Mary Magdalene

FIRST WOMAN WITH OUTSIDE INFORMATION
AND KNOWN FOR BEING DE-DEMONIZED
MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, & JOHN

 IMAGINE: Being possessed by seven demonic spirits, only to have someone come along and release you from your literal “hell on earth”.

After being delivered of seven demons, Mary Magdalene became a disciple of Jesus in the most magnificent ways.

and also some women who
had been healed of evil spirits
and sicknesses: Mary, called
Magdalene (seven demons
had come out of her;
Luke 8:2

Mary Magdalene appears to have been born in Magdala, Judea. The date of her birth is unknown as is the date of her death. As with her age, there is no record concerning her family, marital status, or social standing. Nor is there any mention as to how this woman came to the place where she monetarily could help meet the needs of Jesus and the disciples.
Magdala was a prominent town on the coast of Galilee, about three miles from Capernaum. Peter’s hometown was Capernaum, and this is where Jesus’ Galilean ministry was based. It was in the area close to Nazareth and Cana.
Magdala had a thriving fishing industry and was known for manufacturing fine wool and woolen dyes. It was a city well known for salting and processing fish. It was also known for its wealth and depravity. This city also appears to have been a virtual hot bed for demonic activity. Numerous exorcisms, by Jesus, are recorded in this area.
From Mary Magdalene, Jesus had ordered seven demons to come out of her. It is unknown if the demonic forces that had apparently entered and taken control of her life were infirmities or if she had lived a life of sin in the affluent city of Magdala. In her favor, there is never mentioned, even as a hint, of any indiscretions concerning her.
Nonetheless, Mary would have been indwelt with real live demonic spirit creatures in a way that is not described. It is safe to say she would have been tortured and tormented in unspeakable ways. It is not known if the torment was in the way of mental illness or physical illness, or both. She would have suffered greatly from the torment of these evil spirits. Scripture does not state how or what opened the way for the demons to indwell her. Mary would have been miserable, depressed, alone, embarrassed and pitiful. She would have been shunned by society.
People would have had nothing to do with her out of fear of probable erratic behavior on her part. Her life would have been in utter ruins. Having seven demons would have been an unimaginable agony and shame, nothing a mere human could fix.
When Jesus encounters her, He knows and understands fully the problem. He commands all seven demons to come out of her immediately. Jesus not only released her from demonic powers who had controlled her every action, but He released her from public shame and the lonesomeness that would have accompanied such an affliction. Jesus had truly delivered her from darkness into light.

…and many others who were
supporting them from
their possessions.
Luke 8:3

 Mary Magdalene, along with other women, appears to have had financial means, so as, to help support Jesus’ ministry. These women were supporting Jesus and His disciples from their own finances. In that day and culture, disciples did indeed support their Rabbi, but women supporting men would have been very unusual and would have been considered a scandalous situation.
Women in the company of men they were not related to would have been highly controversial. Mary, however, was now much more concerned with following and serving her Lord than worrying about what people might think. The townsfolk probably already had set determination concerning her anyway because of the demon possession.   
Being demon possessed, the financial means she had appears to have not eased the agony she must have gone through. No wonder this amazing woman followed this Man who had relieved her of this torment. She followed Jesus everywhere, helping and attending to the needs of Him and His disciples.
Being delivered the way she was, led her to believe this more than likely was the long, awaited Messiah. Even though the religious elite of the day refused to see Jesus for who He is, Mary had her own thoughts concerning this Man and was not going to let Him out of her sight.

Now He came near the path down
the Mount of Olives, and the whole
crowd of the disciples began to
praise God joyfully with a loud voice
for all the miracles they had seen.
Luke 19:37

Mary, along with a great crowd of people, was close by when Jesus made His triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem. It was Passover and there was a hoard of people excited and surrounding Jesus acclaiming Him as Israel’s long, awaited king. The crowd knew this was the one to help them out from under the Roman rule they hated, and He was now here to set up His Kingdom.

Then they came up, took hold
of Jesus and arrested Him.
Matthew 26:50

Just a few hours after this grand entry into the city, the unimaginable occurred. Jesus had been arrested in the night and sentenced to die a criminal’s execution. Mary Magdalene, it appears, hurried along with Mary the mother of Jesus, Salome the mother of James and John, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph.
These women would have been devastated beyond reason. To add to their grief, the disciples are nowhere to be found and Jesus is now being taken outside the city to be crucified. This same city where the day before the crowds had been shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David!”, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”, “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”.
What had gone wrong? Were people really shouting, “crucify Him”? Mary’s eyes were seeing the unthinkable. Her ears were hearing people yelling things her mind could not comprehend. This Man had delivered her from “hell on earth.” She witnessed Him deliver others in the same way He had delivered her. She had seen the miracles and heard His teachings. Which they too had witnessed. Mary must have gone numb, wondering where God was. What kind of plan was this for God’s Son, that He must endure this type of torment, humiliation, and anguish?

Standing at the cross of Jesus
were His mother, His mother’s
sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene. 
               John 19:25            

Oh the pain Mary must have experienced watching as people passed by the cross Jesus was now hanging on, shaking their heads, and mocking Him. This must have been a devastation she could not have ever imagined. To hear the people shouting, “come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God”, accompanied by hysterical laughter must have made her wonder if she was not losing her mind. Mary probably had a hard time comprehending what the religious elite, the priests, and elders were thinking as they laughed and mocked the Son of God.
She refused to take her eyes off her Deliverer as she was close enough to hear “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Her whole body must have gone limp as she watched His head slump to His chest as He took His last breath.
Mary may have had flashbacks remembering the days when the seven demons had possessed her. She may have very likely feared they would return now that her Deliverer and Protector was no longer present. Their interactions, His teachings, her “safety net”, all were now going to be missed. Her heart would have been crushed and all hope gone. Even though it would have been difficult, Mary stood by and stayed with Jesus through all the devastating events. When the crowds mocked, she remained. When His disciples fled, she kept her place. She was at the foot of the cross from the beginning, and later looking on from a distance after Jesus took His last breath.

From noon until three in the
afternoon darkness came over
the whole land….the earth quaked
and the rocks were split.
The tombs also were opened
and many bodies of the saints who
had gone to their rest were raised.
Matthew 27:45, 51, 52

As Mary Magdalene, along with some of the other women, were looking on from afar, seeing the Roman soldiers and hearing the mocking crowd, the scene all goes dark. As disbelief engulfed her the earth began to shake and large rocks broke apart. The earth itself split open as deep crevices appeared, opening the tombs of many saints as bodies were raised.
Fear now replaced the laughing and jeering as terror struck the guards and mocking masses. All were scrambling to scatter as quickly as possible. Panic, mixed with a trembling earth, and darkness smothering them, would have made their exit difficult.

Many women who had followed
Jesus from Galilee and ministered
to Him were there, looking on
from a distance. Among them
were Mary Magdalene…
Matthew 27:55, 56

Mary and the other women had moved back to get away from the crowd of people leaving in haste but stayed close enough to see what would become of Jesus’ body. Mary never took her eyes off her Savior to make sure He was given a proper burial. 
In that day and culture crucified criminals were discarded outside the city of Jerusalem in the “Valley of Hinnom” without ceremony. This is where dead bodies were cast to be consumed by the dogs, and fires were kept burning to discard the garbage that had been thrown out.
A man from Arimathea, a town east of Joppa, whose name was Joseph, asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Pilate willingly relinquished His body to Joseph probably hoping to get this unnerving set of circumstances behind him. Joseph was a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin but had become a secret Believer of Jesus.
A second person, Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews, it appears had become a secret Believer in Jesus also. The two men hurriedly prepared Jesus’ body by washing and wrapping Him in strips of linen with a mixture of myrrh and aloes. This was in accord with Jewish burial customs. Also, the Sabbath was about to start, and this had to be done before that occurred at sundown.

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
were seated there, facing the tomb.
Matthew 27:61

Joseph placed Jesus’ body in his own new tomb cut out of rock. Mary Magdalene sat across from the tomb, never letting Jesus out of her sight, as He was placed inside the cave like structure and laid on a shelf.
Joseph and Nicodemus rolled a large stone across the entrance to the tomb. It was sealed shut by a large circular, flat stone that rolled down a slopping groove until it was securely in front of the opening. This was done to keep animals and intruders out. It would now take the strength of numerous men to roll the stone away. Plus, at the religious leaders request, Pilate ordered the tomb to have guards stand watch over night and for the Roman Seal to be placed on it which consisted of a rope overlapping the width of the stone with globs of wax on either side of the doorway. This seal carried legal authority.
There is no indication Mary knew these two gentlemen, as they appear to have secretly Believed in Jesus while He was alive. By the manner of circumstances surrounding His death though, they now were openly acknowledging their belief in Him. Nonetheless, as far as Mary may have known, the two men may have belonged to the hostile Sanhedrin and may not have taken proper care of her deceased Lord.
Mary Magdalene made sure she knew the location of the burial spot and made preparation of the burial spices before the Sabbath began. After the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought and prepared more spices. (Mk. 16:1). The women worked diligently to put this together, for the following morning, to give Jesus a proper burial. Jewish custom did not allow for embalming their dead.
Again, Mary probably did not know the two men who had taken her Savior and put Him in the cave like tomb hurriedly because of the coming Sabbath. She had no idea what they might intend to do with Him after the Sabbath was over. She was determined to give Him the same dignity in death that He had given to her in life.
At dawn, on the first day of the week, the women arrive at the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body for a proper burial.

They were saying to one another,
“Who will roll away the stone from
the entrance to the tomb for us?”
Mark 16:3

It appears the women, just as the disciples, did not understand when Jesus had told them He would rise on the third day. It was now the third day and they were discussing how they were going to move the stone from the entrance, so they could go in. Upon arrival to where Jesus had been laid, Mary observes the stone has already been rolled away leaving the entrance open. So she ran to Simon Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved and told them “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don’t know where they have put Him.” The disciples ran to the tomb and discovered it was empty except for the strips of linen and the cloth that was wrapped around Jesus’ head. The disciples left and went back to where they were staying.
Astonished, Mary Magdalene looked in and saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot, but no Jesus. Where was her Lord? Mary was distraught beyond measure. She had been so careful as to keep her eye on Him, so this would not happen. How could this have occurred? And why?

They said to her, “Woman, why are
you crying?” “Because they’ve taken
away my Lord,” she told them, “and
I don’t know where they’ve put Him.”
John 20:13

Mary was not to be consoled, by man or angel, until she knew where Jesus was. At that moment, turning around, she sees a man she assumes is the gardener. He asks her why she is crying. By now her mind must have been racing and her heart pounding. Everybody she knows has run away leaving her alone with her heartache and a gardener.
She pleads with him to tell her where they have taken her Lord’s body and she will go and get Him. All the “gardener” says is Mary. Immediately she recognizes the voice and exclaims, Rabboni. He did not look the same in His glorified state but she at once knew His voice. (Jn. 10:27).
She had witnessed Him after the beating, spitting, mocking, and killing in the worst and most humiliating way. She had seen Him prepared for burial, laid in the tomb and the stone rolled across the entrance. Yet, here He was standing before her, whole again, giving instructions to go tell the others the greatest news ever told, “He is risen!”
Mary was the first to see and hear Him after His resurrection. Her heavy heart would have now turned to a joy she could not have imagined. She had stayed with Him through His death, burial and resurrection and now He gives her the honor of sending her out to tell the fleeing disciples, and others, He has risen. Because of her love and loyalty, He honored her with the privilege of seeing angels, being the first to see Him alive, and given the honor to be the first pro-claimer of the Good News.
This encounter with her Lord after His resurrection is the last mention of her in the Bible. She was probably in the upper room, among the one hundred and twenty awaiting the promised coming of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:14). Mary went from demon possessed to being indwelt with the Holy Spirit of God, Himself. Mary’s new responsibility was to testify to His risen presence. Mary set the perfect example: never take our eyes off Jesus.

Something to consider:
Those who leave everything in God’s hands,
will eventually see God’s hand in everything.
Unknown

 Thought for the day:
And He who sits on the throne said,
“Behold, I am making all things new.”
Revelation 21:5