Redeemed

Mary Magdalene and the Goodness of God

If you watch the Chosen series, then you are familiar with the story line about Mary Magdalene. It begins with Nicodemus attempting to pray for deliverance for Mary. It doesn’t happen. But then Jesus meets her.. calls out her name and she becomes delivered from the demons that possessed her. From that time forward, she becomes a follower of Christ. In the series, Mary Magdalene is a very prominent character. This is one of my favorite story lines.

When it comes to the Bible, we don’t have a lot of information about her. We know in Luke 8:2 she is mentioned as one of the women who follow Jesus and support His ministry. In Mark 15:40 she is mentioned as one of the women who were standing at a distance as He hung on the cross. Other than this, we don’t have much to go on when it comes to her and her life. However, from these two scriptures we can determine that she was once possessed and after she was made whole, she became a follower of Christ.

It is mentioned in some translations that Mary Magdalene was possessed by seven demons. Can you imagine the mental turmoil being possessed can cause? It is not something that brings peace or hope. The behavior and attitude that accompany that type of turmoil must have been one that discouraged people from helping. It had to be a hard and sad way of life.

It is just like God to find us where we are. When we are at our worst, He is willing to love us into our best. He wishes that all would be saved and join Him in eternal life.

2 Timothy 2:1-4 tells us…

First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people, even for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. Such prayer for all is good and welcomed before God our Savior, since he wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (NET version)

Because of His love… God offers us redemption through the cross.

Being redeemed changes a persons heart. It is true that this should happen for all who have accepted the forgiveness of sins through the cross… but in reality.. not everyone gets overwhelmed with a deep feeling of repentance. That is for another day.. right??!!

So we have this woman who was redeemed from the possession of the enemy. She has totally given her self to be a servant of Christ. She wants so much more than this world can ever give. She wants to love Jesus more than herself. This is where she will experience the full effect of being redeemed.

All to often we get caught up in the religious dialect of what redeemed looks like and we forget there is nothing more to it than loving Jesus beyond ourselves.

I am not sure about her previous life before being set free.. but I tend to think that Mary Magdalene was a woman who put everything aside in order to walk in the truest freedom she knew… a life with Jesus. In His presence before .. and after His death and resurrection. What a lifestyle that must have been.