Mary Magdalene
A follower of Jesus from Galilee. Mark, Matthew and John name her at the crucifixion and all four Gospels at the empty tomb, and John and the longer ending of Mark say that the risen Jesus appeared first to her.
Luke introduces “Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out” among the women who travelled with Jesus and the twelve in Galilee and supported them from their own means (Luke 8:1–3). Her second name is usually taken to mean that she came from Magdala, a town on the Sea of Galilee.
She is named in every Gospel’s account of the last days. She watched the crucifixion (Mark 15:40–41; Matthew 27:55–56; John 19:25), saw where Jesus was buried (Mark 15:47), and came to the tomb on the first day of the week (Mark 16:1; Matthew 28:1; Luke 24:10; John 20:1). In John she stands weeping outside the tomb, meets Jesus, whom she at first takes for the gardener, and tells the disciples that she has seen the Lord (John 20:11–18). The longer ending of Mark also says that he appeared first to her (Mark 16:9). See the Crucifixion and the Burial and Resurrection.
The Gospels do not call her a sinner. They do not identify her with the unnamed woman of Luke 7 or with Mary of Bethany (Luke 7:36–38; John 12:1–3).
In the timeline
- AD 30 or 33, estimated dateThe Crucifixion
Jesus is crucified outside Jerusalem at a place called Golgotha, on the order of Pontius Pilate, under the charge “King of the Jews”, and dies the same afternoon. Tacitus mentions the execution, and so does a passage of disputed wording in Josephus.
- AD 30 or 33, estimated dateThe Burial and Resurrection
The Gospels tell that Jesus was buried in a rock tomb on the evening of his death and that on the first day of the week women found the tomb open and empty and were told that he had risen. That God raised him from the dead is the central claim of Christian faith.
- AD 30 or 33, estimated dateThe Appearances and the Great Commission
The Gospels and Paul report that the risen Jesus appeared to his followers, in Jerusalem, on the road to Emmaus and in Galilee, and sent them to make disciples of all nations. The accounts differ on where and in what order.