The Gospel Fruit of the Lips

If you have been following along our Instagram journey of learning biblical femininity, you may have seen the posts we have been creating in the Proverbs 31 Women series. Here, the Lord had placed certain women from the Bible on my heart to explore as various examples of the blueprint of ideal, biblical womanhood as described in Scripture.

Mary Magdalene's story invites us to study the hand of God in restoring and redeeming the lives of ordinary women. Her character invites us to reflect on the power of the gospel and the gentleness and wondrous beauty of being entrusted to minister the good news.

Mary Magdalene was afflicted by demons, and the Lord, in His earthly ministry, had cast seven out of her before she had begun following Him to Jerusalem (Luke 8:2). She walked alongside Jesus and His disciples, and was notably the first person to see Him risen from the grave on the third day. She was, then, the first one entrusted to spread the good news of the Resurrection.

"Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her." — John 20:17-18

How does a woman with a past like Mary Magdalene's, qualify as a Proverbs 31 woman, and was God making a mistake entrusting her with the duty of sharing the Resurrection news?

This is a question that God answers with defiant, scandalous grace. He is in the work of redeeming stories, and there is no woman too far gone to escape the riches of the inheritance He desires to lavish on us through Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3).

From being under demonic possession and oppression, which would have made her out to be quite an ungodly influence in the town where she resided, to becoming a woman after God's own heart (2 Corinthians 5:17) walking alongside Him. To meeting Him after His resurrection and then sharing that news with the rest of the disciples...the verse from Proverbs 31 that describes her well, I'd like to think, is such:

"She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue." — Proverbs 31:26

For, what higher wisdom or greater kindness could there be than the sharing of the news of the Resurrection? This is part of the completion of the gospel that has enamoured each of us, and the same message that each woman of God and believer is qualified and called to share.

On another note, I wonder how many of us can relate to the shame and ill repute that Mary Magdalene may have been tempted to take on even after beginning her new life, due to the sins from our own past before meeting Christ, or even from sins we currently struggle with as we are being sanctified.

But of how much more power was the Holy Spirit at work in her, freeing her from the lies of Satan that would surely compel her to stop from carrying out the mission God had entrusted her with?

"for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." — 2 Timothy 1:7

The truth is, the powers of darkness and the tongues of men have no hold on you because of your past. Instead, the depths of the trenches the Lord had saved you from is now the unique story that He has purposed for you to glorify Him through. The redemption that cost the Father His Son to gift you with, is now a testimony you may share to set other captives free. By His grace, you can now demonstrate God's power by the power of your testimony in bringing you from the Kingdom of darkness to that of His beloved Son (Colossians 1:13).

And the gospel? The very good news that saves sinners like you and I and transforms us into saints, cannot in itself disqualify any from sharing it boldly and with utmost power.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." — Romans 1:16

We learn from the Holy Spirit working through Mary Magdalene, amongst many other things of sacrifice, courage, bravery and love — the beauty of sharing the simple gospel, and the blood-bought freedom from shame we can experience from Jesus Christ alone, when He is the Redeemer of our stories.

What Scripture from Proverbs 31 would you use to describe Mary Magdalene?


As we await His return…

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