Proverbs 31:10-31/Acts 13:26-31/St John 20:1-2, 10-18
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Today is the Feast of St Mary Magdalene, faithful disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ, eyewitness of His Cross and Passion, and first witness of His Resurrection from the dead. The Eastern Church names her “the apostle to the Apostles.” I know that sounds a bit shocking to our ears - a woman apostle? But it simply confesses that she was the one Christ sent (αποστολοι) to His Apostles with the new of His bodily Resurrection from the grave.
Everything we know about St Mary Magdalene is bound up in and with her dear Lord Jesus. She received such excellent gifts and benefited from His Ministry, and so she supported His Ministry with her whole life and all that she had. Many have supposed that she is the woman described in St Luke chapter seven, a woman of the city, that is, likely a prostitute, who wet Jesus’ feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair, kissed and anointed them with ointment. The Pharisees were indignant toward her and outraged at Jesus’ allowance. Yet He praised her tears, her kiss, her anointing and says, Her many sins are forgiven, on account of which she has loved much (Lk 7:47). Perhaps it was St Mary of Magdala. Perhaps not. It is adiaphora.
For certain, though, she is identified as the first witness of the Resurrection. This is St John’s way, and the Holy Spirit’s way, of commemorating this faithful woman. Indeed this account is indicative of the Gospel’s veracity. If the Apostles had invented these things, they would surely not have written a woman into that position. Yet it was so, according to the good and gracious will of the Lord. The risen Christ appeared first to one of the faithful woman who had followed and supported Him. Such is His love and admiration for the weaker vessel. Indeed He did not spurn the womb of His virgin Mother and so honored all woman with the gift of child-bearing!
And even as St Mary, the Mother of God, is a picture and icon of the Church, so too St Mary Magdalene. The Church receives her Lord as the heavenly Bridegroom of us all and relates to Him collectively as His Bride. It is that feminine posture of faith and love which St Mary exemplifies. All that DaVinci Code nonsense aside, it is the case that she is a living member of the Bride of Christ, His holy Church, as are all men and woman who believe and are baptized into Him. Christ cast out seven spirits from St Mary Magdalene. So has He cast out the unclean spirit of sinful unbelief from your heart and bestowed upon you His Holy Spirit, by the washing of water with the Word in Holy Baptism.
St Mary shared in Christ’s Cross and Resurrection, not only as a witness, but also by her baptism and daily repentance. She died with Christ. She was raised with Him to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
The same is no less true for you, dear Christian. You are not an eyewitness of His Cross and Resurrection, but you are in fact baptized into the very same. You die and rise with Christ Jesus through daily repentance and the forgiveness of all your sins. He is your true and heavenly Bridegroom who sought you out and found you; called you by name to be His holy Bride, that is, within His holy Church, as a living member of His own Body.
Thus with St Mary Magdalene and with all the saints, you life is given to a witness of His Resurrection. Your words and actions testifying that God has raised your dear Lord Jesus from the dead. With your means, by your works, you support His Ministry of the Gospel, for yourselves and your neighbors.
Everything about you, all that you are and have, is bound up with Christ Jesus. You are baptized into Him. You have died with Him. Your life is now hidden with Him in God the Father. Your temporary sojourn on earth is just that; sanctified and set apart from Him through His Cross and Passion, into His Resurrection and His Life everlasting.
Therefore do not cling to Him in the dead and dying things of this world. Do not attempt to find Him and have Him for yourself in that which only has the appearance of beauty, but inwardly is perishing. That sort of beauty is vain and its charm is deceitful. Trying to hang onto Christ and His Life in the transitory familiarities of earth is futile and fatal.
You know Him only from His Word and the Voice of His Gospel. Do not seek to find answers from your mortal father, your old Adam. For he has been laid to rest in the tomb and remains there to rot. Digging deeply into the dirt of your own flesh you will not know Jesus. He is not the gardener, the old Adam. He is the Good Shepherd, who lays down His life for the sheep and takes it up again that you may have true life in Him.
He does for you and all His sheep as He did for dear Mary Magdalene: He calls you by name. He calls you by the sweet Voice of the Gospel, which forgives all your sins and casts out all your demons and heals all your diseases and raises you from death to life.
Beloved, not only are you a dear sheep of the Good Shepherd, you are an excellent wife of this true and heavenly Bridegroom. O son or daughter of the King, you belong to His most holy Bride! With St Mary Magdalene, with St Mary the Mother of our Lord, with Peter and John, with all the witnesses of the resurrection, and with all the baptized of every time and place, you belong to the Wedding Party of the Lamb, and you are seated with Him at His Table. For He takes you to be His very own, to have to hold forever.
All that is His, He shares with you. He rises from the dead, therefore you also rise. He ascends to the right hand of God, and you are seated with Him in the heavenly places. His God and Father is now your God and Father. He has given you His Name and the wedding garment of His righteousness in Holy Baptism. That is your pledge, your surety, your down-payment and dowry. And He has prepared a place for you with Him, where even now your life is hidden, safe and secure.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Today is the Feast of St Mary Magdalene, faithful disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ, eyewitness of His Cross and Passion, and first witness of His Resurrection from the dead. The Eastern Church names her “the apostle to the Apostles.” I know that sounds a bit shocking to our ears - a woman apostle? But it simply confesses that she was the one Christ sent (αποστολοι) to His Apostles with the new of His bodily Resurrection from the grave.
Everything we know about St Mary Magdalene is bound up in and with her dear Lord Jesus. She received such excellent gifts and benefited from His Ministry, and so she supported His Ministry with her whole life and all that she had. Many have supposed that she is the woman described in St Luke chapter seven, a woman of the city, that is, likely a prostitute, who wet Jesus’ feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair, kissed and anointed them with ointment. The Pharisees were indignant toward her and outraged at Jesus’ allowance. Yet He praised her tears, her kiss, her anointing and says, Her many sins are forgiven, on account of which she has loved much (Lk 7:47). Perhaps it was St Mary of Magdala. Perhaps not. It is adiaphora.
For certain, though, she is identified as the first witness of the Resurrection. This is St John’s way, and the Holy Spirit’s way, of commemorating this faithful woman. Indeed this account is indicative of the Gospel’s veracity. If the Apostles had invented these things, they would surely not have written a woman into that position. Yet it was so, according to the good and gracious will of the Lord. The risen Christ appeared first to one of the faithful woman who had followed and supported Him. Such is His love and admiration for the weaker vessel. Indeed He did not spurn the womb of His virgin Mother and so honored all woman with the gift of child-bearing!
And even as St Mary, the Mother of God, is a picture and icon of the Church, so too St Mary Magdalene. The Church receives her Lord as the heavenly Bridegroom of us all and relates to Him collectively as His Bride. It is that feminine posture of faith and love which St Mary exemplifies. All that DaVinci Code nonsense aside, it is the case that she is a living member of the Bride of Christ, His holy Church, as are all men and woman who believe and are baptized into Him. Christ cast out seven spirits from St Mary Magdalene. So has He cast out the unclean spirit of sinful unbelief from your heart and bestowed upon you His Holy Spirit, by the washing of water with the Word in Holy Baptism.
St Mary shared in Christ’s Cross and Resurrection, not only as a witness, but also by her baptism and daily repentance. She died with Christ. She was raised with Him to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
The same is no less true for you, dear Christian. You are not an eyewitness of His Cross and Resurrection, but you are in fact baptized into the very same. You die and rise with Christ Jesus through daily repentance and the forgiveness of all your sins. He is your true and heavenly Bridegroom who sought you out and found you; called you by name to be His holy Bride, that is, within His holy Church, as a living member of His own Body.
Thus with St Mary Magdalene and with all the saints, you life is given to a witness of His Resurrection. Your words and actions testifying that God has raised your dear Lord Jesus from the dead. With your means, by your works, you support His Ministry of the Gospel, for yourselves and your neighbors.
Everything about you, all that you are and have, is bound up with Christ Jesus. You are baptized into Him. You have died with Him. Your life is now hidden with Him in God the Father. Your temporary sojourn on earth is just that; sanctified and set apart from Him through His Cross and Passion, into His Resurrection and His Life everlasting.
Therefore do not cling to Him in the dead and dying things of this world. Do not attempt to find Him and have Him for yourself in that which only has the appearance of beauty, but inwardly is perishing. That sort of beauty is vain and its charm is deceitful. Trying to hang onto Christ and His Life in the transitory familiarities of earth is futile and fatal.
You know Him only from His Word and the Voice of His Gospel. Do not seek to find answers from your mortal father, your old Adam. For he has been laid to rest in the tomb and remains there to rot. Digging deeply into the dirt of your own flesh you will not know Jesus. He is not the gardener, the old Adam. He is the Good Shepherd, who lays down His life for the sheep and takes it up again that you may have true life in Him.
He does for you and all His sheep as He did for dear Mary Magdalene: He calls you by name. He calls you by the sweet Voice of the Gospel, which forgives all your sins and casts out all your demons and heals all your diseases and raises you from death to life.
Beloved, not only are you a dear sheep of the Good Shepherd, you are an excellent wife of this true and heavenly Bridegroom. O son or daughter of the King, you belong to His most holy Bride! With St Mary Magdalene, with St Mary the Mother of our Lord, with Peter and John, with all the witnesses of the resurrection, and with all the baptized of every time and place, you belong to the Wedding Party of the Lamb, and you are seated with Him at His Table. For He takes you to be His very own, to have to hold forever.
All that is His, He shares with you. He rises from the dead, therefore you also rise. He ascends to the right hand of God, and you are seated with Him in the heavenly places. His God and Father is now your God and Father. He has given you His Name and the wedding garment of His righteousness in Holy Baptism. That is your pledge, your surety, your down-payment and dowry. And He has prepared a place for you with Him, where even now your life is hidden, safe and secure.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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