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| Noli me Tangere by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1524 (Copyright free image) |
This story is found only
in the Gospel of John, and is very much understated in the whole of the story
of Jesus Christ's resurrection. For Latter Day Mormons, it is a very important
story, and one that I think is missing from the other Gospels - maybe because
Mary only told it to John personally.
Everything about this
little story within a bigger story rings true to human nature as we know it. A
woman alone by an empty tomb, weeping, wondering what has happened to the body
of the Lord she loved. While the woman knelt alone weeping by the tomb Jesus
suddenly appears, she doesn't recognise him at first. Then the women so
overcome with joy and the spirit reaches out to touch the Christ she knows and
loves, who confides in her that he has not yet fully resurrected and come unto
his father. The vignette ends with the mourner turned into a missionary,
running to tell the others what she has just seen and heard.
Although Mary Magdalene
plays an important role in the life of Christ, the wider world knows very
little about her and her role in the life of Christ. What we as Latter Day
Mormons do know is that she is one of at least five different women named
“Mary” in the New Testament, and unless we are careful, we will get them
confused.
Mary Magdalene was one
of a group of women who became followers of Christ during his earthly ministry.
We know that she joined herself to Jesus in a way that no other women had ever
done, As Latter Day Mormons, we know through modern revelation that Jesus loved
her more than any other woman, indeed, more than any other of his disciples, and that they
indeed were married. It has been taught by people down the ages, and is still
taught by some, that Mary Magdalene was the woman caught in adultery (John
8:1-11), but there is no evidence in the text to support this claim.
Others suggest she was
the “sinful woman” who anointed the feet of Jesus in Luke 7:36-50, but the
Bible does not make that clear, either. There is some tradition among many
churches that it makes her a promiscuous woman, but there is no reason to say
that based on the facts. After a time throughout Christian churches she became
a symbol for repentant sinners who come to Christ from very chequered and
colourful backgrounds, this may in fact be true in her case, but we have no way
to be certain as to the validity of the stories attributed to Mary.
Far from doing Mary and
her reputation throughout the world good, it has meant that this wonderful woman
has been darkened and tainted with sin, sin which can not be proved she had
committed.
However, this much we do know: That through
her love and discipleship, Christ set her free, and liberated her from the world
that surrounded her - a world that had kept her chained figuratively to darkness. Mary
Magdalene is living proof that those whom the Lord sets free are free indeed.
Having been liberated from the world around her, she said to herself, "I love
him for what he did for me. I will follow him wherever he goes." And so when it
came time for our Lord to offer his life and was hung on the cross, she stood
nearby with Mary, his mother.
When they took his body
down from the cross, she was there to see that awful image of her Lord. When
they placed him in the tomb, she was sitting on a rock ledge, watching it all
happen (Matthew 27:61). And so when the Sabbath had concluded, Mary, this woman
whom the Lord had set free from the bondage of the world, this woman who loved
him and followed him, and this woman who was there at his death, now went forth
and purchased spices because she hoped to anoint his dead body. The Lord was
hastily buried on Friday in order to finish before sundown, which is why they
had not finished preparing his body.
Early on Sunday morning,
before the sun came up, she and the other women ventured through the darkness
to the Garden Tomb, expecting to finish the job of anointing the body of Jesus.
When the women came upon the tomb they found it empty, they were confused and
terrified. Then they saw and heard angels of the Father and they told them that
Christ had risen from the dead.
They returned to tell
the disciples who did not believe such a thing possible even though the Lord
has told them such things were possible and that he would be resurrected. And
so John and Peter went and investigated, and when they saw the linen wrappings
exactly where the body had been placed on Friday evening, they believed, now they
believed and they ran to tell the others of what they had seen. At that point,
Mary Magdalene returned to the tomb alone, confused, bewildered, in shock,
frightened, and of course at the very heart of it, brokenhearted, her beloved not
there, but missing. It has not yet occurred to her that the empty tomb meant
that Jesus had risen from the dead.
It has often been said
that Mary Magdalene was last at the cross and first at the tomb. Even though
this may sound a slight to Mary it must be remembered that that can not be said
of the men who followed Jesus, the men who lived by his side as she did, the
men who saw his do so many great and wondrous things.
Mary was the first to
see him alive and the first to hear his voice, this is the one person he chose
to see first, he chose her above his Apostles, and he chose his beloved. The
irony of the story is that when she saw him, she didn't recognize him. But when
the truth hit home, she became the first evangelist in Christian history. As
Latter Day Mormons we must always remember that Christ bestowed this great
honour on her because she loved him so deeply and so devotedly, and he loved
her.
Let us, therefore, be
inspired by this great woman of faith to be faithful in our devotion to Christ
and in our duties to honour God.
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