Mark 16:9 “Now when He arose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.” In this episode Jesus is showing us that He doesn't always choose who we would choose. He is also showing us that we don't have to get all cleaned up and get rid of our demons before we come to Him.We can come to Him with our demons and he will free us from them. Music: "Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Come As You Are Series- Mary Magdalene
Mark 16:9 “Now when He arose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.”
Mary Magdalene is mentioned several times in the Bible. She is mentioned in all four Gospels. That is unusual, as most stories are mentioned in one or two of the Gospels, but very few are mentioned in all four. This shows us how special Mary was to Jesus. It shows what an important role she played in His life. The Bible doesn’t tell us much about who Mary is as a person, but it does tell us a few things.
First, it tells us in today’s verse and also in Luke 8:2 that she was delivered from 7 demons. Second, we know she was present at the crucifixion. Third, we know she went to anoint Jesus’s body in the tomb after his death. Lastly, as today’s verse tells us, Jesus appeared to her first after He was resurrected. Of all the people in the world that Jesus could have first shown himself to, He chose Mary Magdalene. That is pretty cool. Again, Jesus is showing us that our ways are not his ways and his ways are not our ways.
If we had to choose someone to be the first person who saw Jesus, I don’t think we would have chosen Mary Magdalene. I think if it were me, I would have chosen Mary, his mother. Or what about Peter? He was chosen to be the rock on which the church would be built. Why wasn’t he the first? Jesus is constantly doing things in the Bible that we don’t understand. He is doing and saying things that shake things up. I am sure Jesus had His reasons for choosing Mary Magdalene to be the first to whom he revealed his risen self. I am sure Jesus has his reasons for choosing you, too.
Jesus saved Mary Magdalene from 7 demons. Do you feel like you need to be delivered from some demons? Do you feel like you are struggling in an uphill battle? If so, you are not alone. We are all fighting something. One great thing about this story is that it shows us that Jesus doesn’t just heal us or free us from our demons and then walk away. He stayed with Mary Magdalene, and she stayed with Him. She became one of His followers. Are you one of his followers? Do you stay close by Him and listen to all He says? Do you try to get to know Him and to spend time with Him?
Mary did. She put in the work. She was so grateful for the freedom that Jesus gave her that she stuck by His side, trying to learn all that she could from Him. We can do this too. We can’t follow Jesus around as one of His disciples anymore, but we can listen to all He says by reading scripture. The New Testament is full of Jesus’s actual words. We don't have to guess who He is, or what He said. It’s all in the New Testament. There are actually verses in the Old Testament that talk about Jesus as well. As you can see, even though Jesus is not walking on earth, we can still be His followers and we can still get to know Him.
Even though we don’t know why Jesus chose Mary Magdalene to be the first person to see him alive, we do know that He did choose her. Jesus is choosing you, too. I don’t know what He is choosing you for, but I know that He is. I know you don’t think you are worthy, and you might not even feel up to the challenge, but He is calling you anyway. You might worry that no one will listen to you or that no one will believe you if you try to share the message of the Gospel with others. Guess what? You wouldn’t be the first person they didn’t listen to. The very next verse after today’s verse says, “She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.”
Just because Jesus chooses us doesn't mean everything is going to fall into place and be easy. We live in a broken world, and not everyone will see what Jesus sees in you. Not everyone will believe what you have to say. Not everyone will support the calling God has placed on your life. That is ok. Jesus also appeared to two other disciples, and when they told everyone, no one believed them either. Just because others didn’t believe them doesn’t mean what happened wasn’t true.
Of all the people in Jesus’s life, He chose the one who had been delivered from demons as the one to reveal His risen self to. He didn’t choose the one we would have chosen. He didn’t choose the one who was perfect and blameless. He didn’t surround himself with people who were perfect and blameless. He surrounded himself with regular, everyday, ordinary people like you and me. We don’t have to clean ourselves up to be around Jesus. We don’t have to heal ourselves of all our demons before we come to Jesus. Jesus healed Mary of her demons. She didn’t wait until she was healed to come to Him. She couldn’t have healed herself of her affliction. She needed to come to Jesus as she was, and He healed her. He will do the same for you. Come to Him with all your baggage. Bring your demons. Bring your fears and your worries. Bring all that you have to the foot of Jesus, and He will heal it. He will take all of that from you, and He will replace it with love and with peace. Come to Him just as you are, and He will take care of everything else!
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode. Lord, we want to come to you as we are. We want you to free us from our demons. We want you to choose us when you could choose anyone. Lord, we ask for you to help us come to you. Help us get to know you. Help us turn our demons, fears, and worries over to you. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in May 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “We have a steed, a fine horse, and on that horse is the Lord with a big flowing cape, and as he rides by us, he scoops us up with one arm, tucks us under the shield of his armor, and he says, “I may not swoop you up every time and deliver you from your discomfort.” Then the image changes, and he's on his feet, and he's walking behind us, and he gets closer and closer to us, and then he hides us under the cape he has. He says, “But I may walk with you through all your distress, so fear neither being scooped up nor walked with. I am always there.”