Why was Mary chosen to see Jesus alive as she stood weeping outside his tomb?

    Mary Magdalene was from a town several miles from Jerusalem. She is identified by name in the gospels fourteen times. Her association with Christ began after she was saved from torment. Was she immoral before then? The Bible is silent about her prior life except for the reference to the seven spirits cast out of her by Jesus.

    The Davinci Code insinuates that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus. There is no evidence to that at all. If Jesus had taken a wife, there would have been no sin in doing so. However, the record is clear. Jesus was unmarried and he had no children. He knew his life would be cut short, with much suffering, so he chose not have a family other than his half-brothers and half-sisters. They were all born to Mary and Joseph in the ordinary way following Jesus’ supernatural birth. For Bible references to Jesus’ siblings, see Matthew 13:53-56, Mark 3:31-34, Luke 8:19-21 and John 7:3-13. Jesus’ family today is huge! It is everyone, everywhere who is born of the Spirit!

    Some facts about Mary Magdalene are clear. Mary became a devoted follower of Jesus. (Luke 8:1-3) She and other women are listed among his supporters as part of his team. Surprisingly, Jesus elevated women. His respect for women was contrary to Judaism. His kingdom was creating a counter-culture that he modeled for us within the micro-community of his team. That team was a small church being formed of men and women disciples and twelve apostles. Women were sitting at Jesus’ feet and were included among the 120 in the Upper Room at Pentecost. (Acts 1-2) In Judaism back then, women were treated like slaves just like ISIS. I can show how the modern church’s prejudice against women is wrong for trying to use the Bible to “keep women in their place.” That view is based on erroneous interpretations of Paul’s texts. Women should be treated as equals in the family, the church, the ministry, and all of society. Prejudice against women was (and always will be) out of character for Jesus or his followers.

    Mary Magdalene is famous because of two things: her deliverance from demons and her being the first eyewitness of Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus drove seven evil spirits out of Mary. Concerning her deliverance, suffice it to say that her troubles with tormenting spirits came to an end on the day Jesus set her free. There is much more to be said about this, which many people are ignorant of, but we have to leave it here.

    Mary was privileged to see the risen Savior first. It amazed me to notice how the men were deliberately bypassed. As you study the four parallel passages in the gospels, Jesus timed his appearance so that his male apostles, all of whom had been cowering behind closed doors for fear of the Jews, were sidestepped so that Mary – a woman with no “ticket to fame” except the devil had tormented her and now she loved Jesus – was selected to be his first eyewitness, a female herald of the good news to the apostles and other disciples. Later, Jesus appeared to them all in Galilee. Mary’s trail then vanishes.

    This event of Jesus being raised up by God is celebrated all over the world by the whole church. His resurrection split the world’s calendars into BC or AD. This holy day is more correctly Resurrection Day but Easter will do. By the way, the early church called Sunday, “The Lord’s Day,” to honor Jesus’ resurrection on the first day of the week. We are fortunate in this. With the Jewish Sabbath on Saturday and the Christian observance on Sunday, humanity gets a bonus – weekends!

    Ron Wood is a writer and minister. He and Lana live in Arkansas near their six lovely grandchildren. Write him at wood.stone.ron@gmail.com. More articles at www.touchedbygrace.org.