Who was Mary Magdalene?
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” (John 20:18).
Who was Mary Magdalene? Was she devil possessed? Was she a harlot? Was she the woman who wept over Jesus feet? Popular stereotypes of women in antiquity portray them as nagging and unintelligent. It’s not surprising most literature of the time gives women very minor roles and flat characterization; sometimes writers leave women out all together. Perhaps this is because much of recorded history is a story told by men, about men, for men. So when a women is mentioned numerous times, as is Mary Magdalene, she’s probably significant and deserves further consideration. No original manuscripts exist of the sixty-six books of the Bible. The texts that have survived are copies separated from the originals by hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of years. Numerous variants are found in the fragments associated with Mary Magdalene. Before we can begin to interpret these works, we must first of all determine what they originally said. The science of attempting to reconstruct the text of documents is known as “textual criticism,” a technique that began in Alexandria in the 3rd century BC. History is not a settled account; it is forever shifting with the winds of discovery.
Context: What did the original audience know and understand?
All four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) note Mary Magdalene’s presence at Jesus’s Crucifixion, but only the Gospel of Luke discusses her role in Jesus’s life and ministry, listing her among “some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities” (Luke 8:1–3). Mary Magdalene is specifically named as the one from whom Jesus cast out seven demons. Demonic possession within the context of the gospels is commonly mentioned alongside physical and mental illnesses, never as a suggestion that someone has lived a sinful life. The number is significant because seven symbolizes completeness in Jewish tradition, meaning that Mary was entirely overwhelmed by her condition before being healed. With a grateful heart she becomes a disciple of Jesus who not only follows him but funds his ministry out of her personal wealth.
Mary Magdalene is linked with Easter Sunday and the resurrection because she was at the empty tomb. Other gospels include other women, but John’s gospel (John 20:11–17) presents a tender scene centered on one woman, Mary. She has endured the excruciating death and burial of Jesus. Her bottle of tears is overflowing. Each time her tears are spent another wave of anguish crashes on the shore of raw emotions. Now she weeps at the entrance of his empty tomb because inexplicably his body has vanished. Through a veil of tears she sees a man standing nearby. “Woman,” he gently says, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Believing him to be the gardener she responds, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus responds with one word, “Mary.” Her name, so familiar, now filled with hope, she cries out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (Lord/Teacher). With utter amazement she rushes to embrace him who loves her more than life itself. He’s alive! Her Lord who gave himself a ransom for many is alive! Jesus responds, “Do not hold on to me..” The verb in this passage suggests Mary is clinging to Jesus and will not let him go. There is a moment of assurance before he says, “Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” In this moment the validity of the Christian faith rests on one woman who goes and faithfully declares the good news to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” It is an incredible account, like a silver clasp connecting triumph to tragedy. In Eastern Christianity Mary Magdalene is hailed isapostolos, equal to the apostles because of her pivotal witness. After this crucial scene, Mary disappears from the Bible. She is not mentioned in any of the books that follow the gospels, although she might be one of the unnamed women present at Pentecost.
Historical Progression: In the sixth century, Pope Gregory the Great presented a view of Mary not the way she was but as the church wanted her to be. With breathtaking oversimplification, Gregory conflated Mary Magdalene of the seven demons with the unnamed "sinner" who washed Jesus's feet with her hair, and with Mary of Bethany who anoints Jesus with perfume. Gregory reasoned that if a woman like Mary, who had fallen so low, could be forgiven through faith and the church, her carnality transformed into spirituality, the worst sinners could hope for salvation. Mary Magdalene wiped away Eve's original sin. "In paradise, a woman was the cause of death for a man; coming from the sepulcher, a woman proclaimed life to men," Gregory declared in his famous sermon in 591. The Eastern Orthodox Church, however, never accepted Gregory's melding of the three women.
In the original Greek, Mary is never actually called Mary Magdalene, but “Mary the Magdalene.” Scholars believe it may well be an honorific from the Hebrew and Aramaic roots for “tower” or “magnified.” Just as the Apostle Peter is given the epithet “rock,” (“You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church”), Mary could well have acquired a title “Magdalene” meaning “tower of faith,” or “Mary the magnified.” Although there have been various ways of understanding her name, no author prior to the sixth century identifies her as coming from a place beside the Sea of Galilee. Several ancient authors actually understood Mary’s nickname to be rooted in her character rather than her provenance. Eastern Christianity historically understands her name to mean “tower of faith.”
In the past few decades textual criticism has been applied to the manuscript evidence of John 11-12. The figure of Martha of Bethany shows significant instability in the Greek and Latin translations. She is not consistently included in the text. This is only significant because it may have been Mary, not Martha, who made the stunning declaration, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world” (John 11:27). In John’s Gospel, Mary Magdalene is the first witness of the resurrected Jesus. If she was the Mary who also made the Christological confession, this would present her in an even stronger light, further bolstering the name “Magdalene.” To date, this view is a hypothesis awaiting further discoveries.
Many art mediums have tried to tell the story of Mary Magdalene. Most fail to grasp the depth of her encounter with Christ. They generally rely heavily on Gnostic Gospels that paint a caricature who is a romantic cliché. Mary is not ordinary. Perhaps we cannot clearly see her because she embraced a glory we’ve never seen.
Conclusion: The first word spoken by the risen Lord is “woman,” a word filled with the memory of God’s true myth. Eve, the first to disobey, may have failed in the garden of the first creation when she carried Satan’s enslaving message to Adam. But Eve’s daughter in the garden of the empty tomb and new creation, is the first to obey as she carries God’s emancipating message to the sons of Adam. Mary Magdalene is the apostle to the apostles. This is her legacy. She represents all women who are to be celebrated as heralds, bringing life to whomever they declare that Jesus is alive. “The Lord announced the word; a great company of women proclaimed the good news” (Psalm 68:11).
Sources: https://margmowczko.com/mary-magdalene-ascension-cling/; How God Sees Women, Terran Williams; https://religionnews.com/2022/01/07/was-mary-magdalene-really-from-magdala-two-scholars-reassess-the-evidence/; Tell Her Story, Nijay K Gupta; https://broadview.org/mary-magdalene-easter-story/ ; https://theanalogpastor.com/tear-bottles-in-the-bible-and-today/