Mary Magdalene has been a very prominent and important figure in the ministry of Jesus, although her image has been significantly changed or misunderstood to fit the church agenda. Many still hold the label of a prostitute for her, completely ignoring the other side of Mary. Only recently modern scholarships and recent Catholic Church clarifications have restored her status as the “Apostle to the Apostles.” As a woman living in the first century with strict religious systems, there was no place for her. We have to remember that any rights women started to have only started in 1920s’ so around 100 years ago, and Mary lived in the first and second century, therefore her “voice” was taken away from her. That is why only now we can revisit and reconsider her role in Jesus’ ministry without traditional stigmas that has been attached to her.
New evidence reveals that Mary might have been chosen by Jesus to pass on His message. In my other post I explained that Mary was in fact the author of the Gospel according to John, which also had a title of “the disciple that Jesus loved”. The identity of the author of the Gospel of John has been a mystery for nearly 2 thousand years, but in my post I argue that the Gospel was a testimony of someone who witnessed events like crucifixion of Jesus and resurrection. From all four Gospels we know the crucifixion was only observed by women disciples and Jesus’ mother Mary. All male disciples had fled before due to various arrests and prosecutions that were happening and as we know, Peter rejected Jesus three times out of fear of facing any prosecutions. Therefore we learn that only Mary Magdalene with two other women were present at the crucifixion and could give a real testimony from that event:
“This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true.” John 21: 24
Mary had to hide her identity. As a woman with her past but also with general role women had in the society, which was only tied to home, if she revealed her true identity, the Gospel would have been destroyed before being included in the Bible. We also know that there was another Gospel that was found, Gospel according to Mary, which was almost completely destroyed. This proves that not only Mary was a writer but also that women had no say and their voices were silenced as soon as they tried to present different perspective.
In the Gospels we find out she was a sinner about to be prosecuted, however later the church attached the label of a prostitute to her. In reality, the Bible never states that she was a prostitute, but a sinner committing adultery. It is possible that the description of Magdala as a place of fornication is the origin of the idea that arose in Western Christianity that she was a prostitute. In the Gospel of John we learn that a woman was caught in adultery, which people automatically assumed must have been prostitution. This could have been an affair involving sexual act with a married men, which was considered as a crime and violation of a marriage covenant and punishable by death. However, prostitution was considered immoral but generally not a criminal offense. In the Gospel of John we know that the woman was facing prosecution by death and Jesus redeemed her. Therefore I exclude the fact that she was a prostitute, more having an affair with a married man.
In the Gospel of Luke we learn that Mary had seven demons, which Jesus healed her from. This could have been the consequence of her adultery. In those times, sex without marriage was a spiritual violation and people engaging in sexual interactions were viewed as impure and immoral. Marriage covenant was a very important document both biding spiritually and physically. Sexual contact outside of that covenant meant legal rights that demons could have entered the body and this is what happened in the case of Mary. After being healed from demons, Mary becomes devoted follower to Jesus’ ministry and His teachings. The evidence so far gives us an image of Mary Magdalene which doesn’t conform to an image of a prostitute, but more of a lost woman in need of healing.
But the Bible isn’t our only source. A chance discovery of long-lost books is revealing new and surprising insights into Mary Magdalene. In 1945 at Nag Hammadi in southern Egypt two men came across a sealed ceramic jar, hoping to find treasure they decided to break it open and inside they discovered a horde of ancient papyrus books, the Nakamahi books. This discovery uncovered a view into early Christianity, a different window into different parts of early Christian movement. They were written in Coptic language that was used in Egypt. The discovery included the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip and the Acts of Peter, however none of these texts were included in the Bible because they didn’t conform to Christian doctrine. In the end they were referred to as apocryphal. However, these books reveal some new information about Mary Magdalene and her position in Jesus’s ministry that we don’t see in the Synoptic Gospel.
In those additional texts, Mary appears as a prominent disciple of Jesus, not as a silent repentant woman pictured in Synoptic Gospel. In passages where Jesus is in discussion with his disciples, Mary Magdalene asks many informed questions, whereas the other disciples at times seem confused. She is the one who understands spiritual teachings more than male disciples. This is a challenge to the traditional image of Mary Magdalene, a reformed prostitute. One of the documents discovered at Nag Hammadi is the Gospel of Philip in which Mary Magdalene is a key figure. This text has been the cause of one of the most controversial claims ever made about her. Although much of the text has been destroyed, the Gospel of Phillip suggest that Jesus loved Mary more than the other disciples and disciples questioned that. This implies that Mary and Jesus had a special relationship, that she was his favorite companion closer than the other disciples. In the Gospel of Philip it seems that, unlike the other disciples, Mary received private one-to-one teachings from Jesus. This suggests Mary understood His message very well, beyond the surface level.
These stories of Mary as Jesus’s closest companion and a symbol of heavenly wisdom are in sharp contrast with the Mary Magdalene of popular imagination painted by the Catholic church. With the teachings of the Apostle Paul that women should remain silent in the church and are not able to teach but only learn from men, means that the Gospel of Phillip didn’t fit into their agenda. We have to remember that silencing a woman who possibly had a lot of spiritual wisdom was a very strategic and political move. As we read in the New Testament and the letters of Timothy, companion of the Apostle Paul:
“Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.” 1 Timothy 2:12
The Apocrypha has therefore been banned and branded as non Christian. The contents of those books have been also regarded as legends and none true. Many people steered far away from Apocrypha texts due to those labels and only focused on the New Testament texts, with the focus on the letters of the Apostle Paul. One suggestion that comes to mind, is the fact that Apostle Paul deliberately put emphasis on excluding women from teachings, due to the fact that he knew women were very present at the ministry of Jesus. By excluding women, it was possible to control the messages and the roles they had.
Mary Magdalene was present at Jesus’ two most important events: His crucifixion and resurrection. In fact, she was the only one that witnessed both events. The male disciples fled before crucifixion started out of fear due to various prosecutions. Mary stood by Jesus’ mother and other Mary and witnessed from far. The Gospel of John, which I explained in my other post is the Gospel written by Mary, is the only Gospel that describes water and blood coming out of Jesus’ side when pierced. The other Synoptic Gospel only described the event in general terms, whereas the Gospel of John goes into more details. Again, only female disciples witnessed crucifixion therefore no other disciple saw that. However, what we see in the Synoptic Gospel is this additional fact:
“Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Luke 23:42-43
The word “paradise” is very unusual because Jesus never used this word when describing heaven. And also, the author didn’t witness crucifixion yet added such detail. Could it be that it was added for special purpose to highlight God’s forgiveness no matter the sins or repentance? We know that Luke was a companion of the Apostle Paul and Apostle Paul was preaching about God’s grace without repentance so Luke could have been influenced by Paul. This detail hasn’t been mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew and Mark. Another time we see the word “paradise” is in the letters of Paul. This makes it clear that Paul wanted to influence the Gospel to highlight repentance is not essential or to justify his teachings in his letters through this event.
The moment where Mary takes center stage is during Jesus’ resurrection. Mary Magdalene was the first disciple who saw Jesus’ resurrection and the first one that recognized Jesus and believed in resurrection. Since that moment she is called the “Apostle to the Apostles” and Jesus appeared to her first, highlighting the connection they had.
“Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.” John 20:1
“Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first.” John 20:3
Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed.” John 20: 9
From this we see two facts, Mary went to the tomb early in the morning and saw the tomb was empty. She then ran to tell the others and Peter went with her as we see “they both ran” so it was two of them. Then the “other disciple” which is not named, who came to the tomb first, saw and believed, which means Mary was the first that saw and believed without actually seeing Jesus. Then later we see that disciple being named. Remember, there were only two disciples that run to the tomb, Peter and the other disciple. In many movies and videos this is presented as men disciples mainly and Mary only present at the beginning with many women, but from the Gospel of John we see that Mary went o the tomb on her own and then came back with Peter only.
“But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, 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, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher). 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.’ ” John 20: 11-17
Mary’s experience took the Christian movement into an important new direction. Jesus’s resurrection was the turning point for Christianity. This was when it changed from a small movement to a whole new religion and Mary Magdalene was a key figure in this event. You might think then that at that point Mary would be recognized as an apostle or one of the early missionaries who founded the religion as she seems to meet all the criteria set out in the Bible. If we look at the Gospel of Luke, it states very clearly that the qualification for becoming an apostle was to have been with Jesus during his ministry, to have been a witness to the death and resurrection and to be able to then go out and teach the true gospel which Jesus gave. Mary Magdalene fills that role perfectly, yet that’s a role the Bible never gives to her.
After Jesus’ resurrection, it was Mary that encouraged disciples to preach the Gospel. She’s the one who could step in and remain calm and not be frightened and it says “she turns their hearts toward the good” and they begin to discuss the words of the Savior. In books like the Gospel of Philip, Mary was presented as a symbol of wisdom but in the gospel of Mary she is the one in charge telling the disciples about Jesus’s teachings. This gives us a completely different view on Mary, a contrast to what Catholic church presented her as. However, the opposition doesn’t stop with the church only but starts in the closest circle. Andrew opposes her teachings and says that they shouldn’t listen to a woman and Peter joins the opposition. Peter doesn’t like the fact that Jesus shared any private teachings with Mary and jealousy overtakes him. Peter sees Mary as a rival of the leadership of the Christian movement, and as we know, Jesus previously selects Peter as “the rock”, therefore he feels the need to defend his position as a leader. Mary is therefore pushed away.
Within some groups of early Christianity, Mary Magdalene became a key figure and somehow a prototypical figure especially representing the female Christian. She takes on the role of woman disciple representing women in Christianity versus the disciple men representing men in general. The disciple men try to reject her from their company so she stands up for herself. The representative male disciple who says no to her generally is Peter. In early Christian writings we see a conflict between them which suggest this gender power struggle. This results in Mary being pushed out as an important disciple and her story changes it’s meaning.
By the time we get into the fourth and fifth century, women simply cannot exercise public leadership, this is itself viewed as heretical so women cannot be ordained to the roles as a bishop or a priest and from that perspective Mary Magdalene becomes a real problem for the church because she can be used to validate women’s leadership. This wasn’t popular image of Mary among the leaders of the church in Rome, the church wanted to limit the role of women in religious systems and chose to follow the writings of the Apostle Paul over the disciple who witnessed and understood the message of Jesus.
Mary therefore becomes a symbol of repentance and redemption in the Catholic church. By the sixth century Pope Gregory the Great, in a sermon he deliver, he presented that Mary’s original seven demons had signified all her weaknesses, but then she had repented and turned the mass of her crimes to virtues so Mary Magdalene, the apostolic leader becomes Mary Magdalene the repentant prostitute.
However, we should remember her not only as a repentant sinner, but also as a follower of Jesus that really understood His message. Her role would have been much greater if women were treated differently. She could have openly write the Gospel and reveal her true identity, but with how women were viewed, she had to hide it. We have to remember that the Gospel according to John is one of the most important Gospels, often described as the Spiritual Gospel, portraying Jesus as a divine being and capturing more spiritual truths that Jesus was teaching about. Through the Gospel of John we find out about the divine nature of Jesus, whereas if we only had Synoptic Gospels, maybe we would have missed the idea that Jesus was divine. The Gospel of John gives us different angle and view into who Jesus was. And the teachings presented in the Gospel of John we know come from a real disciple, who was called “beloved” and had a very special bond with Jesus.
Do I think that Mary and Jesus were in a relationship as some other texts suggest like the famous Dan Brown’s book “The Da Vinci Code”? I think they had a platonic connection and Jesus had to stay pure till the end for His blood to be the blood that cleanses. Sex before marriage was viewed as the most sinful act and a crime, therefore this would have completely destroyed the mission of Jesus. He had to stay pure and sinless. Some believe they got married, which again is false as Jesus had to keep that purity till the end. This was His mission, however this doesn’t take away from the fact that they must have had some emotional connection and love towards each other on the emotional and spiritual level. We don’t see Mary being mentioned so much in any other Gospel apart from the Gospel of John, therefore we wouldn’t have known that Jesus and Mary had a connection. Yet with this Gospel we see that Jesus had emotions like weeping, love towards disciples, love towards a woman which gives us a better understanding that even though He was presented as divine Son of God, He was also very human having all those emotions and feeling pain during crucifixion. We don’t have this from the other Gospels, which makes the Gospel of John even more special and different. The other Synoptic Gospel is more factual, event orientated, presenting Jesus as a Teacher, however the Gospel of John is more emotional, presenting Jesus as divine being, the Son of God who was having a human experience. That is why Mary’s role was so much more significant than what we have been presented with by the church.
By Dagmara Z.