Matthew 28:8-10. 8So [the women] departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
We know that Mary Magdalene was the first person to see the resurrected Jesus, but soon after that Jesus appeared to a whole group of women. Here’s some of the women that we know were at the empty tomb on Sunday morning:
Mary the mother of Jesus.
Mary Magdalene – she was a follower of Jesus, just like the Twelve Disciples.
Mary the mother of James “the less” who was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples.
Mary the wife of Clopas – they were Jesus aunt and uncle.
Salome, the mother of James and John, the fishermen and two of the Twelve.
Joanna, the wife of Chuza, the household manager of King Herod.
First of all, that’s a lot of Mary’s. Second, that’s a lot of women. And honestly it’s a bit surprising. Why? Because people didn’t really trust women back then. In fact, women were not allowed to give testimony in court back then.
But Jesus trusted women. He trusted them so much that he made women the very first to give testimony to his resurrection.
Can you name the four gospels? All four gospels agree; women were the first to see Jesus on Easter morning. And all four gospels agree that Jesus treated women far differently than everyone else in Israel. In Jesus’ kingdom everyone is treated equally – men and women, boys and girls. In fact, the idea that everyone has value and should be respected is something that Jesus invented. Christianity does not put women down, it honors them and their voice – go and tell my brothers, Jesus said.
Why did Jesus choose women to be the first to see him and tell others about him? The better question is why not? All throughout the gospels, women come to Jesus humbly, the way we all must come to him. Women are constantly serving Jesus and worshiping Jesus the way we all must worship our Lord. Women are always learning from Jesus, listening to him, being taught by him (the longest recorded conversation of Jesus is the one he had with the woman at the well), as we all must sit at his feet and listen.
But Jesus isn’t just choosing women because of how great they are (they are great). Jesus is reversing what happened in the Garden of Eden. In the Garden of Eden, first the woman, Eve, sinned, then the man, Adam. Eve took the forbidden fruit and gave it to Adam. But here in this garden, the women will give the good news to the men. Eve, the woman sinned first, then Adam, the man. But now the women will believe first, then the men. What does this mean? It means that Jesus is fixing us all. All humanity. Women and men.
Jesus is reversing the curse from Genesis 3. Yay!
Now with Jesus, girls and boys, women and men, are all one in Christ Jesus. We are all equal in him. All loved. All accepted. All respected. And all saved.
You: Do you see yourself as better than the opposite gender (boys or girls)?
You with Jesus: How do you think Jesus makes us all equal in value? Why is it so important that we believe that everyone is equal in Jesus?
Prayer: Father, the resurrection reverses the curse. You have made us all the same in your love for us so that we can all care for each other, girls and boys both. Amen.
TLICfamily 