Mary Magdalene
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Share something that you just found out but was common knowledge for others. What was your initial reaction?
โข Talk about a time someone convinced you to do something that you ended up enjoying. What changed your mind?
โข Share a realization that strongly changed how you saw a person or incident. What was the turning point?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ. ๐๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ.โย ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฎ๐ฌ:๐ญโ๐ฎ
(Read also ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฎ๐ฌ:๐ฏโ๐ญ๐ด and ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ด:๐ญโ๐ฏ.)
Jesus had been crucified to death on the cross. His body had been wrapped in spices and linen, and laid to rest in a tomb. From the account of John, it is not clear why Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early. She may have come to complete part of the burial ritual, or to grieve. Regardless of her intention, Mary was chosen as one of the first people to see the empty tomb and then to see the resurrected Christ. Let us look at how Maryโs encounters with Christ transformed her position from oppressed to valued witness.
๐ญ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐.ย
๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ท๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ญ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด: ๐๐ข๐ณ๐บ, ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ, ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต . . .ย ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ด:๐ญโ๐ฎ
Mary Magdalene once lived under the spiritual oppression of seven demons. Imagine the suffering and shame she must have felt while going through this. When she finally had an encounter with Jesus, she experienced the freedom and deliverance that she truly needed. She became one of Jesusโ disciples, supporting His ministry, as some other women did, ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด (Luke 8:3), and followed Him even until His death. When you reflect on your own journey with Christ, what moments of freedom or transformation do you see? How did you respond to what Christ has done for you?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ ๐๐ผ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.ย
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, โ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ?โ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ.โ ๐๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ธ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด. . . . ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, โ๐๐ข๐ณ๐บ.โ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ค, โ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช!โ (๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ).ย ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฎ๐ฌ:๐ญ๐ฏโ๐ญ๐ฐ, ๐ญ๐ฒ
Upon seeing the empty tomb, Mary alerted the disciples. She wept at the tomb, thinking that someone had taken Jesusโ body (John 20:11, 13). She did not know that the one she was talking to was Jesus Himself (John 20:15). It was only when Jesus called Mary by name and intentionally spoke to her first out of all His disciples that she recognized who He was. For everyone who follows Christ, He knows us by name and is intentional about His plans for us. How have you experienced this in your own life?
๐ฏ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, โ๐๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ค๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐บ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ; ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, โ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ข๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ.โโ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด, โ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅโโ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ.ย ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฎ๐ฌ:๐ญ๐ณโ๐ญ๐ด
In the time period and culture that Jesus lived in, women were not considered credible citizens. Their word was worth nothing, and they would likely not be counted among disciples or followers of any teacher. However, Jesus clearly turned no disciple away, whether man or woman. We can see that through Maryโs encounter with Jesus, she was transformed from being oppressed to following Jesus. She even boldly testified about the empty tomb to Simon Peter and John, and they believed her word. Share about how your own life has been transformed after encountering Christ.ย
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข How have you encountered Christ so far? If you have not yet taken that step, would you like to allow Him to transform your life starting today?
โข A relationship with Christ goes beyond miraculous encounters. How are you continuing to follow Him every day?
โข Encounters with Christ begin with experience and turn into testimony. How can you share about your encounters and relationship with Christ to a family member or friend this week?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to bring us the good news and make a way for us to be with Him forever.
โข Pray that your relationship with Christ will deepen beyond miraculous encounters with Him.
โข Ask God for opportunities to share your testimony with family members and friends. Pray for them to encounter God the way Mary Magdalene did.ย