“Mary, Magdalene – A Woman with Demons” – Luke 8:1-3

It’s amazing how many people we know that we know nothing or little about. We can throw out some names—Elvis, Pope John Paul II, Elizabeth Taylor, Mata Hari—that we are familiar with. If asked, we would say, “Yes, I know who these people are,” but do we really know them? What was Elvis like as a friend? What was the pope’s favorite color? What was Elizabeth Taylor’s go-to comfort food? Why was Mata Hari a spy?

We can know an awful lot about people without really knowing them.

One person in the Bible we hear a lot about is Mary Magdalene, but what do we really know about her? Tradition tells us some things, but is tradition really accurate? When it gets right down to it, the only thing we can really know about Mary is what the Bible tells us.

Background

Of the four gospel accounts, Luke is the one who presents women in a light as co-workers with the disciples. Luke presented more passages about women in different contexts than the other three gospel accounts do.

One of the women Luke wrote about was Mary Magdalene. In today’s passage, we learn that she had been possessed by seven demons before she met Jesus. Here’s what tradition and speculation tell us about her.

In the sixth century, a pope presented the idea that Mary had been a prostitute before she met Jesus. Perhaps he assumed that since she had been possessed by evil spirits, they had made her do bad things. He may have also equated Mary with the woman described in Luke 7. In the meal at the parable’s house, the woman is described as a woman who had lived a sinful life (cf. v. 37) and as a sinner (cf. v. 39). The problem is that there is no reason to believe that the woman described in Luke 7 and Mary Magdalene were the same woman.

There are those who claim that Mary and Jesus had an intimate relationship, more like lovers than teacher and student. Assuming that Mary and Jesus were in fact in a more familiar relationship, we have to believe it was chaste relationship, because Jesus was without sin, and fornication—sex between two people who are not married to other people or each other—is a sin and Jesus is without sin.

Some have even suggested that Mary was Jesus’ wife, and that Mary had a child by Him. The fantasy even goes on to say that Jesus did not die on the cross, and that He and Mary were eventually smuggled to Spain where they raised their family and established a noble line in Western Europe.

All of this is conjecture with no shred of evidence. Nowhere in the Bible do we have a description of Mary and her relationship with Jesus other than what we read about here and in other passages. None of the Biblical references suggest there was more to their relationship other than she was a follower of the One who had freed her from her demons.

To get to know Mary, we need to see what the Bible says about her. In these passages, we learn that Mary was a woman of substance and an example of someone who followed Jesus. In today’s passage, we learn that Mary was from a village named Magdala and other things that lay a foundation of truth about her.

Central Truth: Jesus frees us from the demons that trouble us.

In our first glimpse of Mary, we see someone who:

1. Travelled with Jesus (1-2a)

After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with Him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases.

By the time Luke reported these events, Jesus had already begun His ministry of preaching and healing. He had chosen His disciples and had been rejected by His hometown. The confrontation with the Pharisees had begun and had already caused early conflicts. In Chapter 7, Luke wrote of Jesus’ dealing with Gentiles, first a Roman centurion who called upon Jesus to heal his servant. Jesus also raised a dead man to life to ease the widowed mother’s plight. Chapter 7 ends with Jesus as a guest at a Pharisee’s house where a sinful woman washed Jesus’ feet with her tears.

Luke used this verse to give us an introduction to the next part of his gospel account. Remember that Luke had told Theophilus that he had written the gospel account as an “orderly account.” This verse lets us know that Jesus’ ministry was not limited to one place, but that He traveled extensively to teach and to minister to the needs of the people in the region.

In the ancient days and up until more recent times, an army would be followed by a group of citizens that hoped to benefit from the soldiers. There would be vendors who would sell things the soldiers might need, and there were women who followed for their own financial needs. Some of the women who followed were prostitutes, while others were wives and girlfriends of the various soldiers. These hangers-on were not essential to the mission of the army, but they were there, nonetheless, and had to be accounted for as the army traveled from one place to another.

This is not the case with those who traveled with Jesus. We know the significance of the disciples, as each played a supportive part in Jesus’ ministry both before and after the resurrection. Included with this group are three women mentioned by name. What distinguished the women from the disciples is that Jesus had ministered to each of the women, casting out demons or healing from illnesses, while the disciples had been called by Jesus.

What is significant about these women is that they played a part in Jesus’ ministry. While their role was different than that of the disciples, their role was nonetheless important in spreading the gospel and ministry throughout the region. From this, we learn the first thing about Mary of Magdalene. She was an important part of Jesus’ ministry leading up to the events at Calvary and the empty tomb.

2. Was freed from seven demons (2b-3a)

Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons who had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others.

The role of demons in our world has largely been reduced to allegorical or symbolic. When a person is dealing with past issues in their present life, we say they are dealing with their demons. Flip Wilson became popular as a comedian in part from his, “The devil made me do it” tag line.

Even though we may not recognize actual demons in our modern society, we would be foolish to believe they no longer exist. While it is true we can explain away some of the demon possessions of the New Testament, it is also true that Jesus still performed miracles in healing men and women from mental illnesses that modern medicine is still unable to completely cure. And then there are actual demons in our world, where people’s actions cannot be explained away by a simple mental illness or physical ailment.

This verse tells us that Mary was possessed by seven demons before she met Jesus. We are not told what the demons did to hinder Mary. From other demon accounts in the Gospels, we know that demons could give super-human strength to a person (cf. Luke 8:29), cause seizures and cast people into fires (cf. Matthew 17:14-15), and cause them to prophesy (cf. Acts 16:16-18), among other things. There is no indication that demons caused people to do immoral acts. For the most part, the demon-possession caused mental anguish and confusion.

Whatever Mary had been suffering from, Jesus delivered her from the suffering and set her on the right path, for which she committed herself to Him. She went from a woman troubled by demons to a woman of substance and ability to assist Jesus in His ministry.

Jesus can still free us from demons, whether symbolic or real. He can give us the power through His Spirit to overcome the things of this world that drag us down. Some people struggle with various things that hinder their walk with Jesus. While it is a struggle to overcome, Jesus will remain with us in the struggle and give us the strength, if we want it to happen.

The other two women mentioned in these verses also played an important part in Jesus’ ministry, even if they are mentioned less often than Mary is. Joanna was a woman of prominence in that her husband was Herod’s household manager, while Susanna is merely mentioned by name and only in this verse. As Luke noted, there were other women involved in Jesus’ earthly ministry. Perhaps we can add Martha and Mary to this group, as well as Jesus’ mother, Mary, and James and John’s mother. This is speculation, but there is evidence from others parts of the Gospels that tell us these women played a part in Jesus’ life at one time or another.

3. Helped support Jesus (3b)

These women were helping support them out of their own means.

There was a time when Peter was confronted by the Pharisees, asking if Jesus paid a Temple tax (cf. Matthew 17:24-27). Peter, being the kind of person who often spoke without thinking answered that of course, Jesus paid the tax. When Peter returns to Jesus, Jesus asks the disciples about who should pay taxes, then tells Peter to go catch a fish. That fish will have enough food in its mouth to pay the taxes owed by Jesus and Peter. We also know that Jesus could feed 5000+ people with a boy’s lunch. When Jesus sent out the disciples, He told them not to carry a purse (Matthew 10:9), because the worker is worth his keep. All this is to say that Jesus could have easily provided for Himself and the disciples simply by relying on God to direct Him.

Perhaps one of the ways God directed Jesus was to accept the financial support of the women like Mary, Joanna and Susanna and the others. The point is that God’s work is not completely reliant upon Him miraculously providing the means. He can and also does support His ministry by leading His people to provide the financial means to further the ministry.

Because you and I are people of the New Testament, we are no longer to be controlled by the laws given to Moses. This includes the tithe. Instead, our giving should be directed by the Spirit that lives within us. Granted, the tithe is a good example and there is nothing wrong with giving a tithe, but sometimes God calls on us to give more. I know of one member of our church who has since gone to be with the Lord that used his money not just to support our church, but also used it to further other ministries, including the Gideons in Clifton. The point of this verse and this paragraph is that God expects us to use the financial means that He gives us to support the ministry of Christ in our world today.

Mary Magdalene is an example for us in this regard.

Conclusion

We learn a lot from reading God’s word. In today’s passage, we learn that Mary Magdalene was a woman of substance. She had had a hard life that was transformed by her meeting Jesus. We know that she supported Jesus in His ministry, both with her presence and with her finances. We know that Mary was a woman that Jesus could depend upon.

Her example is one we can follow. Like Mary, we are transformed by Jesus when we come to Him. Like Mary, we play a part in spreading the gospel. And like Mary, we support Jesus with our involvement in ministry with our abilities and our finances.

One of the ways we can be more like Jesus is to also be like Mary Magdalene.