Mary of Magdala was utterly devoted to the Lord Jesus. Her love was the repayment of an immense debt of gratitude. The Lord had cast out seven demons from her, setting her free from their tyranny and consecrating her to Himself. Mary expressed that consecration as one of the women who financially supported the Lord in His ministry.
The awful crisis of Calvary supremely tested her devotion. Although no disciple apart from John was to be found at the cross, Mary was there with her friends, faithful to the last. Despite the searing emotional cost, she took her stand with a rejected Christ. An onlooker at Calvary, she was also a witness of the Lord’s burial, marking with care the place where His body was laid.
Mary’s deep devotion drew her back to that spot at dawn on the first day of the week. She came to embalm the body of Jesus. She was shocked when she discovered that the stone had been taken away. Now her anguish became still more intense. She thought she had lost even the body of her Lord. Mary rushed to Peter and John with her news. Then she returned to the tomb herself, consumed with grief. She saw the angel guardians who asked why she wept. In her reply, her devotion still shines through, ‘They have taken away my Lord’. Jesus was her Lord still, though, as she thought, lying cold in death.
Mary’s devotion received its full reward. She was the first to see the risen Lord and hear His voice. Unrecognised, Jesus appeared beside her. Mary supposed Him to be the gardener and implored Him to take her where the Lord’s body had been placed so that she might take Him away. Then the familiar voice said, ‘Mary’. The Good Shepherd called His own sheep by name. All her fears were dispelled. The Lord’s love to her was as undying as Himself, and in ecstasy, Mary responded, ‘Rabboni’, and clung to Him with joy. Gently, the Lord reminded her that a new heavenly relationship was being forged between Him and His followers. Now Mary’s task was to announce that blessed reality, and joyfully she obeyed and radiantly described her encounter with her glorious Lord.
