Mary Magdalene

She was possessed, broken, and rejected, yet Jesus saw her as a valuable human being.

Mary Magdalene entered the Holy Scriptures with a label that no one could escape: possessed by demons, unstable, unclean. Luke tells us that she was tormented by seven demons—a number that symbolizes completeness. Her bondage was total, public, and undeniable. By all religious standards of her time, she was unworthy, but Jesus did not shy away from caring for her.

He dealt with Mary’s darkness. He did not sugarcoat it, but commanded it to depart! Where others saw depravity, he saw a woman worthy of restoration.

After her deliverance, Mary did not return to anonymity. She followed him. She supported his ministry. She stayed when others fled. While many of the men scattered at the cross, Mary stayed close enough to see him die.

And when the resurrection came, Jesus did something that shattered every hierarchy of values. He entrusted the first proclamation of the risen Christ not to a priest, not to an apostle, not to a religious authority, but to her. The woman who was once possessed by demons became the first witness to the victory over death.

Jesus does not recruit the great ones of this world — he redeems the lost. He does not choose based on past purity, but on his grace. Mary was not worthy by human standards — but the gospel has never been based on human standards.

She did not walk with Jesus and his disciples because she deserved it, but because the grace of Jesus came to life in her. And that is the scandalous thing about Christianity: Those whom the world disqualifies are often those whom Jesus draws to himself. This is against every religious rule, but Jesus Christ is different.

He came to seek the lost and destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)

Thank you, Jesus. Amen.