Mary Magdalene: Woman of International Mystery

This is my graduate paper from Liberty University Baptist Theological Seminary. Each is a lesson on the life of Mary Magdalene. Over the next couple of days, I am going to rewrite my lessons here for you all. Lesson 1 is called "Mary Magdalene: International Woman of Mystery."

According to the gospels, Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' followers; she was also woman Jesus had exorcised (cast demons out of). Other elements of Mary's life are that she was at the crucifixion and the first person that Jesus appeared to. The things that we don't know about Mary are "Was she married?"; Where exactly she lived?" and "How did she support Jesus' ministry?"; over the centuries these are the things that have been left to speculation and historical documents that are neither canon nor truth. Truly Mary Magdalene is an International Woman of Mystery.

Within history, there have been various stories told about women in the Bible, and unfortunately, we aren't given names. However, Pope Gregory the Great decided to elaborate and tell the stories as if they were one woman. Thus we have a very different picture of Mary Magdalene really was.

The true story of Mary Magdalene starts in the middle of her life. The earliest years of Mary's life are truly a mystery. When Luke introduces Mary to us, we learn that she is following the ministry of Jesus after He has cast seven (7) demons out of her life. We are invited to look at Mary Magdalene as she was walking out her faith with Messiah.

Luke 8:2 "and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary called Magdalene from whom seven demons had come out;" Not only are we introduced to Mary Magdalene, but we are introduced, though not by name, other women who had been healed or had demons cast out of their lives. Each one had a unique story, each one had a unique reason to be following Jesus, and none of them were called to follow Jesus, the way the twelve male disciples were. So why did they follow Jesus?

During the second temple period women weren't disallowed to learn the Torah or ways of the Jews, they were, however, not allowed to follow strange men around and learn from them. If a woman wanted to learn about religious thought, the woman had to go to her husband; following someone other than one's husband was considered scandalous!

To really understand Mary Magdalene, we really need to understand where she came from and how she became a "bad girl." What can we learn from someone that we aren't introduced to until middle age?

From her name we can almost without a doubt say that Mary Magdalene wasn't married. Whether she ever got married or was a widow, we can't completely honestly say, however, we can say that she came from a place called Magdala. In Hebrew this place was called Migdal, which mean fortress and in Greek Tarichea which meant salted fish and the Talmud called Magdala "Migal Nunya", meaning Fish Tower. The fishing industry was a big part of the economy. The town was also known, according to rabbinic literature for "Fallen women." In The Wars of the Jews, by Josephus, the city is sad to be surrounded by a great wall and about 40,000 people live in the city.
Now that we know a bit about where Mary Magdalene comes from, let's look at "who" Mary Magdalene is. Since the only introduction we have to Mary is in Luke 8:2, we have to use that information to decipher the who of Mary, the Why and the When. Let's take a closer look at Luke 8:1-3 "Soon afterwards He began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses; Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means."

According to these scriptures not only is Mary following Jesus, but also contributing to Jesus' ministry out of her private means. This would tell us that it's quite possible that Mary Magdalene was wealthy. Not only was the possibly wealthy, but it's a good probability she was a widow. As previously pointed out, a woman could learn Torah, but not follow a Rabbi that was not one's husband would have been unheard of and worse yet, scandalous!

The "bad girl image" of Mary Magdalene actually comes from Pope Gregory the Great. "The reason for Gregory's identifying these three women as the same person may have been due to the proximity in sound of the name Magdalene. However, this was just a legend started by a misguided priest to offer hope to the masses. In 1969, the Second Vatican Council described Mary Magdalene as "One whom Christ appeared after the resurrection." Gone were the titles that she was a sinful woman and Mary of Bethany; we now realize that Mary Magdalene wasn't a bad girl as we in the west have come to accept, rather she was "drawn that way."