Disclaimer: Source material for this sermon has been gleaned from many different sources. I have attempted to acknowledge these sources whenever possible. Please feel free to use this message as God’s Holy Spirit directs your heart.
WHO WAS MARY MAGDALENE?
LUKE 8:1-3
Introduction: Though men outnumber women in the Bible’s stories, the Bible doesn’t neglect the importance and influence of women of faith and the invaluable contribution they have made. The Bible tells us about famous women such as Eve and the Virgin Mary, significant women, like Sarah and Miriam, controversial women such as Delilah and Jezebel. One biblical woman who has received considerable attention lately is Mary Magdalene. Dan Brown in his novel the Da Vinci Code has stirred controversy and question about Mary Magdalene. According to Dan Brown, Mary was the Beloved Apostle, author of the fourth Gospel. Jesus not only married Mary Magdalene, but also fathered a child who became the head of the Frankish Merovingian royal dynasty which in reality was founded by Clovis I and reigned in Gaul and Germany from 500 AD to 751 AD. There is not one shred of evidence or truth to the claims concerning Mary Magdalene.
The Bible is our authority. Everything we know about Mary Magdalene is contained in a dozen mentions of her in the four Gospels. Mary Magdalene is first mentioned in Luke 8: 1-3. She appears to have been from the town of Magdala; consequently, Mary Magdalene. Here we read of certain women accompanying Jesus and the twelve. We are told that Jesus had healed these women and that they "…ministered unto him of their substance." Mary Magdalene was one of the women. We next see Mary Magdalene at Jesus’ crucifixion (Matt. 27: 55, 56). The last views we have of her is following to Jesus’ resurrection and prior to his ascension (Matt. 28: 1-10, Mark. 16: 9, John 20: 11-18). Who was Mary Magdalene?
I. She was a woman who had been under the power and influence of Satan
A. Luke 8:2 And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons.
B. It has been frequently taught that Mary Magdalene was a woman of abandoned character. It is a great wrong to this honored woman to identify her with the once decadent woman taken in adultery in Luke 7. What is true is that she was a woman who had a very deep spiritual need.
C. Without Christ she was under the power of Satan and sin being possessed by seven demons. She lived a life of torment and restlessness. She was in a helpless and hopeless condition.
D. Matthew 12:43 – 45 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”
E. Paul describes the condition of one under the power of sin – Romans 7:14-25 Notice Paul describes the person without Christ as:
1. "sold under sin" (14)
2. having "sin that dwells within" (17,20)
3. in "captivity to the law of sin " (23)
4. "wretched" (24)
5. in a "body of death" (24)
F. Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
II. She was miraculously delivered by the power of Christ.
A. Luke 8:1 - 2 Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons,
B. Mary’s situation was hopeless. Men could do nothing for her. No surgeon, no psychiatrist, no psychologist nor any counselor could help her. All treatments would have been wasted upon her condition.
C. Psalms 108:12 Give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless.
D. Your extremity is God’s opportunity. While Mary’s situation was hopeless from man’s view point, there are no helpless cases with God. Christ delivered her and gave her new life.
E. Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
F. When Mary came to Christ she had to come as she was and allow His grace to transform her.
G. When we come to God, we must bring nothing but Christ with us. Any ingredients, or any previous qualifications of our own, will poison and corrupt faith. He that builds upon duties, graces, etc. knows not the merits of Christ....[You] must ….denounce as dung and dross your privileges, your obedience, your baptism, your sanctification, your duties, your graces, your tears, your meltings, your humblings...your workings, your self-sufficiency must be destroyed. You must take all from God’s hand. Christ is the gift of God...Ah, how nature storms, frets, rages at this, that all is a gift, and it can purchase nothing with its actings and tears and duties, that all workings are excluded, and of no value in heaven.- Thomas Wilcox (1621-1687)
III. She became a devoted and fervent follower of Christ.
A. Luke tells us that along with other godly women she followed Jesus into Galilee upon his memorable preaching tour and supported His ministry.
B. Out of gratitude, Magdalene gave herself, her ear, her foot, her heart, her substance, her all to Jesus.
C. Luke 7:47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
D. A lady was on a lake steamer when her little girl fell overboard, and she was almost frantic. A gentleman on the boat had a large Newfoundland dog. The dog was directed to leap into the water and save the child. He did so and swam ashore with the little girl, part of her dress in his mouth, I suppose. The mother seized her saved child, and kissed her again and again. Then turning to the dog, she hugged and kissed that dog, with a heart full of gratitude to the animal. That’s more than many have ever done for Jesus Christ, although He hung on the cross to save them from sin and hell. – William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."
E. Proverbs 3:9 Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase;
F. Matthew 27:55 - 56 And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
G. Even in adversity her faith in Christ stood firm. When Jesus was arrested, condemned, and crucified, most of his apostles and disciples abandoned him. With the exception of John, all the big, manly men, such as Peter, James, Thomas, and Matthew, fled. The only other family members and friends who remained at the foot of the cross on Calvary as Jesus suffered were the faithful women in his life: His mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, Joses, and Mary, the wife of Clopas.
H. Matthew 10:32 - 33 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
IV. She became a bold witness for Christ.
A. In the early dawn of the first day of the week Mary Magdalene, Salome and Mary the mother of James, came to the sepulchre with sweet spices to anoint the body. They found the sepulchre empty but had the encounter with the two angels (Matthew 28:5). As the first witness to the empty tomb, Mary Magdalene went to tell Peter and John, (John 20:1-2), This gained her the epithet "apostle to the apostles"
B. According to the New Testament, Mary Magdalene was the first witness of the Resurrection appearances of Jesus, though at first she did not recognize him. When he said her name she was recalled to consciousness, and cried, Rabboni. She wanted to cling to him, but he forbade her:
C. John 20:17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’”
D. Mary, once a demoniac, becomes a preacher to preachers! Angels told of the incarnation, but Mary Magdalene had the distinct privilege of telling of the ascension.
E. Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
F. A witness is someone who by explanation and demonstration gives audible and visible evidence of what he has seen and heard without being deterred by the consequences of his action. – S. Briscoe, Getting Into God, p. 76
