A Woman

By The Faithful Project

I have seen the Lord and my Lord’s seen me. Oh, he said my name and told me,
“Go and speak of what you’ve seen.”

This past Monday marked the 110th anniversary of International Women’s Day. Since the Women’s Liberation Movement in the early 1900s, March 8th has been set aside as a time to commemorate the achievements of women and their fight for gender parity. Since March has also been designated as Women’s History Month, I wanted to share with you all a beautiful song inspired by the life of Mary Magdalene.

“A Woman” was written by a group of women authors and writers who together created The Faithful Project. The Faithful Project is a collection of songs and stories that show God’s kindness and faithfulness to women throughout history. “A Woman” was the first of the songs from this project to be released.

Mary Magdalene played a very special role in Jesus’ life. She was one of the women Jesus healed from evil spirits and diseases who also helped support Jesus’ ministry out of their own means (Luke 8:1-3). She was a true follower of Jesus Christ. She was present at the crucifixion when many of his other followers were not, and she was the first person Jesus appeared to after his resurrection (Mark 16:9).

A beautiful thing about Mary Magdalene is that Jesus was never ashamed to be around her. In the culture of that day, it was considered “scandalous” that Jesus taught, welcomed, and partook in meals with women. Also, in that culture, women were to be “neither seen nor heard.” But Mary along with many other women were welcomed by Jesus with opened arms and were able to take part in his ministry.

“A Woman” was inspired by the passage from John 20 where Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene after his resurrection.

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20:16-18)

Jesus did a great work in Mary’s life when he freed her from demons. In return, she dedicated herself to Jesus and his ministry and was even with him in his death. Amidst the grieving, Mary had the honor of seeing the Lord, Jesus Christ after his resurrection. Jesus then instructed her to use her voice to give the disciples a very important message. Mary did just that and went and told the disciples of what she had seen. She sets a great example of what it means to be a true disciple of Christ.

Now, even though culture has shifted dramatically since Mary’s time, it is not uncommon for women to still feel like they are “neither seen nor heard,” especially in parts of the world where women are belittled and not respected. Women who feel unseen or unheard can be encouraged by the life of Mary Magdalene. She was seen by the Lord and her life was changed, from the time she first met Jesus and he healed her, to after his resurrection when he comforted her.

Mary was loved by and mattered to Jesus, and you are also loved by and matter to him. My prayer as you listen to “A Woman” is that you remember that your life matters, and what you have to say matters. Your voice is important.

The greatest thing you can do with your voice is go and tell others about what you have seen the Lord do in your life, just as Mary Magdalene did. And you don’t have to be a woman to do it. 😉

Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
Psalm 66:16

Click here to watch the music video for “A Woman.”
Click here to watch the lyric video.