Mary Magdalene

It's a fascinating exercise to type a name into the Internet , and see what emerges.

I did this yesterday morning with the name of Mary Magdalene, as I was setting out my sermon, and a whole host of facts popped up, things I'd never even heard before.

It is said that

*14 years after the death of Jesus she was put in a boat by the Jews , without sail or oars-along with other notable saints, and the body of the mother of the Virgin Mary, i.e. St Anne, and set adrift.

They ended up on the shores of Southern France, where she spent the rest of her life as a contemplative in a cave.

*She was supposed to have been given the Holy Eucharist daily by angels as her only food, and died when she was 72.

In the Middle Ages her supposed tomb was venerated at Aix-en -Provence, on her  feast day 22nd July, that is today.

*Some sources have her dying in Ephesus in the company of St John, where her body was later taken to Constantinople.

*According to some texts she was actually the sister of Martha and Lazarus, and was very wealthy, descended from kings, and living in a castle called Magdalo, two miles from Nazareth.

* Some say she was a high priestess,of the temple of Ishtar, and  a keeper of doves.

*Some sources say she was married to Christ, others that she was the one described as the 'beloved disciple' and the real writer of the fourth gospel, but the church through the ages have tried to hide this fact, because she was a mere woman.

* Some say that Leonardo da Vinci was privy to knowledge of this information, and hidden in his famous picture of the 'Last Supper' is the interesting detail that the figure leaning towards Peter at the left of Jesus, is actually a woman.

All interesting stuff!

But all mere speculation.

What we do know,  is that she was a follower of Jesus, and that 'seven devils' had been cast out of her, by him. It had always been thought that she was a prostitute, but there is no actual text which says this.

 We know that she also ministered to Jesus in Galilee,(Lk 8v2) and later stood by his cross at the Crucifixion.(Mk 15v 40)

With two other women she discovered the empty tomb and heard the angels announce his 'Resurrection'(Mk 16v 1)

We are told she was the first to be granted an appearance of the Risen Christ early on the same day, which is the gospel reading before us today.(Mt 28 v 9 & Jn 20 v 11)

From early times she had been identified as the woman who was a sinner who anointed Christ's feet in the house of Simon the leper,(Lk 7 v 37) and with Mary the sister of Martha who also anointed him. (Jn 12v 3) but again the bible does not actually identify her as such, and the Roman Catholic Church has abandoned  teaching this.

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What impresses me when I read the scriptural texts about Mary, is firstly her whole hearted and fearless devotion to Jesus.

I don't know if you have ever seen the film Chariots of Fire. It is a film about the Olympic Games and the struggle by a man called Harold Abrahams to be the fastest sprinter in the world, but there's one scene where the viewer is allowed to look through the runner's eyes, down the track towards the finishing line.

He is being encouraged not to look to right or left, but to keep fully focussed on the corridor which leads to the goal.

For me this sums up the faith of Mary Magdalene.

She was there when Jesus needed her.

With tunnel vision and total commitment!

We in modern day Christianity seem so distracted in the acting out of our faith in comparison to hers.

She loved much because she had been forgiven much.

I was searching for the right word to describe her love for Jesus, and it hit me when I went to our vicar’s barbecue last week.

No, it wasn't at the point when I first saw him in his shorts doling out the veggie burgers.

It was when I looked at a plant growing up against the wall of his house. It was a Passion Flower, a Passiflora,  a climbing plant which is said to resemble the crown of thorns, the nails and other aspects associated with the death or passion of Christ. It was then I realised the word, that summed up Mary, for me.

 PASSION…in the sense of…..

strong emotion…..enthusiasm.

Would that we as Christians in today's world had more of it. More passion in our devotion, in desiring to be in the places where he would have been, talking and mixing with those he would have mixed with, doing as he would have done. Speaking just and right words he would have said. Taking risks for the kinds of things he believed we should be involved in.

If Mary Magdalene really was the woman described as the sinful woman who anointed Jesus' feet in Simon's house, then here again was the same kind of tunnel vision.

 Her eyes were fixed upon the task she was about to do for Jesus, regardless of the gossip, the inuendos, the scorn and sarcastic comments.

Only devotion….. (to the one who had loved her unconditionally, and had not asked for anything in return)… mattered to this woman, WHOEVER she was.

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Secondly what impresses me about Mary Magdalene is the fact that she was an "apostle to the apostles", the very first to carry the good news, instantly believing,  when they, his own disciples, were slow to believe.

She went to the disciples with the news, "I have seen the Lord!"

Perhaps she really knew what their reaction would be, perhaps she didn't, but she was again single -minded in her mission to tell the good news, regardless of the consequences.

If it was good news, others needed to know.

How could she keep such wonderful news to herself?

She was so spontaneous, uninhibited.

Let us hold this question in our minds this coming week……

Is there anything which  prevents us from sharing that good news with others?

We never seem to have a problem, announcing a marriage, a birth, an exam success, a new romance, a football result, a hole in one, a magnificent achievement.

Of all the good news we could tell, the news that surpasses all good news is that in Christ, his sacrifice has taken away our sin, and we are forgiven!

 We don't need to live in a condemned cell anymore, we have light in our lives instead of darkness,.

We have a God who loves us , a perfect Father, we shall share eternity with, no longer are we a lost people but God's people, his children.

Paul couldn't keep it to himself either. In our epistle today he tells out this good news too.

That in Christ we are a new creation, and that he died for us all.

That if anyone is in Christ the old has gone and the new has come.

When I asked John for a cutting of the Passion Flower last week, for this sermon today, his response was interesting. He said that depending upon what kind of weather it was, there was a chance that it would not open up for me, in order to demonstrate the parts which represented the crucifixion.

That is exactly a point I'm trying to make.

 Does it depend upon the present day climate or the atmosphere, before the church today will open up and share its good news, or is the church today closed and keeping the good news all to itself, looking inwards?

Is it running, bursting to tell good news or simply hoping those outside will chance by and come in?

Can you imagine what would have happened if Mary Magdalene had remained in the garden hoping that the others might drop in, and find out about the resurrection for themselves?

How passionate are we about Jesus?

What a privilege it is to belong to a church named after this apostle.