"An Exchange of Fear"

Today is the day when we honor Mary Magdalene, dedicated follower of Jesus. Legends about Mary Magdalene abound. In fact, Mary Magdalene is probably more well-known for the false details and unproven facts in her life. Sometimes she is identified as a former prostitute, but there is nothing in the Bible that backs up this rumor. Frequently, people identify her with the woman that anointed Jesus with the expensive perfume.

But there are no clues in the Bible text as to the identity of that woman, and no reason to believe that it might be Mary Magdalene. At times, Mary Magdalene has been confused with Mary of Bethany, Lazarus and Martha’s sister. It says in the Gospel of John, chapter 10, that Mary of Bethany was the one who anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair.

I went online and did a search for Mary Magdalene to see what kind of stuff is out there in cyberspace. One site gives this history of Mary Magdalene: "Mary was 27 when she married Jesus. Mary had her first child at age 30, a girl who they named Tamar. At age 34 she gave birth to their second child, a son who they named Jesus. Mary gave birth to her third child "Joseph" who was the all important grail child. Mary was 41 years old when she had Joseph.

It said that Mary was Gnostic and Jesus respected her right to choose her own religion. Mary Magdalene died in A.D. 63 aged 60 years old. She died in southern France." This site also suggests that the Roman Catholic Church has suppressed the true history of Mary Magdalene. This also ignores the crucifixion and ascension, which happened somewhere between 30 and 33 A.D., and all of the other textual evidence or lack thereof.

Another site I visited laid out a fairly scholarly argument that Mary Magdalene was the author of the Fourth Gospel. That’s right - what we call the gospel of John, they attribute to her. Supposedly, she was the "beloved disciple" described in that gospel. Although it was interesting, that argument dismisses too much internal and external evidence. So besides learning that you can’t believe everything you read on the internet, what did I learn about Mary Magdalene? Not much.

But after a brief glance at the four Gospels, I did come to the conclusion that she probably wasn’t a prostitute, probably didn’t anoint Jesus’ feet, wasn’t married to Jesus, and didn’t write the Fourth Gospel. So what do we really know about Mary Magdalene? Very little of her life is known to us by the stories of the Bible. We simply don’t know a lot of the things that we wish we knew. We can assume that her name "Magdalene" refers to Magdala, a town near Tiberias (in present day Israel), where she must have lived or grown up.

Other than the crucifixion and resurrection accounts that mention her name, the only other story about Mary Magdalene is in Luke chapter 8. Mary Magdalene is identified in a list of women who traveled with and provided for Jesus and the disciples out of their resources. Mary Magdalene was freed from seven demons (according to the text), but it is not clear exactly what kind of bondage she was freed from. We just don’t know what effect the demons had on her. But we do know that she was healed and given new life in Jesus. The truth is, we really don’t know what her old life looked like, and the bottom line is, is that it doesn’t really matter.

Mary Magdalene loved Jesus deeply. She held an important place in his life and ministry. She was present both at Jesus’ crucifixion and at his burial. She was one of the devoted women who came early in the morning to what turned out to be an empty tomb that first Easter Sunday morning. According to our text, Mary Magdalene was the first one to actually see the resurrected Jesus. She was the one who ran to tell the others.

But she was also the one who stayed at the tomb after the others had seen it empty, seen the linen cloths that had been wrapped around the dead body of Jesus, and with no further investigation, just went home. She was the one who stood there in tears because she could not find Jesus’ body and she was afraid she would not be able to anoint Jesus body and perform that one last deed of love and respect that she wanted so badly to do.

Sometimes we give up on God too quickly. We pray a quick prayer asking God to help, and when we don’t hear a positive answer in a day or two, we wonder why God ignored our prayer. Or we ask God to intervene in a situation and then we try to solve the problem ourselves or take it into our own hands. We move on too quickly when there’s no immediate action. Mary Magdalene persisted. She waited. She didn’t let outward appearances deter her from what she was seeking. She wanted to find Jesus even though it looked impossible, so she stayed. Somehow she couldn’t believe it and wouldn’t leave him behind yet. Mary Magdalene was persistent.

Mary did not put on airs or act her way through this situation. You can see Mary’s heart all the way through. When a man who she assumed to be the gardener asked what she was looking for, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." This woman sincerely believes that she can carry Jesus’ adult male body back to the tomb.

Once she realized to whom she was speaking, once she recognized the gardener as her precious Teacher ("Rabboni"), once Jesus told her to go share the news of his resurrection, nothing could stop her from telling others. Mary Magdalene has been called the "Apostle to the Apostles", because of her role in telling Jesus’ disciples about the empty tomb. And then she brought the news to the disciples: "You’ll never believe it, but I have seen the Lord!" She told them what she had seen and experienced. She was the only one who stayed at the tomb, and she was the only one who saw Jesus. Mary was so excited she could not keep her enthusiasm to herself. She was bursting at the seams to share the best news she had ever heard. Mary was enthusiastic.

Have you ever just been overflowing with enthusiasm and with some good news that you just had to share with everyone you met? I mean, you’re walking through the grocery store, and you wish you could scream out that the most incredible thing that just happened to you! Maybe it’s a great trip you took or a powerful movie you saw or a fabulous restaurant you ate at or something big that happened in your family. But whatever it is, you just feel like sharing it with everybody you see? That’s the kind of enthusiasm that Mary Magdalene had about Jesus’ resurrection. Seeing Jesus, risen from the dead, was the best thing that ever happened to her.

Why is it that we can easily share news of a family event or a trip or a movie or restaurant, but we balk at sharing the best news of all - the news of Jesus’ resurrection? What matters more - a movie with a good plot or Jesus overcoming the power of sin and death once and for all? What matters more - a really good steak, or the Son of God coming back to life?

Through faith and through the words of Scripture, we have witnessed the same event that Mary Magdalene did. We know that Jesus was raised from the dead. We know we are freed because he broke the bonds of sin and death once and for all. It is almost unbelievable to think that we will not share the good news of Jesus with the same joy and enthusiasm that Mary Magdalene expressed when she told the disciples about Jesus’ resurrection appearance.

One of the reasons we commemorate various saints is so we can learn by their example. I think we can learn from her devotion to Christ which was driven by her knowledge of what He had freed her from. She knew the reality of life under the powers of darkness and the glorious freedom which she found in Christ. Maybe the reason so many Christians live such poor a spiritual life is because they have never realized the depths from which they have been saved. Maybe this morning the lesson we can all learn from Mary is gratitude to Christ for releasing us from sin and death by his sacrificial death on the cross.

Standing outside and empty tomb, with arms full of spices and a broken heart, she utters the truest words in the midst of tears ‘we do not know where they have laid him.’ She didn’t know where He was but He knew exactly where she was. She had come to the last place she had left Him – the tomb. She remained there, even when everyone else left and she was rewarded with the resurrected Lord calling her by name. The fear she experienced as she looked for Jesus in the cemetery was exchanged for indescribable joy.

Maybe there are some of you in here this morning and you are just like Mary Magdalene – your heart is breaking and you can identify with those words ‘we don’t know where He is." Maybe this morning you really don’t know for sure where Jesus is in your life. Maybe you’re not sure where you are in your relationship with him. Maybe you have come here and you are not even sure why you are here – but you know you had to come because something in your heart and soul said this is where you will meet with Him.

This morning I want to assure with the assurances that we have from God’s Word – He is here and He is calling your name. How will you know He is calling your name? Because in your heart there will be a restlessness.

Your heart is restless because you know everything you have heard this morning, or on previous mornings, applies to you – it is like there is no one else in this church but you and Jesus. He is calling you by name. Now the response is up to you. Mary fell at His feet in humble adoration – empowered by the Holy Spirit, may you do the same.

Finally there is a challenge to us all as a church this morning. Jesus commanded Mary Magdalene to go and tell the disciples that He had risen from the dead and that she had met with the risen Lord – she went and did what she was commanded. There is a lesson there we are empowered to follow. We say we have met with the risen Christ. We say He has freed us from sin and death – well who would know? Who have we told? Is it not about time we told those we love? Is it not about time we actually told people this wonderful news?

Mary Magdalene – learn from her devotion to Christ, her honesty in the face of pain, her searching for Jesus and follow her example of telling others that He is risen from the dead. Amen.