Worthless
The Savior for Suffering Sinners
Maundy Thursday 2020
Now when [Jesus] rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. Mark 16:9
Seven demons. How much damage did those seven demons do to Mary Magdalene? What sort of evil, pain, and suffering did they inflict upon her? Did they throw her into fires? Give her violent strength? Power to predict future events? Did they make her mute or wild? That’s what demons can do when they possess a person according to Scripture.
What evil did she suffer because of these demons? Did her family reject her? Did men take advantage of her? Did her whole family suffer because they loved her, but could not help her? Once again, God’s Word says all of that happened to those who were demon possessed.
Seven demons. When you suffer evil it’s usually not just one thing. It’s whole gang of bullies. In Mary’s case it was seven plus, seven demons, plus whoever else hurt her, harmed her, used her. In our case it’s always at least three, the devil, the world, and our old sinful self.
Something interesting happened to Mary Magdalene in the history of the church. It seems that the church was uncomfortable with the significant place Mary had in Scripture. Her name is mentioned 20 times in the four gospels – more than any other follower of Jesus. So the early church began to associate Mary with the unnamed woman in Luke 7, a public sinner, likely a prostitute, who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and then anointed those same feet with expensive perfume. Pope Gregory the Great pasted the prostitute label on Mary for good when he preached that she was that unnamed woman and also the woman named Mary from Bethany who did the same thing.
Isn’t it sad? The church was so worried that Mary seemed too important to Jesus that they heaped some unfounded sins on her and an erroneous label to make her appear even worse.
I do not if Mary ever called herself “worthless,” but when people suffer that’s a common self-designation. That what a spouse who suffers abuse in her marriage calls herself. That’s what a person feels who suffers from severe mental illness. That’s what a person sees in the mirror who is so battered and beaten by others that he cannot function in an acceptable manner. Almost every person who suffers depression has called himself “worthless.” I have never known anyone possessed by 7 demons or suffering the abuse that would accompany that, but it wouldn’t surprise me if such a person called herself “worthless.”
Twenty times Mary Magdalene’s name is mentioned in the Gospel accounts; four times in Mark 15-16. Saint Mark is the one who tells us, “Now when [Jesus of Nazareth] rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.” (Mark 16:9, ESV)
Twice in that verse we hear the word “first.” Jesus rose early on the first day of the week and he appeared first to Mary Magdalene. First things first. First Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, because the forgiveness of sins is His first priority. Before the rest of the world is up Jesus is up, awake from His sleep of death, out of the tomb. The work of forgiveness cannot wait. But Jesus isn’t just doing this for the sake of beating death or pummeling Satan or obeying His Father – He is doing this for you, for His creation, for humans made in His own image, for Mary Magdalene.
Mary Magdalene had a lot to lose if Jesus died and was still dead. Scripture tells us that once you rid a place of demons they come back in greater numbers. Probably like slapping a bee while you’re standing next to a bee hive. You’ve ticked off the whole lot of them. And if Mary is once again possessed what sort of abuse will she suffer?
Jesus doesn’t want Mary in the fear of the future for a moment longer. He doesn’t want the devil even to whisper a syllable of “worthless” into her ear. So first He appears to Mary, in the flesh. His resurrected body is unrecognizable to her and she mistakes Him for the gardener, until He speaks one little word, her name, “Mary” and His Word opens her eyes to see Jesus, risen from the dead. Mary proclaimed the resurrection to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord.”
So learn from Mary Magdalene, but mostly learn from Jesus what you are worth to Him. You are worth the Son of God becoming man. You are worth His willing obedience to His Father. You are worth Him carrying your sin, suffering your hell, dying your death. You are the treasure buried in the field of death, that He so values He gives all He has to resurrect you for Himself.
Now your worth doesn’t give you any boasting rights. Remember what Saint Paul told Timothy, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” (1 Timothy 1:15, NIV84) In the same way we learned in the catechism that the person who is truly worthy and well prepared to receive the Lord’s Supper believes in these words, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”
Your worth is this – the body and blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God was given and shed for you on the cross. Your worth is this – in the sacrament of the altar you are given that same body and blood for your forgiveness and life. But now that body is living and that blood is pumping for Jesus rose from the dead. That’s how much Mary is worth, and Peter, and Thomas, and you. That’s the worth God your Father bestows on you and gives to you. In the name of Jesus. Amen.