Who Does He Say You Are?

I recently finished reading “Who Does He Say You Are?” by Colleen C. Mitchell. I started reading the book many months ago but put it down right before the chapter on Martha and Mary of Bethany. I rarely agree with people’s interpretations of them and decided to quit the book before being disappointed. Well, thank you Holy Spirit and my wrong judgement because I picked the book up again this week and finished it with great love for every page. It would not have had as great of an effect on me had I finished it before this very week. I have said many times on this journey that the Holy Spirit has worked hard on me through the different books I’ve read in this last year. Some I pick up and then put down only to finish it later at just the right timing.

I highly recommend this book to all women.

Colleen goes through different women of the Gospels and analyzes Jesus’ relationship with them and relates it back to us through her own personal stories. It’s a wonderful book. The morning after I finished it I was eager to tell Brooke Summers about it (Co-Director of FMC) because I was sure she would like it and imagine my surprise when she told me that the author, Colleen Mitchell, used to be an FMC missionary! Very neat.

I want to leave you with these excerpts on Mary Magdelene that made my heart sing. I have long had a great love for and connection to Mary Magdalene. I don’t know why but there’s something I find so powerful about her love for her teacher and I like to think of her whenever I’m having a harder time in my relationship with Jesus. When I think of her love and admiration for him, it’s hard to not have those feelings spill over to myself.

“Mary Magdalene bears the Good News to the Good News bearers. She is the first to know resurrection joy and the first to share it. […] We can feel the joy of his presence and recognize the sound of his voice, and whether or not we delve into the deepest theological mysteries, we know how to obey him. This is the call of an apostle of the heart. […] You proclaim just what he has asked you to proclaim, and you do it with great joy, because you know well what you have seen and heard. You know this Jesus, your “Rabbouni,” and there is no doubt that you “have seen the Lord.” […] Each step we take into deeper, more intimate friendship with Jesus leads us to a fuller knowledge of the joy that is ours in him. And each increase in joy overflows into a command to go out and proclaim the Good News. The world was changed because one woman did just that. Imagine what might happen if all of us followed in the footsteps of Mary Magdelene, charging out into the world as apostles of resurrection joy, proclaiming that we have seen the Lord.”

WOW! Oh how refreshing to read someone write something about Mary Magdalene that so beautifully expresses the love I feel for her and her joy.

I too have found that joy in Him.

Rabbouni, Lover of my Soul, friend, I am a new creation in you. Help me to always recognize your voice when you call my name. Fill my heart with such joy so that I must respond by proclaiming the Good News to all.