Despite the brevity of the Biblical references to Mary Magdalene, they are sufficient to suggest to the reader something of her background, her character, and her significance. The name "Magdalene" which she bears, partly no doubt to distinguish her from Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary of Bethany, and others, indicates the fact that she came from the town of Magdala, which lay on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, and within a few miles of Capernaum, where Jesus dwelt after leaving Nazareth (Matthew 4:13), and where so many of his wonderful works were performed.
That Mary Magdalene was a wealthy woman, who gladly contributed of her means, is clearly suggested in Luke 8: 2 and 3, where we read that she, together with Joanna and Susanna, was among those who "ministered unto him of their substance." With regard to Susanna we possess no further information, but Joanna at least was evidently a woman of considerable standing in the community, in that her husband, Chuza, was "steward," or as Dr. Moffatt prefers to translate it, "chancellor," to King Herod, who ruled over both the province of Galilee and that of Perea to the east of the Jordan. In any event, it was surely natural that these women, who had all "been healed of evil spirits and infirmities," should express their gratitude in this practical manner. On the first Easter morning we again find Joanna in the company of Mary, telling the apostles of how the stone had been rolled away from the tomb (Luke 24:10).
Mary Magdalene is described as one "out of whom" Jesus "had cast seven devils." In "No and Yes" Mary Baker Eddy writes (p. 23), "According to Crabtre, these devils were the diseases Jesus cast out."
