Was Mary Magdalene the sister of Lazarus?
Yes. It's important to note that there are personal gestures, which are repeated and are peculiar to a person like the person’s style. They are unmistakable gestures. The following are two distinct scenes where the woman in each scene honored Jesus by means of the same gesture:
- The repentant woman in Bethany in the house of Simon the Pharisee
"Now when Jesus was
in Bethany,
in the house of Simon the leper,
a woman came to him having an alabaster jar of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. "Most certainly I tell you, wherever this Good News is preached in the whole world,
what this woman has done will also be spoken of as a memorial of her.” (
Matt. 26:6-7;
13)
"While he was
at Bethany,
in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table,
a woman came having an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard—very costly. She broke the jar, and poured it over his head. "Most certainly I tell you, wherever this Good News may be preached throughout the whole world,
that which this woman has done will also be spoken of for a memorial of her.” (
Mk. 14:3;
9)
"
A woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that he was reclining
in the Pharisee’s house,
brought an alabaster jar of ointment. Standing behind at his feet weeping, she began to
wet his feet with her tears, and she
wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed his feet, and
anointed them with the ointment." (
Lk. 7:36-50)
- Mary in Bethany in Lazarus's house
"Then six days before the Passover,
Jesus came to Bethany,
where Lazarus was, who had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. So they made him a supper there. Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him. Therefore
Mary took a pound of ointment of pure nard, very precious, and
anointed Jesus’s feet and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment." (
Jn. 12:1-3)
1. Healed by Jesus from seven demons (
Lk. 8:1-2)
2. Financially supported Jesus's ministry (
Lk. 8:2-3)
3. Present at Jesus's crucifixion (
Matt. 27:55-56,
Mk. 15:40-41,
Jn. 19:25)
4. Present at Jesus's burial (
Matt. 27:59-61,
Mk. 15:46-47)
5. Present for the anointing of Jesus's Body (
Matt. 28:1,
Mk. 16:1,
Lk. 24:1,
Jn. 20:1)
6. Second disciple to witness Jesus's Resurrection (or first if you don't believe that His Mother was), and be entrusted with the task of being the messenger of Resurrection (
Mk. 16:9-11,
Jn. 20:14-18)
According to the Evangelist accounts above, can one reasonably say that Mary the Magdalene—
a woman healed by Jesus from seven demons, and who became the second-greatest woman disciple—the woman, a well-known sinner, who repented in the house of Simon the Pharisee in Bethany, and Mary in Lazarus's house in Bethany—
both of whom honored Jesus by means of the same gesture: wiping their hair on Jesus's feet with ointment, with the gesture made in Bethany being memorialized by Jesus—couldn't have been the same woman?
Additionally, according to the account of Maria Valtorta, another true spokesperson of God, she confirmed that Mary the Magdalene, the repentant woman in the house of Simon the Pharisee in Bethany, and Mary in Lazarus's house in Bethany were the same person. The parents of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary were Theophilus—a Syrian, who was the governor of Antioch, a faithful servant of Caesar—and Eucheria. Mary was a well-known prostitute, even among the Romans in Israel, and thus the disgrace of her family. By extension, her family was affected. They couldn't go among people without having to put up with their mockery, including from the Pharisees and scribes, and Martha never married, because no one married the sister of a prostitute. Mary's conversion was a process, rather than an event. I highly recommend reading
A Summa and Encyclopedia to Maria Valtorta's Extraordinary Work, especially the chapters on the proof in support of her writing having a supernatural origin, and
The Story of Mary Magdalene (extracts from
The Poem of the Man-God).
