Mary Magdalene – The Faithful Disciple

Mary Magdalene, is the last person we will discuss in this series of “The Six Unusual Women of the Bible”. I indeed saved my favorite for the end. Most people familiar with the Bible know of her, but, only a few know the truth. Over the years, Mary Magdalene has been tarnished, misrepresented, played down, and attacked by various non-believers and Christians alike. Before we get into all that, let me tell you what the Bible says about Mary Magdalene.

The Bible contains a mere 12 verses about Mary who was born in the small fishing town of Magdala. Magdala, that sat on the coast of the Sea of Galilee was a prosperous town, and many Biblical scholars agree that Mary was also of good means. She, however, was disrupted by the possession of 7 demons. Jesus healed her of this, and she faithfully followed Him ever since. Though she is mentioned but 12 times in the Bible, don’t let this tempt you to think that this minimizes her importance. She is mentioned more times in Scripture than some of the 12 disciples, like Thaddaeus, Bartholomew, Simon the Zealot and James, the son of Alpheus. Mary Magdalene was a prominent participant in Jesus’ earthly ministry. The Bible says that she traveled with him and financially supported Him (Luke 8 v 2). Whenever the female disciples are mentioned in the Bible, she almost always leads the list, possibly implying her leadership role among the women who followed Jesus. Another worthy fact to note is that though the four gospels slightly differ in whom they report present at the crucifixion, Mary Magdalene is the singular disciple that all four gospels concur was at the crucifixion and death of Jesus. This is hugely important – many of the disciples scattered when Jesus was arrested. The fact that the four canonical gospels insist that Mary Magdalene is one of the few that stayed with Jesus, speaks volumes of her devotion to Him. God also chose her to be the first to witness the resurrected Christ and carry this news to the other disciples. This is simply a stellar move on God’s part because it shattered the expectations of the people. In those times, a woman’s word was less valuable than that of a murderer. I believe that this perhaps causes some discomfort to many Christians of today as well. Even in 2021, many in the church dare not entrust a woman with the task of carrying the gospel to the ends of the earth. But God started with Mary Magdalene.

The Bible gives no account of Mary Magdalene, past her reporting the news to the disciples. Most scholars agree that she was part of the group that congregated in the upper room awaiting the arrival of the Holy Spirit and also part of the first century church. Even then, there is no Biblical account of her story past the gospels.

Unfortunately, where the Bible has decided to stay silent, humans have dared to speak. This amazing woman, whom the Bible treats so respectfully and honorably, has had her name dragged through much slander and all kinds of lies. If I am being completely honest, until a few years ago, I thought that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute who was saved ad transformed by Jesus. Neither the Scriptures nor writings of the early church Fathers associate Mary of Magdala with prostitution. However, many of us have somehow grown up with this picture of her in our minds. Sadly, this lie was birthed in the church and is evidence of how potent unbiblical teaching can be when spoken from a pulpit. With absolutely no Biblical basis, in the sixth century, Pope Gregory the First declared that Mary Magdalene was none other than the prostitute who wiped the feet of Jesus with her hair. There is so such link made in the Bible. The woman who wiped Jesus’s feet with her hair is not named in the Bible. The four gospel writers were very comfortable with using Mary Magdalene’s name, and sharing of her struggle with the 7 demons that possessed her. There would be no reason they wouldn’t identify this woman as her if indeed that was the case. The same Pope also somehow came up with the bizarre conclusion that Mary Magdalene was the same person as Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus. It wasn’t until 1969 that the Catholic church admitted to this stupendous mistake and clarified that indeed these are three distinct characters in the Bible with distinct stories. However, a lot of damage has been done. Many of the artists from the past and even to date, have taken on this faulty interpretation of Mary Magdalene and have and continue to portray her as a prostitute in art, novels, and movies. This propels this falsity forward into generations beyond ours. However, nothing past, present, or future is unknown to God. Perhaps it was His very intentional move that she is so pivotal to the resurrection story. 

There have also spread the rumors about Mary of Magdala being the wife of Jesus and bearing him children. This is also untrue, unbiblical, and so devious. We must recognize the evil one’s futile attempts to undermine the validity of Mary’s testimony at the empty tomb. Though from the very beginning he has tried and tried again, to sabotage the spread of the gospel, God set it on fire at the word of a woman. It reminds us again that God does not play into the mirage of earthly wisdom and strategy. Why on earth would the gospel writers agree on a woman being the first to see the risen Christ if they were trying to convince a people who thought of women as nothing more than property? They wouldn’t… unless it was the truth.

Mary, the Magdalene, is a beautiful reminder, that it is possible for a disciple to have a beautiful earthly journey marked by unwavering faith to Jesus Christ. The Irish poet, Eaton Stannard Barrett, described her faith so beautifully in his short poem, named “Woman” –

Not she with traitorous kiss her Saviour stung,
Not she denied him with unholy tongue;
She, while apostles shrank, could dangers brave,
Last at the cross and earliest at the grave.