Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20120930.htm

BIOGRAPHIES OF BIBLE SAINTS
V. Mary Magdalene: A Holy, Fulfilling Relationship With Christ
A. Mary Magdalene: Not Immoral, But Supporting In Gratitude
(Luke 8:1-3 with 7:36-50)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    The New Testament Mary Magdalene has been one of the most controversial figures in history, and the controversy is only escalating:

    (1) In A. D. 591, Pope Gregory the Great "stated" that the Luke 7 sinful woman who wiped Jesus' feet with her hair and the John 12 Mary of Bethany who did the same thing were Mary Magdalene. (Mike Galli, "Mary Magdalene," departments.kings.edu/womens_history, 11/2005) So, for nearly fourteen centuries, Mary Magdalene was "labeled" a "prostitute, or the unnamed sinner" of Luke 7:36-50, Ibid.

    However, "the Second Vatican Council removed the prostitute label in 1969 after much debate and Biblical evidence" indicated Mary was not immoral, Ibid. Nevertheless, some still hold she was immoral.

    (2) The controversy thickens over what occurred in Mary's life after Jesus' resurrection, with "(o)ne of the most extreme" views being that she "was pregnant with Jesus' child and went to France, where her descendants eventually founded the Merovingian line of kings, made famous recently by the Da Vinci Codes by Dan Brown." (Ibid.)

    (3) Indeed, "(s)ome believed Mary and Jesus were married since most Jewish men married and Jesus was closest to Mary," Ibid.

    (4) Then, earlier this month, Karen King, Hollis professor of divinity at Harvard University, "the oldest endowed academic seat in the U. S.," made public "a newly discovered ancient papyrus" that "attracted worldwide attention because of a bombshell phrase written in Egyptian Coptic that says Jesus refers to [Mary] Magdalene as my wife' . . ." (zeenews.india.com, "Jesus was married' claim a forgery'," September 22, 2012)

    (5) Last week, this papyrus was called a forgery by "historical experts at a Coptic conference in Rome," Ibid. However, today, September 30, 2012, the Smithsonian Channel is airing a documentary on the papyrus.

    Accordingly, it is important that we address this matter in a series of three messages on Mary Magdalene, for, (a) if Jesus was physically intimate with an immoral woman in Mary, or (b) if He married her (c) or if He fathered a child by her, He is either a sinner and can not save, or the Bible errs, undermining our faith.

    Need: "How do we answer the claim that Jesus was intimate with an immoral Mary Magdalene, a claim that counters Bible Christianity?!"

  1. Luke 8:2 reveals Mary Magdalene had been exorcised of seven demons, not that she had been a physically immoral woman!
  2. However, Luke 8:3 reports Jesus received financial support from her and other women, what was normally "viewed as a scandalous situation in Palestine in that day," Bible Know. Com., N T., p. 224.
  3. Thus, Luke explained how this situation was NOT SCANDALOUS:
    1. Luke 1:3-4 claims Luke's Gospel was written in "orderly sequence" (kathexes, Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 389) that the reader, Theophilus, might know the certainty, truth (asphaleia, Ibid., p. 118) of what he had heard about Jesus Christ.
    2. Luke 4:1-13 also presents Jesus as sinless by way of His temptation.
    3. Also, there were no chapter breaks in the autograph manuscript of Luke's Gospel, Bruce M. Metzger, The Text of the N. T., 1968, p. 22.
    4. All these facts taken together reveal the Luke 7 sinful woman account explains Jesus' Luke 8 monetary support by women was fully upright:
      1. Luke 7:36-38 ESV reports that a sinful woman of the town entered the house of Simon the Pharisee where Jesus dined and wet His feet with her tears, wiping them with her hair and anointing them.
      2. Simon thought that if Jesus were a true prophet, He would know she was a sinner and would not let her touch Him that she not leave Him unclean, Luke 7:39; Ibid., Bible Know. Com., N. T., p 224.
      3. To correct Simon's view and thus defend His identity as God's true Messenger, Jesus gave Simon a parable explaining WHY it was NOT WRONG for Him to let this sinful woman touch Him:
        1. The parable taught how the debtor who had been forgiven a greater debt by a creditor would love him the more, Lk. 7:40-43.
        2. Jesus applied the parable, noting the woman was very grateful for having been forgiven her many sins opposite Simon who had been forgiven little, so Jesus was letting her express her grateful love to Christ in ministering to His feet, Luke 7:44-47.
      4. Christ then announced that the woman's sins had been permanently forgiven her (apheontai, the perf. pass. of aphiemi, U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 235; The Analyt. Grk. Lex., 1972, p. 61), Lk. 7:48.
      5. This announcement stunned the hearers, for as Hebrews, they knew only God could forgive sins so that Jesus was implying He was more than a Prophet -- that He was God, Luke 7:49 with Mark 2:7.
      6. Then, in moral modesty, Jesus soon told the woman to leave in peace, saying she had been saved through her faith, Luke 7:50.
      7. Thus, without a chapter break in the Greek text, Luke 8:1-3 THEN relates that Jesus kept preaching the Gospel of forgiveness and salvation by faith and of continued expressions of thankful love in the form of financial support from OTHER women who, like the Luke 7 woman, were grateful to Jesus for forgiveness.
      8. In this way, Luke explained the women who financially gave to Jesus, including Mary Magdalene, did NOT do so scandalously, but in godly, loving gratitude for His forgiveness of their sins!
      9. Indeed, Jesus had cast out seven demons from Mary Magdalene (Luke 8:2), and Matthew 12:43-45 shows this may have been due to repeat exorcisims for repeat, intensifying sin in which a first exorcism of one demon had to be followed by a second exorcism of seven demons, that Mary was glad to be GREATLY forgiven!
  4. Scripture shows Mary Magdalene as a BELIEVER was MORAL:
    1. As a believer, Mary traveled with other believing women (Luke 8:2-3) and was close to Jesus' Mother (John 19:25), unthinkable were she immoral: godly women did not mix with the immoral as in the case of the Samaritan woman who used Jacob's well versus the well closer to her town of Sychar used by the other women, John 4:7, 17-18, Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Mes., 1972, i, p. 409.
    2. Also, Deuteronomy 23:18 forbade financial gifts to be given to the temple from immoral folk as God hated their sin. Mary Magdalene's Luke 8:2 financial support of Jesus must have come from the income of a moral woman or Jesus, the Son of God Who Himself was under the Law (Galatians 4:4), would have refused her financial gifts!
  5. The LESSON of Mary's SUPPORT of Jesus' ministry applies to us: since we believers like her have been forgiven by Christ, we owe Him gratitude that we can show by supporting His ministries!
    1. <:I0,0,0,0>Lesson: Mary Magdalene was NOT an immoral woman, and Jesus was NOT physically intimate with her! Rather, she was a greatly forgiven woman who showed her loving gratitude by supporting Jesus' ministry!
Application: May we (1) trust in the sinless Lord Jesus Christ for salvation and gain His forgiveness, John 1:11-12; Colossians 1:14. (2) Then, expressing loving gratefulness like Mary Magdalene and other forgiven women of her era, may we support God's ministries!

So, for this sermon, we focus on issue (a) to ask, "How do we handle the charge that Jesus was physically intimate with Mary Magdalene, a charge countering the Biblical Christian faith!?"

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

 News of any "newly discovered ancient papyrus" that suggests Jesus was physically intimate with Mary Magdalene versus our Bible's revelation should not cause us Christians concern regarding our faith.

Why? Paul's WARNING in 1 Timothy 6:20 NIV, ESV in its historical context COUNTERS such WRITINGS, and we explain:

(1) Darrell L. Bock, Ph. D., professor of New Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary, in his New York Times bestseller, Breaking the Da Vinci Code, 2004, that critiqued Dan Brown's book, The Da Vinci Code, claimed (p. 21-27, 99-100) the ancient writings that make statements opening the door for people to believe Jesus was physically intimate with Mary Magdalene were penned by Gnostics!

(2) Then, a library of mainly second century A. D. Gnostic works was found at Nag Hammadi in Egypt in the 1950s "containing Coptic translations of works of very diverse character" (Zond. Pict. Ency. of the Bible, vol. Two, p. 736-739), and Harvard professor Karen King's "newly discovered ancient papyrus" claiming Jesus refers to Mary Magdalene as "my wife'" is written in second century "Egyptian Coptic," Ibid., zeenews.india.com. One thus expects a study of the papyrus, if it is genuine, to show it is Gnostic or impacted by Gnostics.

(3) Bock also noted that there is an effort in some academic circles to rewrite history to fit the feminist agenda such as promoting the role of New Testament women like Mary Magdalene (Ibid., Bock, p. 125-150), so we can expect MORE such promotions of heretical Gnostic writings that impress people to think Jesus and Mary Magdalene were physically intimate!

(4) However, the Apostle Paul warned in 1 Timothy 6:20 ESV to avoid "what is falsely called knowledge'", which "knowledge was the supposed key to the mystery religions which were already aborning and which would mature into a full-fledged Gnosticism during the next century," Ibid., Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 748 (emphases ours).

Thus, we are left either siding with Paul in his A. D. 66 1 Timothy 6:20 call to pastor Timothy to avoid Gnosticism and the error it spawns in claims like the idea that Jesus was physically intimate with Mary Magdalene, or siding with the Gnostics and Liberal Theology with the errors they promote!

May we side with Paul and follow the example of the TRUE Mary Magdalene of trusting in Jesus and supporting His work!