Jesus’ resurrection and his victory over death is of paramount importance to believers across the world. On Easter Sunday, we look back on the fascinating account of how Jesus died and rose again on the third day, conquering the grave. This time around, the account of how Jesus’s resurrection was first witnessed by Mary Magdalene and the women with her (Mary the mother of James, Joana and Salome, among others) spoke to me about how egalitarian and radical he was in terms of his regard for women. During a recent group Bible Study of the gospel of Mark, a friend of mine aptly pointed out how Jesus chose to appear to Mary first, how he chose her to be his first messenger of hope at a time when women’s witness did not hold much value. This really got me thinking, I too had never given serious thought to the fact that Mary Magdalene was the first witness and messenger of Christ’s resurrection! I had more often than not perceived Mary Magdalene as a woman with a colourful past and of questionable character. I had hardly given her much thought, but the resurrection reminds me of how our pre-conceived notions about people, our judgement and moral stances hardly matter. For Jesus, she was simply the person he chose to carry his message of hope and restoration to his disciples, to us, to the ends of the earth.
While Mark’s account of Mary Magdalene being the first to encounter the risen Lord is reiterated in the gospel of John, one gets a glimpse of the deep-rooted bias against women in Luke wherein even the eleven apostles dismiss Mary and her companions’ message as idle tales. None of the disciples believed in these women initially. One of them, Peter, got up to go see if what these women were saying really held some value. Interestingly, there are witnesses in respect of what happened to the women—the soldiers! The soldiers who had been guarding the tomb knew of what the women had seen and heard. As the women left and were on their way to share the good news of Jesus’ triumph, the soldiers left for the city and reported what they saw to the chief priests. The chief priests and elders paid a huge bribe to the soldiers to keep them quiet, asking them instead to tell people Jesus’ disciples had stolen his body at night while they were asleep. These soldiers who could very well testify to the marvel of the resurrection and confirm the women’s stories, are effectively silenced. It’s these women’s word against the world now, and one knows very well that hasn’t really been ideal for women ever. Except of course, during the resurrection—the one phenomenal victory that consolidates our faith and gives us hope of life beyond death.
Jesus chose to share the news of his great victory with women first when everybody else—disciples included—dismissed them and their truthful accounts as idle tales. That speaks volumes about Jesus’ compassion and his sense of justice. Funny how we still remember Mary Magdalene as a sinful woman, but never as the first witness and messenger of the resurrection that brought the cycle of salvation to completion. Funny how we still see people and events through our own bias-coloured lenses though we are called to see with love and grace, the way He sees us all. I wonder what accolades and titles the world would have heaped on Peter or any of the other disciples had Jesus chosen to appear to them first. But Jesus chose the unassuming, the silenced, and the scourged; he chose Mary, he chose women to share the truth of His victory and sovereignty.
This Easter season, as we meditate on the victory of the Risen Lord let us remember to celebrate and to continue the legacy of his triumph over prejudice, divisive politics, gender bias, corruption and bribery, things that keep us from living a life of victory and fulfillment!
May the Resurrection remind each of us we are loved by a living God who stands for salvation and life. May we realise that much like Mary, we are chosen—however flawed and undeserving we might appear—to be messengers of hope and life in a world that is in dire need of the same.
The author, Abrona Lee Pandi Aden, hails from the hills of Kalimpong and is a faculty in Sikkim University.
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