A Note About Jesus and Women

I have seen the Lord!

So said Mary Magdalene to the disciples after she ran to tell them about the empty tomb. It was resurrection day and Jesus had appeared to Mary. She was the first of all of His followers to see Him. Later that evening Jesus would appear to a gathering of the disciples who would also rejoice that He was alive. 

After Jesus suffered, died, and rose again “he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke abut the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). Jesus would then tell His followers, men and women, to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. They would be empowered to go and preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

In this study we will share the stories of women who interacted with the Lord. All of these women could exclaim with Mary Magdalene, I have seen the Lord!” Unfortunately, in many pulpits in America, the stories of women are neglected. Jesus not only interacted with many women, but that He also modeled the way that society should treat women. 

Jesus did not try to change the culture by preaching about gender issues. Jesus simply modeled the way as He went about treating women like equal human beings. He shocked His disciples on many occasions, but He expected them to learn from Him. He expected them to see that in His kingdom women as well as men were to serve. He did not hand out specific job descriptions; He meant for women to follow Him in whatever way they were called.

Mary of Magdala – Apostle to the Apostles

There is probably no woman in the Bible that has been as misunderstood as Mary of Magdala, also called Mary Magdalene. The church has often portrayed her as the sinner who wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair. But that text in Luke’s Gospel does not name the woman, and it is not likely that the woman spoken of there is Mary. Others have thought that she is the woman taken in adultery in John’s Gospel. Again, there is no reason to suppose that. We really are not told much about Mary’s former life. We should be careful and see just what the Bible does say about her.

Apart from Jesus’ mother Mary, Mary of Magdala is mentioned more than any other woman in the Gospels. All four Gospel writers portray Mary as one of Jesus’ most faithful followers. As an eye witness to the important events of Jesus’s death and resurrection, it is crucial that we study about her. Let’s begin by turning to Luke 8:1-3 where we will find Jesus traveling about with the Twelve and some women followers.

After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means. 

The apostle Luke first mentions Mary when he tells us about the women who were following Jesus and the disciples ministering to their needs. These women were not only above reproach but were committed followers of Jesus. They shared in all of the hardships of traveling disciples. There was nothing immoral suggested about the women followers. We can be sure that Jesus and his disciples would not do anything that would ruin their reputations. Actually, the only problem was that in that culture it was unthinkable for women to be in training as disciples. But Jesus broke the mold of the Jewish culture when He encouraged women to be his disciples. 

Jesus’ enemies were always looking for ways to accuse Him. But no one could ever make accusations against the Lord for the way He treated women. Jesus thought that it was important for women to be disciples and learn from Him. He was kind and cared for them. One of these women was Mary Magdalene. We are only told that Jesus cast seven demons out of her. Once Jesus freed Mary from the demons her life was changed forever. She was no longer in bondage to them; she was free, and as a very grateful woman she chose to follow Jesus and minister to Him for the rest of her life.

The subject of demon possession seems very foreign to our modern ears. We do not really understand it in our day, especially in our culture. There are other places in the world, such as Haiti, where people fool around with demons, but to most of us they just don’t seem real.

For people in the area of Magdala in the first century, demons were very real. Magdala was a fishing village near Capernaum on the shore of Galilee. Apparently this area was a hotbed of demonic activity. Jesus had already exorcised a number of demons in that region. This was the home-town of Mary of Magdala.

Though it seems unbelievable to us, there really are fallen spirit creatures called demons that indwell afflicted individuals. We have several stories in the Bible where these demons even talk through the lips of the possessed person. Jesus confronted many demons and healed many people from them.

Notice that Jesus “healed” them. Scripture portrays demon possession as an affliction. While sin may have played a part in the demon possession, none of the demoniacs in the Bible is explicitly associated with immoral behavior. These men and women were seen as tormented, unwilling people suffering wretched indignities at the hand of evil spirits. They were miserable, forlorn, heartsick, and pitiable creatures. Often the demoniacs were insane. Most of them had various illnesses. They were shunned by society and so they were ill-nourished and very poor. 

This was the life of Mary of Magdala when Jesus found her. Her demonic possession must have been very severe; she had seven demons. So, after her deliverance Mary had the strongest of reasons to love and follow the Savior. Jesus had saved her from much torment and misery. He rescued her from illness that probably would have led to an early death. 

It is important to note here that no demon-possessed person in the Bible went to Jesus for help. Someone usually pointed them out to Jesus or He simple approached them Himself in His travels. The demon-possessed were often very defiant and usually asked Jesus to leave them alone. Mary no doubt would have been disabled by the evil demons to seek Jesus.

This is another beautiful part of Mary’s story. She didn’t have to seek Jesus; He sought her. Jesus drew her out of her darkness into the light. Some people, like the apostle Paul, don’t ask for Jesus in their lives, but Jesus chooses them. This should be an encouragement to us. Jesus looks past the sin and misery of our lives to what we can become. And Mary became a leader among women. 

Since the Bible portrays those who were possessed as afflicted with disgusting symptoms of illness, we have no reason to believe that Mary was involved in any immoral behavior either before or after she met Jesus. No one would have wanted to come near her, let alone have intimate contact with her.

Again, Jesus showed His compassion and mercy. Just as He was willing to minister to those with leprosy or other untouchable diseases, He was willing to heal Mary. What a transformation! No wonder Mary became a faithful, grateful follower all the days of her life. Her love for Jesus and her gratitude for her healing enabled her to devote her life, along with some other women, to wholeheartedly serving Jesus. Luke tells us that she voluntarily used her own means to do this.

When Jesus was arrested, tried, and crucified, Mary followed Him, and stayed near to Him right to the bitter end. We know that she was at the cross with other women. “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.” (John 19:25) We know that most of the other disciples had scattered, but the women, including Mary stayed close by. For the account of Jesus’s crucifixion and death turn to Matthew 27:45-56.

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud vice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”

Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to same him.”

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

… When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

It must have been agonizing for Mary to watch the death of her beloved Lord. There was a mob there, screaming and shouting hatred at Christ. But she did not shrink away. In fairness to the men who had scattered, they were probably in greater peril than the women. The Romans may not have considered the women a threat. Still the Gospel writers did not hesitate to tell the true story of the disciples’ abandonment of Jesus. They were also willing to give the women full credit for their courage to remain at the cross.

Mary stayed close to Jesus to the end. Her thoughts and emotions are not recorded for us. But when Joseph of Arimathea was given permission to bury Jesus, she followed him to see the tomb where Joseph took Him and how His body was laid. She went home and prepared some spices and perfumes, and then rested, because it was the Sabbath. 

Turn with me to one of the most beautiful stories in the Scriptures. This story is about the love of Jesus for His children. When Jesus rose from the dead He could have gone into Jerusalem and appeared to the apostles immediately. Instead He remained by the tomb until Mary came. Mary, this woman who had gone from the brink of hell to the heights of rapturous joy of knowing Jesus. Mary had been to the tomb and not found her Lord. She did not understand where Jesus was. 

Let’s turn to John 20:1-3 and witness the love and compassion of the Savior, Jesus. 

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

Let’s pause here for a moment. We have more details from the other Gospels about who went to the tomb on the first day of the week. From Mark’s and Luke’s Gospels we know that several women including Mary Magdalene went to the tomb very early in the morning. The stone was already rolled away and an angel told them that Jesus was risen. They remembered what Jesus had said and believed. They ran back to tell the disciples, but the disciples “did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.” (Luke 24:11) Peter and John went to look, but only found the strips of linen cloth inside the tomb. John says that he “saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.” (John 20:8,9)

Mary, who loved her Savior so much, just couldn’t stay away. She went back to the tomb hoping to find Jesus. Continue in John 20:11-18:

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 

They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. 

Mary had the privilege of being the very first witness to Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus gave her a very special honor. She was the first person to see Him after He rose from the dead. Others had heard the announcement from angels, but Mary had the special honor to be the first to see and speak to Jesus Himself. “When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he dad driven seven demons.”(Mark 16:9)

Then Jesus commissioned Mary to be the first to proclaim His resurrection. When Mary announced Jesus’ resurrection to the other disciples she became the first preacher of the Good News. 

Mary may have had a terrible past, but Jesus gave her a wonderful future. This was a special tribute paid to a faithful disciple. No one can ever share that honor with her or take it away from her. As women, we can and should try to imitate Mary in her deep love and commitment for Christ. 

It is ironic that in a day when women were not listened to that Jesus chose to appear to them first. Because Mary proclaimed the resurrection first, she has been called the Apostle to the Apostles. Early church historians inform us that Mary was a leader in the church.

Application

Mary’s story assures us that Jesus treated women equally with men. The late Dorothy Sayers put it very well in her essay, “Are Women Human?” when she said:

Perhaps it is no wonder that the women were first at the Cradle and last at the Cross. They had never known a man like this Man … A prophet and teacher who never nagged at them, never flattered or coaxed or patronized … who rebuked without querulousness and praised without condescension; who took their questions and arguments seriously; who never mapped out their sphere for them, never urged them to be feminine or jeered at them for being female … Nobody could possibly guess from the words and deeds of Jesus that there was anything [inferior] about woman’s nature.

Discussion Questions

1. Modern media and movies portray Mary of Magdala as a prostitute. How can you respond to that? 

2. Describe what it was like for Mary to be taken from the depths of despair to the heights of joy when she met Jesus.

3. Women followed Jesus and the Twelve ministering to them. How do women minister in the church today?

4. Why is it significant that women were the first at the cradle and the tomb and last at the cross?

5. How should the church respond to the stranger and the outcast?

Handout for Lesson 8–

Women of God – Mary of Magdala

I have seen the Lord (John 20:18)

Notes:

Mary’s Conversion
Luke 8:1-3

Mary’s Relationship with Jesus

Mary’s Relationship with the disciples and the other women

Discussion Questions:

1.Modern media and movies portray Mary of Magdala as a prostitute. How can you respond to that? 

2. Describe what it was like for Mary to be taken from the depths of despair to the heights of joy when she met Jesus.

3. Women followed Jesus and the Twelve ministering to them. How do women minister in the church today?

4. Why is it significant that women were the first at the cradle and the tomb and last at the cross?

5. How should the church respond to the stranger and the outcast?

Scriptures for next week: Mary of Bethany – Luke 10:38-42; John 11:1-45; 12:1-8.