Episode 1 · The Woman Behind the Legends

Before the paintings, before the novels, before the arguments and speculation… there was a woman. Her name was Mary Magdalene.

Mary Magdalene emerges in the Gospels as one who journeyed with Jesus, healed of deep afflictions and transformed by compassion. She stood steadfast at the foot of the cross when many had fled, a quiet pillar of courage. And in the cool hush of dawn, she found the empty tomb—first witness to the mystery of resurrection and tasked with carrying that news to others.

Her story is one of redemption and trust, a reminder that even in our darkest hours we may be called to bear light. Perhaps her devotion invites you to consider where steadfast love might guide you, too.

Over the centuries, the silence around Mary invited imagination to fill the gaps. Some traditions elevated her. Others misunderstood her. A few turned her into something she likely never was.

Strangely, Mary Magdalene is one of the most famous figures in the Christian story, and yet she may also be one of the most misunderstood.

She has been called:
a prostitute
a mystic
a secret apostle
the wife of Jesus
the keeper of hidden gospels

In the centuries after the gospels were written, some Christian communities began telling stories that placed Mary Magdalene in different roles. In these writings she appears not only as a witness, but as a recipient of secret teachings. In one striking scene, Peter himself questions her authority.

Whether these stories preserve history or simply reflect later debates, they reveal something fascinating: Mary’s presence in the resurrection story had already made her too important to ignore.

Layer upon layer of legend slowly wrapped itself around her story until the historical figure beneath it almost disappeared.

Entire books have been written around those claims. Movies have been filmed about them. Arguments have been fought over them. And yet if we pause for a moment and open the oldest sources we possess—the four gospels themselves—the portrait that emerges is both simpler and far more remarkable.

So the question worth asking is simple:

Who was Mary Magdalene, really?

Not the figure of speculation. Not the character of modern novels. But the woman who actually walked the dusty roads of Galilee.

The gospel writers tell us very little about Mary Magdalene. They do not tell us about her childhood. They do not describe her family. They never record a speech she gave. She appears quietly in the narrative, almost without introduction. But when the story reaches its most important moments, she is suddenly there.

At the cross.
At the burial.
At the empty tomb.

And in one of the most extraordinary scenes in the entire New Testament...

Not Peter, not John—none of the twelve.

The canonical story already gives Mary something extraordinary. She is the first messenger of the resurrection. Later writers tried to expand that role into hidden authority, but the gospel narrative itself is already powerful enough.

This seven-part series is an attempt to walk slowly back toward her—not to strip away every mystery, but to begin where good stories always begin: with the ground beneath our feet.

In A town called Magdala.

So join me next week on Friday and for the next several weeks and we will enjoy this adventure together.