Mary MagdaleneThe Astonishing Day as First Apostle

A Prayer during Easter Week:Almighty and ever-living God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever . Amen (BCP page 223)

Where are we? • Mary, called Magdalene, whose life had been overflowing with the forces of

corruption, had found peace through the Teacher, Jesus. • We left her weeping as she leaned against the stone rolled onto the door of the

tomb, following his death by crucifixion. • Moving from the stone to sit across from it and look at it, she held the love for her

Rabboni in her heart steady and firm, and poured that love outward in remembrance.

• Like a steady Sabbath light she called Shekinah, the Glory of God in this world, to wrap Jesus in her light and warmth, and be his guide on the path back to his Father. (P. Shaffer) (this last is gathered from other writings than the traditional Scriptural record – specifically, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene)

We have also been looking at how Luke and John express the growing differences in the tradition.

Luke 23:55 – 24: 11 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again?” Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.

There are some important things to note about this telling:• Nobody stays at the tomb once they know where Jesus’ body is laid. • The women come and are told by two men that Jesus is raised from the dead. • There is no appearance of Jesus. • Mary Magdalene is mentioned. • The ending line is very carefully worded so that it is in question as to whether it is those

they tell, or the women themselves who begin to see their story as an idle tale.

One of the requirements to be known as an “apostle” (apostoloi) is personal witness to a resurrection appearance of Jesus. Secondly, there is a direct commissioning to tell others. Neither of these are present in this account. While they did tell the others, they were not directed to by the men.

What Luke does is follow this story . . .

• By having Peter get up and run to the tomb to see for himself. In other words, Peter checks on what the women are saying they saw.

• Luke then goes on to tell the story of the two men on the road to Emmaus. When that telling comes to its end he states:

Luke 24:33-35 That same hour they [the two men] got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together . They [the disciples] were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed and he appeared to Simon!” Then they [the two men] told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

• Luke states the first resurrection appearance is to Simon/Peter .

John’s gospel moves in entirely the other direction:John 20: 1-18 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. She ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and he believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must be raided from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other 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.” When she had said this she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” 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 Hebrew, “Rabboni.” (which means Teacher) Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have yet to ascend 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 went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord.; and she told them he had said these things to her .

What is it that John has given us?• Clearly there are two stories combined in this resurrection appearance

• One about Mary Magdalene at the tomb, and one that introduces Peter and the other disciple• He gives her name, her appellation, Magdalene – the enclosure who holds the fish;

the tower whose strength brought her all the way through to this moment. • He calls her “woman” (the same word used for the companion/partner in Genesis). • He gives us two angels, one at the head and one at the foot, and reminds us that the

tradition says Jesus was anointed at both the head and foot. • He says she mistakes the risen Jesus for the gardener , again reminding us of that

original garden that the man and woman were to care for . • He gives us Jesus using the same words that he used at the beginning of his ministry,

“who are you looking for ,” calling her as a disciple.

• Jesus calls her by name, “Mary” – bringing her to herself and the knowledge that all the negative meanings of Magdalene are not her . She has been transformed by the journey.

• He gives us two possible hints of the depth of their relationship in her asking for the body to carry it away and her calling him “rabboni”

• It is most often family that asks to have the body, and “rabboni” is a word used only by the closest students or family of a rabbi.

• He gives us Jesus’ words not to hold on to the past, to what was, but to know that “I am ascending”. It is said using the present tense, as though he is in process.

• Jesus directly tells her to tell the others.• John then gives us her full name again, strengthening the understanding that she is

the tower that holds the others by what she has experienced.

This argument, between those who felt Peter should be the acknowledged leader or Mary Magdalene, was a deep and strong one in the early church and many years afterword.

• There are several books written in the next years that give insight into the controversy and provide some other understandings about Mary Magdalene:

• The Gospel of Mary (of Magdala)• The Gospel of Peter• The Gospel of Thomas • The Acts of Philip • Pistis Sophia, books 1-4 (and variety of other writings)

What the tradition tells us is that there were groups who believed Jesus mandated women as teachers and preachers of the good news, and those who did not.

My purpose here was to see how the actions of Mary Magdalene

• Point to and weave through the whole of what we call Holy Week• Bookend and enfold the experiences Jesus went through • Provide a model for our (the Church ‘s and individuals) relationship

as the “Bride of Christ”.• She remained “present” throughout the ordeal- living into each step as it came.• At every turn we find her actively engaged and experiencing the trauma in her

body• Not in her imagination or intellectualizing it• Deep body - experiential knowledge - of what it means to consciously walk

into the darkness, not presupposing any kind of outcome

Mary Magdalene shows us what staying with Jesus means

• It is this “presence” that allows her , in the end, to experience – to “see” –Jesus resurrected – and for her to become the “Bride of Christ.”• Bride of Christ is a term the church has used to represent our relationship to

Christ. • Mary Magdalene is one of our best examples of how to live this out.

Mary Magdalene became the voice of those in urban life, caught in the myriad troubles that life gives, to find rest and new strength in Jesus. By holding Jesus and the other disciples as she did, Mary becomes the Apostle to the Apostles

• The Meaning of Mary Magdalene, Cynthia Bourgeault – 2010, Shambala• Mary Magdalene, The First Apostle, Ann Graham Brock – 2004, Harvard Divinity School Press• Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint, Nadia Bolz-Weber – 2013, Jericho

Books • Mary Magdalene: A Biography, Bruce Chilton – 2005, Doubleday • The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic, John Shelby Spong – 2013, Harper One• Leonardo and the Last Supper , Ross King – 2012, Bloombury

Commentaries: • The New Interpreter’s Commentary, Volume 9, Luke-John – 1995, Abingdon • The Gospel According to St. John, Volume 2, Rudolf Schnackenburg – 1980, Seabury • The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, NT Volume 4b, John 11-21, Intervarsity • The Good Wine: Reading John from the Center , Bruno Barnhart – 2008, Wipf & Stock

Resources used for this study:

Thank you for coming on this journey with me