Book Notes – Whatever Happened to Mary Magdalene?

Mary Magdalene (Public Domain Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In my novel, Eyewitness, Mary Magdalene plays a prominent role on Good Friday. Here is a brief description of her attempt to anoint Jesus before his entombment:

“‘Hurry, hurry,’ Joseph had urged, ‘the Day of Preparation is over. The Sabbath is upon us. We must be done before the evening watch.’

“Well that set off the Magdalene again. She screamed, ‘We cannot bury Jesus without anointing him!’

‘No time. No time,’ Joseph retorted. ‘Bring Jesus in now; wrap him in this shroud.’

‘I have oils in my bag,’ cried the Magdalene, ’Myrrh and aloe. From Nicodemus. It will only take a few minutes.’ When he said no, she threw herself down, crying hysterically and writhing on the ground. Her breath grew strained, her legs twitched, and her fists bent into knots. She went into a seizure.”

“Poor thing,” said Leah.

“They all turned to the Nazarene’s mother for direction. Unruffled, she said, ‘Mary will recover as soon as her nervous energy is spent. My son would sometimes hold her and kiss her temple when she fell into a fit, like this one. Then it would pass.’”

Jacob said Nicodemus had nodded compassionately. ‘John,’ Jesus’ mother said, ‘hold Mary so she does not hurt herself.’

“Joseph then directed the women to continue with the preparations. Before long, the Magdalene calmed. She lay lifeless in John’s arms before reviving and blinking rapidly. The mother kissed the Magdalene on the forehead.

I heard her say, ‘We’ll come back after the Sabbath. You will be the first to see Jesus again.’”

***

In Mark’s Gospels, we learn Jesus cleansed Mary Magdalene  of “seven demons.” (Magdalene itself is most likely a reference to the town of Magdala, a fishing village on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee]. Immediately afterwords, we are told she sat at Jesus’ feet listening to him preach. Later on, Matthew and Mark say she witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion and burial. They are joined by John in confirming she was the first witness to the resurrection. She discovered the empty tomb on Easter morning and is the first to see Jesus after his death.  “I have seen the Lord,” she tells the apostles. And then? Nothing except snippets in the Gnostic Gospels of Thomas, Philip, and Mary. And, of course, 2,000 years of legends, culminating in the fantastic proposition that she fathered Jesus’ child and ended up in Provence, France.

What really happened to Mary of Magdalene?  Certainly, the leadership of the early Christian Church was dominantly masculine. Many theologians believe this accounts for silence about her in the Acts of the Apostles and the Letters of Paul. The one exception is the Gospel of John. He emphasizes her special role in the early Church, calling her the “apostle of the Apostles.” In recent times, both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have recognized Mary of Magdalene’s unique relationship with Jesus. In John Paul’s words, she exemplifies Jesus’ power to change one’s life if we “ask for His help.”  Regarding the events of the crucifixion and resurrection, he makes it clear that Christ “entrusted divine trust” not just to “men but also to women.”  In a 2006 speech, Benedict reiterates Mary’s contribution to Christianity after Jesus’ cured her of a tormenting illness and made her the first witness to the resurrection.

Related articles

• Mary Magdalene & Lloyd Dobler (goingtothesea.wordpress.com)
• Jesus Has Risen (dailybiblestudy.com.au)