The Story of Mary Magdalene

Mary means ‘wise woman’ or ‘lady’. It is a Greek form of the Hebrew Miriam or Mariamme, and was the most popular woman's name at the time of Jesus.
Mary came from a town called Magdala, on the western side of the Sea of Galilee. She is often called Mary Magdalene.

What the story is about:

Mary Magdalene led a group of women who were prominent followers of Jesus of Nazareth. They were the main witnesses of all the events surrounding Jesus; crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection. The idea of women as primary witnesses does not seem very startling to people in the 20th century, but it was a revolutionary concept at the time. The testimony of women was not given the same weight as men's, either personally or in a court of law. When the Christian stories described Mary Magdalene and the other women as the first witnesses of the Resurrection, they were saying something important about the status of women within Christianity.

The story of Mary Magdalene contains four different episodes:
1 Mary Magdalene as a disciple of Jesus (Luke 8:1-3)
Mary is described as a woman whom Jesus cured of an unspecified illness. She led a group of women who provided for Jesus and his followers from their own financial resources.
2 Mary at the crucifixion (Mark 15:40-41, Luke 23:49, Matthew 27:55-56, John 19:25)
In each of the four accounts of the crucifixion Mary was present, either standing at a distance with other women, or standing near the cross.
3 Mary prepared Jesus’ body for burial (Luke 23:55-56, Matthew 27:61)
Mary watched as Jesus’ body was sealed inside the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. She could confirm that he was really dead. She and the other women prepared the spices needed for proper burial of a body.
4 Mary witnesses the resurrection (Mark 16:1-11, Luke 24:1-11, Matthew 28:1-10, John 20:1-18).
Mary found that Jesus’ body was no longer in the tomb. She received a message from an angel and was the first person to see the risen Jesus. She was thus the first witness of the resurrection.

The Magdalene, Bernardio Luini; this portrait is an example of the centuries-old confusion between Mary Magdalene and the woman with the alabaster jar

Throughout the centuries, Mary Magdalene was incorrectly portrayed in literature and art as a reformed prostitute. This happened because

MARY MAGDALENE AS A DISCIPLE OF JESUS

As Jesus moved throughout the country, teaching and talking about God, he was accompanied by a group of women. Mary Magdalene was the main woman in this group.
‘Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bring the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.’
(Read Luke 8:1-3)

Mary’s town of Magdala was a thriving center of the fishing industry, producing smoked fish in large quantities. It was also known as a manufacturing center for fine wool and woolen dyes. Many Greeks lived in Magdala, and the town had a worldly Hellenistic culture. Remains of the ancient town still exist, about two kilometers from the modern village of Migdel Nunya (meaning ‘fish tower’). This village was almost completely destroyed in the Arab-Israeli war.

From the earliest times, people believed that spirits and demons caused many illnesses. This was one way of explaining the presence of sickness or evil in the world. According to the thinking of the time, specific demons caused specific illnesses, for example schizophrenia, blindness, heart disease and epilepsy. The spirits could be

This third type of demon was thought to have entered Mary Magdalene. Mary had seven demons tormenting her, the number ‘seven’ indicating the severity of the illness.

Magdala was quite close to Nazareth and Cana, and Jesus probably visited the region a number of times. At some point in her life, Mary met Jesus, and he cured her of a severe illness. We do not know what the illness was, or whether the cure happened in one moment or over a period of time. Perhaps it occurred gradually, as her knowledge of Jesus developed.
In any event, she became the leader of a group of women who traveled with Jesus, and who supported him financially.

Two groups traveled with Jesus: a group of men, led by Peter, and a group of women, led by Mary Magdalene. It was the common practice for men and women to accompany each other when traveling, but they moved in separate groups. Mary and Peter seem to have been the leaders of these two groups. Unfortunately, the words and actions of the men were recorded, and the women's were not. Nevertheless, Peter and Mary should probably be seen as equal in their support for Jesus’ work, each contributing different things.

Other named women in the group led by Mary were Joanna and Susanna. Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward (Luke 8:3) was of high social standing, with connections at the royal court. A woman like this would not travel without a retinue of servants, including a recognized chaperone.

This was an important point, as far as Luke was concerned. One of the purposes he had in writing his gospel was to make Jesus acceptable to a wide audience, including the Gentile population of the Roman empire.

At the time Luke recorded the stories, everyone knew that Jesus had been executed as a criminal by the Romans. Many people in the 1st century Roman world found it difficult to reconcile this fact with the belief that he was the Son of God. So Luke took pains to show that Jesus was supported by well-connected, law-abiding people during his life.

Mary Magdalene, Mary of Nazareth, and John, in the film 'The Passion of the Christ'

MARY AT THE CRUCIFIXION

All four accounts of the crucifixion and death of Jesus say that women were at the scene, and Mary Magdalene was prominent among these women. She had been close to Jesus during his life. She stayed close to him as he faced death.
‘There were also women looking on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee. And there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.’
(Read Mark 15:40-41)

Matthew 26:56 makes the point that all the male disciples deserted Jesus and fled for their lives. But the women remained, standing as near as they dared to the spot where the soldiers were carrying out the brutal execution.
This does not mean that the men were more cowardly than the women. It was more dangerous for them to be near the execution site than it was for the women. The Romans saw Jesus as a dangerous rebel leader, and so they viewed Jesus’ male friends with suspicion. The male disciples might easily have been arrested as co-conspirators, so they kept their distance. Women were seen as less threatening and so their presence was tolerated.

‘The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.’
(Read Luke 23:55-56, Mark 15:47, Matthew 27:61)

The burial seems to have been done hastily, either because it was night or because of the approaching Sabbath. Pilgrims who died in Jerusalem and people who were executed were temporarily buried in graves for non-residents, and then later removed to the tomb of their family.
The presence of the women at the tomb was meant to highlight the factual nature of the burial: that Jesus was indeed dead, and that his body had been buried in the normal manner.
This point was later disputed by people who said that Jesus had not been dead, but merely unconscious. Since women’s testimony was not given the same weight as men’s in courts of law, this might have been a problem. Deuteronomy 19:15 stipulated that at least two or three witnesses were needed to prove that something had happened. But the gospels stress that as well as the women, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Council, was there, so the required number of witnesses was present at the tomb of Jesus to verify that he was really dead.

MARY WITNESSES THE RESURRECTION

According to Jewish law, ointments and spices could not be bought or sold on the Sabbath. Jesus’ death had been sudden, unexpected. The women did not have the necessary burial spices. So they waited until the Sabbath was over, bought the spices, and went to the tomb.
The women intended to wash and anoint the body of Jesus. This was a traditional task of Jewish women, as they prepared the bodies of family members for burial. It was a last, gentle service given to the body of the person they loved.

But when they got to the tomb, they found it empty of Jesus’ body. At this moment Mary had a profound revelation where she 'saw' and 'heard' Jesus. She understood in a way that is not easily explained that Jesus was no longer dead, but alive. She experienced what the gospels call an ‘angel’, a message from God that gave her an unshakeable conviction that Jesus lived.

‘But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.
They said to her “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him”.
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?”
Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away”.
Jesus said to her “Mary!”
She turned and said to him in Hebrew “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher).
Jesus said to her “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples “I have seen the Lord”. And she told them that he had said these things to her.’
(Read John 20:11-18, Mark 16:1-11, Luke 24:1-11, Matthew 28:1-10)

Mary saw and heard Jesus. She was the first witness of the Resurrection. She was convinced that he was alive, although she was too distraught to recognize him immediately. It is interesting that in this moment of extreme emotion she calls him 'rabbouni', the title his disciples would have used.

She did not call him by his own personal name of 'Jesus', which she surely would have done if she and Jesus had had the sort of intimate relationship that has been suggested in popular novels. She used the word she had always used as his name, 'rabbouni', teacher.

Jesus told Mary not to cling to him, but to let him go. He was telling her that their former way of life has ended, that she must let go and move on. They are words that are often said by those who seek to comfort and advise people who are grieving.

In a way the angel said the same thing: “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Death had happened, nothing would ever be the same. Your place is now with the living.

At the tomb, Mary was given instructions. She was told by Jesus or by the angel to “Go to my brothers and say to them….” Mary then ‘went and announced’. With these words Mary was commissioned as an apostle of Jesus (‘go and tell’ is apostellein in Greek). She was an apostle in the same way as the men (the Twelve and the other disciples) who were commissioned to spread the story of Jesus.

Until the third century, teachers in the Christian church referred to Mary as an ‘apostle’, and she is still called ‘apostle to the apostles’ by the Eastern Catholic churches. She has been one of the most revered figures in Christian history.

In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul does not include the women at the tomb among the witnesses to the Resurrection. According to his narrative, Jesus appeared to Cephas, and then to the twelve male disciples, then to 500 people, then to James, then to all the apostles. Mary of Magdala is not mentioned. Paul was writing to Greeks in Corinth, and sadly his letter reflects the culture of the Greeks, who viewed the testimony of women as unreliable.

Mary was present at all the major events in Jesus' life. She was there during his ministry, heard him teach, and may have been the major financial backer sustaining him and the group of disciples who followed him - pious writers have overlooked the practicalities of sustaining a group of men for several years, but Mary did not. She was there during the crucifixion and death of Jesus - all four gospels mention her presence, faithful to the end. Most importantly, she was there at the resurrection, the first witness of this world-changing event, and commissioned by the angel to 'go and tell', as an apostle to the apostles.

THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO THE STORY

Though he lived centuries before Christ, Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) influenced the Jewish world in which Mary Magdalene lived. Alexander was not merely a military conqueror, but a visionary with an ambition to spread Greek culture throughout the world.
There was much that was refined and intelligent in Hellenistic (that is, Greek) culture, and many Jews were tempted to adopt it. But as they did, they found that their own culture and identity were threatened. For this reason, Greek culture was resisted by many Jews and its influence was uneven.

For example, Nazareth where Jesus grew up was a conservative town that clung to traditional Jewish culture. But only a few miles away the town of Sepphoris showed strong Greek influence, with a Graeco-Roman theatre capable of seating 5000 people. So it is difficult to generalize about the impact of Greek culture. Nevertheless, its influence was pervasive, and eventually altered European thought and culture.

An aerial view of the ruins of Sepphoris, and a colonnaded street there that Jesus and Joseph may have helped to build

In 63BC the Roman general Pompey occupied Jerusalem. From that time until after the time of Jesus, Palestine was governed as a vassal state by the Romans. The ruler of Palestine from 37-4BC was Herod the Great, who was a great builder, founding among other things the seaport of Caesarea and the fortress of Masada. He rebuilt the Temple (the present-day Wailing Wall in Jerusalem dates from this time). He also helped to finance the Olympic games in Greece!
In 4BC Herod was succeeded in Judea by his son Archeleus, who mismanaged state affairs so badly that he was removed from office by the Romans, and replaced by an official called a procurator, who supervised the troops, gathered taxes, and administered criminal justice.

During these later years, most of Palestine was undergoing a serious economic recession. Despite the fertility of the land, there was unemployment and poverty throughout the country. The great building programs of Herod the Great had come to an end, throwing thousands of tradesmen out of work. Without a modern social security system to fall back on, the families of these unemployed men were in a serious situation.
The gospels show evidence of social dislocation and political unrest. Jesus’ arrest, trial and execution took place in a climate of political instability and economic uncertainty.

ATTITUDES TO WOMEN AT THAT TIME

Gospel stories are often discussed as if they happened in isolation, outside the real world. But in fact they occurred within a historical context, against a cultural background quite different to our own. Knowing about the world of the gospel gives the reader a better understanding of the stories.

Greek philosophy was greatly admired at the time of Jesus, and it had a profound impact on the way that people saw their world. One of the greatest philosophers, Plato, proposed the theory of dualism, suggesting that everything in the cosmos had an equal and opposite other. This theory had a profound impact on the way that women were viewed, and it was not to women's advantage. 'Woman' was placed in a category containing elements that were viewed as negative:

   Man   -                 Woman
   Civilization   -      Nature
   Reason/logic   - Emotion
   Good   -               Evil
   Light   -                Darkness

Keep in mind that
    Civilization was the ideal; Nature was mistrusted and potentially dangerous
    Logic and reason were admired, and emotion was to be subordinated.
    Goodness was always preferable to evil.
    Light, especially in the pre-industrial world, was preferred to darkness.

These are examples only, but they show that Platonic dualism placed women in a negative category. They were seen as closer to the natural/animal world than men. By nature they were irrational and untrustworthy, and therefore unfit to make their own decisions and govern their own lives. They had to be looked after and controlled, never treated as equals.

This differed from the traditional Jewish way of looking at the world, which saw all things in creation as integrated and complementary, rather than as opposites of each other. An example of this is the creation story of Eve, which relates that the first woman was created from a rib taken by God from Adam's side, thereby suggesting that a man could never be fully complete unless he was in partnership with a woman.

Jewish and Jewish/Christian women resisted the ideas of Platonic dualism, which patronized them and diminished their status. While Christianity remained a Jewish sect, the status of women within the Christian communities was high.

But as the ideas of Christianity moved out into the Gentile, Hellenised world, the first Christians found they had to use the Greek philosophical framework to explain their beliefs and be accepted. So Jesus' original ideal of mutual respect between the sexes was watered down and changed. Women found they were given roles that were acceptable in the outside, Hellenistic culture. In doing so, the Christian church stepped back from the radical ideals of the first Jewish/Christians.

Women were still powerful in the private sphere, but were shunted to the side in the public arena. This shows up, for example, in 1st and 2nd century re-tellings of the biblical stories. Where these stories had often had women as central characters, they now focused on men and male activities.

An example of this is the story of Moses’ birth in Josephus’ Antiquities (Josephus was a Jewish writer and historian of the 1st century BC).
In the original biblical telling of the story (in Exodus 1 and 2) the baby Moses is saved by the two midwives, by his mother, by his sister, and by Pharaoh’s daughter – all, obviously, women.

In Josephus’ retelling of the story written in about 94AD, the focus is largely on Moses’ father Amram. He performs many of the actions previously attributed to the women. Female characters in the story are changed. The mid-wives in Josephus’ retelling
    are Egyptian, not Hebrew
    are unnamed
    are not present at Moses' birth
    kill Hebrew babies, not save them.
The basic story of Moses’ birth remains the same, but the female dimension has been lost.

There were reasons for the changes Josephus made to the story. He was trying to counter the anti-Semitism that existed in Rome at the time, so he wrote about Jewish women who behaved like decent Roman matrons! This ideal of Roman womanhood had been vigorously promoted in a ‘back to basics’ program by the emperor Augustus and the Roman authorities.

The ideal Roman woman, they said, was a mother of many children, content with her household duties. She kept to her traditional role, in the home, and did not speak assertively to the men in her family. She did not enter the public world.