John 20:1-18
Hallelujah, He is Risen! Let us rejoice!
We have been through the valley of death with Jesus as he was beaten, falsely accused, and lynched. The events of Holy Week remind us that our savior is acquainted with sorrow and knows first-hand the kind of pain that many people endure.
So often, little is said about the women that accompanied Jesus. As we remember the resurrection of Jesus, let’s also remember the women who accompanied Jesus during Holy Week, as they have done throughout his ministry.
As Jesus’ passion unfolded, “Many women were there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. In Matthew’s gospel we are told that among the women that accompanied Jesus were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.” -Matthew 27: 55-56
After Jesus was crucified, on Saturday, Jesus’ body lay in its tomb where it was guarded by Roman solders throughout the day and when the Sabbath ended, Christ’s body was ceremonially treated for burial. It was likely the women who accompanied Jesus who performed this intimate and necessary act.
In Matthew 27, vs 61 we are told that “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.”
Easter Sunday, Resurrection Day we reach the culmination of Holy Week. Several women including Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Salome, and Mary the mother of James went to the tomb and discovered that the large stone covering the entrance had been rolled away. (It is important for us to say the names of those who often go unnamed.)
Mary from Magdala played a prominent role throughout Jesus’ ministry. John’s Gospel says Mary was at the foot of the cross when Jesus was crucified (John 19:25). When Jesus was laid to rest, Mary held vigil outside his tomb (Matthew 27:61). She was the first to discover the empty tomb, the first to see the risen Jesus (John 20:14-17), and the first to proclaim he had risen from the dead (John 20:18).
Matthew, Mark and Luke seem to downplay her presence somewhat, consistently listing her as one among two or more women and Paul writes her out of the story altogether, not even mentioning her in the resurrection narrative in 1 Corinthians 15:5-8.
Silence turns to censure in much later church tradition. The sixth-century Pope Gregory the Great conflates her with the “sinful woman” who anoints Jesus’ feet in Luke 7:36-50. It seems many in the church were anxious to undermine her status. Since then, Mary Magdalene has been stigmatized, with things said about her that you’d be hard pressed to find to be true in the text!
In reality, Mary was an apostle! According to Luke, accompanying Jesus during his earthly ministry is a prerequisite for an apostle (Acts 1:22), and according to Paul, having a vision of the risen Jesus is a mark of an apostle (1 Corinthians 9:1; 15:8,9). Mary meets both of these criteria.
The downplay of Mary in the gospels and being written out of the story altogether by Paul, is one example of how we need to pay attention to who is telling the story, what kind of power do they hold, what is their social location and cultural lens and how might they benefit from telling the story a certain way. It’s time to stop overlooking Mary Magdalene as we continue to build on the healthy valuation of women in the church.
Some scholars have suggested that Mary Magdalene and some of the other women never even left from their spot across from the tomb at all after Jesus was placed there, and that’s why they were so easily the first witnesses to the stone being rolled away, revealing the empty tomb!
We are a resurrection people. Will we be in solidarity with Jesus, our Prince of Peace? It is time for us to examine what it means to be a follower of the risen Christ. Let us remember the prominent women who have always been a part of the movement and continue to ask ourselves how we can follow Jesus’ words and actions.
Happy Easter y’all,
