“The Power of the Resurrection” (Part One)

Her name is Ela Karny, and she is a woman trying to survive in a man’s world. For 16 years, as a sabra Israeli, she has tried to carve her niche in the male-dominated field of Israeli tour guides. There have been struggles and challenges, but she has persevered—and is now among the very best. A woman in a man’s world.

            Her name was Lydia, and she was a woman trying to survive in a man’s world. In the 1st century, when women were expected to be wives, were expected to stay quietly at home, and were expected to be expectant—she was building a fabric business that would reach to both sides of the Aegean Sea. Then, when Lydia came to Christ, she became a significant influence within the life of the fledgling church at Philippi. A woman in a man’s world.

            Her name was Mary of Magdala, and she was a woman trying to survive in a man’s world. The story of her survival, however, is not so much about the power of grit, perseverance and determination (noteworthy as those things are). The story of her survival points us elsewhere for answers on a morning nearly 2,000 years ago when she became the person privileged to be the very first to see the resurrected Christ. Amazing—a woman in a man’s world. Who was she? Let’s look at her this week as we continue to think about the impact of the resurrection.

Her Coming To Christ (Luke 8:2)

            Mary Magdalene literally means “Mary of Magdala.” There are a number of Marys in the Gospels, but we can be certain that she was a different person from the mother of Jesus or the sister of Lazarus. Nor is it likely that she was Mary of Cleophas the mother of James the less, Mary the mother of John Mark, a sister of Barnabas, or Mary, a Roman Christian who is greeted by Paul in Rom. 16:6. What do we know about her?

• Name- “Mary” = “Miriam”, which means “their rebellion.” It was, of course, the name of Moses’ sister, and, as such, a popular name for Jewish girls in the ancient world. Different explanations have been given for the rest of her name, but the most natural is that she came from the town of Magdala. Magdala (Migdol = tower), is thought to have been a town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee about three miles from Capernaum.
• Family- there is no record of her parents, her age, or her marital status. That she was free to follow Jesus suggests that she had no home obligations.
• Condition- She is first named in Luke 8:2 as one of the women who “ministered to Christ of their substance.” All appear to have occupied a position of comparative wealth. This would fit, because Magdala was apparently a wealthy city—the Talmud even says that its tribute had to be carried to Jerusalem in wagons, so great was its wealth.
• Deliverance- Their motive was that of gratitude for deliverances he had wrought for them. Out of Mary were cast seven demons, and her gratitude to her great Deliverer prompted her to become his follower.
• Misrepresentation- Mary Magdalene is commonly thought to have been a prostitute before she came to the knowledge of Christ. So filmmakers, historians and painters represent her—but neither from this passage, nor from any other of the New Testament, can such a supposition be legitimately drawn. The idea that this Mary was “the woman who was a sinner (in Luke 7),” or that she was a prostitute, is groundless, for when she steps onto the scene in Luke 8, it is clearly a new character being introduced.

            The same assumptions might be drawn for Joanna and Susanna, mentioned Luke 8:3, for they seem to have also been delivered by Jesus, according to Luke’s account of them. They had all had infirmities, of what sort it is not said, and those infirmities were occasioned by evil spirits within them; and Jesus had healed them all. But, Mary Magdalene, by her behavior, and constant devotion to Jesus seems to have exceeded all the other women in her service to the Savior.