Magdalene
Today is the feast day of probably the most talked about woman in Jesus' life, Mary Magdalene.
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was laid. When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you." - Mark 15:47-16:7
Speculation abounds about her.
Was she a prostitute?
According to an article in Smithsonian Magazine, written around the time when The DaVinci Code was popular, this is false. Much of what we have come to believe about Mary is derived from a compilation of oral traditions which may have painted a composite picture of the woman.
We do believe she was cured of seven demons by Jesus, though there isn't much clarity on that. And it is believed that she went on to be a big supporter of Jesus and his apostles, but that isn't clear either.
She was devoted, and stayed devoted to the end and beyond, going to the tomb with the other Mary and then bringing the news to the disciples and Peter.
What the article points out, and it makes sense to me, is that with very little to go on in these stories, we tend to pull together the fragments into a whole picture that may or may not be true. And the portrait we paint of Mary is one of a repentant sinner, something we can all relate to.
So Mary, for us, is our shining lamppost, our reminder that Jesus is love and through that love all of us can be saved.
More to come...