Women First Witnesses to Resurrection: Biblical Texts
Why this is here: The Vatican’s 2016 decision to recognize Mary Magdalene as “apostle to the apostles” symbolically equalizes her status with the original twelve apostles.
The canonical Gospels identify women as the first to arrive at Jesus’s tomb. They discovered the tomb open and received news of the Resurrection, according to texts from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Gospel of Mark names Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome as finding the stone removed.
The Gospel of John states Mary Magdalene was the first to see Jesus after his resurrection and told the disciples. Historian Geza Vermes notes the tradition of women as first witnesses is consistent across early accounts. Researchers suggest including women as key witnesses strengthens the stories’ historical authenticity, given the limited legal value of female testimony in 1st-century Jewish society.
Early Christian communities included female leadership, as seen in letters attributed to Paul, who mentions Phoebe as a deaconess and Junia as an apostle. However, beginning in the 2nd century, the Church increasingly restricted institutional roles to men. In 2016, the Vatican elevated the liturgical celebration of Mary Magdalene to a feast day.