08/30/2026
Mary the Tower and the Intriguing Women of Jesus’ Family Tree
August 30, 2026
Kerra Becker English
Matthew’s gospel is the learner’s gospel. I hope that I established that at the beginning of this preaching series. In navigating the journey with Matthew, we are going to learn - together.
Even after 30 years in ministry, I still learn new things. New things about myself. New things about my community. And yes, even new things about scripture and about reading the story of Jesus through new eyes. There’s a difference between saying that I want my life to be guided by the values and stories laid out in scripture and saying, “The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it.” In the former, I remain open to spiritual growth over time. In the latter - whatever someone learned at one point in their faith life becomes hardened into “the way it always was and ever shall be.” Amen.
So what do we do when new information comes along and challenges our biblical assumptions? Let’s suppose an unearthed archeological discovery of an ancient manuscript of John’s gospel found in the 1950’s could be paired up with modern technology that allows multiple old manuscripts to be laid out side by side and compared. Let’s suppose there’s a brilliant scholar whose deepest fascination is studying all that can possibly be known about Mary Magdalene. Let’s suppose there are many many generations of women who are tired of being given scraps of their own story when it comes to knowing the depths of our faith tradition. I know that this sounds like the beginning of a Dan Brown novel or one of the “Librarian” movies. But sometimes, even about a text as old as the Bible, discoveries happen that make us really rethink our perspective.
No offense to Dan Brown, but the true story is the really cool one. Dr. Elizabeth Schrader Polczer happens to be the scholar in the opening scene. And her study of Mary Magdalene has led to a startling re-interpretation of who is present in the “Mary and Martha” story in the 11th chapter of John. The scribal “corrections” shall we say, found in that text seem to add in Martha’s name, putting in the “th” in statements that more likely than not came from Mary. If you re-introduce Mary’s name where it seems to have been erased, Mary makes a Christological confession that sounds an awful lot like Peter’s confession in Matthew’s gospel from last Sunday. The details of that discovery would take some time to explain, and by the way, Chris Casanova did an excellent job of doing just that in last week’s ACE class, but to make a long story short - Polczer discovered that both Peter and Mary were “firsts” in saying that Jesus is the Messiah, the Lord, the One sent by the Living God with the promise of life abundant and everlasting. The awakening of Mary, much like the awakening of Peter, is acknowledged by Jesus as a moment of transformation, of discovery of the truth about who Jesus is. It is praised and encouraged for not only them but for all future followers to discern this truth.
Perhaps it was well hidden until now, but both Peter the Rock and Mary Magdalene were foundational in articulating the gospel message for the generations after Jesus. It certainly cannot be denied that Mary was the first at the resurrection, sometimes alone, sometimes with others, but ever present as first to tell of the news, “He is risen.” She does what Peter cannot in his fear and denial of who Jesus is at that crucial moment.
When comparing the gospels, though —
Matthew is, in effect, team Peter. “On this Rock, I will build my church.”
John is, in effect, team Mary. Telling her story of following Jesus with admiration and faithfulness, even if it experienced early redactions!
John’s emphasis on Mary was not always well received, and perceptions of her were skewed over time. Though the Jesus movement was incredibly merciful and egalitarian in their beginnings, by the time the Emperor Constantine professed his faith in Jesus Christ in 312 A.D. it had begun the process of capitulating to Roman hierarchical standards and a more imperial form of nationalized Christianity. Erasing Mary became convenient. They called her a w***e. They reminded everyone about her demons. They said no woman could be a disciple, an apostle. That was a role for men only. The church, in longing to establish its own power, asserted its own hierarchy, understanding Peter as the apostle to the apostles and the first Pope. What Jesus declared as equality among his disciples, Mary included, the church denied in order to build a system that rivaled Roman governmental power. Please don’t understand me as being anti-Catholic here. This pattern has repeated itself throughout Christian history.
Time and time again, there are calls for that early movement based on equality, and justice, and love, and at the same time there are those who say they are following Christ who continue to build monuments to their own elite stature among “the rest.” Both, I would say, are very human tendencies.
So we have a lot of work before us to un-bury Mary from the layers of lies that have developed over the centuries. Polszer also helps us give Mary a hand up by recognizing something about how she is named in ALL the gospels. She is called Mary Magdalene, which we have presumed for ages meant that she was from a place called Magdala. No such place exists in the time and travel area of Jesus during his ministry years! So what does Magdalene mean? Well, the word itself means Tower. And that name is a clue to her importance. Jesus re-named Simon by calling him Peter, the Rock. Perhaps Jesus gave Mary her name too. Mary the Tower, the towering one, the great.
We have already been aware, because of other ancient documents, that Peter was jealous of Mary’s relationship with Jesus, therefore, a gospel like Matthew’s that is centered on Peter as the predominant disciple is bound to not have a whole lot to tell us about Mary Magdalene - which is true. In Matthew’s gospel we ONLY hear about her in the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
There is an earthquake, an angel, an empty tomb, an appearance of Jesus, then they rush to go tell the men. The resurrection story would be nothing, NOTHING without the women who were the very first witnesses - Mary Magdalene being the most prominent among them.
Mary the Tower was at the ex*****on. In fact, alongside of her, were many women who had come to minister to Jesus in his last moments, watching the horror from a modestly safe distance.
Mary the Tower saw the resurrected Jesus, first, and she worshipped him, bowing down at his feet. That should be a flashback moment to her anointing of Jesus.
So if we are going to be learners, followers, and true to the gospel stories, we probably should spend some time looking deeply at the stories of the women. Asking questions. Offering up today’s voices who are eager to amplify these women’s voices. Unique to Matthew’s gospel, the women who are in the ancestry of Jesus show up in a detailed genealogy. The women who were with Jesus during his ministry are the ones who stay present through the violence of his crucifixion, and when they go to what they presume is his tomb, they are elated when they find evidence that what he was telling them is true: He is alive. He is risen. He is risen indeed.
From before the beginning until after the end - there are these women with backstories of oppression, poverty, and shame who yet were woven into the tapestry of Jesus’ story. The genes of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba were in his own very human make up. Mary his mother would speak boldly about truth and justice, and now we are uncovering what many of us suspected all along, that Mary Magdalene was treated as an equal, a presence among the disciples, and a beloved disciple herself.
This week when we lost country music legend Dolly Parton, I noticed that in so many of her eulogies her musical accolades did not come in first and foremost. She had awards on top of awards in multiple music genres, and yet, people are remembering her for her kindness, her generosity, her spirit of being. And Dolly herself used the things that people would say that were “bad” about her to weave into her music and speak to so many straight into the heart. She was poor. She dressed trashy. She had a wicked sense of humor. And she was a woman of deep Christian faith that had no need to flaunt it and never, ever lorded it over others. And she was beloved by so many people.
Dolly’s lifetime mantra that she shared broadly was, “Find out who you are and do that on purpose.” I look to these women that bookend Matthew’s gospel - in Jesus’ history before the beginning and through the remarkable ending where death is overcome and see much the same. I see women in the long narrative of Christianity who were real, complicated, compassionate, who took adversity and wove it into a coat of many colors. May we discover those women. May we be like or befriend those women.
For all those folks who would tell you that the Bible is completely closed and can only be narrowly interpreted with a hierarchical slant that puts all women in “second place,” I say, I take my biblical scholarship more seriously than that! These women are longing to be noticed in the pages we have ignored or covered up, or in some cases were outright changed with the flick of a quill. Followers of Jesus, studiers of scripture, it’s your book too. It was never Jesus who silenced the women. Amen.
