Transformative Wisdom

Reflecting on the profound significance of Mary Magdalene's anointing of Jesus. This act isn't just a historical event; it's a powerful ritual that provides a direct access point to the deepest wisdom within Christianity.

First off, Mary Magdalene's anointing makes it nearly impossible to see the Paschal Mystery in any other light than an act of redemptive love. Think about it: her role as the anointer of Jesus frames his passage through death with symmetry. Before his crucifixion, she sends him off wearing the unction of her love. And on Easter morning, as he rises, she arrives at the tomb with her spices and perfumes, ready to anoint his body for burial. Love has cradled him through this entire journey.

Bruce Chilton captures this beautifully: "She connects his death and Resurrection." By bracketing this entire experience with her acts of anointing, Mary Magdalene establishes the centrality of anointing in Christianity. She links Jesus's death and resurrection through these parallel rituals.

But what's the deeper meaning here? What's this Paschal journey all about from a wisdom perspective? Traditionally, Christianity often sees the resurrection as Jesus triumphing over physical death. But for those in the wisdom tradition of Christianity, including the earliest witnesses to the resurrection, it's far more profound. Jesus didn't just come back from the dead; he wagered his life on the conviction that love is stronger than death. He believed that sacrificing himself, the essence of love, doesn't lead to death but to life. The Paschal Mystery isn't just about dying; it's about dying-to-self.

This journey serves as the archetype for our personal experiences of transformation—dying to our egoic selves and rising to new life. It reminds us that we must fall through fear into love to truly understand what it means to be alive.

Within the resurrection narrative, anointing stands as the ritual most closely tied to this journey from self-death to fullness of life, from egoic separation to unity on a higher plane. It encapsulates Christianity's transformative wisdom.

And at the heart of it all is Mary Magdalene, the gatekeeper of this profound wisdom. She, through her acts of anointing, shows us the path from death to life, from fear to love. She embodies the essence of Christianity's transformative journey.

Mary Magdalene's anointing of Jesus isn't just a historical event—it's a ritual of profound significance that reveals the essence of Christianity's transformative wisdom.