[112] The Gospel of Philip also contains another passage relating to Jesus' relationship with Mary Magdalene. [186] De Voragine gives the common account of the transfer of Mary Magdalene's relics from her sepulchre in the oratory of Saint Maximin at Aix-en-Provence to the newly founded Vzelay;[193] the transportation of the relics is entered as undertaken in 771 by the founder of the abbey, identified as Gerard, Duke of Burgundy. [47] John 19:3942 does not mention any women present during Joseph's burial of Jesus,[47] but does mention the presence of Nicodemus, a Pharisee with whom Jesus had a conversation near the beginning of the gospel. When he encounters her again in Season 1 Episode 2, he is surprised to discover that she has been completely healed and is free of the evil spirits. [102] At another point, he tells her, "Well done, Mary. Mary Magdalene was Jesus's wife. Over time, the label stuck and now many adaptations depict her this way. Some of these writings were cited as scripture by early Christians. What did these seven devils signify, if not all the vices? "[125] Unlike in the Gospel of Thomas, where women can only be saved by becoming men, in the Gospel of Mary, they can be saved just as they are. [185][187] Fourteen years after Jesus' crucifixion, some pagans throw Mary, Martha, Lazarus (who, in this account, is their brother due to a conflation with Mary of Bethany), and two other Christians named Maximin and Cedonius onto a rudderless boat in the Mediterranean Sea to die. I have Bible studies/discussion guides for each episode of The Chosen Seasons 1-3, blogs exploring how The Chosen adapts key biblical figures, and articles exploring the controversial nature of adaptation. If you try it out, please let me know how it goes and if you have any feedback! [203], In the middle of the fourteenth century, a Dominican friar wrote a biography of Mary Magdalene in which he described her brutally mutilating herself after giving up prostitution,[197] clawing at her legs until they bled, tearing out clumps of her hair, and beating her face with her fists and her breasts with stones. With Shahar Isaac, Jonathan Roumie, Elizabeth Tabish, Paras Patel. The story of Jesus is told in four gospels. [288] `Abdu'l-Bah also wrote that "her reality is ever shining from the horizon of Christ", "her face is shining and beaming forth on the horizon of the universe forevermore" and that "her candle is, in the assemblage of the world, lighted till eternity". [68][69][78] In Luke's account, Jesus never appears to the women,[68][69][79] but instead makes his first appearance to Cleopas and an unnamed "disciple" on the road to Emmaus. [254] Mary Magdalene's image did not become conflated with other women mentioned in Biblical texts until Pope Gregory the Great's sermon in the sixth century, and even then this only occurred in Western traditions. There were three who always walked with the Lord: Mary, his mother, and her sister, and Magdalene, who was called his companion. [178], In western Europe, elaborate and conflicting legends began to develop, which said that Mary Magdalene had travelled to southern France and died there. Lilith's creation is recounted in The Tales of Ben Sira, an apocryphal work from the tenth century C.E. 1. [82][75] According to John 20:1118, Mary, now alone in the garden outside the tomb, saw two angels sitting where Jesus' body had been. I hope you enjoy them! [82][75], Because scribes were unsatisfied with the abrupt ending of the Gospel of Mark, they wrote several different alternative endings for it. Mr . [224] Mary of Bethany's feast day and that of her brother Lazarus is now on July 29, the memorial of their sister Martha. (he calls her by her name), How does this connect to what happened in episode 1? She is also believed to have been the first witness to the resurrection of Jesus. every time a new character showed up. [64] Nonetheless, he rejects that Jesus could have been interred in an expensive tomb with a stone rolled in front of it like the one described in the gospels,[65] leading him to conclude that Mary and the other women must not have seen the tomb. [182][181] The shrine was purportedly found intact, with an explanatory inscription stating why the relics had been hidden. [10] The main surviving text comes from a Coptic translation preserved in a fifth-century manuscript (Berolinensis Gnosticus 8052,1) discovered in Cairo in 1896. In the Bible, there is no indication that Nicodemus met Mary Magdalene or that he tried to heal her or exorcise her evil spirits. [186][189][190][191][192] At every canonical hour, the angels come and lift her up to hear their songs in Heaven. You can also purchase the DVDs of season 1 on Amazon if you're worried about trying to stream & do Zoom at the same time. As Mary of Bethany, she is shown as present at the Resurrection of Lazarus, her brother, and in the scene with Jesus and her sister Martha, which began to be depicted often in the seventeenth century, as in Christ in the House of Martha and Mary by Velzquez. [170][171] Gregory states that Mary Magdalene was buried in the city of Ephesus. [39] Jesus' ministry did bring women greater liberation than they would typically have held in mainstream Jewish society. The latter depictions represent the Penitent Magdalene, according to the medieval legend that she had spent a period of repentance as a desert hermit after leaving her life as a follower of Jesus. [146], Mary Magdalene has the reputation in Western Christianity as being a repentant prostitute or loose woman; however, these statements are not supported by the canonical gospels, which at no point imply that she had ever been a prostitute or in any way notable for a sinful way of life. Here are seven things we DO know about Mary. [266] However the work is actually no earlier than the 12th century. In the Gospel of Philip's text she is described as Jesus' companion, as the disciple Jesus loved the most and the one Jesus kissed on the mouth,[3] which has led some people to conclude that she and Jesus were in a relationship. [5] Other Protestant churches honor her as a heroine of the faith. The entire series, especially Episode 1, heavily features a character named Mary Magdalene. Acocella, Joan. [67], According to Matthew 28:110, Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" went to the tomb. Let's look deeper into theses false stereotypes. [179] The widespread artistic representations of Mary Magdalene in tears are the source of the modern English word maudlin,[240][241][242] meaning "sickeningly sentimental or emotional". [47] Luke 23:49 mentioned a group of women watching the crucifixion, but did not give any of their names. Until Jesus shows up, some youth may find the show a little slow. [304], Dan Brown's 2003 bestselling mystery thriller novel The Da Vinci Code popularized a number of erroneous ideas about Mary Magdalene,[305][306] including that she was a member of the tribe of Benjamin, that she was Jesus' wife, that she was pregnant at the crucifixion, and that she gave birth to Jesus' child, who became the founder of a bloodline which survives to this very day. [185][186] Miraculously, however, the boat washes ashore at Marseille in southern France. [183], The most famous account of Mary Magdalene's legendary life comes from The Golden Legend, a collection of medieval saints stories compiled in around the year 1260 by the Italian writer and Dominican friar Jacobus de Voragine (c. 1230 1298). When Nicodemus encounters her, we discover that the evil spirit that is possessing her is named Lilith. [110] The text is badly fragmented, and speculated but unreliable additions are shown in brackets: And the companion of the [saviour was] Mary Magdalene. [47] John 19:25 lists Mary, mother of Jesus, her sister, Mary, wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene as witnesses to the crucifixion. In particular, Mary is often shown naked in the legendary scene of her "Elevation", where she is sustained in the desert by angels who raise her up and feed her heavenly manna, as recounted in the Golden Legend. [28] In either case, Mary must have suffered from severe emotional or psychological trauma for an exorcism of this kind to have been perceived as necessary. [161] The notion of Mary Magdalene specifically being a former prostitute or loose woman dates to a narrative in an influential homily by Pope Gregory I ("Gregory the Great") in around 591,[153][162][149] in which he not only identifies Magdalene with the anonymous sinner with the perfume in Luke's gospel and with Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus,[149] but also, for the first time, explicitly identifies her sins as ones of a sexual nature:[149]. [227] Mary is likewise portrayed as a reformed prostitute in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's 1971 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. Click here for my affiliation policy. [298], Furthermore, according to Mark 12:25, Jesus taught that marriage would not exist at all in the coming kingdom of God. [86] This "very forced" ending contradicts the last verse of the original gospel, stating that the women "told no one". [68][69][76] They went inside and saw a young man dressed in white, who told them that Jesus had risen from the dead and instructed them to tell the male disciples that he would meet them in Galilee. [284], Mary Magdalene is remembered in the Church of England with a Festival and in the Episcopal Church with a Major Feast on 22 July. woman was called Lilith. Although the work is popularly known as the Gospel of Mary, it is not classed as a gospel by some scholars, who restrict the term 'gospel' to texts "primarily focused on recounting the teachings and . Shoemaker, Stephen J. "Mary Magdalene Saint or Sinner? [16][37] The places where she and the other women are mentioned throughout the gospels indicate strongly that they were vital to Jesus' ministry[38][39][40][41] and that Mary Magdalene always appears first, whenever she is listed in the Synoptic Gospels as a member of a group of women, indicates that she was seen as the most important out of all of them. She was the Samaritan woman to whom He said, "Call thy husband". In The Chosen, when we first meet Mary Magdalene, most of the characters refer to her as Lili. [175] Some manuscripts of the sermon record that Mary's parents were named Syrus and Eucharia[176] and one manuscript goes into great detail describing her family's purported land holdings in Bethany, Jerusalem, and Magdala. Pope Gregory's Easter sermon resulted in a widespread belief that Mary Magdalene was a repentant prostitute or promiscuous woman. These texts portray her as an apostle, as Jesus' closest and most beloved disciple and the only one who truly understood his teachings. [117] It contains information about the role of women in the early church. There are a few Bible passages that I thought were helpful to discuss the first episode of The Chosen. Thank you! [245] Other isolated depictions occur, but, from the thirteenth century, additions to the Virgin Mary and John as the spectators at the Crucifixion become more common, with Mary Magdalene as the most frequently found, either kneeling at the foot of the cross clutching the shaft, sometimes kissing Christ's feet, or standing, usually at the left and behind Mary and John, with her arms stretched upwards towards Christ in a gesture of grief, as in a damaged painting by Cimabue in the upper church at Assisi of c. 1290. [47] Matthew 27:5556 lists Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James and Joseph, and the unnamed mother of the sons of Zebedee (who may be the same person Mark calls Salome). [229][226][230] In Superstar, Mary describes her sexual attraction to Jesus in the song "I Don't Know How to Love Him", which shocked many of the play's original viewers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023). The Chosen Season 3: What to Expect & How to Watch, The Chosen Season 3 Episode 1 & Episode 2: Reaction and Analysis, The Chosen Season 3 Episode 3: Recap, Review, & Analysis, The Chosen Season 3 Episode 4: Recap, Review, & Analysis, The Chosen Season 3 Episode 5: Recap, Review, & Analysis, The Chosen Season 3 Episode 6: Recap, Review, & Analysis, The Chosen Season 3 Episodes 7 & 8: Recap, Review, & Analysis, The Chosen Season 3 Episodes 1 & 2: Questions to Discuss Before the Premiere, Preparing for The Chosen Season 3: 7 Episodes to Watch, I am the Law of Moses (The Chosen Season 3 Controversy), Little James in The Chosen & Scripture ***Season 3***, Pontius Pilate & his Wife in The Chosen ***Season 3***, Judas in The Chosen ***Season 3 Update***, Matthew in The Chosen ***Season 3 Update***, Simon and Andrew in The Chosen ***Season 3 Update***, Lilith, Demons, & Evil Spirits in The Chosen, Simon the Zealot & Nathanael in The Chosen, Quintus, Gaius, and the Romans in The Chosen, Episode 8 Guide: The Feeding of the 5,000. The Gospel of Mary is a non-canonical text discovered in 1896 in a 5th-century papyrus codex written in Sahidic Coptic.This Berlin Codex was purchased in Cairo by German diplomat Carl Reinhardt.. [53] Ehrman states that the presence of Mary Magdalene and the other women at the cross is probably historical because Christians would have been unlikely to make up that the main witnesses to the crucifixion were women[54] and also because their presence is attested in both the Synoptic Gospels and in the Gospel of John independently. [27][28] Consequently, her devotion to Jesus resulting from this healing must have been very strong. [236] The film, which described as having a "strongly feminist bent",[235] was praised for its music score and cinematography,[237] its surprising faithfulness to the Biblical narrative,[235] and its acting,[235][234] but was criticized as slow-moving,[234][235][237] overwritten,[237] and too solemn to be believable. The first passage is regarding Mary Magdalene (Lilith): In case you didn't catch it, at the end of The Chosen episode 1 we discover that the character called Lilith for most of the episode is actually named Mary Magdalene. Because The Chosen seeks to be kid-friendly, it most likely uses the term "Red Quarter" in order to hint to older viewers that Mary is a prostitute without explicitly mentioning prostitution or sex. [86] In the "shorter ending", which is found in very few manuscripts, the women go to "those around Peter" and tell them what they had seen at the tomb, followed by a brief declaration of the gospel being preached from east to west. . [281] The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America honors Mary Magdalene on July 22 as an Apostle, albeit as a Lesser Festival. Home; About; Schedules; News & Events; Contact Us [218] Edgar Saltus's historical fiction novel Mary Magdalene: A Chronicle (1891) depicts her as a heroine living in a castle at Magdala, who moves to Rome becoming the "toast of the tetrarchy", telling John the Baptist she will "drink pearls sup on peacock's tongues". [300] The gospel, at least in its current form, clearly and consistently identifies the disciple as having masculine gender, only ever referring to him using words inflected in the masculine. If you're like me, watching The Chosen is about more than entertainment. Mary Magdalene is never called Lili or Lilith in the Bible. First Bible mention. In The Chosen, it is not entirely clear whether Mary Magdalene was engaging in prostitution before the events of Season 1, Episode 1. "[219][220], The common identification of Mary Magdalene with other New Testament figures was omitted in the 1969 revision of the General Roman Calendar, with the comment regarding her liturgical celebration on July 22: "No change has been made in the title of today's memorial, but it concerns only Saint Mary Magdalene, to whom Christ appeared after his resurrection. Jane Schaberg adds Geoffrey of Vendme (c. In the Bible, there is no indication that Mary Magdalene was raped. That's why I'm excited to share with you a new resource that I've created to help you study biblical adaptations & reflect on how they apply to everyday life. Jesus heals her evil spirit(s) at the end of Episode 1. [181] On December 9, 1279, an excavation ordered by Charles II, King of Naples at Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, Provence, led to the discovery of another purported burial of Mary Magdalene. The creators of The Chosen probably chose this name because it is associated with demons in Jewish traditions. Did anyone notice what it was that made her recognize him? [107] Some scholars believe that at least a few of these sayings may authentically be traced back to the historical Jesus. Jesus is said to have cast seven evil spirits out of her (, As I noted above, in the Bible there is no indication that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. [172][173] Stories about noble saints were popular during this time period;[172] accordingly, tales of Mary Magdalene's wealth and social status became heavily exaggerated. "[150] The aspect of the repentant sinner became almost equally significant as the disciple in her persona as depicted in Western art and religious literature, fitting well with the great importance of penitence in medieval theology. However, they were never admitted to the canon of the New Testament. '[269] They are the first to embrace his feet. Enough said.). In The Chosen, when we first meet Mary Magdalene, most of the characters refer to her as Lili. [318], Ehrman states that the historical sources reveal absolutely nothing about Jesus' sexuality[319] and that there is no evidence whatsoever to support the idea that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married or that they had any kind of sexual or romantic relationship. He attempts to heal her and exorcise the evil spirit in her, but he is unsuccessful and concludes that she is beyond hope. Her association with prostitution was a result of the proximity between the first mention of her in Luke (. Season 2 Reflection P2: What was The Chosen Season 2 about? [197] In 1449, King Ren d'Anjou gave to Angers Cathedral the amphora from Cana in which Jesus changed water to wine, acquiring it from the nuns of Marseilles, who told him that Mary Magdalene had brought it with her from Judea, relating to the legend where she was the jilted bride at the wedding after which John the Evangelist received his calling from Jesus. For every woman who makes herself male shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Making a Woman 5 Mary was a woman of strong faith who had . [10] Instead, it received its title because it is about her. I found that my youth struggled to sort out the different characters, so you might want to do a quick slide show of the key characters using the character images I've included throughout this post. [68][69][79] Luke's narrative also removes the injunction for the women to tell the disciples to return to Galilee and instead has Jesus tell the disciples not to return to Galilee, but rather to stay in the precincts of Jerusalem. [120][121][119] As a result of numerous intervening conflicts, the manuscript was not published until 1955. I Have Called You by Name: Directed by Dallas Jenkins. Whether you're studying on your own or with your small group or ministry, Come and See is a perfect resource to help you dig deeper into The Chosen. [82][75] The Gospel of John therefore portrays Mary Magdalene as the first apostle, the apostle sent to the apostles. [232] Lady Gaga's song "Judas" (2011) is sung from Mary's perspective, portraying her as a prostitute who is "beyond repentance". "[144] The Church Father Origen (c. 184 c. 253) defended Christianity against this accusation in his apologetic treatise Against Celsus, mentioning Matthew 28:1, which lists Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" both seeing the resurrected Jesus, thus providing a second witness. [126] Peter approaches Mary and asks her: "Sister we know that the Savior loved you more than the rest of woman. Instead, she has traditionally been honored as a "Myrrhbearer" (; the equivalent of the western Three Marys)[255] and "Equal to the Apostles" (). [297], In 1998, Ramon K. Jusino proposed an unprecedented argument that the "Beloved Disciple" of the Gospel of John is Mary Magdalene. [285][286], There are many references to Mary Magdalene in the writings of the Bah Faith, where she enjoys an exalted status as a heroine of faith and the "archetypal woman of all cycles". I've condensed the lesson into an easily printable pdf below. Should we all listen to her? When she met him, she held a plain egg in her hand and exclaimed, "Christ is risen!" You are more blessed than all women on earth, because you will be the fullness of fullness and the completion of completion. [86] The "longer ending", which is found in most surviving manuscripts, is an "amalgam of traditions" containing episodes derived from the other gospels. [277] Anglican Christians refer to her as a saint and may follow her example of repentance;[278][279] While some interpret the Thirty-Nine Articles as forbidding them to call upon her for intercession,[280] other Anglicans, citing the Episcopal burial service, say they can ask the saint to pray for them. It is widely accepted among secular historians that, like Jesus, Mary Magdalene was a real historical figure. [31][32] In the first century, demons were believed widely to cause physical and psychological illness. [98], Nonetheless, the texts have been frequently promoted in modern works as though they were reliable. [d] In a manner very similar to John 19:2526, the Gospel of Philip presents Mary Magdalene among Jesus' female entourage, adding that she was his koinnos,[110] a Greek word variously translated in contemporary versions as partner, associate, comrade, companion:[111][110]. [82][152] The first clear identification of Mary Magdalene as a redeemed sinner comes from Ephrem the Syrian (c. 306 373). [68][69][78] They went inside and saw two young men dressed in white who told them that Jesus had risen from the dead. [234][235][236] Instead, the film portrays her as Jesus' closest disciple[234][235][236] and the only one who truly understands his teachings. After sharing that information, you can ask: What stuck out to you about Mary Magdalene's depiction in The Chosen? [1][148][150] As early as the third century, the Church Father Tertullian (c. 160 225) references the touch of "the woman which was a sinner" in effort to prove that Jesus "was not a phantom, but really a solid body. [88] In fact, if they had made the story up, they would have had strong motivation to make Peter, Jesus' closest disciple while he was alive, the discoverer of the tomb instead. Making it the largest crowd-funded media venture in entertainment history. In The Chosen, Nicodemus meets Mary Magdalene in Season 1, Episode 1. [248] Apart from the Crucifixion, Mary was often shown in scenes of the Passion of Jesus, when mentioned in the Gospels, such as the Crucifixion, Christ Carrying the Cross and Noli me Tangere, but usually omitted in other scenes showing the Twelve Apostles, such as the Last Supper. His sister,[e] his mother and his companion were each a Mary. [210] Zwingli demanded for the cult of Mary Magdalene to be abolished and all images of her to be destroyed. We turned it into a bit of a game, where one of my youth would constantly ask "Is that Jesus?" [315][308], In 2012, scholar Karen L. King published the Gospel of Jesus' Wife, a purported Coptic papyrus fragment in which Jesus says: "My wife she will be able to be my disciple." Over time, the Western artistic tradition repeatedly depicted Mary as a prostitute and the mistaken association got stuck in the cultural consciousness. Why do you think the creators added them? It's certainly not The Exorcist, but demonic stuff can really freak some people out. [293] Bahs have noted parallels between Mary Magdalene and the Bab heroine-poet Thirih. Meanwhile, in the youth ministry that I lead, I had the chance to view and discuss season one of The Chosen with several high schoolers and found it very fruitful. The Bible never suggests Mary Magdalene was a. PROUDLY CREATED WITH WIX.COM. In The Chosen, when we first meet Mary Magdalene, most of the characters refer to her as Lili. 1065/701132).[178]. [185] The governor spends two years with Peter in Rome[185] and, on his way home, he stops at the same island to discover that, due to Mary Magdalene's miraculous long-distance intercession, his child has survived for two years on his dead mother's breast milk. However, some scholars believe the word would be better translated as demoness and see it is a reference to a Mesopotamian spiritual being. [Christ] loved Mary more than [all] the disciples, [and used to] kiss her [often] on the [mouth]. As the swooning Virgin Mary became more common, generally occupying the attention of John, the unrestrained gestures of Magdalene increasingly represented the main display of the grief of the spectators. The Bible never suggests Mary . [] Hence she came to be called "the apostle of the Apostles". [257] The Gospel reading in the Tridentine Mass was Luke 7:3650[258] (the sinful woman anointing the feet of Jesus), while in the present version of the Roman Rite of Mass it is John 20:12, 1118[259] (meeting of Mary Magdalene with Jesus after his resurrection). The 1552 edition omitted the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, which was restored to the Book of Common Prayer only after some 400 years. [296], Her left hand relic is kept in the Simonopetra Monastery on Mount Athos. The Gospels never refer to Mary as Lilith. When the owners of the field come, they will say, 'Let us have back our field.' [I]n the post-Biblical period, the sages identify the lilith . Episode 7 Guide: Did Nicodemus Follow Jesus? This comes out powerfully in the first Episode like to show you why is mary magdalene called lilith in the chosen here. The Gospel of Philip, dating from the second or third century, survives in part among the texts found in Nag Hammadi in 1945. Rather, let us praise his greatness, for he has prepared us and made us truly human. Mary Magdalene was the first eyewitness of the Risen Christ, and for this reason she was also the first to bear witness to him before the Apostles. That is why he loved her more than us. They are the first to hear 'He is not here. [75][81][83] She did not see anyone, but immediately ran to tell Peter and the "beloved disciple",[75][83] who came with her to the tomb and confirmed that it was empty,[75][82] but returned home without seeing the risen Jesus. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. [267] Because of Mary Magdalene's position as an apostle, though not one of those who became official witnesses to the resurrection, the Catholic Church honored her by reciting the Gloria on her feast day the only female saint so honored apart from Mary, the mother of Jesus. Did he prefer her to us? She is demon possessed and it is implied that she has adopted the name of the demon that possesses her. [292], The Bah writings also expand upon the scarce references to her life in the canonical Gospels, with a wide array of extra-canonical stories about her and sayings which are not recorded in any other extant historical sources. [97] These texts were written long after the death of the historical Mary Magdalene. The emperor laughed, and said that Christ rising from the dead was as likely as the egg in her hand turning red while she held it.