible. She is mentioned by name twelve times in the gospels, which is more than most of the apostles. Luke speaks of her as a woman who travelled with Jesus, and was one of those who helped to support Jesus’ ministry “out of their own means”, which indicates that she was probably wealthy. In the same passage she is spoken about as someone delivered from seven demons. (see Luke 8:2-3)

All four gospels place her as a witness to the crucifixion of Jesus. In the gospel of John, she is also present at his burial. All four gospels also identify her as the first witness to the empty tomb, and the first to testify to Jesus’ resurrection. In certain circles this has gained her the title of “apostle to the apostles”. She is often a central figure in later apocryphal gnostic Christian writings, which have helped to grow the controversy surrounding her.

She is very often portrayed as a converted sinner in religious art, and many hold her to be the sinful woman who anoints Jesus in Simon, the Pharisees house (see Luke 7:36-50). Remember the woman who anoints Jesus’ feet with oil and wipes it with her hair? If this is true, then there is a very strong case to be made for her being the sister of Martha and Lazarus (see Luke 10:38-42; John 11). 

How does one explain the “Magdalene” in her name, then? It is often assumed that she got this name because she came from Magdala. But it could have other possible meanings. Some have suggested that it derives from a term that means “curling women’s hair”, a reference to an adulteress. Others have suggested that it is a derivative of the Hebrew word “migdol” which means “temple”, a reference to time she may have spent in the temple. 

All this makes it extraordinary that Jesus would use her to be his primary witness to the resurrection. In first century Jewish culture, a woman’s testimony was barely admissible. Still less a woman with the kind of background that Mary Magdalene had. Which is one more reason to believe that Scripture contains the truth, because otherwise Jesus would have chosen a more “credible” witness to the greatest event in human history.

Something different to think about today.