MARY Magdalene

MARY Magdalene, so called apparently from Magdala, a castle, and probably also a village, near Gamala and the baths of Tiberius, on the eastern shore of the sea of Galilee (Matt. xv. 39).⁴ This was in all probability her birth-place, and from it she was named, to distinguish her from the other Marys who followed Christ. She has been often confounded with Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus, and also with the "woman who was a sinner," mentioned in Luke vii. 36, &c., but in both cases without any sufficient reason. Equally unfounded is the notion, that before her conversion she was a person of abandoned character; a notion which, though resting on no better authority than that of some monkish legends, has nevertheless become so generally received, that few even in Protestant countries ever think of questioning its accuracy. The only passage of Scripture, however, that can be quoted as favouring this opinion, is that in which it is said that "out of her went seven devils" (Luke viii.). But this cannot be admitted as evidence in support of the point in question; for, what-

Mary. ever may be the conclusion to which we come as to the nature of that diabolical possession which prevailed in the days of our Lord, one thing is certain in regard to it, which is, that to be afflicted with it did not imply in the individual so visited any peculiar moral depravity; so that, though the case of Mary Magdalene was one of unusual severity (the number seven being the number of completeness), it by no means follows from this that she was not a virtuous, nay, pious female. On the contrary, the evidence from Scripture seems rather to favour the supposition that she was a person at once of blameless character and respectable station. She is introduced to us for the first time in the society of Joanna, the wife of Chuza, steward of Herod's household (ἐπιτροπός, praefectus domus), with whom she was associated in ministering to the wants of our Saviour "out of their substance" (ἐπὶ τὰς οἰκίας, opes facultates); and from the language used by Mark (ch. xv. 41), it would seem as if this had been the usual practice of these pious females whenever he paid a visit to Galilee. Had she been, as is commonly supposed, a mere common prostitute before her conversion, it is difficult to understand how she should either associate with persons of such rank as Joanna, or be possessed of the means of such liberality towards Christ.¹

On the occasion of our Lord's going up to Jerusalem from Galilee, immediately before his death, Mary Magdalene was one of those by whom he was followed; nor does she seem to have left him as long as he continued upon earth. She was one of those who beheld him from a distance when he was hanging upon the cross (Mark xv. 40); and when he was taken down and buried, it was she and Mary Salome who sat over against the sepulchre and beheld where he was laid (Matt. xxvii. 61; Mark xv. 47). From the sepulchre she returned with her companion into the city to procure materials for embalming his body; and having rested on the Sabbath, they came at the dawn of the third day to perform this office of respect to their departed Lord. Contrary to their expectations and fears, they found the stone which they had seen placed upon the mouth of the tomb rolled away, and free entrance afforded to its interior. Stopping down and looking in, they were startled to find the body of Jesus gone; but as they wondered, an angel appeared, who informed them of his resurrection, and at the same time commanded them to carry the tidings of this event to the rest of the disciples (Matt. xxviii. 7). Amazed and perplexed, they fled from the sepulchre, and announced to their company what they had seen; upon which Peter and John hastened to satisfy themselves of the correctness of their report, by returning with them to the place where Jesus had been interred. When the others returned home, Mary seems to have remained by the empty sepulchre to weep; and "as she wept," we are told, "she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre, and seeth two angels sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain." By them she was asked the cause of her tears; to which she answered, that it was because they had taken away her Lord, and she knew not where they had laid him. During this conversation, Jesus himself drew near and addressed her; but, stupified with grief, she did not at first recognise his voice, and, intent upon gazing into the sepulchre, she answered his inquiries as to what she wept for, and what she sought, without turning herself, under the impression that he was the gardener. To recall her recollection, Jesus addressed her by name; upon which she immediately recognised the well-known voice, and turning herself, exclaimed, "Rabboni, which is to say, Master." After a brief conversation, he sent her to announce to the disciples

that she had seen him, and that he was about to ascend to heaven. This command she obeyed; and from this time forward we find no mention made of her in the New Testament. As to certain traditional accounts of subsequent actions and journeyings in which she is said to have been engaged, they bear too obviously the marks of mere legendary fiction to be worthy of notice.