Mary Magdalene


Since we recently celebrated Easter and remembered the resurrection of Jesus Christ – if we attended church or read the passages from scripture chronicling those events - we may have noticed Mary Magdalene.

She has the distinctions of being one of Jesus’s female disciples. We first meet her in Luke 8, where we find out Jesus has delivered her from seven demons. This is also mentioned in the gospel of Mark (Luke 8:2; Mark 16:9). We don’t read about this occurrence – this casting out of demons. We don’t have any details of when it occurred, what she suffered, or how Jesus delivered her. We only have the statements from Luke and Mark that it happened. From other examples of demon possessed people in Scripture we can imagine what life would have been like for Mary – dark, oppressive, terrifying, depressing, degrading and desperate. But she was delivered. Jesus saw her – He knew her – and He delivered her.

She is likely called Mary Magdalene to differentiate her from the multiple other Mary’s mentioned in the gospels, including the Lord’s mother. Mary was probably from the town of Magdala on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. It would have likely taken a couple of hours to walk from Magdala to Capernaum – the towns Jesus preached in were in this area surrounding the Sea of Galilee.

Luke goes on to say that Mary Magdalene, among other women, supported Jesus and his disciples out of their private means (Luke 8:2-3). Mary Magdalene had some sort of income – and she gave it to support the Lord.

We also may notice that almost every time Mary Magdalene is mentioned, she is mentioned first among a list of Jesus’s lady disciples. When there is a list of the male disciples, Peter is usually listed first. It would be easy to surmise that Peter was listed first because he was the leader. I wonder if the same was true of Mary Magdalene – was she a leader among the women?

Mary Magdalene also has the distinction of being the first to see Jesus alive after his crucifixion – this is recorded in all four gospels. What an honor! We see her at the cross (Matthew 27:55-56; Mark 15:40; Luke 23:49; John 19:25), watching to see where Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus laid the Lord’s body (Mark 15:47; Matthew 27:61; Luke 23:55), and at the tomb early in the morning on the first day of the week (Mark 16:1-2; Matthew 28:1; Luke 24:10; John 20:1; 11-17). She is a faithful woman – and she’s richly rewarded – seeing the Lord first and being assigned to herald the message to the other grieving and fearful disciples (Mark 16:9-10; Matthew 28:8; Luke 24:11; John 20:2-3; 18).

Mary Magdalene knew the Lord’s voice. By the tomb, grief stricken, with tears in her eyes, He appears to her, but she doesn’t recognize Him until He calls her name (John 20:15-17).

There’s much we can learn from Mary Magdalene. 

  • Deliverance produces abundant gratitude and devotion. 
  • Our blessings and gifts are from the Lord and should be open to His use. 
  • Knowing the Lord is a relational experience – He knows us – where we’re from, what we’ve been through. He sees and cares.
  • He has a place for us – a purpose and a calling. 
  • When we know Him, we recognize His voice - our response should be immediate and obedient. 
  • We want to be in His presence - to please Him. 

He will abundantly reward our faithfulness.



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