Mary Magdalene, of Bethany

For quite some time in the catholic tradition Mary Magdalene ("of Magdala"; who stood under Jesus cross and was a first witness to his resurrection) was identified with Mary of Bethany (the sister of Martha and Lazarus). The first explicit reference of this was the sermon of Pope Gregory I in 591 AD. The identification can further be inferred from there not being a catholic memorial for 'Mary of Bethany' while the memorials for Mary Magdalene (July 22) and Martha of Bethany (July 29) are exactly 1 week (an octave!) apart. Moreover, tradition does not assign a grave to 'Mary of Bethany' while her brother Lazarus (church St-Lazare in Autun) and sister Martha (Tarascon) are said to be buried not too far from the beautiful pilgrim church in Vézelay (all in France), the traditional burial place of Mary Magdalene. According to legend the three of them (with some other friends) had been put in a rudderless boat onto the Mediterranean sea by enemies of Jesus but that they nevertheless arrived safely in the south of France in the village Saintes-Maries (called after them).

Apparently not everybody was happy with the identification (probably related to the general image that arose of Mary Magdalene as being a whore), there were some controversies and as a result after Vatican II the identification was officially removed from the breviary (yet I don't see how that would really improve Magdalene's image...). When in 2016 Pope Francis raised the level of Magdalene's liturgical memory on July 22 from a memorial to a feast and let her be referred to as the "Apostle of the apostles," he also suggested to celebrate the memorial of 'Mary of Bethany' (and Lazarus) together with their sister Martha a week later.

In this post I want to argue that indeed the gospels give convincing reason to say that Mary Magdalene is also 'of Bethany,' sister to Martha and Lazarus. The difference in names probably stems from two very different phases in her life.

We start with Luke 10:38-39 which tells us that "Martha had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said." Consequently Martha is told that her sister has chosen the better part and that it will not be taken away from her.

Next John 11 tells us about the death and resurrection of Lazarus, from Bethany, with sisters Mary and Martha (whom Jesus loved); it also suggests the prominence of Mary. Moreover verse 2 informs us "This Mary was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair." Many assume that this just refers to John 12:3 (some days before Jesus' arrest): "Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair."

However Luke 7:38 describes practically the same event: "As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them." Yet here the subject is a sinful woman who came to Jesus in the house of a Pharisee and of / to whom Jesus says: "her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown" / “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” John's words earlier imply both must be the same one.

In contrast, the story of John 8:3-11 tells about the adulteress who is brought to Jesus, whom he refuses to judge (stone!) and instead he starts writing in the sand; this one offers no other correspondence than that both are about sinful women.

Yet, from both anointments we can infer that 'Mary of Bethany' is a prominent, rich, repentant sinner, boldly showing her love for Jesus; and noteworthy is that after the second annointment no mention is made anymore of 'Mary of Bethany.'

But then suddenly Mary Magdalene shows up: John 19:25 / Mat 27:56 / Mark 15:40 / Luke 8:2 all tell us that she stood under Jesus' cross, together with Mary the mother of James the younger and Joseph (also being the sister of Jesus' mother and the wife of Clopas), and Salome the mother of Zebedee’s sons (the apostles James the elder & John). Mark 16:9 / Luke 8:2 moreover mention that Jesus had driven seven demons out of her.

Then Mat 28:1 / Mark 16:1 / Luke 24:10 tell us that on Easter sunday she went with a fortune of spices to Jesus' grave in order to annoint his body together with the other Mary, Salome, Joanna and probably a few more (note that Mary Magdalene is always mentioned first); they find the grave empty and told this to the apostles.

Now John 20:1-18 tells about Magdalene crying outside the grave, meeting a 'gardener' who then turns out to be Jesus, going to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” and telling them to meet Jesus in Galilee. 

This suggests that she went back to the grave a second time 

(alone!), a sign of a strong love and a bold character. Together with her mentioned prominence, the need for quite some money for the spices and her 'tumultuous' past (and them never mentioned together!), we see that Mary Magdalene & Mary of Bethany cannot be otherwise than the same person. {:-)