Was this all the same Mary? Magdeline, devils cast out, Martha's sister, annointed Jesus' feet, prostitute?

Question

Can you tell me where in the Bible that this is all connected to the same Mary?

Answer 1

        With cross-comparison, and an understanding of the Jewish culture, I believe that the stories of the following three women were all about the same woman:

• The woman taken in adultery, of whom much had been forgiven (John 8:1-11);
• Mary of Magdala, out of whom seven demons were cast (Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2); and,
• Mary of Bethany, sister of Lazarus and Martha (John 11:1,2).

        An interesting item to note -- except for one (Luke 8:2), all mentions of Mary Magdalene are in connection with Christ's Crucifixion, His Tomb, and His Resurrection. It is almost as if this woman appeared out of nowhere. Instead, I believe she was purposefully going by another name in order to not bring shame or tragedy upon her family. It is also interesting that her story, regarding the seven demons, is apparently not told. Again, I believe this perceived anonymity was contrived in order to protect her family. I think the two hints (Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2) are part of the connection to the other two stories.

        So, first of all, the following verses state quite plainly that it was Mary of Bethany whom anointed Jesus' head and feet and wiped His feet with her hair:

John 11:1,2 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (2) (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)

        You can compare the stories of Simon's Feast in each of the Gospels (Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; Luke 7:36-50; John 12:1-8) so I won't quote them all for you. But, Luke gave much more detail, about that incident, so I will quote him:

Luke 7:36-50 And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. (37) And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, (38) And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. (39) Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. (40) And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. (41) There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. (42) And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? (43) Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. (44) And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. (45) Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. (46) My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. (47) Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. (48) And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. (49) And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? (50) And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

        There's much that isn't said here. But you'll note that this is Simon's niece. Yet, look at the revulsion and the loathing demonstrated by Simon (verse 39) regarding his niece, Mary. What could Mary possibly have done to earn such loathing from a Pharisee whom is also her uncle? Culturally, even now, prostitutes are considered one of the worst sinners by some. Other inspiration states that Simon led Mary of Bethany into her sinful life {DA 566.5}. I believe this is why Simon considered her to be such a sinner, even though he did it to her himself, and why Jesus said she had many sins -- but neither did He condemn her (John 8:11).

        As a note of interest... My favorite writer, after those of the Bible itself, had this to say about Mary's act:

"Verily I say unto you," Christ declared, "Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her." Looking into the future, the Saviour spoke with certainty concerning His gospel. It was to be preached throughout the world. And as far as the gospel extended, Mary's gift would shed its fragrance, and hearts would be blessed through her unstudied act. Kingdoms would rise and fall; the names of monarchs and conquerors would be forgotten; but this woman's deed would be immortalized upon the pages of sacred history. Until time should be no more, that broken alabaster box would tell the story of the abundant love of God for a fallen race. {DA 563.1}

        ...and for my Seventh-day Adventist friends, here is where E.G.White connects Mary of Bethany with Mary Magdalene:

"Mary had been looked upon as a great sinner, but Christ knew the circumstances that had shaped her life. He might have extinguished every spark of hope in her soul, but He did not. It was He who had lifted her from despair and ruin. Seven times she had heard His rebuke of the demons that controlled her heart and mind. She had heard His strong cries to the Father in her behalf. She knew how offensive is sin to His unsullied purity, and in His strength she had overcome." {DA 568.1}

God bless.

Answer 2

Hello there sister Bethy:)
There are at least 6 Mary's in the New Testament...

The first Mary is the mother of the Lord Jesus and the second Mary is the sister of Lazarus. It was this Mary who anointed the Lord before His death. She also sat at the Lord's feet. Its interesting but in the gospel of luke she was referred to as " a woman"
There was only one person in the whole new testament that stole the opportunity to anoint the Lord. So this " woman" has to be Mary, the sister or Martha and Lazarus. It may be that the brothers writing these accounts after the fact were not lead to divulge this sister's name but called her" a woman' since the bible called her " a sinner".


The third Mary is Mary Magdalene, out of whom seven demons were cast. While the Lord Jesus was dying on the cross a few sisters were standing there with Him. Among those sisters, there were two Marys. One was Mary Magdalene, and the Gospel of John tells us that the other Mary was the wife of Clopas and the mother of James the less and Joseph (John 19:25).

This fourth Mary, with the other sisters, saw the death of Christ and also went with Mary Magdalene to the sepulcher on the morning of the resurrection (Matt. 28:1). The Gospel of John only mentions that Mary Magdalene went there, but the other Gospels tell us that there was another Mary (Mark 16:1; Luke 24:10). She is the fourth Mary.

The fifth Mary was the mother of John Mark. In Acts 12:12, after Peter was released from prison, he went to Mary’s home, where many saints were gathered together praying.

The sixth Mary is in Romans 16:6. Here Paul said to greet the Mary who labored for the church.

Hope these references help and clarify some more for you. It helped me quite a bit:)

In Christ
sandy

Answer 3

Hi Beth, I don't think they are the same, but 3 different ones. I will need to do a little digging. Mary was a common name as it is now.

Mt 27:56 Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children.
Mt 27:61 And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.

Mr 15:47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.
Mr 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

Lu 8:2 And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,
Lu 10:39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.

Joh 11:1 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
Joh 11:2 (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)

Joh 19:25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.

In reading the text, I believe there are several Marys and they are identified as such. I hope this answers your question.

Answer 4

Hello Bethy, and Merry Christmas. Mary Magdeline, who had the devils cast out of her, was not Martha's sister, nor was she the one who annointed Jesus' feet. The woman caught in adultery, was not mentioned by name. The Mary that annointed the feet of Jesus with oil, and then wiped them with her hair, is the sister of Martha and Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead after he was in the tomb for four days.

Judas Iscariot was angry with Jesus for allowing Mary to annoint his feet with the oil, because it was so expensive, and because Judas was the treasurer of the twelve disciples, and it was Judas who took the 30 pieces of silver from the high priests for betraying Jesus and handing Jesus over to them for crucifixion. There are several Mary's mentioned in the bible, and they are not related. Just as Jesus was a common name back in religious times, Mary was also a very common name. If you have access to a bible, in the back of it, there should be a concordance that should show the name Mary, and should have a list of corresponding verses, showing the different Mary's and the verses corresponding to each Mary.

Answer 5

I know there were more Marys in the Bible than the one who was most often with Christ. We all know that Simon the Pharisee was also Simon the Leper, and was Judas Iscariot's father. Some readers here may also realize that Simon was also Mary, Martha, and Lazarus' Uncle. Mary was forgiven much...her Uncle Simon did not seem to like her too well during the anointing of Jesus' feet and head with the perfume and her tears. In the Bible, people often would have leprosy because of their sins...Simon had lead Mary of Bethany down a dark path, and was cursed with leprosy. Poor Mary had become rather upset and depressed with her sins. In modern times, when a person becomes distraught, mental problems can develop. In biblical times, people with schizophrenia were called demon possessed. Also, in biblical times, when a person had done something shameful, they'd leave their home town to spare their families the shame. She could have gone to stay in Magdala. During the time she was away, could it be possible that she had continued doing sinful things such as harlotry? When she had encountered Jesus, He had forgiven her, and cast out those demons. Mary knew what it was like to be forgiven and free. She returned to the home of her brother and sister in Bethany. Their home became one of Jesus' favorite places to get away from the hustle and bustle of Jerusalem. Mary was considered to be one of the most devout disciples.
The first one at the tomb on resurrection day was Mary...the Bible states that it was Mary of Magdala...the evidence is that this is the same Mary who had 7 demons removed by Jesus. She was forgiven much...her Uncle did not realize that he also had been forgiven much...since he was instrumental in her becoming the sinner that he thought he was not.

Answer 6

Luk 8:2 also certain women who were healed from evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, having been called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

This is the only reference in Scripture concerning her "problem". She was not a prostitute, according to the Scriptures, nor was she the sister of Martha. Mary was a very common name at that time.

Joh 11:1 And there was a certain sick one, Lazarus from Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
Joh 11:2 And it was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.

This Mary was from Bethany, Mary Magdalene was from Magdala. It was common practice to name a single woman after the town she came from, otherwise she would be known by her husbands name, such as "Mary, the wife of Joseph".

Answer 7

Mary Sister Of Lazarus

Answer 8

Magdalene Sisters Cast

Answer 9

No definetly not, Mary, the woman chosen of God, Then theres, Mary Magdalene, the transformed woman, Mary of Bethany, the woman immortalized by Christ, Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, Mary the mother of James and Joses. Thats about all I can come up with.

Answer 10

Hey Bethy!

Like the candle!

No, we are talking about numerous women......

Mary, the mother of Jesus
Mary Magdeline, who had the demons cast out
Mary, sister of Martha, who annointed the feet of Jesus

The prostitue...........was her name Mary?

The only link I am aware of is that all theirs were touched and changed dramatically by Jesus. If you know more than this, please share it with me.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOURS

Answer 11

those would be 3 different women that the bible is referring, Mary was a very popular name back then, so there was many women with that name.