Mary Magdalene — The Woman Who Could Not Forget

The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, to the sepulchre (John 20:1).

   Of all the women in the Bible, the highest place, next to Mary the mother of Jesus, must be accorded to Mary Magdalene. She took the most prominent part and is given the most prominent place in the Passion narratives of our Lord. She takes this high place because she could never forget what Jesus Christ had done for her.

   Women who cannot forget are often trouble-makers. They cannot overlook nor forget slights or wrongs that that have been done to them, or even opposition to their will. Their desire for vengeance causes incalculable suffering in the world. Remember Jezebel's determination to be avenged of Elijah, and the anger of Herodias at John the Baptist, ending in his death!

   Other women, however, can never forget the good that is done to them; they always want to repay that good and become a blessing to the world. Such a woman was the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, whose name was Joanna. She had been cured by our Lord, either of possession by an evil spirit or of a disease, and out of her gratitude she attached herself to that body of women who accompanied Him upon His journeys and ministered to Him of their substance and who were faithful at the cross and even on the resurrection morning, for she came with Mary Magdalene to the tomb to anoint the body with spices. Another is Martha, whose life we have al-

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ready studied and who because of the Lord's goodness to her family, including the raising of Lazarus from the dead, could never do enough for Him by the way of service. But greater than either of these is the one who is the subject of this chapter, namely, Mary Magdalene.

   Of all the grateful women in the Bible who could not forget, Mary Magdalene is the outstanding person. Therefore, she may stand for us as the symbol of the worship of the Christ by women who cannot forget what Christ has done for them. Hers is the single case that presents the resurrection in all of its historic and it's spiritual phases to us. In her own life we see the spiritual resurrection from a life condemned to bondage and through her eyes we can see the physical resurrection of Christ. Centering our attention upon Mary and the part she played in the resurrection, may I suggest for your consideration, first, What Mary Could Not Forget; second, The Person Whom Mary Could Not Forget; and third, What Mary Would Have Missed Had She Forgotten.

I. WHAT MARY COULD NOT FORGET

   We are introduced to Mary Magdalene in the verses immediately following the story of Jesus and the woman who was a sinner (Luke 8:1-3; 7:37ff). This had resulted in Mary often being identified with the woman who was a sinner, but the Scripture only says that Mary had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, seven devils going out from her. There are three theories concerning Mary's past.

   The first theory identified Mary with the sinful woman. In the great Zwinger Gallery in Dresden, there is a picture by Coreggio of the Magdalene. She lies in a cave, still marked by the badges of her sin but now reading from the Scripture. Her long tresses fall about her full neck and exposed bosom, with every indication given of voluptuous practices from which she has just now been snatched. Before her appearance has changed, with the exception of the look in her eyes, she has her attention riveted upon the Scripture. The idea portrayed is that Mary was the woman who was a sinner and had only now

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returned to a lonely place to be confirmed in the change wrought by Jesus at the feast of Simon. This conception of Mary is quite general in the Christian world, so that the word "Magdalene" has come to represent a fallen woman; we have houses of Magdalene, homes for such poor souls who are victims of social evil. The Roman Church has done more than any other influence to fasten this stigma upon Mary by the means of the practice of a very worthy charity. Beginning in the fourteenth century, they established a series of monasteries called "Magdalene Houses," in each of which were three congregations, those of St. Magdalene, those of St. Martha, and those of St. Lazarus, which reveals the Roman identification of Mary Magdalene, the fallen woman, and Mary of Bethany as one person. There may be some question about the identification of the fallen woman and Mary of Bethany, but certainly this fallen woman cannot be Mary Magdalene. Since that date, Magdalene houses have been established all over the world.

   Though Roman Catholicism identifies Mary Magdalene and the woman who was a sinner, more Protestant scholars give good grounds for not identifying them. Certainly a woman who was demon possessed is not one who would be profitable in the oldest trade of the world. That fallen woman was saved at a house of Simon, the Pharisee, who had invited Jesus and His disciples to a feast, but had omitted all of the common courtesies and amenities of the social order, such as the kiss of salvation, the water for the washing of the feet, and the oil for the anointing of the head. During the feast, this woman of the streets entered and made her way directly to the couch of Jesus. Simon did not stop her, thinking probably Christ would, but Christ paid her no attention. She must have been touched somewhere by some of His teaching and had her heart changed, and now she came to express her gratitude to Him. Kneeling by His couch, she washed His feet with her tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head and then anointed them with precious oil, which undoubtedly was purchased of the reward of her iniquity and consumed much of her substance. Jesus then used the incident as a

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parable to teach the unforgiving and supercilious Simon a lesson. He said: "There was a certain creditor which had two debtors; the one owed five hundred pence and the other fifty, and when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him most?" Simon replied, "I suppose that he to whom he forgave most." Jesus then said, "Thou has rightly judged" and, turning to the woman, He continued, "Seest thou this woman? I entered thine house and thou gave Me no water for My feet, but she hath washed My feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest Me no kiss; but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss My feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed My feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." Then to the woman He said, "Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace." Whether this woman was Mary or not, only heaven can reveal, but she believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and that belief was the source of love that was poured out upon Him, in due humility. Perhaps we are wrong and this woman was Mary Magdalene. If so, all honor to her as she abandoned her illicit and shameful trade and became a true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

   The second interpretation, and that to which we adhere, is that Mary was a lunatic and demon possessed. Rather than a fallen woman, we think of her as an afflicted woman, suffering from an unfortunate condition prevalent in Jesus' day. We recall the story of the demoniac of Gadara, which was just across the lake from Magdala, where tradition says there were many demon possessed and where Christ healed at least one who had lived naked and who had broken his chains and dwelt among the caves, and frightened all comers (Mark 5:1-20). This gives us a picture of what Mary must have been like. Think of this woman of delicate frame, now irrational and with lunatic outlook, with wild eyes and disheveled hair, either living in the tombs or haunting the outskirts of the village

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until Jesus found her. If you would see people like that today, go to the insane asylums, listen to their wails, see their senseless, vacant eyes, listen to their talk, watch them leap, dance, or crawl, and you will have an idea of what Mary was like. Whether demon possession was the same as insanity or a particular manifestation of the evil world at the same time that heaven put forth its best and sent Jesus into the world, we cannot be sure, but out of Mary went seven demons. Perhaps men had driven her, as many weaker vessels in our day have been driven to insanity, by cruelty. A domineering father, a thoughtless husband, exposure to extreme calamity, or some other cause may have lain back of it, but the people of Magdala called her "Mary" in scorn, as the town crazy woman, but when Jesus first saw her and realized what this woman in her rational condition would become, He said, "Mary," in a different way which she could never forget. Into her dim, distant look there came focused reason and understanding, followed by a balanced appreciation and love. Mary was healed and was returned, clothed and in her right mind, to her home and family. No wonder that Mary's gratitude to the Lord Jesus was great!

   There is yet a third interpretation of the history of Mary, which is advanced by Dr. MacLaren. He believed that these seven demons were figurative representations of the seven sins of Dante, which are to be found in the hearts of us all, and that Mary was neither a great sinner nor was she a maniac, but that she was perfectly delivered in this world from the evil that hounds each of us, namely, pride, envy, anger, lasciviousness, covetousness, intemperance, and spiritual sloth. That old Scottish preacher testified that he could never find those demons completely vanished from his heart and life and that anyone so delivered must have been a great saint. Mary became just such a saint. If this interpretation is true, it is the correct interpretation of the power of Christ to quicken us from our trespasses and sins to a new life. This kind of resurrection, we all need to know. What Jesus did for Mary, He has done for multitudes throughout history.

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   It is quiet clear that whatever the original condition of Mary, she was thoroughly and completely changed by the power of Christ. If she was a lunatic, then the first time that Jesus said, "Mary," her reason returned to her and she looked out upon the world with rational and sensible eyes and countenance. If she was a sinner of the streets, then when Jesus told her, "Go in peace; thy faith hath saved thee," a transformation occurred that was a mighty miracle. If through listening to His teaching she was delivered from the mortal sins that plague the lives of most people, she stands as a monument of the grace of God. Whatever Mary's past, her change is an illustration of a spiritual resurrection in the life of an individual. Paul said, "You hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1), and then he calls this resurrection. Undoubtedly it is a resurrection, but it is not the only resurrection. There later arose some in the church who claimed that this was the only resurrection and that the resurrection spoken of in the Bible was just for those who are Christians, but Paul declared it to be an error. However, we may know this great spiritual resurrection. This is the demonstration that Christ is living today. Whenever a character is changed, whenever a sinner is transformed from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, when habits are broken and a new life begins, we have evidence of the fact that Christ has risen from the dead and is living.

   Immediately after Mary was changed, she entered upon a ministry of gratitude to Christ. She joined the little group of women who, as Matthew says, "ministered unto Him of their substance." Very probably Mary came from a family of much substance and now she not only dedicated her person but she dedicated her possessions to Him and to His servants. Christ and His disciples had to live in some way, and these women probably provided the means for their sustenance. It would be well to follow Mary's example, for we can certainly do no better when Christ has bestowed upon us spiritual and moral healing than to give both ourselves and our possessions to Him as gifts upon His altar. Mary did not cease her ministry

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with the giving of her substance. She also devoted her service to Christ. Mary was faithful to Him when all others failed. The narrative implies that she was the inspiring spirit among all of the faithful women, for she is always named first in the group, whether at the cross or at the tomb, by all of the evangelists. When others had fled from Christ at the time of His capture and then of His trial, proving that they could not stand with Him, Mary proved that she could (Matt. 27:56). When the morning light dawned on that Day of the Passover and the multitudes assembled at the Gabbatha, word came to Mary that the Master was arrested and was being accused before Pilate. Thither she went with all haste to witness, to help, and to encourage Jesus, but helpless, she stood back on the edge of the scene, prevented by the soldiers from coming nearer. It was there that she saw all of the events that led to Golgotha, but there was no fear on Mary's part. Even at the cross, when others mocked Him and ridiculed Him and probably were very hostile to any followers who might be there, yet Mary stayed. When Jesus sent His own mother, Mary the Virgin, away with John the Beloved, still Mary Magdalene remained. Rubens, in one of his great paintings, depicts Mary as helping Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus to remove Christ's body from the cross and participating in the labors of love as it was bound and prepared for burial. Then she followed the little procession to the tomb and observed all that was done, weeping. She and Mary, the mother of Joseph, particularly marked where the body was laid and how the tomb was closed before they left because of the coming of the Sabbath, which they must spend in their homes (Mark 15:47).

   Never was a sadder Sabbath spent in the history of the world than that when the Son of God lay in the tomb. During this Sabbath, Mary was occupied not only with sorrow and remembering but also with the preparation of a love gift that she might again minister to her Lord on the first day of the week. Then she and the women returned to the tomb to perform a deed of gratitude and affection as the last symbol of her loyalty. Mary impresses one as desiring that her life should

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adequately express her gratitude. This may have been unconscious and natural to her, but it nevertheless was present. Surely every Christian should examine his own life according to his profession of benefit and blessing from the Lord to see if he has forgotten those things in the action he manifests before the world.

II. THE PERSON WHOM SHE COULD NOT FORGET

   One of the strange things about bereavement is that when we have lost a loved one, particular characteristics of that person stand out more clearly than they did when he was living. We can remember one particular thing he was in the habit of doing or one particular expression that endeared him to us. Such thoughts must have occupied Mary's meditation on the Sabbath. She probably thought of the person of the human Jesus, of His sufferings on the cross, and of the transformation He had wrought in her life and that was the first impression she had of Him.

   There is no doubt that Mary was interested in the human Jesus. The prophet Isaiah said, "There is no beauty that we should desire Him" (Isa. 53:2). Others could not see the beauty that was in Jesus, but Mary saw that beauty, and she loved it and Him. To Mary, Jesus was truly the Lily of the Valley, the Rose of Sharon, the Bright and Morning Star. He was the sunrise and the sunset of her soul. The dignity, the authority, the mercy, the kindness, and the endless service Christ performed in utter devotion to the will of God had utterly captivated Mary. She was enthralled with Him. For Mary, life without Jesus was meaningless. It was not worth living. It was empty and void. It was worse than useless. Mary loved in Christ that which others hated, namely, His perfect goodness and righteousness. It is in this way that Christ reveals the character of persons. If His perfection and His righteousness call forth your love and your affection, happy are you, but if it calls forth your hatred and your repugnance, woe unto you, for then you are full of sin. Sinful men do not love Christ, for His perfections show up their imperfections.

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   It is perfectly possible that the fleshly Christ may have been too much in Mary's mind, but how could she separate the two? She was devoted to His body from beginning to end, so that when she once saw the resurrected Christ, she fell at His feet, wishing to clasp them to her again, now to keep Him forever, for Mary was unable to distinguish between the spiritual and the physical Christ.

   Thus we may understand the sorrow of Mary in her sense of loss at the death of Jesus. Her woman's mind did not think of what it meant to the cause, that Jesus had died. She had no interest in the kingdom, as the disciples did, or in power, or in politics, or the breaking of the Roman yoke. She was interested only in fellowship, and love, and communion. His death interrupted her fellowship, and she was overwhelmed with the sense that she would see Him no more, and this was too much for her. Mary simply could not get her mind away from the tomb in which the body of Christ reposed. She loved Jesus, and Jesus was dead. Thus Mary's love lingered on the body of Christ. Perhaps you cannot understand that now, but some day you will, in the hour of bereavement. Few are the emancipated souls that can love the spirit of the person disassociated from the body. Mary had not reached that high position yet.

   On that Sabbath Day, the remembrance of the sufferings of Christ on the cross must have weighed on Mary. She had seen everything, from the trial at the Gabbatha to the tomb. She saw all those events — His mock trial, His refusal to defend Himself, Pilate publicly washing his hands to clear himself of the guilt, the result of the scourging as they thrust Him forth bleeding and crowned with thorns, saying, "Behold the Man." Surely if ever Mary wept, it was then. Mary followed as near as possible outside the ring of soldiers as they led Him along the Via Dolorosa to crucify Him. She was one of those weeping women to whom Jesus turned and said as He went along. "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves... for if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in a dry?" (Luke 23:28-31). Mary had seen Him fall under the cross, receive the lashes from the soldiers, but, unable

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to go on, transfer His burden to Simon the Cyrenian. Then she had stood by the cross during the entire crucifixion and saw Him in agony. Mary could not forget the words He had spoken there, words praying for the forgiveness of His crucifiers and tormentors, words of promise to a dying thief, words of petition unto a Father who seemed not to hear. Yes, Mary was burdened by the sufferings of the person of Christ.

   Moreover, she knew these to be unjust. She knew that He had never wronged a soul and that He was hated only because He freed men from the yoke of the law, from fear, from disease, as she had been freed. She was sure in her own mind that He never claimed to be a king of anything but of truth and of righteousness. He even refused to be made king when they wanted to force Him to become king. He was no rival of Caesar, not even of the high priest, and yet His friends and His followers and all those whom He had helped and healed and befriended had deserted him. Why such events were permitted to happen troubled Mary severely, just as they have troubled many who have seen the just suffer ever since the cross. It is possible that the vicariousness of Calvary may have faintly dawned upon Mary's mind, but she had no certainty of it. Only the thought that Jesus was dying for sinful men as their substitute, bearing their sin and the penalty of their evil and the curse of the law, can explain the cross, and only the vicariousness of the suffering of the righteous is able to place meaning into it today. We are able, because of the cross of Christ, to endure that which we are called upon to endure when we innocently suffer.

   No doubt much of that day was also spent in remembrance of what this Person had wrought in her life. She vividly sensed the peace, the joy, and the purpose that had been substituted for her aimless, distracted, tumultuous living of other days. How blessed it had been to walk with Him during these three years! Was it all to end now? Was she again to be enmeshed in her sin, in her failures, in her evil, in her distractions of mind, and in her sorrow? Now that He was dead, was she again to go back to the old life? No, a thousand times no!

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She would now live as if He were with her always. Nevertheless, there was a very real fear with Mary that if Jesus were dead and remained dead, He could no longer deliver her from her present enemies, from evil within and without, and in that Mary was right. It is folly to think that anything but a resurrected, living Christ can give deliverance from sin today. If Jesus remained in the tomb, or if His body was stolen by anyone and did not rise from the dead, then Christ is not a deliverer; then He has not defeated our great enemy and we have real reason to fear. Mary sensed the fact that a dead Jesus would declared the cross to be a defeat and the end of the cause, both for her and for the Christian movement, and so it would.

III. WHAT MARY WOULD HAVE MISSED HAD SHE FORGOTTEN

   Had Mary not been the grateful woman she was, she would have missed many things. First of all, she would have missed the revelation of the resurrected Christ. But Mary did not forget and was the first in faithfulness and hence, the first in reward; for unto Mary, Christ first appeared after His resurrection. Wonderful were those events of that first Easter morning, and in them all Mary played a prominent part. She came with Mary of Galilee and Joanna and other women following bearing the spices that they might anoint the body of Jesus, and worrying over who should move the stone for them. When they came to the tomb, saw the soldiers overcome and lying upon the ground, an angel sitting upon the stone, and heard the words, "He is not here, but risen; go and tell His disciples," like a flash Mary turned and went to tell Peter and John, while Mary of Galilee went on to the women, who in turn came to investigate the tomb and then left in order to inform the rest of the disciples. Meanwhile Mary, Peter, and John returned to the tomb to see what had happened to the body of Jesus. Peter entered, and I suppose the others followed, where they saw the linen clothes lying and the napkin folded, and John believed Jesus had risen from the dead. After the disciples

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left, Mary was alone, weeping and wondering what had happened to the body of Jesus (John 20:11-18). She did not yet believe either the message of the angels or the evidence that her Lord was risen. Then it was that she saw someone approaching her whom she took to be the gardener, and not recognizing Him through her tears, she asked, "If thou hast taken Him away, tell me and I will take Him." Suddenly she heard a voice say, "Mary!" and she knew it was the voice of her Lord. She fell at His feet to grasp Him and hold Him forever, now that He had been restored to her. Surely this Mary was no more mistaken in her vision of the resurrected Christ than were the other disciples in His later appearances. She went to the disciples later in the day and affirmed that it was even so, that the resurrected Lord had appeared to her. Whatever you may think about the resurrection, these appearances of Christ cannot be reasoned away. They were seen by too many people, in too many places, and at too many different times in order to be treated lightly.

   While Mary lay at Jesus' feet, an incident occurred that presents the Christian conception of Christ. He said to her, "Touch Me not, for I am not yet ascended, but go to My disciples and tell them I go before them into Galilee. I ascend unto my Father and to your Father." How shall we interpret this passage, which says, "Touch Me not," when a few moments later seemingly Christ allowed the other women to touch Him? Some say that Mary would have clung to the body to keep Jesus with her forever, to hold this fleshly knowledge and experience. Mary needed gentle instruction that Christ was about to assume a new relationship and that she should not seek to hold Him to this earth. Paul once said, "Though we have known Christ after the flesh, yea, now, henceforth know we Him no more" (II Cor. 5:16). It is possible to have a fleshly knowledge of Christ and to have a spiritual knowledge of Christ. When Paul held the fleshly knowledge, he persecuted Jesus. When he had the spiritual knowledge, he loved Him and served Him as a disciple. In the flesh, Christ could be with only one person at one place at one time, but the ascended Christ is omnipresent and with us always. Augustine

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suggested that now we should touch Him with the hands of faith and not with the hands of the flesh.

   Another thing that Mary would have missed had she forgotten, was being commissioned as the first messenger of the resurrected Lord. She was the first to hear the heavenly tidings of the Gospel complete with the resurrection. This Gospel vindicated by the resurrection is the greatest message that ever was committed to man and was ever preached. Paul told Timothy to be unashamed of the Gospel of Christ because he could remember that God raised Him from the dead. With the resurrection there is no need ever to be ashamed of this great Gospel, for it is vindicated before the reason of men. Mary carried the news to the disciples.

   Mary was the herald of the era of grace, of the church, of missions, of world evangelism, of an ascended and glorified Christ, who had entered upon the throne of His spiritual kingdom. She announced first what has called forth our highest devotion and service ever since.

   We have considered Mary as the woman who could not forget. Let us all recall that the Lord's Supper was established by Christ as a symbol of remembrance. He said, "Do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19). Just as He is at the center of the Lord's Supper, so He should be at the center of our Christian faith and of our own lives. Mary takes her high place among women and among Christians because she remembered Him at all times, in all places. Can you, then, my friend, forget what He did for you when He died upon the cross and rose from the dead? Can you forget what He is now as Savior, Priest, and King, at the right hand of God? Can you forget what His purposes are in this world in the redemption of man? If you have forgotten, cast yourself at His feet now, and with a touch of faith cling to Christ and worship Him in gratitude and love.

Lest I forget Gethsemane,

Lest I forget Thine agony,

   Lest I forget Thy love to me,

    Lead me, O Lord, to Calvary.

   Yes, and lead me, Lord, to Thy feet in worship.

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