He ran … he said … He had seen the risen Lord! (John 20: 2, 18.) According to John 20: 1-2, 11-18, Mary Magdalene was the first to see Jesus after he had risen from the dead. And the fact that she announced to the disciples that she had “seen the Lord” led her to be known as the “apostle of the apostles.”
From the moment of the healing of Mary Magdalene by Jesus (Luke 8: 2), she became a faithful follower, helping, along with other women, to provide financial support for the ministry of Jesus (Luke 8: 3), following him from Galilee to Jerusalem. , and witnessing her crucifixion and burial (she is specifically named in the Matthew and Mark accounts – see Matthew 27:56, 61 and Mark 15:40, 47). Luke introduces her into the Gospel narrative by first listing her among the women who became followers of Jesus and who girded their ministry with their own resources. The fact that she appears first is quite possibly indicative of her role as a leader among this group of women.
In addition to being named in the four canonical Gospels, Mary Magdalene also appears in several later extra-canonical texts, such as the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, the First Apocalypse of James, the Dialogue of the Savior, Pistis. Sophia, to name a few. However, despite all these texts, little is known of her origin, other than that she came from Magdala, a small town located along the western shore of Lake Galilee, near Capernaum, and that she was one of whom Jesus had expelled seven. demons (Luke 8: 2). Over the centuries, various legends arose about his identity and life, and he emerged as the subject of numerous literary and artistic works. In recent years, Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code (and the host of comments that followed) sparked intense interest and questions about his role in the life of Jesus.
Among the misrepresentations is one that was allegedly by the Church in the 6th century, in which Mary Magdalene is depicted as a former prostitute based on her identification as the anonymous “sinful woman” in Luke 7: 36-50. However, scholars have cited her formal presentation by name, two verses later in Luke 8, as evidence to dispute this characterization of her. Therefore, we can now put this distorted and centuries-old representation aside and see it as one that exemplifies devotion and deep faith, whose actions on that first Easter morning broke the darkness of the dark shadow of death with words of life and hope.
Among the biblical texts designated for the commemoration of Mary Magdalene, it is interesting that the two Old Testament texts highlight women whose decisive and courageous acts were key to the resulting results: Moses was saved from death at birth, due to the ingenuity of his mother. and sister, and her subsequent adoption by Pharaoh’s daughter; Ruth’s loyalty to her mother-in-law and her becoming an ancestor to both King David and Jesus (as indicated in Matthew’s genealogy). Acting in faith, like Mary, they became instruments in the unfolding of God’s plan for the redemption of humanity.
As an “apostle of the apostles,” Mary Magdalene was called to witness the resurrection of Christ and to proclaim to others what she had heard and seen. As a woman of faith and devoted disciple, she is now at the fore as one who serves as a model for us today by sharing the good news so that lives can change through an encounter with the message of the gospel and the risen Christ.
