When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. (Mark 16:9)*
First Piece:
The most amazing, history-altering, eternity-determining miracle of and for all time. God beats Satan.
Second Piece:
A possessed woman—a woman whose body and mind was controlled by a demon. Got the picture in your mind? Multiply that ugly image by seven. She’s seven times worse. She is possessed by SEVEN demons.
Now, if you were Jesus who had just accomplished the First Piece, who is the first person you’d want to tell? Probably a disciple…one of the men who had been a prominent player. Peter maybe? It’s unprecedented news so it would have to be someone who would:
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Believe it
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Follow instructions well
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Be willing to tell others
God chose Piece Two. God chose Mary Magdalene to be the very first one to see Jesus. He entrusted her with the wonderful message.
Mary Magdalene! A formerly possessed woman times seven.
A well-trained human leader with all the right skills and degrees would not choose a woman with that kind of past. God doesn’t always choose in the same way we choose.
And God still does things today that don’t make sense to us. Let’s bind ourselves so closely to Him that we trust His ways implicitly. Let’s focus on keeping in step with Him and using our human toolbox (education, experience, talents, etc.) to help—not the other way around.
And when we do, we may very well look back and discover that we are Mary Magdalene—that we are the one with the ugly past that God chooses to tell others His message of a beautiful future.
What keeps you from trusting God implicitly? What helps you focus on Him?
*Also mentioned in Luke 24:10; John 20:1, Matthew 28:1.