Christ appeared first to Mary Magdalene. Women were the most marginalized of their culture. That God chose her to reveal it to the other disciples speaks volume of God’s love for all of His creation. He created them, male and female and both were equal in His eyes.
There is no gender, no nationality, no rank in culture that can keep us from the Good News of salvation found in Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 9:28 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
Hebrews 10:1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.
The Law was a shadow of Good News to come.
1 Peter 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.
Jesus, whom we have not seen, we receive by faith and it is our salvation. The Old Testament prophets inquired of Him, searched for Him and spoke of Him, the suffering Messiah, who was to come. Our lives given to Christ and through the power of Holy Spirit are orchestrated by the very hand of God.
The secret things belong to the Lord our God. But those things that are revealed belong to us.
Romans 16:25 25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began 26 but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith
The secret, revealed to Paul, was that the Gentiles and all of humanity would be included in His salvation.
Galatians 1:11 11 But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Some things were hard for Jewish believers to understand.
Ephesians 3:8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;
Proverbs 8:35 (ESV) "For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD …"The beauty of wisdom is praised.
- Wisdom is available to everyone because a relationship with God is available to everyone (Proverbs 8:1-5).
2. Wisdom offers virtue and value (Proverbs 8:6-11)
3. Wisdom is part of our eternal inheritance as God's children (Proverbs 8:12-21
4. Wisdom points us to everlasting life (Proverbs 8:32-36)
Altogether, Scripture confirms that the triune God (Father, Son and Spirit) intricately designed every single detail of creation and declared it "very good" (Genesis 1:31). Solomon reiterated that from the beginning, creation involved "rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man" (Proverbs 8:31). As God's children, we are created by Him to seek His wisdom as we become more like Him (Ephesians 1:7-9; ). ( Colossians 1:9). First5
The sacrament of the blessed present. This present. This not-yet-perfect present. This not-yet-resolved present. This still-full-of-ambiguity-and-wondrous-possibility present. When “suddenly an ordinary day, becomes holy ground.” (Stella Nesanovich) SabbathMoments
“Dear Lord, grant me the grace of wonder. Surprise me, amaze me, awe me in every crevice of your universe. Each day enrapture me with your marvelous things without number. I do not ask to see the reason for it all; I ask only to share the wonder of it all.” Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
John 20:1–10
20 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” 3 Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. 4 So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. 5 And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. 9 For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. The New King James Version
Apparently Mary Magdalene arrived ahead of the other women. Mary Magdalene, out of whom Jesus had cast seven demons, was the last one at the Cross and the first one at the grave.
The other disciple, whom Jesus loved, was John, the author of this Gospel.
No one who came to steal the body would have taken the time to unwrap it and leave the cloths behind.
Peter went into the tomb to get a good look. He carefully examined the place where Jesus’ body had been. The handkerchief around Christ’s head had not been thrown aside, as might have been done by a thief. It had been folded and laid aside. Perhaps the implication is that Christ did not rush out of the tomb, but left His grave clothes neatly folded.
The other disciple, commonly believed to be the apostle John, saw the tomb and the grave clothes and believed that Christ had been raised from the dead. They did not know the Scripture. The disciples believed because of what they saw in the tomb not because of what they knew from Old Testament passages describing the Savior’s resurrection. Jesus had prophesied His death and resurrection in the disciples’ presence, but the disciples had not understood what He was talking about. Later Jesus would instruct them about how His life and death fulfilled the Scriptures.
When Christ uttered her name, Mary recognized His voice. Mary addressed Christ as Rabboni, an Aramaic term which John translates for his Greek readers. The NKJV Study Bible
As yet the disciples knew not the Scripture; that Christ must rise again from the dead. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Luke 24:12 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.
Matthew 27:66–28:8 So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb…
Mark 16:1–8 Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen…
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