Three days and three nights had come and gone. Her world had just been rocked off of its axis, and her life’s focus was gone. She followed Jesus since the day He had cast out the seven devils from her (Luke 8) and had changed her life forever. She watched people who should have been on the side of Jesus mock Him, saw the Romans beat Him, and then witnessed them crucify Him. She had been there to see the devastation take place (Matthew 27), and she watched as His body was buried in Joseph of Arimathaea’s own tomb. She observed as the stone was rolled into place, blocking the door. Jesus was dead and buried in a cold tomb. Where would she go from here? Life as she knew it since the day He had transformed her was once again changed forever, and she was devastated.
Mentioned nineteen times in the Gospels, Mary Magdalene was a follower of Jesus! The Bible says that she and her women friends …followed him, and ministered unto him;)… (Mark 15:41). She did not need a t-shirt or even a social media bio to tell the world that she was His greatest fan. She had always been there when He was there. She had served alongside of others who served in His name. In fact, fourteen of the nineteen times she is mentioned, she was found serving Jesus with other women. Jesus had given her a new life, and she had given that life to serve her Saviour.
That early morning, she could no longer stand by with nothing to do. How much she was like us ladies! In the midst of a crisis, many of us find comfort in helping others in need! Mary got her lady friends together and coordinated an effort to go to the tomb and anoint His body with spices. I can imagine they knew the promises of Jesus; they all knew He would live again, but perhaps the details were unclear. Perhaps the devastation they had witnessed—Jesus being crucified, the sky going black at midday, the earth quaking, the graves opening, the soldiers rolling a giant stone in front of the tomb—had made them waver on the belief that He would live again.
Imagine the surprise and the wonder they experienced upon seeing the stone rolled away and a shining angel telling them that Jesus lives! Imagine the breathless wonder of running down the path out of the garden with hearts pounding, and reaching the disciples with the words bursting forth, “HE IS RISEN!” Oh, to have been in that place on that unbelievable morning must have been incredible! How amazing it would have been to be the first to share the finale of the greatest story ever told and to go from a devastated ending to a glorious beginning in one monumental morning!
However, for Mary Magdalene, the story hardly ends there. After Peter and John ran to the garden and saw for themselves the empty tomb (John 20), they left Mary alone there in her confusion. I imagine her grief once again overwhelmed her as she stood there, now with not even His body to anoint. She bent and looked into the empty tomb with tears wet on her cheeks. There sat not Jesus but two angels who asked why she was crying. She explained that someone had taken His body; her mind was still not wrapped around the idea that He had risen.
How much like us she was! She knew the promises. The angels had explained where He had gone; but she remained unsure of whether or not the goodness of God could really be true. Even moments later when Jesus asked her why she was crying, she was so consumed in a cacophony of emotions, as we women so easily are, that she thought He was someone else. She did not even realize that He was the Person to Whom she had dedicated this new life of hers.
However, it was then that He said her name! He said just one word—just four small letters. Perhaps, the love in His words or the supernatural tone of the voice of the Son of God snapped her heart and mind back. He said her name, and it was then that she really SAW JESUS!
Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. – John 20:16
Mary’s devastation transformed into delight! Her grief turned into gratefulness! Her worry changed to worship! Her sorrow was wiped away by her Saviour! Once again, her life was changed by her Saviour, Jesus Christ!
I do not know the reason why Jesus in His risen body chose to appear first to Mary Magdalene. I would like to think that Jesus rewarded her because of her undying loyalty, her servitude in the shadows, and her life of dedication by showing Himself to her before He appeared to any of His other disciples or followers. She was a lady who once had been possessed by devils; she had no wealth and no earthly goods that we know of; and we do not read of her having any talents. She had just one simple life to give to Jesus Christ, and it was a once-broken, now-repaired life.
Oh, what a Saviour we get to serve! He takes our broken pieces, lovingly puts them together, and sees them as new! He takes our lack of talent, wealth, or pedigree, and makes us a new creature in Him! Regardless of where we are in life, I hope that each of us takes time often to reflect on how inadequate we are and then praise God for sending His Son to make us perfect in Him! Hallelujah, what a Saviour!
by Tracie S. Burns
