St. Mary Magdalene

Reflections

July 22, 2024

Today's Reading: John 20:1-2, 10-18

Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 5:1-6:3, 10-16; Acts 18:1-11, 23-28

Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her. (John 20:18)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Mary Magdalene gets an unfair rap if you ask me. Scripture tells us that Jesus had driven seven demons out of her (Luke 8:2)—she may have been the sinful woman who anointed Jesus’ feet (Luke 7:36-50), but that’s speculation. Church tradition suggests some other sinful things about her past, and I’m not really here to disagree with the Church’s handed-down tradition, but let’s remember Mary Magdalene for what she got right—it’s really important. Mary, not to be confused with any of the other Marys in the Gospels, was there at Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection! While the disciples were running, hiding, and denying, she stood by and watched it all happen! While the disciples were in a grief-stricken stupor early in the morning on that first day of the week—and indeed the First Day of the new life that is in Christ for all who believe—she made provisions and journeyed to the tomb. No doubt, she was stricken with grief, eyes weary from tears, and when she saw the stone rolled away, she ran and told Peter and John. After they saw the empty tomb, they went their own ways. But not Mary. She stood there, lost in thoughts of what this could possibly mean, and then she saw Jesus. She knew Him when He called her name. Isn’t that just the greatest thing? Blinded by grief and unfamiliar with the resurrected face of Jesus, He calls her by name. He names us, too. That’s the blessing of Baptism. Your name is spoken out loud, not so that the congregation can hear it, and certainly not because God needed to hear it…but because you do. Yes, Christ appoints pastors in His stead and by His command, but Jesus calls your name as you are baptized into His name—and His death and resurrection, too! And our response is just the same as Mary’s: we go, we run, we spread to anyone and everyone we can find, and we joyfully announce that Christ—who was crucified, dead, and buried—is alive again forever! Or, as Mary so beautifully put it to the apostles whose hearts were broken: “I have seen the Lord!” In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

We sing Your praise for Mary, Who came at Easter dawn To look for Jesus’ body And found her Lord was gone. But, as with joy she saw Him In resurrection light, May we by faith behold Him, The Day who ends our night. Amen. (LSB 855:11)

-Rev. Dustin Beck is pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Corpus Christi, TX.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

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