Why would you want to focus on Mary Magdalene at Easter and not on her risen Lord? Melvin Bragg did just this in his BBC documentary The Mystery of Mary Magdalene on Good Friday. It was the BBC’s concession to the Christian festival tucking it away at a time very few would watch it – midday! I watched it primarily because I had been asked to review it but I would have missed it otherwise. Many people have strange ideas about Mary Magdalene which they have picked up from popular culture such as Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ, Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and the recently revived Jesus Christ Superstar. But I was intrigued that Melvin Bragg presented this documentary in terms of solving a great mystery. Why is Mary Magdalene considered to be a mystery? The fact that we have limited knowledge about her does not make her any different from the rest of the vast cast in the gospels including most of the apostles. Once we start trying to piece together any of their lives we quickly reach a dead end because the gospel writers were concerned about revealing Jesus not the supporting cast.
Melvin Bragg sought to take the viewer on a journey of discovery from the historical evidence to the various legends that have grown up surrounding her from saint to seductress. He is masterful in putting together his argument but his subtle bias leads him to place large significance on the gnostic gospels and perhaps even exaggerate the historical evidence to raise the possibility that female leadership in the church has been actively suppressed since the first century.
Bragg concluded that most of the stories that are told about Mary are probably untrue but he could not dismiss her prominence in the Easter story. He knows that having a woman as a witness makes the story more credible because surely if the gospel writers were inventing it they would have cast a man in that role. Although he only goes so far as acknowledging that it is compelling evidence for some. Unfortunately Bragg does not understand what Mary witnessed. He just sees the fact that by being a witness Mary was given a credible authority that in turn should inspire other women. It is heart-breaking to consider that the person to whom she witnessed is reduced to a secondary figure in the story. Bragg in looking at Mary does not see Jesus. I wonder if we all fall into that trap at times – looking at our agenda as we read the bible and being blind to the truth God wants to show us.
Do we need to address the mystery of Mary Magdalene? No, but we need to listen to her testimony about her Lord. Jesus was raised from death! I find it frustratingly sad that the gospel accounts of Jesus’ resurrection are reduced and co-opted into the debate on women’s ministry. Whilst not addressing it head on Melvin Bragg’s documentary is implicitly advocating women’s leadership throughout. I hope however that his affirmation of the gospel accounts may lead some to reconsider the extraordinary events of Easter and instead of looking at Mary they will begin to look to her master instead. Maybe one day Melvin Bragg will be able to cross into ‘that crucial belief of a godly eternity’. [1]
[1] ‘My first steps back on the road to faith’ Melvin Bragg Daily Telegraph 11June 2011