Mary Magdalene was a fascinating woman. She plays a large role in the three public years of Jesus’ life. We know more about her than we do most of the disciples, and in her own way, she is as prominent as the mother of Jesus.
She was a sinner, to be sure. Some traditions hold that she was the adulterous woman that Jesus refused to condemn in John 8. We know for sure that she had been plagued by seven demons in Luke 8, and was healed by Jesus.
But I think that everything we need to know about Mary Magdalene is in John 20, along with verse 25 of chapter 19.
In 19:25, we learn that Mary was one of the few people who stood by Jesus ~ literally ~ as He died.
The Three Marys at the Tomb, by Rubens
And in chapter 20, she did this:
Mary was a woman of action. And she was a follower of Jesus. Literally. A close follower. One can only come to the conclusion that her love and appreciation to Him for freeing her from those demons was a daily, palpable feeling for her. And she showed Him. One gets the impression that she was never far from Him.
But look at that diagram ~ the verbs of Mary. I just love verbs in the Bible, don’t you? They are inspirational. The verbs are the things that tell us what to do. (They also sometimes tell us what not to do, but those verbs don’t jump out at me as much.)
Mary came and went, stooped and stood, wept and turned and saw, and then ran and told and said. Beautiful. Mary was real and sincere, true to her feelings, and obedient to her Savior.
And in those verbs, in that powerful chapter in John, we see all that we are to be.
Coming and going…
Standing and stooping…
Turning and seeing…
Weeping…
Running…
Telling…
… in thankfulness and in obedience and in love.
What has He freed you from? And what is your daily response?
The Three Marys at the Tomb, by Rubens
Light Expectations 