Mary Magdalene

Read Mark 15:33-47
John 20:1-16

As you read these, meditate, ask God for something to share.

Read Luke 8:1–3.
What does the gospel writer tell us about Mary Magdalene? Remembering that seven was a number of completion or perfection, what might we understand about the nature of Mary’s condition?

What happened to Mary Magdalene when Jesus came into her life?

Jesus was extraordinary for having recruited and traveled with both female and male followers. Most of Jesus’ contemporaries would have been scandalized, as it was customary that women would travel only with their family. What kinds of sacrifices might Mary Magdalene have made to be one of Jesus’ disciples?

Read Mark 15:33–47.
How does the gospel writer portray the role of women during Jesus’ darkest moments?

Read John 20:1–18.
Biblical scholar C. H. Dodd once declared John 20 to be the most convincing proof of the gospel’s account of Jesus’ resurrection—why else would the author record that the Savior of the world first appeared to a nobody like Mary Magdalene? What does it say about Jesus’ view of women that he would appear to Mary Magdalene alone at the tomb?