MARY MAGDALENE'S JOYFULNESS

                                               CHAPTER 10

                  MARY’S JOYFULNESS EXPLODES ... FOREVER

     She stood gazing upward into the warm sunshine.  Jesus was gone.  A smile, a loving look, and suddenly, he was leaving, moving upward, slowly, gradually being overtaken by the clouds.  She remembered his words, that he had to leave so the Comforter could come.  She certainly didn't understand what he meant.  But she had learned to simply obey -- not question and harangue over statements He made -- so she was at peace.  Even though she knew he was gone, she felt no loneliness, no dismay.  Her heart was full of love towards the Father and towards His son, her friend, and there was no room for grief or sorrow.
     In and among the huge crowd of people standing on the hillside, she felt totally alone ... lost in her own thoughts and searching her heart for the next step.  He had said to go to Jerusalem and wait.  She didn't know what she was going to be waiting for, but she was certain it would .. be.. good. She would certainly obey him.
     James, John, his mother Mary, Andrew and the rest of her friends were standing with her.  Andrew finally said, "He told us to go to Jerusalem.  We've been standing here long enough."  And immediately he turned and strode down the hill.
     As the rest ran to catch up with him, joy burst through Mary's heart and she began to sing, "The Lord is my strength and my song and he has become my salvation."  It was a psalm sung during the celebrations, and she was filled to overflowing with happiness as she repeated the words.  Laughing, she skipped down the dirt path.  She watched a bird circle lazily in the sky and smiled to herself, "I wonder if Sir Hawk saw his Master soar past ... or if he accidentally bumped into Jesus in that cloud?"
     She was amazed.  What was she doing?  What was she thinking?  How was she acting?  It was almost as if she were standing to the side and watching this free-flowing woman, hardly comprehending that it was herself.  Even the others, used to the more serious, contemplative Mary, were shaking their heads as she skipped, sang, and played.
     That was it.  Why had she not figured it out before?  She. was. playing.  The years of hardship and sorrow and desolation had dropped from her as discarding a cloak.  She had become a child once more.  A happy, free-spirited, glowing, buoyant child.  What freedom, what peace, what zest for life!
     And what of Jerusalem?  She wasn't certain what lay ahead.  Could there be years of trial and hardship?  Possibly, but she wasn't frightened.  She had already known trial and hardship – but without the strength of Jesus.  Now, with Jesus, she could face anything to come her way.  Would there be years of work as the Word of Jesus was shared with others beyond the boundaries of Jerusalem and Samaria?  Hadn't he said his Word would be taken to the ends of the earth?
     Suddenly she stopped and looked toward the place where she had last seen Jesus.  "I will do it," she promised.  "Anything you ask, anything you want, anywhere you want me to go, I will do it."
     And taking a tight grip of her shawl, she joyfully ran down the road toward Jerusalem.

MARY MAGDALENE -- RESURRECTION

     CHAPTER 9 

                                      RESURRECTION                                         

     "Mary."  It was whispered so quietly she barely heard. She crept silently to the window and spoke to the shadow outside.  "Yes, Naomi, I'm coming."  She wrapped her heavy robe about her, pulled her hair back tightly and bound it, then covered it with a dark shawl.  Her swollen, red-rimmed eyes and streaked, shadowed face revealed the grief ebbing and flowing in her heart.
     She and her friends were going to Jesus' grave to complete the burial rites begun, but not completed, after the crucifixion.  She dreaded the chore.  Seeing His bruised, torn body would be heart-wrenching.  But a worse thought, and one that impelled her to this morning's task, was that Jesus might be left untended if she didn't go.
     As she stepped into the early morning darkness, Naomi took Mary's arm.  "His mother isn't coming.  She said to tell you she trusts you to see this through.  She can't bear to see him just now.  She'll come later--when we've finished--and say her farewells.
     Mary nodded.  She certainly understood.  If this was hard for her, his friend, how much more difficult for his mother.
     A few small groups of women followed Mary and Naomi along the road to Joseph's garden carrying cloths, spices, and other burial elements.  As the sun rose over the horizon, the eastern sky showed streaks of rose and pale pink.  The trees bordering the road were a nearly luminous shade of green in the light of dawn..  All creation glowed in its beauty, a striking contrast to the bleak hearts in the little procession.
     "What about the soldiers?"  The question surfaced and then hung in the air.  The women paused and looked at each other in consternation. 
     "What about the stone? ... How are we to move it?"
     No men had come and the Romans couldn't be expected to accommodate the women.
     Suddenly the air was full of questions.  Admittedly they should have been asked and resolved earlier.  But, in their grief, they simply hadn't thought of these details.
     Mary felt an irritation growing.  Her old bravado surfaced.  With an edge of rebelliousness to her words she said, I don't know how it will work, but I promise you, they won't stop us. Now, let's go.  And spurred on by Mary's determination, the women walked resolutely toward the garden.

   +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

     After the Resurrection of her Lord Jesus, she told this story so many times.  She was a garden care-giver where he had been buried and had risen, and when people came through, she shared her story so they would be filled with encouragement.
     “I still smile when I remember that Resurrection day.  Of course, at the time, when first seeing him, I was terrified, but I truly can't believe I didn't know who he was.  At the very least I should have recognized the love and acceptance in his eyes ... that had drawn me to him when he had touched my life... and since then it has never changed.
     “So I come here.  To rest and to remember.  To share my story, my life with him.
     “In our world, pain and suffering surround us.  People are dying – often on the INside.  Not because they want to, but, just as I was, before the Lord Jesus came into my life, they simply don't know how to live.
     “I still hurt, for myself and for others.  I still question.  But I can never doubt.  No matter how black the night in my soul or looming the problems, or large the ghosts that confront me, I know that I know that I know that God loves ME.  And that one shaft of light will always cut through the darkness that occasionally surrounds me – and comfort me and bring me out on the other side of my pain, of my sorrow – to wholeness, to joy and to life.”
     And, sharing, she always ended with a smile and her arms lifted up to the Lord, and saying,
     “Thank you for your crucifixion for our sins .. and for your resurrection.  Oh, my Lord Jesus, thank you.”

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY...

HALLELUJAH!!

TRUST HIM, LOVE HIM, REJOICE FOR HIM!

I CAN HARDLY WAIT TO SEE HIM!!

GOD IS LIGHT!

WHAT WE CAN COUNT ON

AND

REJOICE ON...

FOREVER AND EVER!

GOD'S GIFT!!

WELL, MY AUNT IS IN HEAVEN

WITH MY UNCLE AND MY PARENTS.

MY COUSIN, JEANETTE, HAS BEEN

ONE OF MY FAVORITE PEOPLE FOREVER.

AND SHE TRULY ENCOURAGED ME AND HELPED ME

WHEN I HAD FINALLY COME TO THE LORD.

AND, BECAUSE OF OUR AGE, 

AND WE AIN'T YOUNG ANY MORE,

EVENTUALLY BOTH HEADING TO HEAVEN,

WE CAN WORSHIP AND WORSHIP 

AND PRAISE AND PRAISE.

IN SPITE OF MY HORRIFIC LIFESTYLE

 FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, 

MOSTLY FROM AGES OF 7 TO 20,

I'M VERY BLESSED AND FILLED WITH JOY

BECAUSE HIS KNOWLEDGE BROKE INTO MY LIFE,

STRONGLY, NEARLY 49 YEARS AGO.

 

MARY MAGDALENE -- JESUS' CRUCIFIXION

                                         CHAPTER 8

                                       CRUCIFIXION


     It was over.  The agony and the rage she'd felt during the crucifixion were gone.  In fact, everything was gone.  Nothing but the empty cross outlined starkly against the dark sky.  Joseph and Nicodemus had already removed the body.  Jesus' mother and John had left.  She didn't know where the others had gone, but they had.  Only she had stayed.
    As she stood staring blankly ahead, a soldier came.  He was overseeing the removal of the thieves' bodies, and wasn't at all pleased with the day's strange events.
    "Woman," he growled, "leave!  This so-called King of yours is dead.  He should have left well enough alone and let Caesar be God."  He swore under his breath.  "These wretched provincials.  What a god-forsaken land...a god- forsaken city."
    He continued muttering and Mary turned and walked down the hill.  She was actually happy that someone had told her to go.  Vaguely, she wondered how long she might have stayed, otherwise.
    As she walked,  she immediately was filled with confusion about where she could go.  True, she had a family and a home.  But without Jesus in their heart, too? No, she couldn't go there.
    She tripped over a rock, and, as she stumbled, a hand steadied her.  She looked, startled, fearfully, to see who this was. 
    It was James.
    "Mary,"  he said.  "I have been looking for you.  When his mother and John reached our home, I asked where you were.  They looked stunned.  They said they were sure you had left before them.  So, I came to look for you.  My heart is truly for you.”  He said very gently, looking into her eyes, “I know how much you loved him."
    She pulled her arm away and exploded.  "No one knows how much I loved him... He was all I had to love...the only reason for loving.  He even helped me to love myself.  And now...there's... nothing."
    James was uncomfortable.  He loved Jesus, too.  He was heartbroken and was ashamed of himself for his desertion of his Friend and Master.
    But his heart broke more as he watched Mary.  He remembered the first time he had seen her.  She was so brazen, so cold, and he wished she would leave them alone.  And now, all he wanted to do was make her hurt less, and there was simply nothing he could do or say to make that happen.  If she would cry, then he could handle it.  But she wasn't crying.  She wasn't doing anything.  She seemed frozen.
     Finally, he gently said, "Come stay with me...with us.  It will help if we are together.  Besides, his mother needs you.  She has been brave throughout this trial.  And now a caring woman can be more help to her than any men.  Jesus was kind to send her to be John's mother.  Since our mother died, he has been very lonely.  He misses the gentle touch of a woman.  And their insightful wisdom.  I know he will love her and care for her, too."
    Mary was too distraught to smile.  But she was aware that a little of Jesus had been left behind in James.  He now had more compassion and understanding of people than she had thought he ever would.
    "I don't know how long I will stay, but, yes, I will stay with you.  I don't want to be alone; I was alone for too many years.  I don't want to be with anyone who did not truly know Jesus and love him as we did."
    James was grateful.  He touched her arm, and gently walked her to his home.
    When they walked inside, she saw Jesus’ mother.  And she saw the anguish on her face, the fear in her eyes, the pain in her heart.
    And the woman called The Magdalene, the Woman of the Hard Heart, wrapped her arms around the Mother of Jesus, and together they wept.

HALLELUJAH! FREE FROM EVIL!

HIS KINDNESS TO US AND LOVING US

IS ALL THAT EVER COUNTS FOR US

FOREVER AND EVER!