Good Friday..........

When I got the call asking me to read the part of Mary Magdalene in the Good Friday service at our church I was like a giddy little girl!  And when I hung up the phone and explained to my daughters who she was and my delight in the privilege of portraying her the response was "you're going to play a whore in church?"  followed by laughter and further delight in the joy of sweet release.  What amazing love Jesus has for us and how precious His grace truly is!

You see, Mary M. is the woman who was dragged by the "religious" folks to the square where Jesus was because she had been caught in the act of adultery.  The law said that she was to be stoned and this was their way of challenging Jesus.  I have to wonder how many of those men who were ready to stone her had indulged in her "services".  I can only imagine her fear and her feelings of inadequacy and that she probably felt condemned and deserving of death.  I imagine that in many ways death might have seemed like a way out of the mess she had lived in for some time.  I picture her broken in spirit and physically worn and exhausted, huddled in the midst of this crowd at the feet of Jesus. I'm certain she anticipated harsh judgement and physical pain that probably would pale in comparison to the deep soul pain she already lived with as they presented the question of punishment to this man who had already begun to radically change the face of "religion".  And then..........in a manner which only Jesus could, he softly spoke "let him who is without sin cast the first stone".  In the moments that followed the crowd began one by one to drop their stones, acutely aware of their own short comings and realizing their own need for grace.  As I consider what Mary must have felt lifting her face to realize there was no one left to accuse her, it hits the deepest part of me every single time I consider her story how freeing it must have been when Jesus looked into her eyes and said "go, and sin no more".  He saved her life, and offered her a new one.  Just like that.

So, tonight I portrayed her in her grief.  She had again been at the feet of Jesus, only this time it was His life they were after and there was nothing she could do to save this man who had rescued her in so many ways.  How awful and how deeply painful it must have been to see Him suffer and wait there at the foot of the cross.  To hold His mother as they wept and to watch as guards cast lots for his clothing.  How empty and scared they all must have felt.  And being held to custom, they couldn't even tend to his body.......

THEN, after the Sabbath had passed this "whore" (as my daughters so eloquently put it) was among the women who went to the tomb, intending to care for His body, only to find herself among the first to know that He had risen.  Just as He said that He would.  Now, not only had He rescued her here on this earth, but He had provided her a bridge to eternity.  Really??  From the reputation of a whore, to a follower and servant of Jesus, to a place with the Father in heaven.  In my mind there is no rags to riches story that compares.  And the most beautiful part?  It can be everyone's story. 

I love this story.  Mary Magdalene is by far my favorite.  Jesus did alot of radical things.  He operated WAY outside of the box.  He performed miracle after miracle.  But on that day, He simply met Mary and everyone in that square right where they were in that moment.  It was life changing for her.  Today, His grace is life changing for me and anyone else who will allow themselves to experience it fully.

In my mind, we all play a part in the story of Mary on some level.  Not because we are all out committing sexual sin, but we all have junk in our lives.  Maybe we are playing the role of the judge in spite of our own sin, or maybe we are simply so deep into our own mess that we couldn't look up even if we wanted to.  And maybe, just maybe in the sweet presence of Jesus we can drop our stones or pick up our face to see gentle forgiveness and grace.  Because we, too, can go away changed forever by a loving savior and an empty tomb.

As Good Friday comes to a close and the last words of Jesus on the cross, "It is finished", stick in my mind, and as we look forward to Sunday morning and the celebration of His resurrection, I pray heavily for peace and lift my face to look into the face of a radical savior who went the distance.  May we all experience that sweet release that Mary Magdalene found.  Happy Easter! :)