Devotions

Such Love

How would feel if you were the very first person to see Jesus after His death and resurrection? [Allow for responses.] Reading John 20:15,16 makes me wonder about Mary Magdalene and why she was the one to whom Jesus first revealed Himself after His resurrection. In Luke 8:1–3 Mary Magdalene is identified as being among the women who ministered to Jesus “out of their own means,” indicating that she was a woman of

comparative wealth who used her money to support Jesus’ ministry. This raises even more questions as to how this wealthy woman got involved in Jesus’ ministry.

We are not given all the details of their initial encounter, but we are told that Jesus healed Mary Magdalene of seven demons. How oppressed her life must have been as she lived with those demons. She probably had known little joy. Fear and despair would have been her constant companions. Then Jesus came into her life and everything changed. Hope replaced despair; joy took the place of fear. Oppression vanished and instead there was great freedom.

Many people would have steered clear of a woman who was possessed by seven demons. Her behavior would probably have been odd. Who could have trusted her? But Jesus’ love demonstrated that He believed in her. He looked beyond what everyone else saw to the woman who was trapped inside. In spite of the demons that possessed her, Jesus saw the possibilities. He knew what she could become. And He set her free to become a godly woman. Mary became a changed woman and she owed it all to Jesus and His compassion for her. It was her overwhelming gratitude to Him for her new life that was the driving force behind her devotion to Him.

Not only did she use her resources during Jesus’ life and ministry, she was present when He was dying on the cross (John 19:25). She stayed by the cross until it was all over and waited until His body had been taken down and placed in the garden tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea (Matthew 27:61, Mark 15:47, Luke 23:55). In the early hours of that first Easter morning she, along with Salome and Mary, the mother of James, brought spices to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body (Matthew 28:1) and she saw the angels at the tomb (John 20: 11, 12). Mary Magdalene had proven her devotion to Jesus. She had become the woman that Jesus knew she could be: devoted, dependable and trustworthy. It happened because Jesus believed in her. It was this belief that gave her one final great honor. Mary was the very first person whom Jesus revealed Himself to after His resurrection (John 20:14,15). She saw and talked to Him. I doubt that she fully comprehended what had happened or what it meant, but hope and joy crowded out her pain and grief. Then Jesus demonstrated His belief in her again as He entrusted to her a message for the disciples and sent her off to find them. John 20:18 records, “Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord!’ And she told them that He had said these things to her.” A life was set free. A person found joy and purpose in life. A woman was used to carry a message that changed everything for those who heard it. And it happened all because she met Jesus who showed her love—love that believed in her.

The exciting thing about this story is that it can be the same for you and for me. It doesn’t matter where our life has taken us, or how many times we have failed. God wants each of us to remember that with His great, undeserved, all powerful love, He believes in you. Experience that love and be set free to find joy and purpose in your life.

—Major Christine Poff