Encounters, Part 4: Mary Magdalene

Grant Fishbook, Lead Teaching Pastor

 

Encountering Jesus in the Pain

After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out… Luke 8:1–2

1. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
2. Any demonic door that you have opened in your life can be slammed shut in the authority of the name of Jesus.
3. Demons hate Jesus and Jesus-followers, but we have Jesus and the name of Jesus. So if you want them to go away and leave you alone, speak Jesus!

When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross… Colossians 2:13-15 (The Message paraphrase)

Encountering Jesus Continually

³⁷ With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. ³⁸ The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹ And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
     ⁴⁰ Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. ⁴¹ In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there. Mark 15:37–41

Encountering Jesus in the Miracle

¹¹ Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb ¹² and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
     ¹³ They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
     “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” ¹⁴ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
     ¹⁵ He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
     Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. John 20:11-16, 18

Small Group Questions

1. What’s your reaction when someone calls you by name?
2. Name a woman who has had a deep spiritual impact on your journey with Jesus. What did she do to impact your life?
3. How do you continually encounter Jesus? What spiritual practices keep that encounter fresh and new?
4. Has Jesus has freed you from something? If so, what is it and how do you stay free?
5. Jesus calls Mary by name. Grant listed a number of names that God has given to his children (beloved, chosen, apple of his eye, etc.). What name, given by God to you, means the most to your heart?
6. How can we pray for you right now and throughout the week?