Women First

Luke 24:9-10 (ESV) Returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now, it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles.

First Century Jewish women had a tough lot. They had few rights in both the official and unofficial laws of the land. They had no political voice. Their testimony was not even accepted in court. Yet, Jesus, the usurper, came to not only set us all free from the spiritual and eternal consequences of our sin. He broke many traditions of temporal bondage, too.

A group of women had followed Jesus and the twelve apostles closely throughout their ministry. They cared for their needs, both financially and physically (Matthew 27:55, Mark 15:40, Luke 8:2-3). They were at the cross when Jesus died and stayed long after the other disciples left. They followed Joseph of Arimathea to the tomb. They were the first to show up at that tomb after the Sabbath was over. Perhaps most surprisingly, they were the first to see that tomb empty. John tells us Mary Magdalene was the first to see and speak with the risen Jesus (John 20:15).

This was radical of Jesus to make his first appearance to women in a culture that gave them so little respect. It would have made more sense if Jesus had appeared to his disciples first. As it was, they did not believe what the women told them until the saw it for themselves (Luke 24:11).  If Jesus had appeared alive to the Jewish leaders who forced his execution, might they have changed their attitude towards him, brought the entire nation to faith, and spared themselves the grief of the horrible wars and destruction that came in the following decades?

Imagine if Jesus had appeared first to Pilate. He was next in line to Caesar. The entire Roman Empire might have responded. Yet, Jesus did not appear to any of them first. He appeared to women. What might be seen as evidence against the truth of his Resurrection is actually strong evidence for it. He did appear to the apostles several times afterward, but the fact he appeared to these women first and the apostles did not initially accept their report shows they did not make up this story. Self-deprecation was not in vogue in the first century. No one undermined their own credibility.

In the truest sense, women were the first evangelists (evangellion is Greek for Gospel or good news) of the Resurrection.  Women have had a vital place in God’s work ever since. Women were first on purpose.