Scripture: John 20:1-18, 14:18-19, etc.
As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him (vv. 11-13).”
Earlier, when the other women were still perplexed at the absence of the body, angels appeared to them and said, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!” At that time, Mary Magdalene had already left the tomb and had not heard these words. While most of the other women following Jesus were married, she was unmarried, even though she had passed the average marriage age. Luke introduces her as the woman “from whom seven demons had come out.” She began following Jesus during the early days of his ministry (Luke 8:2). She must have loved and served Jesus as if he were her husband. From how she is called “Mary Magdalene” (Magdala was her hometown), we know that she was known to all believers in the church.
At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him (vv. 14- 15).”
As Peter and John represent the shepherds who shepherd the church and the royal priesthood who serve God’s kingdom, Mary Magdalene represents the church as Christ’s bride. Her deliverance from seven demons signifies the removal of the Satanic force at work in this world, and afterward, the seven spirits of God came to dwell in her. Peter, John, and Mary became one with Christ through his death and resurrection. John refers to the entire church on earth as follows at the beginning of the Book of Revelation:
John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father–to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen (Rev 1:4-6).
Christ’s death and resurrection are our death and resurrection; if Christ lives, we also live. Because the Spirit of God lives within us, we are neither orphans nor widows. Let us not cry.
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live (John 14:18-19).
