Who was Mary Magdalene? Was she a leader, an apostle, a disciple? Was she a harlot? Was she a repentant sinner? Was she the same woman as the Mary of Bethany? Was she the unnamed woman who anointed Jesus? In this paper we shall attempt to get a glimpse into why and how she has been represented or misrepresented throughout history. We shall look at the evidence for an historical Mary Magdalene as opposed to that portrayed through myth and legend.
This woman who is depicted in scripture as the most courageous of Jesus’ followers, who first knew him as deliverer from demonic power, who was the first person to know him in his glory as the resurrected Lord somehow became synonymous with a prostitute tradition. Mary ministered to Jesus when the male disciples failed him. She stood by at the crucifixion, she saw him buried and she returned to the tomb to anoint him on the first day of the week. There she was rewarded for her love by being the first person to whom the Lord revealed himself following his resurrection—the first person to see the resurrected body of our Lord. The Lord even commissioned her as the first apostle (shaliach), “one sent out as representative, as emissary.” She was to witness to the other apostles - was an apostle to the apostles. (The only woman specifically designated “apostle” in Paul’s writing is Junia, in Romans 16:7. Mary does however fit Paul’s definition of apostle as one to whom the Lord appeared.) Mary Magdalene is one of only a few women not identified by attachment to some male, as wife, mother, or daughter. She is the only one of the women delivered of evil spirits who is related to by place, and is most probably an independent woman of means. And yet Mary Magdalene has been identified since medieval times as the unnamed sinful woman of Luke 7:36-50. This, is spite of there being no evidence that she was a harlot. To demonstrate how far-reaching this misinterpretation is we find the definition for Magdalene in the Concise Oxford Dictionary as well as other dictionaries to be “reformed prostitute.”
The only reference to Mary Magdalene before the crucifixion is found in Luke 8:1-3 “Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out from their means.
Luke gives us three names and adds that there were many others. These women from Galilee and other women provided for him out of their means. They had followed (were disciples of) Jesus in Galilee ministering to him. In this first reference she is identified as the one from whom seven demons had gone out.
All the other references to Mary by name are at the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. In Mark 16:9 Mary Magdalene is identified as the one from whom Jesus had cast out seven demons, “Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.” Mark also identifies them as women who followed him and ministered to him in Galilee along with many other women that came up to Jerusalem with him.
Crucifixion and Burial: Mt. 27:55-61; Mk 15:40-47; Lk 23:49-56 and
Jn 19:25-27
Mark’s account of the crucifixion identifies three women by name: (Mark 15:40-16:8) Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Salome. The women witnessed the crucifixion from afar and the two Marys also went on to witness Joseph’s burial of Jesus. Matthew has the same women from Galilee at the crucifixion and names the some three identifying Salome as the mother of the sons of Zebedee, and the two Marys witnessing the burial
After the Sabbath the two Marys and Salome purchased spices to go to the tomb and anoint him. Early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb asking each other who would role away the stone and found it was already rolled back. They entered the tomb where they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe and they were amazed. He said to them, “Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him. But go, tell the disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.” Mark’s account ends with the women fleeing from the tomb, “for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to any one, for they were afraid.”
Luke does not name any women but speaks of women from Galilee who stood at a distance along with “all his acquaintances.” He states that “the women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how his body was laid; then returned and prepared spices and ointments.” John places Mary of Magdalene at the cross with Jesus’ mother Mary and Mary the wife of Clopas, listing them first (John 19:25) and later giving their names again, this time identifying Mary the wife of Clopas as Jesus’ mother’s sister. There was no mention of any of the women being at the burial.
Resurrection: Mt. 28:1-18; Mk 16:1-13; Lk 24:1-12 and John 20:1-18
Matthew has Mary Madgalene and the other Mary go at the dawn of the first day of the week to the Sepulchre. In Mark, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bring spices to anoint Jesus early on the first day of the week. While in Luke the women from Galilee bring the spices they had prepared early on the first day of the week.
An angel says to them women in Mark 28:5-7: “Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has risen, as he said. Come, seethe place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. Lo, I have told you.” And they departed with great joy and ran to tell the disciples.” In Mark a young man dressed in a white robe, who is seated says: “Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you” (Mark 16:6-7). Then they went out and fled from the tomb being afraid said nothing to any one.
In Luke the women of Galilee found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body. Two men stood by them in dressed in dazzling apparel; and as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them (Luke 24:5-7): “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” He is not here but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. We read in Luke 24:10-11: “Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told this to the apostles; but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.” John, is the only writer who implies that Mary went to the tomb alone. Whether there were other women with her is ambiguous, because she says to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we know not where they have laid him.”
Then Peter and the other disciple (John) ran, saw the empty tomb and returned home. In John 20:11-18 we read, “But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 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.” Saying this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she 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 in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
In John we have the beautiful story of Jesus who she thought to be a gardener calling her by name and the famous phrase in Latin, Noli Me Tangere, “Do not hold me.” This dramatic scene of recognition in the garden is depicted very frequently in paintings and sculpture from the early Middle Ages onwards.
The above Scriptures are the only accounts of Mary Magdalene although we may infer that she was with the group of women when Christ showed himself “to many during forty days.” In the three synoptic accounts of the crucifixion, burial and resurrection Mary Magdalene is mentioned first suggesting that at the time the writing she held a place of prominence. In the Gospel of John (John 19:25) she is standing by the cross with Mary the mother of Jesus and her sister, his close relatives. Mary Magdalene is certainly given a place of prominence. She was the first to see the resurrected Lord and be commissioned by Jesus himself to tell “my brethren,” the men, of the resurrection of the Lord whom she saw personally. She is given a very prominent role as an apostle or perhaps even the apostle to the apostles.
The gospels reveal to us a woman whose importance relates to the witness to the resurrection, which is the central tenet of Christianity. As new interpretations of Mary Magdalene were made especially through conflating her with other women, the portrait of Mary as an apostle, a leader, an evangelist was lessened. How did the character of Mary become so distorted? In order to determine how this woman became the mythical person the Middle Ages and a conflation of at least three women in the scriptures we shall start with the early church
Until the 3rd Century A.D. Mary Magdalene was consistently connected with the resurrection. The early church portrayed her as a close friend of Jesus, a disciple, a witness to the resurrection thereby an apostle (she fits Paul’s definition). She was recognized not only as a courageous woman, totally committed and devoted to the service of the Lord, but also a leader. The question of whether Mary could have been a leader in the Early Church is answered when responsible exegesis of the texts in Scripture is undertaken. There is ample evidence for women to be involved in all areas of leadership both in the Gospels and in Paul’s writings (he lists coworkers, deacons, apostles and heads of house churches).
We find Mary Magdalene in many of the apocryphal writings. These are mostly but not entirely gnostic. Not all apocryphal literature can be classified as Gnostic some is even anti-gnostic. Walter Bauer in Orthodoxy & Heresy (193) states “It is impossible neatly to divide the Christian writings known to us down to the year 200 between orthodoxy and heresy.” These writings should therefore be read with caution and not taken too literally. Yet we can gain insight into the basic understanding of this early period was about Mary Magdalene.
In one of these writings called, “The Gospel of Mary,” she is respected, and recognized as a leader. In this early third-century writing, the “Risen Christ instructs his disciples and departs, after having told them to trust their inward insights and not to lay down any external laws and constraints. The male disciples grieve, wondering how they will have the courage to preach the gospel to the gentiles who will surely kill them as they have killed Christ. Mary (Magdalene) stands up and puts them back in touch with the good that they have experienced in Christ. Peter turns to Mary asking her to expound the gospel: ‘the Savior loved you more that the rest of the women,’ for she understands hidden teachings that Christ did not teach the male disciples. Mary describes a vision of the delivery of the souls from the lower powers of ignorance. Andrew then challenges this as ‘strange ideas.’ Peter joins this challenge, asking why the Savior would have preferred to teach a woman truths that he did not teach the males. Levi rebukes Peter’s egoism: ‘Peter, you have always been hot-tempered. Now I see you contending against the woman like the adversaries. But if the Savior made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject her? Surely the Savior knew her very well. That is why he loved her more that us.’” Here we see Valeninian Christians defending woman’s apostolic authority by saying that they could learn from her to trust inward insights rather than looking at external laws.
Two other significant apocryphal writings that show Mary Magdalene as a leader are the “Epistula Apostolorun” and “The Gospel of Peter.” Mary Magdalene is seen in conflict with Peter who has trouble understanding that the Lord would reveal himself first to a woman. In these documents and especially the Nag Hammadi library we can get some insight into the history of Mary Magdalene in the Early Church. In some of the texts the prominent role of Mary appears to reflect women’s leadership in some early Christian communities before the triumph of Orthodoxy and Patriarchy. Well into the 3rd Century writings and beyond those considered gnostic, Mary Magdalene is portrayed as a primary leader from whom the church desires to learn more about the resurrection and how one should conduct their lives accordingly.
Early church tradition concerning Mary Magdalene can be summarized by the following titles given to her. “Apostle, because she had seen the Lord; disciple because she had followed the Lord; deacon because she had ministered to him and to his other disciples; evangelizer because she was sent out with the message that Jesus Christ had risen; and leader because the written evidence portrays her thus.” (Thompson, 117)
The conflation of Mary of Bethany, Mary Magdalene and the Sinful Woman
How did Mary Magdalene become one and the same person as Mary of Bethany and the sinful woman who anointed the Lord’s feet? The eastern churches maintained the scriptural (canonical) portrait of Mary Magdalene following the exegesis of Origen who in spite of his allegorizing saw Mary Magdalene as distinct from Mary sister of Martha and the repentant sinner. The Greek and Byzantine tradition which is dominated by the authority of Chrysostom has always kept the distinction between the three women.
In western orthodoxy however this was not the case. It is unclear whether during Augustine’s time the conflation of the two Mary’s and the unnamed sinner had occurred, but by the time of Gregory the Great (c. 540-604 C.E.) there was an accepted composite of Mary Magdalene. Gregory wrote, “This woman, whom Luke called the sinful woman, whom John calls Mary, we believe to be that Mary of whom Mark affirms that she was delivered of seven demons.” (Bruckberger 228). By the end of the 6th Century Mary Magdalene is the combined person of the sinful woman, Mary of Bethany and the witness to resurrection. This was to continue on into the 17th Century. Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene came to be considered the same person, thereby Lazarus’ resurrection, representing Christ’s own death and resurrection was included in medieval and later legends of Mary Magdalene’s life.
In a medieval biography, The Life of St. Mary Magdalene and of her sister St. Martha written in Latin and translated by David MyCoff, (Cistercian Publication, 1989) we see the prevailing belief in the 12th Century that Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany are one and the same person. The biography by an anonymous compiler shows that Mary Magdalene was given divine honors as follows: Glorified by Jesus’ 1st appearance at the resurrection, an apostle, an evangelist, a prophet of the Lord’s ascension to his apostles.
The Unnamed Woman (Women) who anointed Jesus
All four Gospels carry the story about an anointing of Jesus by an unnamed woman. Mark 14:3-9; Matt. 26:6-13; John 12:1-8; Luke &:36-50. How they are related is not clear by scholars. In all stories Jesus is physically anointed by a woman. In all but Luke the anointing is a prelude to the passion of Jesus in Jerusalem. In Luke a woman anoints Jesus during his ministry up north in Galilee at the house of Simon the Pharisee. The placement of the story of the sinner before the list of women on the road with Jesus is responsible for an extremely important distortion in the imagination of Western Christianity. It is largely responsible for the characterization of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute. Her mention in Luke 8:2 close to Luke 7:37 causes her to be identified in later Western Christian interpretation as the anonymous sinner of 7:37. But there is no evidence to make this identification. As Eastern Christianity accurately recognized the woman of 7:37 and Mary Magdalene of 8:2 are not the same person.
In Lk 8:36-50 Jesus is sitting down to eat at the Pharisees house. Only Luke describes her as a sinner 7:37. “And behold a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment. 38. And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears and wipe them with her hair and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39. Now when the Pharisee that had bidden him saw it, he said to himself, this man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that touches him, for she is a sinner. Jesus answered saying, Simon, I have somewhat to say to you and proceeded to relate the parable of the creditor.
Luke’s story is not part of the passion story, nor did Jesus say concerning her that she would be “remembered.” There is not one word to connect Mary Magdalene with the sinner. When Luke introduces Mary Magdalene he introduces in detail which would not have been necessary if he was speaking of the same person as the previous chapter.
And in Mark 14:3-9 “And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious; and she brake the box and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves and said, ‘Why was this waste of the ointment made?’ For it might have sold for more than 300 pence and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her she hath wrought a good work on me. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body for burial. Verily I say to you. Wherever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.”
Both Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany became identified with the unnamed sinner who anointed Jesus’ feet. This is partially due to John’s story of an anointing. John may have known Luke’s story of the unknown sinner, and applied it to Mary of Bethany. He tells us that “it was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick” (Jn.11:2). The anointing takes place in the house of Mary and Martha in Bethany. The very fact that Mary the sister of Martha is designated Mary of Bethany is an indication that she is not the same person as Mary Magdalene. Bethany was a village about 13/4 mile East of Jerusalem where Jesus seems to have come often to stay with Mary and Martha and Lazarus.
Since medieval time Mary Magdalene has been identified with the unnamed sinful woman of Luke 7:36-50. The view was that she was a harlot when she met Jesus and found a new way of life and became one of his most devoted followers. Although there is no evidence to connect her with the harlot the definition for Magdalene in the Concise Oxford Dictionary is repentant prostitute. However the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia states that the opinion that “The identification of this Mary with the sinful woman is, of course, impossible for one who follows closely the course of the narrative with an eye to the transition.” What the scripture says is that Mary had been possessed by seven demons, it does not say that she was a “sinner.” The language of neither Luke nor John gives any reason to think they regarded demon possession as a moral defect and of all the people including men, out of whom Jesus cast demons, there is no reason to assume that those who were delivered were morally depraved.
Names
No name is given to the woman in Mark and Matthew; in John she is Mary of Bethany. Luke calls her “a woman in the city, who was a sinner.” In Mark and Matthew: She brings an alabaster jar of expensive ointment and pouring it on the head of Jesus, as prophets anointed kings. In John: The woman takes a pound of expensive ointment, anoints Jesus feet and wipes them with her hair. In Luke she wets Jesus feet with her tears, wipes them with her hair, kisses his feet and anoints them with ointment. In Mark, Matthew and John the reaction is protest over waste, but Jesus defends the woman, saying it is embalming for burial therefore, “what she has done will be told in memory of her.” In Luke the emphasis is on the emotional extravagance of the woman’s actions, Jesus accepts her touch, she is forgiven but no prophetic aspect and she is not told it would be remembered.
The Gospel writers are careful to set her apart from other Marys by consistent use of Magdalene in the New Testament texts. The name Magdalene is derived from Magdala, the Greek form of Migdal meaning tower, or watchtower. In the town of Magdala she was most probably an influential woman who helped provide for Jesus’ ministry. Migdal is located on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, Lake Kinnerit, about 20 miles north of Tiberias. Other sites in the Galilee area were very significant in Jesus’ ministry as well—Tabgha, Chorazin, Bethsaida & Kursi. Talmudic sources speak of Migdal Nunaiya, a center for fishing and the preserving industry (salting fish) in Pes. 46a. Two of the Amoraim who lived in Migdal were R. Isaac and R. Judah. The priests of the family of Ezekial were said to have settled there after the destruction of the Temple.
According to Josephus, Taricheae (GK meaning place where fish are salted), was one of the centers of zealots in Galilee during the Jewish War against Rome. The city was attacked by the Roman army advancing from Tiberius and fell but continued to exist as a Jewish city. It was later identified as Majdal, a ruin on the shores of Galilee North of Tiberias.
How have the misrepresentations of Mary Magdalene affected he portrayal and has it persisted to this day? From the beginnings of Christianity to the present Mary Magdalene is portrayed in art. In early Western art she is depicted most often in iconography in the Noli Me Tangere (“Do not hold onto me”) scene. She is depicted as the first witness to the resurrection. She is shown as apostle to the apostles, as preacher-evangelist and as penitent sinner. Middle Ages and Renaissance art emphasize her last communion and penance and came to signify the centrality of the sacraments. In Roman Catholic tradition she became the defender of the sacraments during the counter-reformation.
In the 19th C she was portrayed as a seductress, a good hearted courtesan (high class mistress), or prostitute associated with men of rank or wealth. In the 20th Century the emphasis by artists was that of reformed prostitute.
These images reflect cultural and theological shifts—for example the 15th Century Flemish painter Rogier Van der Weyden’s depiction of Mary Magdalene as a reader was probably influence by the emphasis of the laywoman’s movement of the Beguines who placed great emphasis on literacy. Also in the 15th Century she was depicted as an ascetic dressed only in her own hair. With the reformation women were depicted as immoral and fallen thus causing a shift in the image of Mary Magdalene from the first witness to a woman of guilt.
Conclusion
As we traced the development of Mary Magdalene from leader and apostle to harlot and repentant sinner, an inaccurate portrait and a misinterpretation, it became abundantly clear that there is the need to restore a more accurate understanding of her character. Thus, we find a role model with great relevance for women today in the following areas:
· As a disciple, a follower of Jesus who was learning
· As a leader, we find in her a model of independence, courage, action, love and faith, she was totally devoted and committed, while at the same time mature, self-confident and content to be herself.
· As a minister (diaconos) ministering to the Lord.
· As an apostle, she had seen the Lord and witnessed of his resurrection
· As an evangelist. Jesus told her to tell his brothers to go to Galilee where they would see him. (Lk 8:103; Mt 27:55; Mk 15:41)
The time is long overdue for Mary Magdalene to be returned to her rightful place of honor in the history of our faith.