Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

July 18, 2010 -- 7th Sunday after Trinity -- Service Guide

From the Old Testament of the Day: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”  [Proverbs 31.29]]

From the Epistle: But God raised Him from the dead, and for many days He appeared to those who had come up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now His witnesses to the people. [Acts 13.30-31]

From the Holy Gospel: Mary Magadalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord” – and that He had said these things to her.  [John 20.18]

Today, we celebrate the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, transferred to this day from Wednesday, the 22^nd of July. This central figure in the life of our Lord Jesus has a very common name in New Testament times, “Mary.” When you hear the Biblical name, “Mary,” your mind undoubtedly thinks first of  the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. But this festival does not focus upon our Lord's earthly mother.

In fact, no less than five women named “Mary” are found in the New Testament: The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mary the wife of Clopas, Mary the sister of Martha, Mary from Galilee who is the mother of James and the wife of Zebedee; and, of course, Mary from Magdala. To help with this potential for confusion, the New Testament writers referred to this “Mary” by including the name of her home town, Magdala. Hence, this saint is known to you as “St. Mary Magdalene.” For, just as Jesus is known as the One from Nazareth, and thus is called “the Nazarene,” so  St. Mary of Magdala, is called the “Magdalene.” But, the issue today is not so much how the Scriptures speak of her so as to not confuse the New Testament reader, but  rather, the question that needs answering today is: What is the Biblical Importance of St. Mary of Magdala?

I.

The first thing that we notice about St. Mary Magdalene is that she is a poor sinner in need of the forgiveness of sins, making her like everyone here. In the early Church, there was general agreement that the sinful woman in Luke, chapter 7, who washed Jesus' feet and dried them with her hair, was this Mary. Contemporary scholars tend to say that there is no evidence that the repentant sinner was the Magdalene, so they tend to reject the possibility. But, it's always dangerous to reject the near unanimous voice of early Christianity, a voice that finds the repentant sinner to be Mary of Magdala.

In his very next chapter, St. Luke clearly tells us that Jesus removed from Mary of Magdala seven demons, which, busy together in Mary, would certainly have made of her a sinful woman. So, the debate seems to be silly, and the point of who she is to Jesus seems to be missed.

Mary of Magdala is a forgiven sinner who has become a devoted follower of our Lord Jesus. The declaration of wise King Solomon in Proverbs 31 applies well to the Magdalene: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” And what makes for that surpassing excellence is the forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of sins makes Mary of Magdala stand apart from others in her devotion to Our Lord. For she was forgiven much!

II.

Thus, it is not surprising that Jesus chooses Mary of Magdala to be the first person to announce the fact of the resurrection to His followers. For St. Mary Magdalene is the Mary who steadies the weary Mother of our Lord as she watches her Son's agony and death. St Mary Magdalene is the Mary who is first to arrive at the tomb while it is still dark, where she sees the stone has been taken away from the tomb. She is the Mary who first tells the disciples the puzzling truth that the tomb is empty. And she is the Mary at the tomb, weeping, to whom Jesus calls by name, “Mary,” and to whom He charges: “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and say to them that I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.”

Thus, St. Mary of Magdala is commissioned by the Lord to be, literally, “the Apostle to the Apostles,” as she becomes known in the Early Church era. For, as St John records it, “Mary Magdalene goes and announces to the disciples, 'I have seen the Lord' – and that He has said these things to her.”

The power of the forgiveness of sins is thus seen in bold relief, for the great sinner, the one filled with seven demons, now declares to the leaders of the Church, what Jesus has told her to say to His soon-to-be Apostles. And what she says, and they receive, is the very basis of the forgiveness of sins for her, for them, and for you, today!

III.

      The Epistle appointed for this feast day declares, from the Book of Acts, as St. Luke records it: “But God raised Him from the dead, and for many days He appeared to those who had come up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now His witnesses to the people.” The grace of God in the forgiveness of sins is now declared by those who have discovered that their sins are forgiven. It is true that the Apostles serve as the foundation of the distribution of the forgiveness of sins. And it is equally true that the distribution of the forgiveness of sins today comes, by God's design, through the apostolic office of the holy ministry.

      Nevertheless, ordinary Christians comprise the holy office, and moreover ordinary Christians get the opportunity to assure one another, and other sinners too, that in the death and resurrection of our dear Lord Jesus is the forgiveness of all sins of all people of all time!

      St Mary of Magdala, the great sinner become great saint, helps us – by word and by example – to discover the Gospel, in all its simplicity and in all its power. We Lutherans, without any claim and certainly deserving of nothing, have been given the privilege in history of speaking clearly and simply of the forgiveness of sins today – making us the undeserving children of St. Mary Magdalene. For what she proclaims, what the Scriptures teach, and what the Lutheran theologians sought to recover in full clarity, is the message of the Scriptures, which is, by God's grace, the message of your confessional Lutheran church, the message that comprises three simple points, period!

      Contrition, Repentance, and the Forgiveness of Sins! That's it! That is what our church is given to say today, as St. Mary of Magdala is given it to say to the Apostles themselves: Contrition, Repentance, and the Forgiveness of Sins!

       “Contrition” – or we could equally say, “Confession,” is the simple but stark agreement with God that we are poor, miserable sinners – as we say each time we precede the Divine Service with Confession and Holy Absolution.  Repentance is the simple cry to be rid of our sins. “Father, forgive me!” And, the Forgiveness of Sins, is the message of promise and hope with which we saturate everything we do, hear, say, sing, and cherish here.

      These three – Contrition, Repentance, and the Forgiveness of sins – comprise our message, our calling, our reward to offer others, and our gift from God. Together, contrition, repentance, and the forgiveness of sins, is what “church” is. It is what the Church ought to be, and until Jesus returns, it will be the purpose and the message of the Church. Contrition, repentance, and the forgiveness of sins is the message to and through St. Mary of Magdala, and it is the message to and through the Christian Church on earth! It is your gift, your assurance, your forgiveness, and your message to one another, and to all sinners!