MARY OF MAGDALA

MARY OF MAGDALA

In many ways there is no account in the New Testament more radiantly beautiful than that of Mary of Magdala. We observe in passing that the New Testament always speaks of her as Mary Magdalene, which, of course, means simply Mary of Magdala. The word Magdala indicates the city in which she dwelt.

Through some strange and unhappy confusion of the women of the New Testament, Mary Magdalene has been looked upon from medieval times in such a way as to cast a stigma upon her that has no right to be there. She is confused with the woman in Simon's house, and at times with Mary of Bethany. There is no warrant for any such confusion. The stigma to which I have referred is wholly due to her having been confused with the woman in Simon's house. It is interesting to refer to two definitions in a modern dictionary of the word Magdalen. The first definition reads:

"Magdalen. By confusion with the unnamed penitent of Luke 7:36-50, represented as a fallen woman raised to saintship."

The second definition reads:

"Magdalen. A reformed prostitute."

These are remarkable definitions for a dictionary; showing as they do, correct Biblical intelligence on the part of the lexicographer. That idea has fastened upon this woman of the Gospels, and Churches have been named with that in mind. I suppose we shall never overtake this false use of the term, based upon this unhappy confusion.

Let it, therefore, in our present article, be immediately recognized, and throughout keep in mind that she was not a woman of that order. Incidentally I may say that had she been so her name would not have been given, for no New Testament writer gives the name of any woman of that kind. Each preserves in such references a tender and gracious anonymousness, necessarily for the sake of the times in which they were written.

As we consider her account we find five pictures of her contact with Jesus in the New Testament. These we will follow, endeavoring to see her as she is revealed in them; and then to watch our Lord's dealing with her.

The first occasion hardly constitutes a picture, but is a statement clearly revealing her first contact with Jesus. Then we have statements revealing her relationship with Him during His life. We see her also in connection with His resurrection. Lastly, she is seen on the day of Pentecost.

As to the first occasion, Mark and Luke state the fact that Jesus had cast seven demons out of her. Luke tells us this in connection with his statement that she was one who helped to support our Lord in material matters; Mark mentioning it in connection with the fact that she was present at the Crucifixion.

There is no need to stay with the statement at any length save to emphasize the fact of how tremendous and superlative a revelation it is. Unfortunately, our Revised Version throughout has failed to make a distinction between devils and demons, uniformly rendering the word which should read demons, devils. There is a very great distinction which ought to be remembered. Into that matter it is not necessary now to enter in any detail, but recognizing it, we realize that a demon was a spiritual personality, and in the New Testament, always evil in nature. Outside the New Testament we find the recognition of demons who were not, according to the writers, necessarily evil. As we have said, this is not the case in the New Testament.

These evil spirits are referred to as possessing men and women. We come across it constantly, and have had occasion to refer to it several times in the present course of articles. The declaration that she was possessed by seven demons may be a excellent and intense way of making a statement. Taking the general conception as revealed in the New Testament, we find that demon possession resulted sometimes in physical disability and material suffering. It also issued in mental trouble, as with the man possessed with a legion of which it is said he was exceeding fierce, and a dweller in the tombs. Moreover, it resulted in moral failure and depravity. It is to be observed carefully that our Lord and His apostles in all their dealing with, and their references to demon possession, treated it as a disease rather than as moral deviation. This is not to say that there were no immoral results from demon possession. It is quite certain that there were. There must always remain much that is mysterious about the matter. Indeed, we may be inclined to ask the question which the disciples asked Jesus concerning the man born blind, who did sin, this woman or her parents, that she was possessed with demons? There is no doubt that if we did so, the Lord would give us the same answer, namely that He was not dealing with such problems. His business was to cast the demons out. That indeed is a complete philosophy of the work of Christ. His mission was not that of solving problems, but dealing with human dereliction, and that in such a way as to put an end to it.

Demon possession meant irresponsibility in the moral realm. There can be no doubt that in some cases demon possession was the result of immorality. In that case there was necessarily responsibility, for it is always so. By way of illustration, if a man commits murder when he is drunk, he is responsible for the thing he did under the influence of drink, because he had committed the sin of putting himself in such a condition. So if a person became mastered by evil spirits as a result of sin, such a person was responsible. In the case of Mary of Magdala, however, there is no reference whatever of any connection between demon possession and immorality. However the fact may be accounted for it remains a startling truth that here was a woman so mastered by evil spirits that the account refers to them as "seven demons." We are not told anywhere of how, or when, or where Jesus met her. The fact is, however, recorded that He did meet her, and set her free from this demon possession. He set her free from the awful domination, and thus consecrated her to His own Lordship. It is quite evident that she answered the action by the dedication of herself completely to Him in the most remarkable way.

As we observe her during the life of our Lord we are again in the presence of a very brief statement. Both Mark and Luke reveal the fact that she was a woman of wealth and substance, and declared that she, in company with a group of such women, followed our Lord during the days of His public ministry, and ministered unto Him. Thus we see her. She had met Him. He had freed her from demon possession. She recognized Him as her Master, and she was eager to serve. She travelled with Him, and dedicated her wealth to His service. Together with this honorable company of women, for two years at least she ministered to His physical necessities, and to those of the apostles. As I have said, the statement is a simple one, but it is twice made by the two evangelists, and as we watch her thus following Him and ministering to Him in the commonplaces of life, travelling on those journeys over the hills, and along the valleys, into the cities, and into the villages, we see the loyalty with which she rendered a sacred service to Him.

But Mary of Magdala comes out into clearest relief in the stories of His death and resurrection. We may summarize first quite simply. First let it be observed that Matthew, Mark and John all tell us that she watched at His Cross. When all the disciples forsook Him and fled, possibly she was among the number at first. John, however, returned, and in doing so joined the little group of women, and Mary of Magdala was one. This woman whom He had set free from demon possession, who had loved Him and followed Him, and cared for Him in the days of His public ministry, now saw Him nailed to the Cross. If there were any who might have been excused from standing there in the presence of the appalling and awful tragedy, it surely would have been the women. The proportion in which we are able imaginatively to put ourselves in her place is the proportion in which we may come to some understanding of the suffering she endured in that dark and appalling hour.

Mark, in a brief sentence, tells us something which is very significant. He tells us that Mary of Magadala, in company with another Mary, watched His burial, and "beheld where He was laid." The word that Mark uses in this connection is a strong word, and means more than that she merely saw, conveying the idea that she carefully observed it, and took note of it. Thus she is seen standing by. Jesus was dead, but she could not go away. She watched Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea as they wound the body, and laid it in a tomb. She saw the rolling of the great stone to the entrance to the tomb, and she knew that His body had been laid therein.

Here I want us very carefully to notice a statement by Matthew. He says:

"Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulcher."

In close connection, he continues:

“Now on the morrow the chief priests and the Pharisees were gathered together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while He was yet alive, after three days I rise again. Command therefore that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day, lest haply His disciples come and steal Him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead; and the last error be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a guard; go your way, make it as sure as ye can."

The words "on the morrow" reveal the fact that Jesus lay in the grave one whole night before the guard was set, and Mary of Magdala stayed by all night, watching that grave. When the guard came and took charge she went away, but not for long.

Thus we see Mary of Magdala in her deep sorrow standing by the Cross until her Lord was dead, carefully familiarizing herself with the place of the grave, watching as He was buried there, seeing the grave stone rolled to the opening of the sepulcher, and staying there all night. There were no Roman soldiers there during that night. There were no disciples there.

Her experience must have been one of terrific fear. Her freedom from demon mastery had been due to Him, and He was dead. I believe that during that night all hell got up and looked at Mary of Magdala. She, however, felt safer by His dead body than anywhere else. She could not tear herself away. He had set her free from the intolerable agony of demon possession, but He was dead. Inevitably she must have questioned whether she was safe any longer. She might almost have imagined that she heard the mockery of laughing fiends waiting to come back and take possession of her. Mary felt that she had lost her Lord, and yet she could not leave the place where His body had been laid in the tomb.

When she did leave the sepulcher she hurried to buy spices, and so we are to see her in connection with His resurrection. She brought those spices in company with others, very early. As they were coming back to the sepulcher with these costly spices which they had bought in love, symbols of their devotion, they were conscious of their weakness. They had seen the massive strength of the stone rolled to the opening of the grave, and the question now arose, who would roll away that stone?

The sequel, of course, is well known. When they arrived, the stone was already rolled away. Then Mary of Magdalene's agony became greater than ever. She now felt she had lost even the dead body of her Lord. She had left it only for a little while, and now returning, desiring to show her love and devotion, as she brought her spices, even His body was gone. The account goes on with great natural beauty as it tells how she immediately ran to find Peter and John, and to them pour out the agony of her heart in the words:

"They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we know not where they have laid Him."

The result was that these two started at once for the tomb. Evidently they outran Mary, and John arriving first stood with reticence gazing into the empty tomb. Peter upon arrival, went into the tomb, and saw the amazing sight of undisturbed grave clothes. Thus emboldened, John entered, and he saw and believed. When this had taken place we are told that the disciples, that is Peter and John, "went away again unto their own home," wondering at that which was come to pass."

By this time evidently Mary had arrived. Peter and John do not seem to have thought of her. When she came, looking into the tomb, she saw what it is not recorded that they saw, namely, two angels:

"One at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain."

As she peered into the tomb, and saw the vision, she was weeping. An angel asked, "Woman, why weepest thou?" The sorrow of her heart was such that she seems not to have been at all startled by the vision of the angels, or by the voice, but immediately poured out her deepest agony in the words:

"They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him."

Notice carefully she still called Him "my Lord," though He was dead. She was true till death, yes, and beyond death.

When the angel asked, why are you seeking the living among the dead? And declared that the Lord was risen, Mary became conscious of a person standing behind her. Turning to see who it was, she imagined that it was the gardener. He asked the same question which the angel had asked:

"Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?"

Then carefully observe how the love of her heart expressed itself in what she said:

"Sir, if thou hast borne Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him, and I will take Him away."

The suggestion was that she, a woman, should carry a dead man. She felt equal to that, if only she could regain the body of her Lord.

Then took place that which can be read with reverent imagination, but which defies interpretation in some senses. Jesus uttered one word, and that her name, "Mary."

Then Mary stood in the presence of the miracle of all the ages. She did not understand it, but she knew it as a fact that her Lord was not dead, but alive. Then from her heart which had been well-nigh breaking, she uttered words which mark the complete surrender of love, "My Master." It was indeed a beautiful thing to say, but she had not grasped the significance of the thing at which she was looking. She realized that He Whom she had thought to be dead and lost, was there before her. He was near to her. The demons would not have power over her. She wanted to be close to Him, to have Him as in the olden days as Deliverer and Teacher and Master.

He held her away. Very beautifully He proceeded to transfigure her conception of their relationship. We have translated what He said by the use of the word "touch," "Touch Me not." The word is a far stronger one than that. It is the same that He used on the occasion when the woman in the crowd had grasped the kraspedon on the hem of His garment. We might render the word of Jesus then as, do not take hold on Me. Her Lord intended to show her at once that everything was changed. She would not be able to hold Him in the old way, but in a new way. He intimated to her that soon He would be ascending to His Father, and that not until that ascension could there be the complete understanding and realization of the new relationship. He charged her to go and tell His disciples that He was so ascending. Thus Mary is seen in the early light of the garden scene knowing that she had recovered her lost Lord, and standing in the presence of something which must wait for further explanation.

As we follow the account carefully we find that Jesus appeared to her again a little later in the same day. Not long after, the group of women came, and they worshipped Him.

We see her once again on the day of Pentecost. She was with the company on whom the Spirit fell, and was filled with the self-same Spirit. She who had been possessed with seven demons of evil was filled with the seven-fold Spirit of God. So He had met her. So He had dealt with her. So He had led her, and at last, having responded to His mastery, she was brought into closest association with Him in the gift of the Spirit.

Here was indeed a consecrated life. When I use the word consecrated, I do so carefully, referring not to her attitude, but to His action. He consecrated her by freeing her from false possession, and provided for her the true possession. She answered His consecration by dedication of herself to Him in the commonplaces of the days when she ministered to His earthly needs; and then at last, as she yielded herself to Him as she cried "Rabboni."

Thus in looking at Mary of Magdala we are looking at a great soul, but we are seeing that her Lord was greater. He is still able to cast out every evil thing that holds and masters and blasts and ruins human life, and to introduce such as are thus set free from evil into the power of His own risen and glorified life by the Holy Spirit.