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 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 she had seen the Lord. She also told them what he had said to her.
John 20:11-18
Mary Magdalene was seeking Jesus at the tomb that Sunday morning, and she was the first one to see the resurrected Christ! That was a choice that Jesus made, not Mary. Peter and John had been there also but Jesus waited until they left to appear to Mary. After having seen His mutilated and crucified body she did not recognize His resurrected body, but when Jesus called her name she knew it was the Lord.
There is much speculation about Mary Magdalene, but the Bible clearly says that Jesus had cast seven demons out of this now devoted disciple. There is no description of how this happened or even when, but Mary Magdalene was deep in the grips of Satan's minions when an encounter with Jesus left her free, free to follow Jesus.
There are those who march completely out of the Biblical bounds of revelation and assume that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married. There is nothing in the Bible that even hints at such an absurd belief. But Jesus was fully human as well as fully God and as such he would have had tender and protective feelings toward any woman. Mary must have also seen Jesus as not only her deliverer, but also her protector. Jesus was the perfect example of what it means to be a man.
So Jesus chose this formally demon possessed woman to be the first person on earth to see Him after His resurrection.
Like Mary Magdalene if you let Jesus cast the demons from your life, you will see Jesus. Jesus came to earth to release you from the grip of Satan and to pay the price for your sins.
"Lord Jesus, like Mary Magdalene I need your touch to free me from the demons that would keep me from following You. You are the only hope for every man and woman who ever lived. And in that hope I rest and trust You to do for me what You did for Mary and everyone who comes to You. Amen."
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