Greetings everyone and thanks for joining me for this edition of my Sunday School lesson commentary. This Sunday’s lesson is entitled “Mary Magdalene: A Faithful Disciple” and is found in Luke 8:1-3; Mark 15:40; John 20:10-18.
Mary Magdalene is one of several women who are named in the gospel. She is first mentioned in Luke 8:1-3 as someone Jesus healed from seven devils that possessed her. She is not mentioned again until the end of Jesus’s ministry.
She was there and a witness to his crucifixion and a witness to His resurrection. While she does not appear prominently anywhere else in the gospel, by her presence at the crucifixion and the end after His resurrection she appears to have had more than a causal or informal connection with Jesus.
In addition to the healing, the Luke text also said “they” meaning some women, of whom Mary Magdalene was one, travelled with and supported Jesus’s ministry. Women, while not mentioned nearly as much as men in the scripture have always had a supporting role.
And as I mentioned in an earlier commentary, a supportive role is no less important than a leading role. Because many, if not most, leading roles are made possible by supportive roles.
Recently, Tom Brady, won his seventh Super Bowl title. He had the leading role and everyone focuses on him. But without all the others who support him, he couldn’t win anything. Many, if not most, of them that support him both on and off the field are never mentioned or known.
These women appear to have been with Jesus and the twelve and did many things for and with them that are not mentioned in the gospel. In the end, it was they, not the men, who were by His side and watched Him die. They followed Him to His tomb and went home to prepare spices to anoint His body.
It was Mary Magdalene and some other women who rose up very early Sunday morning to anoint the Lord’s bloody and beaten body. They wondered on their way how they were going to enter the sealed tomb. They were the first to discover that Jesus had indeed risen as He said He would and the first to go and spread the news (evangelize) to the other disciples.
They, and Mary Magdalene, demonstrated their devotion and love for the Lord by working without recognition and being there at the end to do what they could to be supportive to Jesus in His most trying hours. They were and are indeed faithful witnesses.
They should inspire all of us, male and female, in whatever our calling is and whatever our role. No matter how large or small our role may appear to be to us or others, we need to be faithful in our support for the Lord and His mission.
For it’s not the recognition we receive or will receive from men and others that matters. What matters is the motivation for why we do what we do and the faithfulness in which we did it before the Lord that will lead the Lord to say “well done!”.
Well, I hope you will be able to attend SS this coming Sunday. Invite someone to come and share your thoughts with the class. Sunday School at Flag Branch will begin at 9:00 am and you are invited to join us at www.fbmbc.org and clicking the online services link.
You and others can also join us by dialing 508 924-2490. If you have any comments or questions before then, be sure to place them in the comment section of this preview and I will get back to you. So, as always remember to fear God and keep His commandments.
Pastor Jordan
