In Luke 8:1-3 it is implied that Mary has some sort of special relationship with Jesus and the group due to her being specifically named along with the naming of her having seven demons exercised from herself. It said that they supported the group as they roamed around preaching the gospel and teaching.

Mk 15:40-41//Mt 27:55-56; Jn 19:25-In these verses Mary had no specific role however she is among the group of women when Jesus was being crucified this of course being one of the most pivotal point in Jesus’ and the apostles lives. Mary is with the mother of Jesus implying that she had a good relationship with not only the group but many of the supporters as well.

Mk 15:46-47//Mt 27:59-61//Lk 23:55-In this scene, the scene of Jesus’ burial in the tomb there are only a select few people observing what is going on. Again we see that Mary Magdalene is one of the select few implying that she indeed is a special character in the life and times of Jesus. Again it is reiterated that she is close with the apostles and Jesus’ mother, Mary.

Mk 16:1-8//Mt 28:1-8//Lk 24:1-10; Jn 20:1-12-These verses depict the women arriving at the tomb to find that Jesus is no longer there. Again we see that Mary is with the other women who were devout followers of Jesus. In the Mt and Lk version of this event Mary and the other women after having seen the angels run and tell the disciples that Jesus’ body is gone and that the stone was rolled away. However in Mk and John it depicts Mary as being silent and not telling anyone about the events that had happened. Mark specifically it says that she is afraid to tell the disciples and in John she just cries. In two versions we see an excited Mary ready to tell the world that Jesus is not in the tomb and that he has come back from the dead but in two other verses we have quite the opposite Mary where she trembles, cries, and is afraid to tell anyone the news of Jesus being gone.

Mt 28:9-10; Jn 20:12-18 In these verses Mary Magdalene is depicted as a woman who is carrying one of the most important messages in the Judeo-Christian world. Jesus has risen, he has conquered death, and he is going to ascending to heaven to be with the Father. In Matthew, this is a very simple message, don’t be scared, go tell the disciples I am back. However the message is much more pressing in John the message is much longer and much more important. At the end of receiving the message Mary is ecstatic and tells the disciples that she has seen the risen Jesus.

Through the Gospels the character of Mary evolves. The transformation begins when the demons that were dwelling inside of her are cast out and she decides to follow Jesus and the other apostles. We can see that Mary very quickly acclimates well with Jesus and his followers, being present throughout his teachings along with the other crucial moments in his life. She is there at Jesus’ crucifixion with Jesus’ mother observing all that is going on. She is lamenting at Jesus’ burial where she presents spices and herbs to help preserve the body of Jesus depicting a very close and special relationship between Mary and Jesus. The empty tomb and the post resurrection scene depending which gospel you read depict two different types of Mary. One that is afraid that Jesus’ body is gone, that she saw angels, but is afraid and cowers. The other Mary however is quite contradictory to the first, this one rejoices at the sight of the empty tomb and hurries to tell the disciples that Jesus has risen from the dead.

Throughout the Gospel of Mary Magdalene the character of Mary develops quite significantly. In this gospel Mary seems to be on par with other disciples when it comes to matters of faith, understanding, and overall knowledge of Jesus’ teachings. The disciples recognize her understanding and it says that Peter even asks Mary to give a teaching regarding Jesus. When she begins to teach she says that she confronted Jesus with the fact that she has had many visions and dreams concerning Jesus. Jesus simply replies that he is pleased that Mary had these dreams. The disciples however don’t believe her, simply they believe that she is lying. Mary counters by crying and asking Peter if he actually believes that she would make up lies regarding her conversations with Christ.

I believe that later Christians would have been interested in developing the character of Mary because she was not only a woman who was viewed as a devout disciple, but she was also at all the pivotal moments in Jesus’ life, death, and after-life. She is mentioned by name several times in the gospel which would spark interested in anyone reading this, they would ask the questions “Who is this Mary Magdalene, why is she mentioned by name, and why is she important?” Outside of that there is significant character development depending on which gospel you read. She grows along with the rest of the disciples and grows in the teachings of Jesus.

The information that Mary receives from the Angels and Jesus is one of comfort and excitement. She is told to go tell the rest of the disciples that Jesus has risen and that he has conquered death. This could be problematic for later Christians because as I stated earlier one of the most important messages in the Christian faith (Jesus’ resurrection) is being relayed by a women. Not just any woman a sinner, a prostitute, someone who was viewed as unclean in their society. This challenges the idea of the female authority because in antiquity usually you would have trusted such important information to a righteous man, one who had served Jesus honorably and faithfully, not a female prostitute.

Proto orthodox writers would have found Mary Magdalene receiving the message of Jesus’ resurrection as problematic because she was a lesser, she was feeble minded, and a prostitute. She just could have easily have lied about what Jesus had told her because women were just imperfect men. Early writers would have been skeptic in writing down the most crucial of Christian messages due to the fact that a woman relayed it to them.