Unit 3: The Call of Women
Mary Magdalene: A Faithful Disciple | Bible Background • MARK 15:40; 16:1-9; LUKE 8:1-3; JOHN 20:10-18 | Printed Text • LUKE 8:1-3; MARK 15:40; JOHN 20:10-18 | Devotional Reading • ROMANS 4:13-25
AIM FOR CHANGE
By the end of this lesson, we will DISCERN Mary Magdalene’s motivations for committing her life to Jesus, APPRECIATE the sacrifices Mary Magdalene made in order to follow Jesus, and EMBRACE a lifestyle of wholehearted discipleship.
IN FOCUS
It was a wearying plane ride from San Diego to the military hospital overseas, but Jackie got no rest; she was too anxious. This was not the reunion she wanted for her and her husband Bruce, a lifelong Army officer whose career had taken him to deployments across the United States and around the world.
Every time Bruce was reassigned, they dutifully made the moves, understanding that they were together in marriage no matter where it took them. They packed everything they had and she took on the challenges of settling into new housing, making new friends, and supporting him, even as their family grew from two to three, then four. But the family wasn’t allowed to follow when Bruce was stationed at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, which meant Jackie leaned harder on her faith that her husband would be safe. Before Bruce left, he gave her a bracelet engraved with the Mizpah: “The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.” For months, that carried her through. Then came word that Bruce was injured in a vehicle crash. Now Jackie stood in a hospital corridor being told Bruce had been moved just before her arrival, but it wasn’t clear where. As an Army chaplain and an administrator tried to sort out the confusion, a kind charge nurse saw Jackie’s distress. “Don’t let worry overtake you now,” she said with a smile. “Believe me, with a loving partner like you in his corner, he’ll be fine.”
Can we trust God to care for those we love, wherever they are?