Episode Transcript
The following program is a first person narrative using authors'license to tell stories drawn from the Bible and the books of Ellen White. Welcome to Family Storytime with Karlie Fraser. Join us as we step back in time to hear about Mary Magdalene.
Hi there. My name's Mary and I have a crazy story to tell you. It began on a Thursday evening.
How could they do that to him? How could they arrest someone who had only lived to love those around him? We didn't understand. And it wasn't until a few days later that everything started to make sense. I loved him so much.
He had been such a great friend. That was what made it the worst and the best weekend of my life. I couldn't wait for Sunday morning.
Ever since Jesus had been arrested on Thursday night, I had felt sick in my stomach. Everything was out of control and there was nothing I could do to fix it. Why would they arrest Jesus? He had done nothing but love those around Him.
We knew from the beginning that there was something special about Him. He made everyone around him feel loved. There are so many stories I could tell you of Him being kind to people.
I remember when some blind people came up to Him and asked for help. He fixed their eyes so they could see other people couldn't walk. And when they asked Jesus to heal them, they could run all the way home.
He healed every person who came to Him for help. I had made so many bad choices in my life. And when I met Jesus, he forgave me for all my mistakes and changed my life forever.
Jesus said that he had come to Earth because we are all God's treasure and this was how he was going to save us. We didn't really understand what he was saying, but we believed Him because we knew that he loved us so much. We had heard stories from long ago of someone who would come and save us from the mistakes that we had made.
We began to think that maybe Jesus was the Promised One. But then some people came and they arrested Jesus and took him to the Romans, saying he had done something wrong. We knew he hadn't, but no one was going to listen to us.
The Romans went along with what the leaders said and agreed that Jesus could be killed on a cross. We stayed there all day next to Jesus, and when he died, we asked if we could have his body to bury in Joseph's tomb. There wasn't enough time to get everything done before Sabbath, so we planned to come back Sunday morning and finish preparing Jesus'body.
That Sabbath was one of the darkest Sabbaths I had ever experienced since he brought the light. We huddled together in the upper room and were very confused. Everything we had heard and seen tumbled through our minds.
I thought back to when Jesus had brought my brother Lazarus to life and how everything had changed in an instant. The man who brought light and life now lay still and cold in the darkness of another's tomb and we all wondered why. Sunday morning came and I gathered up the spices and made my way to the tomb to meet the other women.
I was just coming up to the entrance of the garden when the earth beneath my feet started to shake violently. Losing my balance, I grabbed onto the stone wall next to me to keep from falling flat on my face. A brilliant light flashed beyond the trees and shone brighter than the sun itself.
After a moment or two, the earth stopped shaking and I could trust my feet to walk again. Continuing towards the tomb, I noticed that the Roman guards that had been posted outside the tomb had completely disappeared. And that wasn't the only thing that had changed.
The massive stone that they had rolled across the entrance of the tomb had been rolled back and now sat away from the entrance. The doorway to the tomb where we had placed Jesus was completely open. I dropped my bag of spices and turned to run all the way back to the disciples.
Finding Peter and John, I rushed to tell them what I had seen. They wanted to see for themselves and started running all the way to the tomb. When they got there, they raced inside and found the linen we had wrapped Jesus in, folded neatly on the flat stone surface.
I didn't understand what had happened. I didn't know where the soldiers had gone, how the stone had been rolled away, or where Jesus'body was. Nothing was making any sense.
Exhausted from running all the way to the disciples, I sat outside the tomb and caught my breath. Soon after I arrived, Peter and John headed back to Jerusalem. Having found nothing in the tomb except the folded linen we had wrapped Jesus'body in, I decided to have a look in the tomb and see for myself what was inside.
Suddenly, two strangers appeared before my very eyes. They were sitting right where we had laid Jesus'body on Friday evening. Looking at me, they asked, Why are you crying? At this point, I couldn't really see past the tears filling my eyes and overflowing down my cheeks.
Answering them, I said, They've taken my Lord and I don't know where they have placed him. I just wanted to be near Jesus. I needed to know where he was.
Turning back to the garden, I sensed somebody nearby. A voice asked, woman, why are you crying? I thought it was the gardener, so I repeated my answer. And then I heard the most beautiful sound in the world.
It was the sound of my own name, spoken in love. Spoken by love. I heard Mary, and in that moment I saw clearly through the tears in my eyes who stood before me.
It was Jesus. I looked up and I fell down and I knelt at his feet and said, rabbi, I wanted to cling to Him for dear life. Jesus had remembered me, and as he always did, he paused to meet my need before he did anything else right here at the most pivotal moment in history.
As I knelt there, I knew that somehow everything was going to be all right. Jesus told me to tell the others that he was going to meet them in Galilee. And I raced as fast as I could to tell everyone that Jesus had actually risen from the dead.
Everything he had said had come true, and he had given Himself for us his treasure. Jesus loves us so much that even if there was only one person here on Earth, he would still have died to save them. If it was only you here on Earth, he would have still gone through it all just so that he could be with you forever.
Because you are his treasure and he loves you. Even before God created this earth, he had a plan. He knew we were going to make bad choices, and he had a plan to save us.
We are God's treasure, and Jesus came to Earth as a human and died so that one day we can live forever with God. Will you pray with me? Dear Father, thank you so much that you love us. Thank you that even though we make mistakes, you are still willing to forgive us.
Thank You, Jesus, that you came and you lived here on Earth as a human, and you went through everything just so that you could save us so that we can be friends with you forever. We are so grateful. We love you so much, and we can't wait to see you again soon.
Amen. Thank you, Karlie, for that beautiful story about Mary Magdalene and the incredible love and power of God to redeem and save even the worst of sinners. Now let's go over to Christopher and Jesse for today's study from the Bible.
Thank you, Karlie, for that touching story about compassion, love and kindness towards Mary Magdalene. You can tell that Mary had a genuine love for Jesus because she treated him with such respect and in a way most of us might feel uncomfortable doing. Uncomfortable loving Jesus? What do you mean? Well, Mary Magdalene loved Jesus from head to toe.
Quite literally. Almost every time you read about her in the Gospels, she ends up at the feet of Jesus. At his feet? EW.
Feet are the grossest part of the body. They stink, they get dirty, you get sock, fluff all stuck in between your toes. They're covered in scabs and blisters.
Why on earth would Mary want to be at Jesus'feet? Well, you see, in many cultures around the world, touching the feet of someone older than you is actually seen as a sign of respect. It shows that you acknowledge their position of authority as an elder person with wisdom and experience. But when we read the stories of Mary, she's not just showing her respect jesus as a rabbi or a great teacher, but rather she is expressing her deep love for a person who saved her life.
Well, I'm certainly interested to read these stories. Where is it that we find the first story about Mary Magdalene? To find our first story, we need to turn to John, chapter eight. Let's turn there together to discover Mary's first encounter with the Messiah of the world.
All right, so Jesus has just returned to the temple when he is ambushed by scribes and Pharisees who bring him a woman caught in adultery. That's Mary. Now this woman, she's thrown at Jesus'feet, and the Pharisees ask Jesus, should we stone this woman? But then Jesus, as if he isn't even listening to a word they are saying, stoops down to the ground and does something strange.
He begins to write in the dust on the ground. So what does Jesus write in the dust? Well, if you look at the passage carefully, we are never actually told what it is that Jesus writes, but many people think that he was writing down the sins of all the people who had accused Mary of adultery. Ah, that makes sense, because after Jesus is finished writing, he says, he who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.
And then, as the scribes and Pharisees see their own sins written in the dust, mary, with her head down low to the ground, begins to hear the sound of stones dropping to the ground. One by one, the crowd walks away, realizing that they too are guilty of sin. And then, when everyone has left, jesus picks up Mary from the ground and says this in verse ten and eleven.
Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you? No, Lord, Mary said. And Jesus said, neither do I go and sin no more. Wow, what a first encounter to have with Jesus.
Mary is saved from death through Jesus's compassion and mercy for her, definitely. And this was just the beginning of a close relationship that Jesus would have with Mary and her family. Let's turn to Luke, chapter ten, to find Mary once again at the feet of Jesus.
Let's read together verses 38 to 42. As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister Mary sat at the Lord's feet, listening to what he taught.
But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me. But the Lord said to her, my dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details, there is only one thing worth being concerned about.
Mary has discovered it and it will not be taken away from her. So even when Mary is expected to help her sister Martha prepare for their meal, she prefers to be at the feet of Jesus, listening to his words of kindness and being drawn in deeper and deeper into his loving character. It's here that Mary shows how our relationship with Jesus should be.
Do we sometimes get so busy with work or school or church that we actually forget to spend time building our relationship with Jesus? Because serving Jesus is what God wants, but not at the expense of losing our relationship with Him. Mary shows that our priority in life should be to sit at the feet of Jesus, and from that, we will have a desire to serve Him. That's amazing.
So already we've learnt about the immense love that Jesus has for us and that we are called to spend time with Him. So I'm interested. What else can we learn from the story of Mary? Well, to find that out, let's go to our next story in John, chapter eleven.
Ah, I recognize this story. This story is about a funeral, the funeral of Mary and Martha's brother, Lazarus. Lazarus has been sealed in a tomb for four days, and Mary and Martha are mourning the loss of their brother.
And this is where we find Mary at Jesus's feet. Once again, let's read verse 32. When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, lord, if only you had been here, my brother would have not died.
All right, what lesson do we learn from this story, though? It seems pretty sad. Well, once again we see that Jesus cares for Mary and her family. But we also learn something far more profound, because as we know, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.
In this way, Jesus was able to show his divinity and his power over death. This was one of Jesus'final miracles before his death. And it showed Mary that Jesus was in fact the Son of God.
Wow. What a revelation to know that one of your best friends is the Son of God who can literally raise people from the dead. And so then, as of thanking Jesus, our next story happens at a dinner party.
Jesus is eating with his friends when Mary comes in and interrupts the party. She kneels down at Jesus'feet and begins to anoint his feet with an expensive oil. So expensive it was worth an entire year's wages.
Wait, what? Why would she interrupt the dinner and then pour out an entire year's wages on someone's feet? Their feet. What was she thinking? Well, remember, to fall at someone's feet was a sign of respect. But when Mary does it, it's more than just a symbol of respect.
It's a symbol of her gratitude and thankfulness for saving her and her brother from death. It's a symbol of her reciprocating, the same love Jesus had shown to her time and time again. And you know what? Now that I think about it, this might have been one of the last times that Mary ever saw Jesus before his crucifixion.
And even at the cross, as Jesus'feet are nailed to a tree, there we find Mary once again at Jesus'feet. Imagine the confusion that Mary would have faced. Her best friend, her savior, who she thought was the Messiah, who would rescue her.
People had died a humiliating death on a cross. What hope was left? Well, for three days, it appeared as if there was no hope. All of their dreams, their aspirations, their desires, they'd all died on that cross and been buried in that tomb with Jesus.
But that Sunday, on the third day, jesus rose from the dead, finally conquering it once and for all. He had done it for Lazarus, and now he had raised himself in order to bring eternal life to the world. And then, as Mary wept at the empty tomb of Jesus, she heard his voice call Mary.
In that instant, all of her hopes returned as she was reunited with her best friend and her savior. And Mary was so close to Jesus that all she needed to hear was one word mary. And perhaps Jesus is calling your name.
Joshua. Emma. Daniel.
Sarah. Jacob. Emily.
And you have to decide whether you are going to answer that call. Caitlin. Noah.
Hannah. Michael. Grace.
Benjamin. You see, every single one of us is being called by name to come to the feet of Jesus and experience his loving kindness, forgiveness and salvation. Will you answer that call? You have been listening to Family Storytime, a production of three ABN, Australia radio.
Plenty close but found its stories all filled with dust. I bow that altar of gold and silver but as I knelt there they turn to rusty at the feet of jesus is alone my holy grace. There be no other God before him.
Just Jesus only will never fail. The call of fortune made me a pilgrim to journey to faith promised height but as I climbed the promise faded and wind blew me all through the night I worship only at the feet of Jesus. It's come alone.
My Holy Grail. There be no other God before you. God jesus only will never fail.
Just as it does. And empty shadow all promises that turn to light. The gods of earth fail and trade me you alone.
I truth and lie worship only at the King of Jesus, my Holy Grail. There be no other God before him. Just Jesus only will never fail.
That was I'll only worship at the feet of Jesus by for eternity. And coming up next, may the good Lord bless and keep you. By the Chatealia family, may the good Lord bless and keep you whether near or far away.
May you find that long awaited golden day today may your troubles all be small ones and your fortune ten times 10. May the good Lord bless and keep you till we meet again. May you walk with sunlight shining and a blue bird in every tree may you find a silver lining back of every cloud you see fill your dreams with sweet tomorrow never mind what might have been may the good lord bless and keep you till we meet again.
May the good Lord bless and keep you till we meet till we meet again.
