Back when I was in middle school, I was not what you might call… cool. Or popular. I didn’t have a lot of friends.
It might have been the fact that I played French Horn. I wasn’t a “bad boy” like the saxophone players.
I was also really obsessed with things that nobody else cared about (I know it’s a shock). While everybody else was playing with Tamagotchis and watching R-rated movies, I was sitting on the floor of the public library reading books about World War II airplanes.
Kids and students: Has anyone here ever done anything embarrassing like tripping in the hall and spilling papers and books everywhere? Yeah, well that was my life.
Now, I get that everybody is awkward in middle school, but I still vividly remember the pain that I felt always being on the outside looking in. Of being a social outcast.
I remember coming home and weeping to my parents because I just couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong.
It’s not a stretch to imagine that you know what that feels like. Maybe not in middle school. Maybe you were a saxophone player. But I bet that since then you’ve felt yourself being cast aside at some point.
Maybe something you’ve done or something someone has done to you has put you outside of safe community.
Maybe your life choices or personality or things outside your control have made you feel so, so alone.
Well, this Easter we are looking at the story of someone just like you and me. Someone who’s been on the outside.
MARY FROM MAGDALA
Her name is Mary Magdalene, and she plays a significant part of the Easter story. Let’s meet her. Luke 8:1, Page _____.
While you’re turning there, I’m going to pray for us.
Luke 8:1-3
Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.
So here we meet Mary Magdalene. Although her name is not really Magdalene. That’s a reference to where she was from: a town in Galilee called Magdala.
They didn’t really have last names back then, so this is just Luke’s way of distinguishing her from the 47 other Marys that show up in the story.
So what do we know about this Mary from Magdala?
Well, not much. But we can piece together some information from some clues in the story.
First of all, it was very uncommon in the highly patriarchal world of the 1st Century for women to be named without their husbands. So the fact that Mary and Susanna are named alone gives us a hint that they were probably single.
Single women show up quite a few times in the gospels, usually as either widows or women being exploited. Either way, there is another clue about Mary. As a single woman, she was likely very vulnerable.
But in Mary’s case she was especially so. In verse 2, Luke tells us that Mary had 7 demons cast out of her by Jesus.
I’m not going to get into much about the enemy and his minions (I spoke about that three weeks ago, if you’re curious), but I’ll say this. The dark forces of our world stand in opposition to God’s mission of healing, and they were clearly determined to keep Mary out of the game.
Why do I say that? Well, Mary had 7 demons working within her. In the Bible the number 7 often symbolizes completeness.
Usually it’s in a positive sense, like the 7 days of Creation. But in Mary’s case, she was completely oppressed by evil. About as far away from God’s presence as you can be.
And not only that. This wasn’t just spiritual oppression. It was social. Evil spirits were considered “spiritually unclean,” so Mary would have been barred from worshipping in the Synagogue, people would have avoided touching her.
So think about Mary’s life before she met Jesus. She was a vulnerable single woman who was oppressed by evil and on the outside of society. A reject of the world if there ever was one.
If you, like me in middle school, have experienced the sting of social rejection - of brokenness that sets you apart - then you can imagine, at least a little bit, what Mary was experiencing.
And you can probably imagine how shocking and profound it was for Mary from Magdala to learn that Jesus thought she was made for more. That he would see something in this broken woman and set her free.
I mean, can you imagine what it would have felt like for Mary to not just be healthy again, but to be part of a community again? To have friends? To have purpose?
Because this wasn’t just about healing. Jesus invited her to join in his mission. She became part of Jesus’ inner circle. She shows up in all four gospels and she’s with Jesus to the end. Mary is kind of a big deal.
In fact, she’s one of the people who makes Jesus’ ministry possible in the first place. Verse 3. She was “contributing from her own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.” No wonder the demons wanted to keep her out of the game!
Bottom line: Mary’s isolation was ended by the compassion of Jesus and she responded with wholehearted devotion.
If you have been set free by the love of Christ you know what this feels like. Free from the chains of sin, invited into a community of love, given a purpose in this world!
That’s what Mary found in Jesus and it changed everything for her.
THE CRUCIFIXION
Which is why his crucifixion was more devastating to Mary than words can describe. The one who brought her back to life was now giving up his.
While most of the disciples were hiding, the gospels tell us Mary stood right by the cross as Jesus breathed his last. Can you blame her? Imagine her grief. Imagine her bewilderment.
It makes sense to me why, as the disciples were all huddling in fear that weekend, this vulnerable woman went alone to the tomb of Jesus just to be near his body.
Which is why Mary from Magdala is the first one to discover on Sunday morning that the stone has been rolled away.
In shock and grief, she thinks Jesus’ body has been stolen. Until she hears a voice she recognizes calling her name… “Mary.”
EASTER 2024 - PART II
John 20:1-2
Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
The story goes on. Peter and the other disciple race to the tomb, look inside, and find Jesus’ grave clothes, but no Jesus. Then they leave, bewildered.
But Mary from Magdala remains behind. And she cannot contain her grief. Look how many times this passage mentions crying or weeping:
John 20:11-18
Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.
“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”
She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
“Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.
Now, there’s a lot we could dig into here, but I want to really focus in on Mary’s experience in this moment. This is a gut-wrenching kind of grief. Crying, weeping, crying, crying…
In fact, she’s so distraught that when she looks into the tomb and sees two angels sitting there, it barely registers. Most of the time in the Bible, when people encounter angels, they fall on their face in terror. The angels have to say, “don’t be afraid!”
But in this case, all Mary says when she sees angels is, “they’ve taken away my Lord.”
Why is she this devastated? I mean, she lost someone dear to her, but to not even notice angels?!?
Well, I think the answer goes back to who she was before she met Jesus. Remember, she was an outcast, she was oppressed by dark spiritual forces. She was extraordinarily alone.
But for the last three years she had belonging. And purpose. And freedom.
I bet she was grieving not just the loss of Jesus, but the loss of his love. I would not be surprised in the least if she thought at this point she was headed right back to the margins. So, no. She doesn’t notice the angels.
WHY ARE YOU WEEPING?
And yet, Mary’s fears are not realized, are they.
She turns around, she encounters the “gardener.” But when he speaks her name, she knows exactly who it is. “Mary.” Suddenly her eyes are opened. “Rabbonì!”
John implies in v.17 that she immediately tries to embrace Jesus (wouldn’t you?), but he says something curious. “Don’t cling to me.”
Now, I don’t think Jesus was being callous or cold here. No. He adored Mary. Clearly.
What he meant, I believe, is that there was no use in Mary clinging to the past. To Jesus as just a rabbi walking among the people. Because the risen Christ was so much more.
The resurrected son of Man was now taking his place at the right hand of the Father. To rule his kingdom of love and life and justice and redemption for all humanity. To make this broken world right again.
Soon his very Spirit would inhabit the hearts of all his followers. And his healing mission would spread to all corners of the earth through them.
“Don’t cling to me, Mary. Because things are about to change forever. Starting with you. Go find my brothers and tell them I’m alive.”
It may seem that the risen Jesus was just giving Mary an errand here. But in fact, Jesus was doing something far more profound.
He was taking this once outcast, broken, isolated woman and giving her a mission beyond herself: As the world’s first evangelist. The first person to carry the good news that our redeemer lives.
Yet again, Jesus calls Mary to more.
From outcast to insider.
From demonic oppression to healing and life and community.
From weeping in despair to declaring the joy of the resurrection.
Jesus took Mary from the margins of society to the front lines of his healing mission.
No wonder her name lives on.
SENT OUT
So that’s the story of Mary from Magdala. Now let’s talk about your story. This Easter, I want Mary’s redemption and calling to be a source of hope to you.
Because I know the world we’re living in. I know that many of you feel worthless right now. Like cast aside garbage. On the outside looking in.
Maybe you feel oppressed by dark powers, like Mary. Or maybe you feel hopeless. Your life doesn’t seem to be going the way you thought it would.
If that’s you, I want you to know that Jesus sees in you what he saw in Mary: a beloved child that he gladly gave his life for.
Listen to me. Your worth is not determined by the things of this broken world.
Your worth is determined by the Creator of life. And he loves you.
Don’t let despair keep you from experiencing his salvation – in all aspects of your life. He is standing at the door of your heart knocking. Will you let him in and let him reveal your true identity?
Maybe you already follow Christ, but you’re still feeling that sting of rejection and isolation right now.
If that’s you, I want you to follow Mary’s footsteps this Easter and leave the margins. Come in to the inner circle. We’re the Church. The body of Christ. We love you. There is room for you at this table.
You belong in this family. You don’t have to be alone anymore. Come home.
Finally, I want to remind you that you were made for more. When Jesus looked at Mary, he didn’t see an outcast. He saw the world’s first evangelist.
What does he see when he looks at you?
I’ll tell you what he sees. A masterpiece. A New Creation. Designed by God with a one-of-a-kind mission to help heal this broken world in his name.
Don’t sit on the sidelines anymore. Your God-given purpose awaits.
Do what you were created to do and tell this broken world like Mary, “I have seen the Lord!”
Just like Mary from Magdala, you are loved. You belong. And you were made for more. How beautiful it is to hear the voice of the risen Jesus calling your name.
EASTER 2024 - PART I
Back when I was in middle school, I was not what you might call… cool. Or popular. I didn’t have a lot of friends.
It might have been the fact that I played French Horn. I wasn’t a “bad boy” like the saxophone players.
I was also really obsessed with things that nobody else cared about (I know it’s a shock). While everybody else was playing with Tamagotchis and watching R-rated movies, I was sitting on the floor of the public library reading books about World War II airplanes.
Kids and students: Has anyone here ever done anything embarrassing like tripping in the hall and spilling papers and books everywhere? Yeah, well that was my life.
Now, I get that everybody is awkward in middle school, but I still vividly remember the pain that I felt always being on the outside looking in. Of being a social outcast.
I remember coming home and weeping to my parents because I just couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong.
It’s not a stretch to imagine that you know what that feels like. Maybe not in middle school. Maybe you were a saxophone player. But I bet that since then you’ve felt yourself being cast aside at some point.
Maybe something you’ve done or something someone has done to you has put you outside of safe community.
Maybe your life choices or personality or things outside your control have made you feel so, so alone.
Well, this Easter we are looking at the story of someone just like you and me. Someone who’s been on the outside.
MARY FROM MAGDALA
Her name is Mary Magdalene, and she plays a significant part of the Easter story. Let’s meet her. Luke 8:1, Page _____.
While you’re turning there, I’m going to pray for us.
Luke 8:1-3
Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.
So here we meet Mary Magdalene. Although her name is not really Magdalene. That’s a reference to where she was from: a town in Galilee called Magdala.
They didn’t really have last names back then, so this is just Luke’s way of distinguishing her from the 47 other Marys that show up in the story.
So what do we know about this Mary from Magdala?
Well, not much. But we can piece together some information from some clues in the story.
First of all, it was very uncommon in the highly patriarchal world of the 1st Century for women to be named without their husbands. So the fact that Mary and Susanna are named alone gives us a hint that they were probably single.
Single women show up quite a few times in the gospels, usually as either widows or women being exploited. Either way, there is another clue about Mary. As a single woman, she was likely very vulnerable.
But in Mary’s case she was especially so. In verse 2, Luke tells us that Mary had 7 demons cast out of her by Jesus.
I’m not going to get into much about the enemy and his minions (I spoke about that three weeks ago, if you’re curious), but I’ll say this. The dark forces of our world stand in opposition to God’s mission of healing, and they were clearly determined to keep Mary out of the game.
Why do I say that? Well, Mary had 7 demons working within her. In the Bible the number 7 often symbolizes completeness.
Usually it’s in a positive sense, like the 7 days of Creation. But in Mary’s case, she was completely oppressed by evil. About as far away from God’s presence as you can be.
And not only that. This wasn’t just spiritual oppression. It was social. Evil spirits were considered “spiritually unclean,” so Mary would have been barred from worshipping in the Synagogue, people would have avoided touching her.
So think about Mary’s life before she met Jesus. She was a vulnerable single woman who was oppressed by evil and on the outside of society. A reject of the world if there ever was one.
If you, like me in middle school, have experienced the sting of social rejection - of brokenness that sets you apart - then you can imagine, at least a little bit, what Mary was experiencing.
And you can probably imagine how shocking and profound it was for Mary from Magdala to learn that Jesus thought she was made for more. That he would see something in this broken woman and set her free.
I mean, can you imagine what it would have felt like for Mary to not just be healthy again, but to be part of a community again? To have friends? To have purpose?
Because this wasn’t just about healing. Jesus invited her to join in his mission. She became part of Jesus’ inner circle. She shows up in all four gospels and she’s with Jesus to the end. Mary is kind of a big deal.
In fact, she’s one of the people who makes Jesus’ ministry possible in the first place. Verse 3. She was “contributing from her own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.” No wonder the demons wanted to keep her out of the game!
Bottom line: Mary’s isolation was ended by the compassion of Jesus and she responded with wholehearted devotion.
If you have been set free by the love of Christ you know what this feels like. Free from the chains of sin, invited into a community of love, given a purpose in this world!
That’s what Mary found in Jesus and it changed everything for her.
THE CRUCIFIXION
Which is why his crucifixion was more devastating to Mary than words can describe. The one who brought her back to life was now giving up his.
While most of the disciples were hiding, the gospels tell us Mary stood right by the cross as Jesus breathed his last. Can you blame her? Imagine her grief. Imagine her bewilderment.
It makes sense to me why, as the disciples were all huddling in fear that weekend, this vulnerable woman went alone to the tomb of Jesus just to be near his body.
Which is why Mary from Magdala is the first one to discover on Sunday morning that the stone has been rolled away.
In shock and grief, she thinks Jesus’ body has been stolen. Until she hears a voice she recognizes calling her name… “Mary.”
EASTER 2024 - PART II
John 20:1-2
Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
The story goes on. Peter and the other disciple race to the tomb, look inside, and find Jesus’ grave clothes, but no Jesus. Then they leave, bewildered.
But Mary from Magdala remains behind. And she cannot contain her grief. Look how many times this passage mentions crying or weeping:
John 20:11-18
Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.
“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”
She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
“Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.
Now, there’s a lot we could dig into here, but I want to really focus in on Mary’s experience in this moment. This is a gut-wrenching kind of grief. Crying, weeping, crying, crying…
In fact, she’s so distraught that when she looks into the tomb and sees two angels sitting there, it barely registers. Most of the time in the Bible, when people encounter angels, they fall on their face in terror. The angels have to say, “don’t be afraid!”
But in this case, all Mary says when she sees angels is, “they’ve taken away my Lord.”
Why is she this devastated? I mean, she lost someone dear to her, but to not even notice angels?!?
Well, I think the answer goes back to who she was before she met Jesus. Remember, she was an outcast, she was oppressed by dark spiritual forces. She was extraordinarily alone.
But for the last three years she had belonging. And purpose. And freedom.
I bet she was grieving not just the loss of Jesus, but the loss of his love. I would not be surprised in the least if she thought at this point she was headed right back to the margins. So, no. She doesn’t notice the angels.
WHY ARE YOU WEEPING?
And yet, Mary’s fears are not realized, are they.
She turns around, she encounters the “gardener.” But when he speaks her name, she knows exactly who it is. “Mary.” Suddenly her eyes are opened. “Rabbonì!”
John implies in v.17 that she immediately tries to embrace Jesus (wouldn’t you?), but he says something curious. “Don’t cling to me.”
Now, I don’t think Jesus was being callous or cold here. No. He adored Mary. Clearly.
What he meant, I believe, is that there was no use in Mary clinging to the past. To Jesus as just a rabbi walking among the people. Because the risen Christ was so much more.
The resurrected son of Man was now taking his place at the right hand of the Father. To rule his kingdom of love and life and justice and redemption for all humanity. To make this broken world right again.
Soon his very Spirit would inhabit the hearts of all his followers. And his healing mission would spread to all corners of the earth through them.
“Don’t cling to me, Mary. Because things are about to change forever. Starting with you. Go find my brothers and tell them I’m alive.”
It may seem that the risen Jesus was just giving Mary an errand here. But in fact, Jesus was doing something far more profound.
He was taking this once outcast, broken, isolated woman and giving her a mission beyond herself: As the world’s first evangelist. The first person to carry the good news that our redeemer lives.
Yet again, Jesus calls Mary to more.
From outcast to insider.
From demonic oppression to healing and life and community.
From weeping in despair to declaring the joy of the resurrection.
Jesus took Mary from the margins of society to the front lines of his healing mission.
No wonder her name lives on.
SENT OUT
So that’s the story of Mary from Magdala. Now let’s talk about your story. This Easter, I want Mary’s redemption and calling to be a source of hope to you.
Because I know the world we’re living in. I know that many of you feel worthless right now. Like cast aside garbage. On the outside looking in.
Maybe you feel oppressed by dark powers, like Mary. Or maybe you feel hopeless. Your life doesn’t seem to be going the way you thought it would.
If that’s you, I want you to know that Jesus sees in you what he saw in Mary: a beloved child that he gladly gave his life for.
Listen to me. Your worth is not determined by the things of this broken world.
Your worth is determined by the Creator of life. And he loves you.
Don’t let despair keep you from experiencing his salvation – in all aspects of your life. He is standing at the door of your heart knocking. Will you let him in and let him reveal your true identity?
Maybe you already follow Christ, but you’re still feeling that sting of rejection and isolation right now.
If that’s you, I want you to follow Mary’s footsteps this Easter and leave the margins. Come in to the inner circle. We’re the Church. The body of Christ. We love you. There is room for you at this table.
You belong in this family. You don’t have to be alone anymore. Come home.
Finally, I want to remind you that you were made for more. When Jesus looked at Mary, he didn’t see an outcast. He saw the world’s first evangelist.
What does he see when he looks at you?
I’ll tell you what he sees. A masterpiece. A New Creation. Designed by God with a one-of-a-kind mission to help heal this broken world in his name.
Don’t sit on the sidelines anymore. Your God-given purpose awaits.
Do what you were created to do and tell this broken world like Mary, “I have seen the Lord!”
Just like Mary from Magdala, you are loved. You belong. And you were made for more. How beautiful it is to hear the voice of the risen Jesus calling your name.