Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things.’ John 20:18

Mary Magdalene has been in the news recently, mainly because the book and film of the Da Vinci Code recycles an old story that she was the wife of Jesus and the mother of his children - this after he had amazingly survived crucifixion, got himself out of the tomb and wafted her off by boat to (of all places) the south of France.

There is, needless to say, no historical evidence for this piece of romantic fiction, any more than there is any real substance in the notion that Mary from Magdala had once been a prostitute. So, with her feast day falling this month (July 22nd), it might be a moment to ask what we really know about her.

She was a disciple of Jesus, one of a group of faithful women who followed him and supported him, it would seem, from their own resources (see Luke 8:1-3). At some time in the past Jesus had delivered her from some unnamed mental or moral bondage (Mark 16:9). Perhaps as a result of this, her devotion to him was exceptionally strong. It would probably be fair to say that no woman, except possibly his mother, was closer to Jesus or more deeply committed to him.

The most important thing about Mary Magdalene, however, was what happened on Easter morning. She went to the tomb with some other women, but Mary is the only one identified in all four Gospels as a first witness to the most important event in human history since the creation, the resurrection of Jesus. In John’s Gospel, Mary Magdalene alone has a tender and intimate encounter with the one she first calls ‘my Lord’ and then ‘my Teacher’. The response of Jesus to her baffled questions is simply to say her ‘pet’ name, ‘Miriam’. He told her not to ‘touch’, or perhaps better ‘cling to’ him - from now on their relationship would be a spiritual rather than an earthly one. No, Mary was not his wife, but she is to be honoured for all time as the first witness to the risen Jesus.