Witnesses

Depending on which Gospel you read, the first witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus differ. Matthew says Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” came to the tomb and found an angel there who rolled back the stone. He gave them a message that Jesus wanted them to tell the disciples he was going to Galilee and to meet him there. Then, Matthew adds, “Suddenly Jesus meets them...” with the “them” in that sentence being the two Marys, and he too tells them to go tell the others.

In Mark, Mary Magdalene is the first witness. Mark, in his usual straightforward way, says, “Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared to Mary Magdalene.” Where? Mark doesn’t say, but we know what she did. She told the others, but they didn’t believe her.

Luke writes that Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary (Jesus’ mother) and “the other women” find the empty tomb, but do not see Jesus. Two of Jesus’ followers are walking to Emmaus when they encounter a stranger who turns out to be Jesus. So for Luke, nameless men are the first witnesses.

John writes that Mary went alone to the tomb and found it empty. She found the followers of Jesus and tells them his body has been removed. Then Peter and “the other disciple” run to the tomb and find it empty, but “as yet they did not understand the scriptures that he must rise from the dead.” Perhaps dejected, or at least confused, John tells us, “Then the disciples return to their homes.”  But not Mary Magdalene; she had returned to the tomb and she stays behind and weeps. As she weeps, she checks the tomb once more and finds two angels in white who want to know why she weeps. As she leaves the tomb, she sees Jesus, but fails at first to recognize him, but as soon as he speaks her name, she knows. She knows who it is.

In every version, Mary is present at the tomb. And in the three that have Jesus appearing at the tomb, Mary is either the only witness or among the first witnesses all of whom were women. Only in Luke’s version do we have men who witness the risen Lord first. Does this matter? Maybe. Women weren’t considered reliable witnesses in court, so they weren’t allowed to testify. Yet, here in the most phenomenal event in history, it is women who first see and the tell others what they have seen. In three of the Gospels, the writers offer us the least credible witnesses as the first to have seen Jesus. Imagine how hard it would be for early believers to have taken seriously a religion so populated by women and on whose testimony so much rested. 

There’s one other thing that matters here, in my opinion. Whoever it was that first saw Jesus, they all did the same thing--they quickly shared that news with others.  Maybe we, who because of the way we live--so often far from the life Jesus expected of us--may also be among the less credible witnesses. Yet we may also still have a story to tell. Let’s consider doing as they did and telling it.

Happy Easter, Jerry