Who Is Mary Magdalene in the Bible

Mary Magdalene was a remarkably dedicated follower and supporter of Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry.

She is mentioned in all four canonical accounts of the Gospel of the Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and was one of several women who was not only a disciple of Jesus, but also supported His ministry financially (Luke 8:1-3).

Her deep devotion to Jesus is clear because she was with Him during His ministry, during his crucifixion (while most of His other followers were in hiding), and after His resurrection.

Mary was a very common Jewish name at the time of Jesus, so it’s not surprising that among the many followers of Jesus, there were multiple Marys. Mary Magdalene is often misunderstood and even misidentified as other women named Mary in the New Testament.

To better understand who Mary Magdalene really was, we’ll look at:

• Her life before Jesus
• Her life with Jesus
• Common misconceptions about her
• What we can learn from her

Let’s begin with what we can learn from the Bible about before Jesus came into her life.

Mary Magdalene’s life before Jesus

Not much is said in Scripture about Mary Magdalene’s early life, but as her last name suggests, she was from Magdala, a fishing village on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.¹

She’s believed to have been wealthy since she helped support Jesus’ ministry from her own resources (Luke 8:2-3), though the source of such wealth isn’t mentioned.

A lot of Jesus’ life and ministry took place in and around the Galilean region, which included Magdala. It makes sense, then, that Mary Magdalene would encounter Jesus Himself at some point during His ministry.

The Bible says that Mary Magdalene was possessed by seven demons (Luke 8:2). Seven! Jesus healed many people from demon possession during His ministry, but the Bible records only one other person who had more demons than Mary Magdalene (Mark 5:1-13; Luke 8:26-33).

People who were demon-possessed in the Bible showed a variety of behaviors. Some were mute (Mark 9:17), some had seizures (Matthew 17:15), others had physical disabilities (Luke 13:10-11). Sometimes, someone who was possessed by evil spirits posed a disturbance and a threat to others and themselves (Mark 5:2-5). They were sometimes even cast out of society and isolated from their family and friends.²

We can speculate about how she may have acted, as the show The Chosen depicts, but the Bible doesn’t mention any particular behaviors that Mary Magdalene showed when she was possessed. It’s likely she was treated as other demon-possessed people were treated in her time.

But once Mary Magdalene is healed, we see that she is in her right mind, has all of her faculties, and is active in society as a follower of Jesus.

It’s this miraculous healing that serves as a springboard for the remainder of Mary’s life as a faithful follower of Christ.

Mary Magdalene’s life with Jesus

In Luke 7, the chapter in Luke right before Mary Magdalene is first mentioned, Jesus tells a parable to a Pharisee named Simon to demonstrate the connection between forgiveness and love.

In the parable, two people are forgiven a debt neither can pay. One debt is 500 denarii–more than a year’s salary for an average worker.³ The other debt, 50 denarii, was much smaller, but couldn’t be paid nonetheless.

Jesus asks Simon an important question: “‘Now which of them will love him [the moneylender] more?’ Simon answered, ‘The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.’ And He said to him, ‘You have judged rightly’” (Luke 7:42-43, ESV).

The message here is clear—forgiveness awakens and magnifies love, and when you’re forgiven much, you love the one who forgave much.

The Bible doesn’t mention how long Mary Magdalene suffered from evil spirits, but being possessed by multiple demons for any amount of time is unimaginable. Her healing must have sparked insurmountable joy, gratitude, and even curiosity about this man named Jesus.

How much love, then, did Mary Magdalene pour out to Jesus after He healed her from seven demons?

Mary Magdalene’s role in the ministry of Jesus

After being healed, Mary Magdalene expressed her love and devotion to Jesus with her priorities—her money, her time, and her daily life. She listened to His teachings and studied the Torah alongside Christ’s other followers. She was a disciple in every sense of the word, which was almost unheard of for women in that time.⁴

Accepting Mary Magdalene’s money was a little risky for Jesus. While it was generally acceptable, enemies of Jesus could have easily criticized Him for having women supporters.⁵

But the possibility of being criticized was never a concern for Jesus. And it did not deter Mary Magdalene from following Him.

She even stuck by Him when other disciples went into hiding during Jesus’ crucifixion.

Mary Magdalene’s presence at the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all record that Mary Magdalene was present at Jesus’ crucifixion, burial, and tomb after His resurrection.

Jesus had predicted His arrest, death, and rise from the dead multiple times to the twelve main disciples before He was arrested. And sadly, when the mob arrived to arrest Him, the disciples all retreated and hid because they feared they would also be arrested and killed for following Jesus (Matthew 26:56). Peter even denied knowing Jesus when he was questioned about his relationship with Him (Luke 22:54-62).

The followers of Jesus knew that it was dangerous to be associated with Him. Throughout His ministry, Jesus had to defend His stance that He was the Son of God and that He had the authority to carry out His ministry. So we can only imagine how it felt to have His closest followers leave Him at the time of His greatest need.

Mary Magdalene, however, did not abandon Jesus during His time of need. In fact, she—along with Mary the mother of James and Salome—followed Him to his crucifixion to specifically take care of His needs (Mark 15:40-41).

But as Jesus died on the cross while Roman soldiers humiliated Him, all Mary Magdalene could do was watch (John 19:24-25).

After His death, Mary Magdalene followed closely that night as Jesus’ body was prepared and laid in a tomb nearby (Matthew 27:59-61). Even after death, she didn’t want to leave His side.

Very early the following morning, she and two others went to anoint His body, but all they found was an empty tomb. The stone had been rolled from the entrance of the tomb and there were no guards around!

Before Jesus appeared to His disciples, He appeared to Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9). She was the first person to witness Jesus’ resurrection. John’s account of the Gospel records that she mistook Him for the gardener, but after Jesus said her name, “Mary,” she immediately recognized that it was Him (John 20:14-16).

No matter the circumstances, Mary Magdalene was devoted to Jesus. She was willing to stand by His side even when others didn’t, and Jesus knew He could trust her to share with the other disciples that He was risen from the dead (John 20:17-18).

But if this is what the Bible says about Mary Magdalene, what other ideas about her identity exist?

Misconceptions about Mary Magdalene

There are several misunderstandings about who Mary Magdalene was.

Due to speculation and various ideas from art and literature, she is often mistaken to be a prostitute and has been misidentified as the “sinful woman” who poured oil on Jesus’ head and washed Jesus’ feet with her tears (Luke 7:37-38).⁶ However, the Bible does not connect either of these things with Mary Magdalene.

Because Mary was a common name, Mary Magdalene is sometimes mistaken for Mary the mother of Jesus and wife of Joseph or Mary of Bethany, Lazarus and Martha’s sister. Lazarus, Martha, and Mary were from Bethany, which was a village in Judea, two miles from Jerusalem (John 11:1,18).

But we know that Mary Magdalene was from Magdala, a village in Galilee.

It is also rumored and repeated in the popular novel The Da Vinci Code that she was married to Jesus and that they even had a child together.

But there is no biblical evidence for any of these misinterpretations about Mary Magdalene. Instead, we can learn plenty from what the Bible does say about her, even though it’s not a lot.

What we can learn from Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene was a remarkable woman who received the gift of healing and followed Jesus as a result. She was brave, an active learner, and supported Him financially and emotionally.

Though other women followed Jesus as well, her name is the one most mentioned among these women in the Bible, and we can learn a lot from her life and example.

We have a Savior

One important lesson that the life of Mary Magdalene shows us is that we have a personal Savior.

No matter what has happened in your past, Jesus is always eager and willing to heal and transform you.

Your past does not have to be your identity. With God, your identity is new in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). There is great honor in that!

An encounter with Jesus leads to a devoted relationship

We can also learn from Mary Magdalene that complete devotion to Jesus Christ is an appropriate response to His healing.

Sometimes when we receive a gift, we may not know how to express our thanks. Sometimes our words or deeds seem to pale in comparison to what was done for us.

Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He gave many the invitation to “follow Me.” To the disciples (Mark 1:17-18), scribes (Matthew 8:19-22), the “rich young ruler” (Matthew 19:21), and to all people (Luke 9:23), He extends the same invitation to “follow Me.”

When Mary Magdalene was healed from seven demons, she experienced the true character of God. He came to her personally with love and compassion. And she responded to His call of: “If anyone serves me, he must follow me” (John 12:26).

Devotion to Christ is a demonstration of faith and love in Him

Image by RDNE Stock project

But what does following Jesus even look like?

For Mary Magdalene, it meant gratitude, focus, priority, and service. She gave Jesus her time, her attention, and her resources. She trusted Him to teach her the Bible, which didn’t happen for women often in Mary’s day.

She may have even been among the women in the upper room with the disciples when they were praying and waiting for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which means she would have been one of the first members of the early church, though the Bible does not name her specifically. We definitely know, though, that she followed Jesus and cared for Him when He needed it most.

For any of us, following Jesus might look like studying the Bible to know more about Him, or donating to church or to someone in need, volunteering at your local community center, or always being on the lookout for someone who might need encouragement. It might look like helping a loved one or a stranger who’s dealing with a tough situation. Or it might be as simple as agreeing to go wherever God leads, regardless of if it was part of your own plans or not.

Mary probably didn’t plan for her life to turn out the way it did. But after meeting Jesus, she embraced her life’s new focus wholeheartedly.

So no matter the time or place we’re in, following Jesus looks like surrendering to Him. And welcoming the adventure, the peace, the purpose, and the challenges this entails.

We can make the choice to live our lives for Christ just like Mary Magdalene did. We can give our time, our resources, our minds, and our hearts completely to Him as an act of faith and love.

So while there is plenty of fiction and fable surrounding who Mary Magdalene was, what we know for sure about her is plainly stated in the Bible: as a response to being healed by Jesus, she followed Him, supported His ministry, learned from Him, and was loyal to Him in His greatest time of need.

Interested in learning about other followers of Jesus? Check out,

1. Grudem, Wayne and Thomas R. Schreiner. “Notes on Luke,” in The ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version, Crossway, 2008, p. 1967. [↵]
2. Keener, Craig S. “Notes on Luke.” NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, 1763. [↵]
3. Ibid., 1760. [↵]
4. Keener, Craig. “Luke,” in NIV Cultural Background Study Bible, edited by John H. Walton and Craig S. Keener, Zondervan, 2016, p. 1761. [↵]
5. Ibid.. [↵]
6. Beavis, Mary Ann, PhD, “Who is Mary Magdalene?” The Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University (2013). [↵]

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