Because John refers to her by name – Mary – it is assumed that this Mary was Mary of Magdala and therein lies the inaccuracy.  The problem lies in the fact that the Gospel has several Mary’s – our Lord’s Mother, of course; but also Mary sister of Martha and Lazarus (three particular friends); Mary, the mother of James (found at the Cross in Mark); Mary the wife of Clopas and another unidentified Mary who together with Mary Magdalene kept vigil at the tomb in Matthew’s Gospel.  There is also the unnamed sinner who anointed Jesus in Luke’s Gospel and who was later identified as Mary Magdalene thanks to Pope Gregory, the same Pope who sent Augustine to Canterbury.

In 591 AD Pope Gregory created the inaccuracy when he lumped some of these Mary’s together – especially the repentant anointing sinner with Mary Magdalene.  It was easy to do because the only true Gospel reference to her before the death of Christ was that she had been freed of seven demons in Luke Chapter 8. He said:

She whom Luke calls the sinful woman, whom John calls Mary, we believe to be the Mary from whom seven devils were ejected according to Mark. And what did these seven devils signify, if not all the vices?

Astonishingly for someone of great learning, Gregory concluded that the ‘demons’ were sexual urges and this led him to the conclusion that Mary Magdalene was a whore and a prostitute.  In a stroke, before a group of celibate monks, Gregory had fixed Mary Magdalene’s reputation for centuries.

Indeed, it took until 1969 for the Roman Catholic Church to refute this view though it is something which has gone on capturing the imagination, not least in the fantasy world of Dan Brown and his novel The Da Vinci Code. Brown, of course was drawing on a myth which also had its roots in other spurious literature, not least the story which made Mary Magdalene the secret wife of Jesus and bearer of his child.

Supposedly, according to a 13th century document, Mary escaped from Jerusalem and landed up in France where her son went on to father children who later became the French Royal family. As a result Jesus is supposed to have many descendants on earth today – most of them French, of course!  It gets better and better!

There is also a supposed Gospel, that of Philip, which was a 2nd century document and which speaks of Jesus kissing Mary Magdalene though, tantalizingly, ants had eaten through key words of exactly where he kissed her which whilst denying us the text allows for people like Dan Brown to have free reign for their fantasies.

Without doubt, Mary Magdalene has been the subject of much speculation and what was pure in the Gospel has become tainted and corrupted and overlaid with the salacious.  As a leading theologian of the Church has commented, No other biblical figure has had such a vivid and bizarre post-biblical life.

And perhaps we have to ask why?  Sadly, I believe the truth to be distasteful.  Quite early on in the Church’s life, misogyny set in. The Church became male-dominated and conspiracy theorists suggest that Mary Magdalene’s role was first suppressed and then discredited because the male Apostles found her threatening, not least because it was to her rather than to them that the Risen Christ made his first appearance.  Given the history that has surrounded her it is not an unreasonable view.  It is a view, of course, in line with the Church’s long-held attitude to women, an attitude summed up by the early church theologian of some influence, Tertullian, who once, addressing a group of women, said: On account of you, (the women) even the Son of God had to die.  Not surprisingly, with such entrenched belief, the struggle of women for a significant leadership role in the Church has been a hard and bitter one. I wonder that if Mary Magdalene had not been suppressed whether we would be having such a controversy over the ordination of women, first to the priesthood and now to the Episcopate.

Against all this, therefore, it is time to place Mary Magdalene where she belongs – at the heart of the Church and in her true Gospel context.  For the Mary of the Gospel is truly an Apostle who followed Jesus in his earthly ministry and who came to understand what that ministry meant in terms of salvation and forgiveness, of grace and of hope.  She has been described as the Apostle to the Apostles in that when the disciples were trembling in fear after our Lord’s Crucifixion, she brought to them the stupendous news of the Resurrection.

In this she is also a model of mission to all who have faith because what was given to her in the garden of the tomb was an experience of the Risen Christ which sent her immediately to the other followers of Jesus with that incredible and wonderful testimony

 – I have seen the Lord!

Without doubt the resurrection story we heard as the Gospel today is remarkable – not only because it confirmed that the death of Christ was indeed a victory of love over hate, of goodness over evil and of hope in the midst of despair and of life over death.  This is the Easter message offered to the world through a deep and intense personal encounter.

Mary was a grief-stricken woman who, unlike the others, did not hide in fear but who went boldly to the tomb – and whatever Gospel account you read, the boldness was shown not by men but by women.  That Mary Magdalene was in a special relationship with Jesus is not in doubt – God chose to reveal the Resurrection to her – and that is not without significance.  But it is a relationship of purity not of sinfulness.

Mary was indeed special though so was Peter and the others. She was a devoted and loyal follower who, perhaps because she was a woman had more immediate intuition about what was going on than her male counterparts. They caught up, of course, (as men do eventually!) but it was to her that the first promise of eternal life was made and in the most startling and personal way.  She did not recognize him at first. Grief blinded her sight and any who have gone through the process of mourning might easily identify with that because the shock of a loved one’s death alters our perceptions.

But then came that lovely moment when Jesus called her by name – Mary - which drew from her that immediate response Rabbouni –teacher.  That alone should tell us what her relationship with Jesus truly was – she did not call him Jesus or beloved, or any of those words which might suggest a physically intimate relationship – but rather Rabbouni which acknowledges him as her spiritual guide, her guru, her Lord.

What is really significant, though, is that Jesus called her by Name and that is the intimate relationship we can all have with our Risen Lord.  In our modern Confirmation service the Bishop says to each of the candidates:

God has called you by name and made you his own.

Like Mary Magdalene in the Garden of the Tomb we are drawn into that most intimate of all relationships – to be known and loved by God for who we are – because who we are is symbolised by our Name.  In the encounter with Mary Magdalene, Christ was laying down the pattern for the new relationship he has with all his people. That is why she is so important.  But also, we are reminded that Jesus does not have degrees of relationships which differ between men and women. All are equal. The Kingdom of God is inclusive – we can all be saved, no matter who we are or what gender we are or what condition we are – because Jesus calls us by Name. We are His! No one can deny him access to us.

But we, in our turn must respond to his call in the way that Mary Magdalene did because when we take away from her all the dross the Church and others have laid upon her, what we have left is something which ought to apply to us all who claim Jesus as Lord.  An article in Newsweek published last year, written by Jonathan Darman sums it up:

All we can really know about Mary Magdalene is that she was always faithful to Jesus' message of love and hope, always willing to risk all for him, always open to the possibilities of grace. Amen to that!