Coeur d Alene Sunrise – Photo by Michael Clark
Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar. (Ps 138:6, NIV)
In chapter twenty of John’s gospel we read about Jesus making first contact with a human after He rose again from the dead on the third day. We might expect that He would have chosen to manifest Himself to one of the more prominent disciples like Peter or even John, the disciple whom Jesus loved. He did not choose either of them, although they were among the three followers that came to the His tomb the morning of the third day. No, Jesus chose to make Himself known to Mary Magdalene.
Mary was a woman that had been possessed by seven demons and had been ravaged by many men in her lifetime and suffered much rejection as a result. But Jesus saw something to be treasured in Mary. He delivered her and healed her of everything Satan had done to her. She was looked down upon by her own people and rejected, but Jesus chose this weak woman to confound Simon the Pharisee and His very own disciples in their self-righteousness as they judged her and Him (See Luke 7:36-50 and Matthew 26:6-13). Mary loved Jesus very much because she had been forgiven much. I know hundreds of Christians who, in their own minds, are not all that bad compared to people in this world. I have found that their love is very thin as a result. I once thought I was pretty good as well (and judgmental) until I was prompted to ask God how HE saw me instead of how I thought He saw me. What He showed me was a self-righteous hypocrite. It didn’t take me long to cry out to Him to change me. The purging of my heart is what has taken so much time.
So it was Mary who had been a harlot that Jesus chose to appear to first and to spread the good news that He had risen. There is a very touching scene that John captured in his gospel about their miraculous meeting.
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” (John 20:1-2, ESV2011)
She rose up early while it was still dark so that she could be with Jesus, though she knew He was dead. Finding the tomb empty, she was distraught. She got Peter and John to go back with her and these two went inside and saw that the tomb was empty except for the grave clothes that Jesus had been wrapped in. Then these two men did something strange… they went home! John records, “for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.” Not to be so easily deterred, Mary stayed, hoping to find out what happened to His body so she could take care of it herself.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her. (John 20:11-18, ESV2011)
Through her tears Mary spoke with angels and with her risen Lord, but still did not understand it was Him until He called her by her name, “Mary.” When I go to a restaurant, I always look for a name tag on the server so I can call them by name. There is something about being called by our name that makes us feel closer to someone when we meet them. This intimate touch of hearing Him speak her name once more was all that was needed to awaken Mary to who He was. She answered in her native tongue, “Rabboni.” At this moment, she must have rushed to Him and hugged Him with overflowing love, because He warned her that He had not ascended to the Father, yet. He then said to her, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” This story is no cold liturgy that was carefully scripted by the intellects of religious men. This was an outpouring of love between Christ and a lowly woman who counted for nothing in human society. He told her that His God was her God, and His Father was also her Father. Jesus came to restore all men and women to His Father that we can know Him as OUR Father, too. What joy can also be ours if we will only give up our dead religious routines as well as our sin and seek intimacy with Him
All through the Bible God chose the lowly to manifest Himself to and many of them were women. Jesus’ very blood line came down through numerous rejected, barren women God did a miracle for and gave them hope. His own mother, Mary, was lowly in a no account town named Nazareth, but the angel that appeared to her told her that she was highly esteemed in the mind of God saying, “Hail, you that are highly favored, the Lord is with you: blessed are you among women.” She was to become the mother of the Messiah. We may think of ourselves as nothing in the eyes of God and men, but God chooses the lives of the lowly and the abased to fulfill His will.
For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the LORD. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope. When you call out to me and come to me in prayer, I will hear your prayers. (Jer 29:11-12, NET)
Dear Father, give us hearts like that of Mary, hearts that will not give up until we are one with you and your Son. Amen.
A Wilderness Voice 
Excellent and God-breathed words, Michael! 🏆🏆🏆
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Susanne, your relationship with Jesus has often inspired me to keep seeking Him in ever deeper ways. Thank you. ⭐
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You are welcome, my brother.
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Thank you, Michael, for pointing out that Peter and John went home. I wonder what that might signify in the spirit….
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And amen to your prayer!
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Louise maybe they just woke up too early and need some more sleep. Jesus could not get them to stay awake and watch with Him a couple nights earlier. I know that sometimes when I am feeling depressed I go to bed and try to sleep it off. 🙂 I am sure that they had those feelings to deal with, especially Peter after denying Him in such a public way. Anyway, it was not long until He appeared to them all, alive from the dead, and they were never to be the same after receiving the Holy Spirit.
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Thanks
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Patricia wrote,
What a beautiful teaching of Mary, Michael, a beautiful message of our Lord for our lives. What a beautiful heart this woman has (may the Lord give us hearts like hers), to follow Christ despite the cost. And that cost is the absolute death to our own life and the total breaking to our self.
She did not measure the cost; she gave up her goods to serve Christ, she stayed when all fled in terror and insisted so much on seeing Jesus, that he revealed Himself to her before going to appear first to the Father and before everyone else, His disciples. May the Lord open our hearts to this profound teaching.
A hug
—
Qué bella enseñanza de María Michael, hermoso mensaje de nuestro Señor a nuestras vidas. Qué corazón tan hermoso el de esta mujer, que el Señor nos dé esos corazones, para seguir a Cristo a pesar del costo. Y ese costo es la muerte absoluta a nuestra propia vida y el quebrantamiento total a nuestro yo.
Ella no midió el costo, entregó hasta sus bienes para servir a Cristo, ella se quedó cuando todos huyeron despavoridos e insistió tanto en ver a Jesús, que Él se reveló a ella antes de ir a presentarse primero al Padre y antes de todos los demás dicìpulos. Que el Señor abra nuestro corazón a esta profunda enseñanza. Un abrazo
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Thank you, Patricia. Yes, may we all grow into a love like Mary had for Jesus. He deserves nothing less.
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YES MIKE WE ALL CAN LEARN A LOT FROM MARY AND THE MOTHER OF JESUS—AFTER ALL SHE WAS THE FIRST ONE INDWELT!
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Ken, what I learned from Mary, the mother of Jesus, was that her biologic status did not necessarily match her spiritual understanding and maturity.
And when they [Joseph and Mary] saw him [young Jesus teaching in the temple], they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why have you thus dealt with us? behold, your father and I have sought you sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that you sought me? knew you not that I must be about my Father’s business? And they understood not the saying which he spoke unto them. (Luke 2:48-50, KJ2000)
And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said unto him, They have no wine. Jesus said unto her, “Woman, what have I to do with you? my hour has not yet come.” (John 2:3-4, KJ2000)
Then one said unto him, Behold, your mother and your brothers stand outside, desiring to speak with you. But he answered and said unto him that told him, “Who is my mother? and who are my brothers? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brothers! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Matt 12:47-50, KJ2000)
After their wait in the upper room before Pentecost you no longer hear of her in the New Testament. I believe that the Catholic Church has done her an injustice by making her mythical and placing her even above their reverence for Christ.
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As to the RCC making Mary a saint above all others, even calling her the Mother of God (ouch!!), you are absolutely right, Michael. As I read Ken’s comment, I thought that Mary, indeed, was the first one indwelt by the Holy Spirit. But after Jesus was born, she had to receive the Holy Spirit on Pentecost later like all others. Or are there Scriptures that tell us anything to the contrary? 🙄
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No, Susanne, she was in that upper room that day of Pentecost along with the others. There is no privileged class when it comes to the need for salvation and the purifying work of the cross unto full sonship in the Son.
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A beautiful, beautiful post, Michael. I have always been drawn to Mary Magdalene.
It is a reflection of Christ’s high regard for women that He would have chosen to manifest first to this broken woman. It is confirmation of the validity of the narrative that the news of Christ’s Resurrection was brought by any woman, since the credibility of women was suspect in those days. As you say, “This story is no cold liturgy that was carefully scripted by the intellects of religious men.”
What a travesty that the reputation of such a godly woman had to be sullied by false allegations in “The Da Vinci Code” that Christ and Mary Magdalene were married. All too many will never know (or seek out) the truth.
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I agree, Anna, It is always the work of the devil to sully the reputation of Christ, His gospel and anyone else that He has sanctified and called righteous. When humans partake in this kind of thing it really shows the corruption that is in their own hearts. Jesus said,
“It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they malign those of his household.” (Matt 10:25, ESV2011)
May Jesus continue to draw you ever deeper into His heart,
Michael
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