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Mary Magdalene in St Mark's Gospel
Probable date of writing: about AD 68
St Mark introduces Mary Magdalene in his account of the death of Jesus by crucifixion. She is with other women by the cross, sees the body of Jesus put in the tomb, and sees the evidence for the resurrection on Sunday morning. Note that the Gospel according to St Mark lost its last page at a very early date. Other Christians provided brief endings for the truncated work; two of them are given here.
Chapter 15 verse 17 - chapter 16 verse 8
Jesus shouted and then died.
At once the curtain in the temple tore in two from top to bottom.
A Roman army officer was standing in front of Jesus. When the officer saw how Jesus died, he said, "This man really was the Son of God!"
Some women were looking on from a distance. They had come with Jesus to Jerusalem. But even before this they had been his followers and had helped him while he was in Galilee. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joseph were two of these women. Salome was also one of them.
It was now the evening before the Sabbath, and the Jewish people were getting ready for that sacred day. A man named Joseph from Arimathea was brave enough to ask Pilate for the body of Jesus. Joseph was a highly respected member of the Jewish council, and he was also waiting for God's kingdom to come.
Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead, and he called in the army officer to find out if Jesus had been dead very long. After the officer told him, Pilate let Joseph have Jesus' body.
Joseph bought a linen cloth and took the body down from the cross. He had it wrapped in the cloth, and he put it in a tomb that had been cut into solid rock. Then he rolled a big stone against the entrance to the tomb.
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph were watching and saw where the body was placed.
After the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James bought some spices to put on Jesus' body. Very early on Sunday morning, just as the sun was coming up, they went to the tomb. On their way, they were asking one another, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance for us?" But when they looked, they saw that the stone had already been rolled away. And it was a huge stone!
The women went into the tomb, and on the right side they saw a young man in a white robe sitting there. They were alarmed.
The man said, "Don't be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, who was nailed to a cross. God has raised him to life, and he isn't here. You can see the place where they put his body. Now go and tell his disciples, and especially Peter, that he will go ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you."
When the women ran from the tomb, they were confused and shaking all over. They were too afraid to tell anyone what had happened.
An old ending to St Mark
Very early on the first day of the week, after Jesus had risen to life, he appeared to Mary Magdalene. Earlier he had forced seven demons out of her. She left and told his friends, who were crying and mourning. Even though they heard that Jesus was alive and that Mary had seen him, they would not believe it.
Another old ending to St Mark
The women quickly told Peter and his friends what had happened. Later, Jesus sent the disciples to the east and to the west with his sacred and everlasting message of how people can be saved forever.
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Thursday 20th of November 2008
