Sticky Labels, pt 2
Mary Magdalene: Sinner, saint, or disciple?
Last week I wrote about Sticky Labels, both my own and those of three New Testament women. The first was the Samaritan woman at the well, and you can read that here: Sticky Labels, pt 1.
This week it’s Mary Magdalene! She has a unique position in history—not only is she one of the very rare ordinary women who is named in ancient literature, but she was the first to see the risen Jesus Christ. Every time I think of this, it gives me chills (the good kind).
Mary Magdalene was a front row participant in the events surrounding Jesus’ public execution, his burial, and his resurrection. Her prominent role, detailed in all four of the Gospels, highlights her unwavering devotion to Jesus. Mary was a very common name at that time and there are six or seven Marys listed in the New Testament, which accounts for some of the confusion over the years.
Her prominent role, detailed in all four of the Gospels, highlights her unwavering devotion to Jesus.
Mary Magdalene has been confused with Mary, the sister of Martha, and adopted as a symbol of the contemplative. She was also misidentified by Pope Gregory in the year 591 AD as the sinful woman in Luke 7 who sneaked into a Pharisee’s house with an alabaster jar of perfume to anoint Jesus. She wept and kissed his feet, then finished by wiping his feet with her hair. This incorrect identification helps explain why she was often associated with repentance and sexual sin. Neither of these women is the real Mary Magdalene, however.
What did Mary Magdalene do? Mary was a Galilean woman who left her family, friends, and community to travel with Jesus from village to village as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God (Luke 8). She was part of a group of women cured of evil spirits and diseases; Jesus had delivered Mary Magdalene of seven demons. The text notes these loyal women helped to support Jesus and his disciples financially. When Jesus was crucified, Mary Magdalene stood near the cross with Jesus’ mother and Mary the wife of Clopas (John 19) as they watched him die, then hovered nearby as his body was taken down and buried (Matt 27, Mark 15), and were trembling and amazed when they hear from an angel that Jesus was risen (Mark 15). All four Gospels record Mary Magdalene alone was first to see him alive, though at first she didn’t recognize him, on a Sunday morning visit to the tomb to anoint his body. Matthew writes that the women held him by the feet and worshiped him (Matt 27). After a conversation with Jesus where she wept, Mary Magdalene ran to tell Simon Peter and John, the other nine disciples, and the rest of his followers nearby, what she had seen and heard.
Mark records a conversation between the women approaching the tomb, who expected to find Jesus’ lifeless body: “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” At the empty tomb, Mary saw Jesus and he asked why she was weeping. “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” She misidentified him as the gardener, and pleaded, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” When Jesus called her by name, she turned and recognized him, calling him Rabbouni. Later, she told the rest of the disciples, “I have seen the Lord.”
After Mary Magdalene was healed and delivered, she became part of a steadfast group of Galilean women and men, hoi mathétai (biblical Greek for disciples), who traveled with Jesus, learning from him and supporting him and the other disciples. She was present at his crucifixion, death, burial, and just after his resurrection. She was the first to recognize and speak to him, and became the first to tell Simon Peter and the other disciples that Jesus was alive, a priceless and convincing testimony to the miracle of all miracles. Her eyewitness account electrified the disciples, who came to see the empty tomb for themselves, and galvanized Jesus’ followers with an unforgettable story, and with hope.
Her eyewitness account electrified the disciples, who came to see the empty tomb for themselves, and galvanized Jesus’ followers with an unforgettable story, and with hope.
Ripping off the label. Pope Gregory’s misidentification of Mary as a sinful woman has proved to be a sticky label, preventing us from seeing what she actually did and said. Though in the eleventh century Thomas of Aquinas called her apostolorum apostola (apostle to the apostles) with some seeing her as a faithful witness, the idea that she had a sordid past seems to titillate and fascinate. Only a decade ago, to my dismay I saw an original Christmas play at my evangelical mega-church that portrayed her as a prostitute. More recently, the popular television series The Chosen portrayed her as a woman who continued to struggle with mental illness even after she met Jesus, and who also appeared to be a prostitute. Yet this is NOT in the text; the Gospels don’t support this notion and instead create a portrait of a woman who was faithful to follow Jesus, to support him, to act like a disciple as she traveled and lived with the other disciples, and to recognize him as her teacher, witness his death, burial and resurrection, and, finally, receive the honor by Jesus of being the first to see and speak with him in his resurrected state.
Mary Magdalene a prostitute? This is not in the text; the Gospels don’t support this notion
At first the other disciples didn’t believe her, and Jesus rebuked them (Mark 15). Yet, her testimony is foundational for the Church global and eternal, her actions and words immeasurable in value. Tal Ilan even goes so far as to view Mary Magdalene as the “true founder of Christianity, insofar as she was responsible for formulating the Christian doctrine on the empty tomb and the resurrection. Without these doctrines, there is no Christianity.”[1] This is what we need to remember, to celebrate, and to proclaim about Mary Magdalene.
Quick question for you: Do you see anywhere, in the text and descriptions above, even a tiny hint of an immoral woman?
How would this label have changed if the Samaritan woman at the well had been a man? Or, maybe a better question is, would this labels have even existed? If Mary Magdalene had been a man, would there have been a suggestion that he was a prostitute? My guess is his deliverance from seven demons would be an enthralling miracle story, and his fierce love of, and loyalty to, Jesus would be admired. His witness of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection would be deeply reverenced, and his role as the first proclaimer would be highly celebrated across the ages. More on this next Saturday, with the labels that have been applied to Mary the mother of Jesus (it’s Advent, after all!)
QUESTION GIRL QUESTION: Do you think women of the Bible are sometimes seen through a sexual lens, when the text doesn’t support this? Think about Bathsheba, Ruth, Esther, and of course, Mary Magdalene. What labels have they picked up over the years from interpreters, preachers, writers or artists?
By the way, this Substack is all about asking questions about women in the Bible or the Church. Do you have any questions? Email me at questiongirlsusy@gmail.com and your question may appear anonymously here on Question Girl!
[1] Tal Ilan, “Chap 12: Jewish Women’s Life and Practice in the World of the New Testament,” in Benjamin H. Dunning, The Oxford Handbook of New Testament, Gender, and Sexuality (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2019), 236.