Mary Magdalene was a woman of ill repute. She was also a frequent customer of mine, buying perfumed oil for her clients. I did not vet who I sold ointments to and it was only till later I found out what she did with them.
One day she came into my store asking for the most expensive spikenard perfumed oil. I had one in an alabaster box that cost at least a year's wages.
Mary told me it was for someone very special. I raised my eyebrow, but said nothing. A customer is a customer. Her eyes were aglow and there seemed something different about her. I suspected she was in love.
I remember the last Passover before the world was completely changed. I was busy preparing with my husband and our six children. I was about to light the Sabbath candles when there was a knock at my door. It was Mary. She was grief stricken.
That day, something awful had happened. She poured out the whole story to me, and it was then I realised I must comfort the poor woman. Her whole world was shaken. I promised the very next day I would come with her to the tomb and be with her as she prepared the body, for her beloved had been crucified and she wanted to make sure he had the proper burial. She related how the others who had been crucified with him had been broken and tossed aside. It was a complete shock to me.
I prepared a mixture of sweet spices and myrrh and aloe oils for Mary to take early next morning. When we got to the tomb, it was empty.
Her anointed one had already woken up.
