A Heart Full of Love

There are several women called Mary in the New Testament. One of them came from the village of Magdala which was located on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. We are not told when she first met Jesus, but we are informed that at one stage he cast out seven demons that indwelt her. It is not possible to say why she was in such a state, or what effects that influences had on her. But we can say that Jesus delivered her from their influence, and that she was devoted to him as a result (Luke 8:1-3). She was obviously a woman with some financial resources from which she helped Jesus and his disciples.

Although she was involved in the ministry of Jesus in this practical manner, nothing is said about the various things that she did during those months and years in which she followed him. The only circumstances in which she is specifically mentioned is that she was present at the cross on Friday morning and afternoon, that she observed his burial by Joseph and Nicodemus on Friday evening, and that she went to the tomb of Joseph early on Sunday morning.

Each of those occasions had a surprising turn of events for Mary. No doubt, she had assumed with the other disciples that Jesus would set up an earthly kingdom, but on Friday morning her hope would have been destroyed, and that would have surprised her because she personally knew his amazing power to perform miracles. Little did she realise that, when she thought no miracle was happening, his greatest miracle of all was taking place when he paid the penalty for her sins.

Mary would have been aware of how the authorities disposed of the bodies of those who had been crucified. She would have expected that some officials would, after his death, send persons to manhandle the body carelessly, and show little respect as they did so, before taking it to the burial spot and throwing it in. What a surprise was hers when she saw two of the most important people in the Jewish Sanhedrin make their way to the cross of Jesus, gently take his body down, and then take it to a tomb that belonged to one of the richest men in Jerusalem! But as with everything about Jesus, what happened to him was in line with the Bible. It had been predicted in Isaiah 53 that he would be with the rich in his death.

Then on Sunday morning, she resolved to deal with the dead body. Maybe she had observed that the kind act of Joseph and Nicodemus had lacked some feminine skills as they prepared his body for burial. Her intention was an act of love, although if she had listened to what he had said about his resurrection on the third day she would have realised that her intention was unnecessary. Still, love had its reward, and what a wonderful surprise she had in Joseph’s garden when she met the man she came to anoint.