From Bethany to the Resurrection

Peregrino Issue 18

I will try to provide insight into Mary Magdalene’s participation in the Passion of Christ. I have written about this wonderful saint in previous issues. In the last two chapters of Fr. Sean Davidson’s “Saint Mary Magdalene. Prophetess of Eucharistic Love,” he covers Mary Magdalene’s involvement in the events leading up to and in the Passion and resurrection of Christ. Looking at the Passion through the eyes of Mary Magdalene has made me appreciate her more and helped me aspire to love Jesus better. Some things I learned blew my mind and were too good to keep to myself.

A week before the feast of unleavened bread, a.k.a. Passover, a.k.a. The Passion, we have Jesus and his apostles in Bethany. Mary Magdalene has a liter of perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard, and she proceeds to anoint Jesus’s feet and dry them with her hair. In the gospels of Mark and Matthew, Mary Magdalene also anoints Jesus’s head, a sign of his royalty. Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, asks why this oil was not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor. Jesus replies, “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial.” So here we have a foretelling of the Passion from Jesus, who already knew what he was to go through a few days later.

There are two references to nard in the Bible. First, John 12:3 says, “The house was filled with the fragrance of the [nard] oil.” Second, Song of Songs 1:12 says, “While the king was upon his couch, my spikenard gave forth its fragrance.” Jesus, the king, upon his couch, at this dinner at Bethany. Tradition says that this perfumed oil may have been one of Mary Magdalene's last things from her life before encountering Jesus. In this second anointing, the alabaster jar replaces Mary Magdalene’s tears. 

Let us stop momentarily and think of how expensive this oil was. Judas Iscariot is outraged it is worth three hundred days’ wages. Let’s take the median household income in the U.S., which is $70,000 a year. Imagine pouring a $57,500 bottle of perfumed oil on Jesus in one go. That’s how extravagant Mary Magdalene’s love is. Mary Magdalene’s heart burned with love for Jesus that things of this world were nothing when it came to giving him honor. The opposite of this is Judas, who criticized Mary Magdalene’s actions because he was a thief, and the proceeds from the sale of this precious oil would have gone through his hands.

Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash

A few details I found interesting about the betrayal of Judas: first, thirty pieces of silver are the price of a slave according to Exodus 21:32. Second, the chief priests paid Judas with temple money. Jews used this money to buy animals to sacrifice. Third, the day Judas made a deal with the chief priests would’ve been when Jews procured their lambs for the Passover. I have lived for almost four decades; this is the first time I have heard these details about our Lord’s Passion. It is easy for readers unfamiliar with Jewish customs from that time to miss this nuance, but evident to the audience that read the gospel in the year 70 A.D. when St. John wrote it.

Judas tells a flagrant lie with his body by kissing his master at Gethsemane as he signals to the chief priests that Jesus is the one. The word St. John uses in Greek to describe this kiss is kataphileo, not only to kiss—phileo—but to kiss earnestly. This is the kind of kiss the father gave the prodigal son. The type of kisses Mary Magdalene gave Jesus’ feet during the first anointing. Let us strive to be consolers of the sacred heart of Jesus just like Mary our Mother, Mary Magdalene, and St. John were. This Good Friday, as you go to venerate the cross, make reparation for that kiss of betrayal.

Mary Magdalene accompanied Mary, our Mother, from the cross to the resurrection. Imagine what Holy Saturday must have been like. Were words exchanged? Was prayer possible? We know that Mary Magdalene had a mission to finish the burial ritual and anoint Jesus’ body. On the first day of the week, we see her going to the tomb even before the sun comes out, only to find it empty. She brings Peter and John to the tomb; they see it is empty and leave. Mary Magdalene weeps because she can’t fulfill her mission or maybe because she wants to be in the presence of his master one last time.

Mary Magdalene is asked, “Woman, why are you weeping?” twice, first by the angels and then by Jesus himself. Tradition says that Jesus appeared to Mary when Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John were at the tomb. Therefore, we can infer that the Virgin Mary perfectly understood what Jesus meant by his resurrection, and this is why she didn’t go to see the tomb. Then, Jesus returns and asks Mary Magdalene, "Who are you looking for?” He then calls her by name, and she finally recognizes him. St. Thomas Aquinas says that Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene first because she is more ardent and devoted to Christ, proof that great sinners can become great saints.

One last detail from tradition. When Mary Magdalene’s remains were found, her skull had a bit of incorrupt flesh on its forehead. Probably from our risen Lord pushing back on her after saying, “Stop holding on to me.”

Whom do you seek? Do we love Jesus for his own sake? If we strive for holiness, we must purify the intention of our hearts. Easter should fill us with joy, remembering that death doesn’t have the last word. Jesus conquered death and opened the gates of heaven for us, giving us the hope of everlasting life. The resurrection is now. The same Jesus that rose from the dead is close to you in the eucharist. Let’s have eucharistic amazement, imitate Mary Magdalene, and long to be at the feet of the master.

I hope you have a blessed Holy Week and Joy filled Easter. God bless.