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Mary Magdalene in St John's Gospel
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Probable date of writing: about AD 96
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Author: The auther of the Gospel as we have it is unknown, but was probably a companion of St John, one of Jesus' twelve apostles. The same author may well have written the three letters (1, 2 and 3 John) in the New Testament.
It is all but certain that the author of the Revelation, known as John the Divine, was not the same as the author of the Gospel.
John develops the story of Mary Magdalene's experiences of the risen Jesus. Where the other three Gospels include her in a group of women, John pictures her alone at the tomb, and includes a moving account of her meeting with Jesus, and her role as the first preacher of the resurrection. She is the apostle to the apostles.
John Chapter 19
Jesus' mother stood beside his cross with her sister and Mary the wife of Clopas. Mary Magdalene was standing there too. When Jesus saw his mother and his favourite disciple with her, he said to his mother, "This man is now your son." Then he said to the disciple, "She is now your mother." From then on, that disciple took her into his own home.
John Chapter 20
On Sunday morning while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran to Simon Peter and to Jesus' favourite disciple and said, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb! We don't know where they have put him."
Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. They ran side by side, until the other disciple ran faster than Peter and got there first. He bent over and saw the strips of linen cloth lying inside the tomb, but he did not go in.
When Simon Peter got there, he went into the tomb and saw the strips of cloth. He also saw the piece of cloth that had been used to cover Jesus' face. It was rolled up and in a place by itself. The disciple who got there first then went into the tomb, and when he saw it, he believed. At that time Peter and the other disciple did not know that the Scriptures said Jesus would rise to life. So the two of them went back to the other disciples.
Mary Magdalene stood crying outside the tomb. She was still weeping, when she stooped down and saw two angels inside. They were dressed in white and were sitting where Jesus' body had been. One was at the head and the other was at the foot. The angels asked Mary, "Why are you crying?"
She answered, "They have taken away my Lord's body! I don't know where they have put him."
As soon as Mary said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there. But she did not know who he was. Jesus asked her, "Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?"
She thought he was the gardener and said, "Sir, if you have taken his body away, please tell me, so I can go and get him."
Then Jesus said to her, "Mary!"
She turned and said to him, "Rabboni." The Aramaic word "Rabboni" means "Teacher."
Jesus told her, "Don't hold on to me! I have not yet gone to the Father. But tell my disciples that I am going to the one who is my Father and my God, as well as your Father and your God." Mary Magdalene then went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord. She also told them what he had said to her.
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Thursday 20th of November 2008
