“Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. What John describes next is a beautiful exchange between the risen Jesus and the first human to see Him alive. When the angels asked why she was weeping, she told them that someone had taken away the body of her Lord, and she didn’t know where. Mary, however, as John describes, remained weeping outside the tomb. Matthew 20:9-10 explains that they were shocked because they didn’t understand the Scriptures’s prophecies that Jesus would rise from the dead, and went home confused. She then alerted Peter and John, who also testified that it was empty. In John 20, he first describes that Mary Magdalene discovered the empty tomb. John gives us more detail about Jesus with Mary Magdalene at the tomb. Hope Bolinger explains how Pope Gregory the Great identified the sinful woman in Luke 7:36-50 as being Mary Magdalene (and also Mary of Bethany), creating a tradition that continues today. It has become common to associate Mary Magdalene with prostitution, but we cannot assume that from the biblical text. Still, she is among many women helping the ministry “out of their own means.” The source of their means is not detailed. She is mentioned first in Luke’s list and is one of only three women named in the passage. We know she was a follower of Jesus and even helped support His ministry financially. We don’t receive details on the precise nature of Mary’s demonic affliction. In the Scriptures, demons could cause people to live immorally and cause diseases, mental illness, seizures, or crippling pain. Before knowing Jesus, she probably lived in torment and may have been an outcast. This number is presumably factual, but ironically, seven indicates completeness in the Bible. Luke tells us Mary was delivered from seven demons.
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