Biblical Affirmations of Woman –

Positive Christian Tradition

by Leonard Swidler, from Biblical Affirmations of Woman

publ. by The Westminster Press, 1979, pp. 198-214.

Republished here with the necessary permissions

VIII. Positive Elements in Christian Tradition

§156. Jerusalem Women on the Via Dolorosa

Luke, again, is the only one of the Gospel writers who mentions the women of Jerusalem meeting Jesus as he was carrying his cross to the place of execution. He records that they mourned and cried for him. The Talmud notes that the noble women used to prepare a soothing drink for the condemned, but that is far different from what is described by Luke. These women clearly must have been devoted followers of Jesus who were overwhelmed with grief. They are a group distinct from the “large numbers of people” who followed Jesus; the Greek makes it clear that only the women were said to mourn and lament for Jesus. They obviously responded with a profound attachment to this Jesus who had taught them. Nowhere in any of the Gospels is there a similar report of a group of male followers of Jesus lamenting for him publicly or risking their limbs and lives by meeting and mourning for him in the open. Jesus’ response was typical in that he showed greater concern for them than for himself. Luke would have him speak with foreknowledge of the coming destruction of Jerusalem (A.D. 70); hence most scholars hold that these specific words were provided by the evangelist, though with a historical basis.

As they were leading him away they seized on a man, Simon from Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and made him shoulder the cross and carry it behind Jesus. Large numbers of people followed him, and of women too, who mourned and lamented for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep rather for yourselves and for your children. For the days will surely come when people will say, ‘Happy are those who are barren, the wombs that have never borne, the breasts that have never suckled!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us”; to the hills, ·Cover us’ For if men use the green wood like this, what will happen when it is dry?” Now with him they were also leading out two other criminals to be executed. (Lk 23 26–32)

§157. Only Women Remain by Jesus Through His Death

It should first be noted that there is no record of any women seeking the death of Jesus; all those in any way involved in promoting Jesus’ death are men. Such noninvolvement of women in the violent death of others was by no means a foregone conclusion in Jewish tradition: cf. Deborah., Jael, Esther, Judith, Salome.

On the positive side, the response of the women disciples to Jesus was extraordinary. He taught and fought for them and they responded by following him to his bitter end, even at risk to their own limb and life. All Jesus’ male disciples deserted him: “Then all the disciples deserted him and ran away” (Mt 26:56); “And they all deserted him and ran away” (Mk 14:49). Luke, almost certainly a later Gospel than Mark and perhaps also Matthew, says that “those who knew Jesus stood afar and watched the crucifixion. John, which is the latest of all the Gospels, places ”the disciple Jesus loved,” traditionally thought to be John the Apostle, below the cross with women. Many scholars believe that both Luke and John here contain unhistorical additions to the Mark and Matthew report. Following this historical judgment, and Mark and Matthew, we have to conclude that only the women stayed with Jesus in his moment of despair and humiliation.

(1) There were some women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary of Magdala, Mary who was the mother of James the younger and Joseph, and Salome. These used to follow him and minister to him when he was in Galilee. And there were many other women there who had come up to Jerusalem with him. (Mk 15:40–41)

(2) And many women were there, watching from a distance, the same women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and ministered to him. Among them were Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons. (Mt 27:55–56)

(3) All those who knew him stood at a distance, so also did the women who had accompanied him from Galilee, and they saw all this happen. (Lk 23:49)

(4) Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her Jesus said to his mother, “Woman, this is your son.”, Then to the disciple he said, “This is your mother.” And from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home. (Jn 19 25–27)

§158. Women Witness the Burial of Jesus

The women disciples of Jesus remained by him through his death and also his burial—when all was despair. All three of the Synoptic Gospels report the presence of the women at the burial of Jesus. Joseph of Arimathaea and, probably, Nicodemus were members of the Council which participated in the trial of Jesus. Hence they had the political weight to obtain Jesus’ body. Except for them, apparently only the womendisciples were present for the burial – faithful to the end.

(1) It was now evening, and since it was Preparation Day (that is, the vigil of the sabbath), there came Joseph of Arimathaea, a prominent member of the Council, who himself lived in the hope of seeing the reign of Cod, and he boldly went to Pilate and asked for the bodv of Jesus. Pilate, astonished that he should have died so soon, summoned the centurion and enquired if he was already dead. Having been assured of this by the centurion, he granted the corpse to Joseph who bought a shroud, took Jesus down from the cross wrapped him in the shroud and laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb. Mary of Magdala and Mary the mother of Joset were watching and took note of where he was laid. (MK 15:42-47)

(2) When it was evening, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, called Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate thereupon ordered it to be handed over. So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean shroud and put it in his own new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a large stone across the entrance of the tomb and went away. Now Mary of Magdala and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the sepulcnre. (Mt 27:57-61)

(3) Then a member of the council arrived, an upright and virtuous man named Joseph. He had not consented to what the others had planned and carried out. He came from Arimathaea, a Jewish town, and he lived in the hope of seeing the reign of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. He then took it down, wrapped it in a shroud and put him in a tomb which was hewn in stone in which no one had yet been laid. It was Preparation Day and the sabbath was imminent. Meanwhile the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus were following behind. . . . They returned and prepared spices and ointments. And on the sabbath day they rested, as the Law required. (Lk 23:50-56)

§159. Empty Tomb — I
Perhaps because the women disciples followed Jesus to his bitter ehd on the cross and his burial and came back to his grave after the Sabbath, they were privileged to be the first witnesses to the empty tomb and first appearances of the “resurrected one.” This last element doubtless helps explain the prominent place women held in the early Christian community. Though their testimony was then rejected by the male disciples (according to the Jewish custom of the time, which did not allow women to bear witness), all four evangelist record the women’s witness to the risen Jesus and/or the empty tomb as primary, obviously reflecting the consensuses of the different primitive Christian communities in the midst of which they wrote theirGospels. But because these traditions differed in the details of how the witnessing of the women took place, it will be helpful to look at each one.

§160. Empty Tomb — II

The account by Mark is probably the earliest, but somehow the original ending of the Gospel after Mk 16:8 probably has been lost and the story is incomplete, e.g., the women are silent after witnessing the empty tomb (see §182 for a discussion of this problem).
When the sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices with which to go and anoint him. And very early in the morning on the first day of the week they went to the tomb, just as the sun was rising.
They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” But when they looked thev could see that the stone—which was very big—had already been rolled back. On entering the tomb they saw a young man in a white robe seated on the right-hand side, and they were struck with amazement. But he said to them, “There is no need for alarm. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he has risen, he is not here. See, here is the place where they laid him. But you must go and tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going before you to Galilee; it is there you will see him, just as he told you.’ ” And the women came out and ran away from the tomb because they were frightened out of their wits; and they said nothing to a soul, for they were afraid. (Mk 16:1-45)

§161. Empty Tomb — III

In Matthew’s account, perhaps the second oldest Gospel, the women are commissioned by an angel to give witness to the male disciples that Jesus had risen. Thus in a basic sense they were “apostles,” ones sent (apostoloi) to bear witness to the resurrection.

After the sabbath, and towards dawn on the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary went to visit the sepulchre. And all at once there was a violent earthquake, for the angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled away the stone and sat on it. His face was like lightning, his robe white as snow. The guards were so shaken, so frightened of him, that they were like dead men. But the angel spoke; and he said to the women, “There is no need for you to be afraid. 1 know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said he would. Come and see the place where he lay, then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and now he is going pefore you to Galilee; it is there you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell the disciples. (Mt 28:1-8)

§162. Empty Tomb—IV

The third account, by Luke, not only describes the women reporting what they had seen and heard to the male disciples, but, in customary fashion, being disbelieved by them.

On the first day of the week, at the first sign of dawn, they went to the tomb with the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, but on entering discovered that the body of the Lord Jesus was not there. As they stood there not knowing what to think two men in brilliant clothes suddenly appeared at their side. Terrified, the women lowered their eyes. But the two men said to them, “Why look among the dead for someone who is alive? He is not here, he has risen. Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee: that the Son of Man had to be handed over into the power of sinful men and be crucified, and rise again on the third day?” And they remembered his words.

When the women returned from the tomb they told all this to the Eleven and to all the others. The women were Mary of Magdala, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. The other women with them also told the apostles, but this story of theirs seemed pure nonsense, and they did not believe them Peter, however, went running to the tomb. He bent down and saw the binding cloths but nothing else; he then went back home, amazed at what had happened. (Lk 24:1–12)

§163. Empty Tomb—V

John the Evangelist, writing considerably later than the other three Gospel writers, describes only Mary Magdalene’s visit to the tomb and her report to the male disciples. Though he does not say explicitly, as does Luke, that they disbelieved her, their actions would fit within that assumption.

It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple the one Jesus loved. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,” she said, ‘ and we don’t know where they have put him.”

So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first, he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon Peter who was following now came Up, went right into the tomb, saw the linen cloths on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head, this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, he saw and he believed. Till this moment they had failed to understand the teaching of scripture, that he must rise from the dead. The disciples then went home again. (Jn 20:1–10)

§164. The Risen Jesus and Women – I

Three of the four Gospels report that the first appearance of the risen Jesus was to Mary Magdalene, or to a group of women disciples, in addition to the women’s being the first witnesses of the empty tomb and the speech and commission by an angel or angels to witness to the resurrection. Writing before any of the evangelists, Paul in I Cor 15:5–8 described five of the appearances of the risen Jesus, “that he appeared first to Cephas (Peter) and secondly to the Twelve.” Nowhere does Paul refer to Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene or the other women disciples. Could this be a reflection of the Jewish custom of disallowing the testimony of women, manifested by the Pharisee Paul and not yet counteracted by the women disciples through the oral traditions that fed three of the Gospel writers?

§165. The Risen Jesus and Women—II

In any case it is “the gospel truth” that the risen Jesus appeared first to a woman. The earliest Gospel, Mark, records the appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene, but that whole final section (Mk 16:9–20) is universally held by scholars not to have been written by the author of the Gospel of Mark, but rather added later, perhaps in the second century. As it stands, the Gospel of Mark reports simply that Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene and also that the male disciples refused to believe her—which a woman might have expected.

Having risen in the morning on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary of Magdala from whom he had cast out seven devils. She then went to those who had been his companions, and who were mouming and in tears, and told them. But they did not believe her when they heard her say that he was alive and that she had seen him. (Mk 16:9–11)

§166. The Risen Jesus and Women—III

According to Matthew, Jesus appeared first to Mary Madgalene and “the other Mary.” He gives more concrete details and a commission by Jesus to “go and tell my brothers” about the resurrection; they, women, were being “sent” (apostellein) by Jesus to men, to the male disciples, to bear witness (despite women’s inability in Jewish law) to the resurrection—in a word, women were made “apostles” by Jesus.

Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell the disciples.

And there, coming to meet them, was Jesus. “Greetings,” he said. And the women came up to him, and falling down before him, clasped his feet. Then Jesus said to them,”Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee, they wll see me there.” (Mt 28:8-10)

§167. The Risen Jesus and Women — IV

John, the last Gospel writer, is the most detailed, and touching, in his description of Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene. She obvi ously had a deep affection for Jesus: he had cured her and she followed him throughout Galilee and down to Jerusalem, “ministering” (diēkonoun) to him; she stayed by him through his bitter death (which, according to some Gospel accounts, the male disciples did not do), attended his burial, returned to his tomb to mourn, “weeping”; when she recognized him she threw her arms around his feet and called him “rabbi,” teacher. Jesus reciprocated by appearing to her first of all; after addressing her as “woman,” a frequent form of address, he called her by her proper name, Mary; he commissioned her “to go to the brothers and tell them” of his resurrection, commissioning her as an “apostle to the apostles”—in that sense, the first of the apostles!”

Meanwhile Mary stayed outside near the tomb, weeping. Then, still weeping, she stooped to look inside, and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet. They said, “Woman, why are you weeping?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not recognize him. Jesus said, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” I Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.” Jesus said, “Mary!” She knew him then and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbuni!” – which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, because 1 have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to the brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” So Mary of Magdala went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her. (Jn 20:11-18)

§168. The Risen Jesus and Women — V

In the several evangelists’ accounts Jesus is depicted as one learned in the Law, and therefore obviously aware of the stricture against women serving as witnesses. Hence their describing his first appearing to and commissioning of women to bear witness to the most important event of hi s career cannot be understood as anything but deliberate; it was a dramatic linking of a very clear rejection of the second-class status of women with the center of Jesus’ gospel, his resurrection. The portrayal of Jesus’ effort to connect centrally these two points is so obvious that it is an overwhelming tribute to man’s intellectual myopia not to have discerned it effectively in two thousand years.

§169. The Risen Jesus and Women — VI: Apocryphal Writings

As mentioned above (pp. 66f.), apocryphal New Testament writings, especially the earlier ones, may well be the vehicles of certain historical traditions, though it may be difficult at times to discern the historically based element amid the legendary accretions. Further, they tell us something historical about what and how some Christians believed and lived at the time they were written. Hence, it is very interesting to find several apocryphal writings (running from perhaps the time of the writing of the canonical Gospels in the latter part of the first century to the third or fourth centuries) which continue both the traditions concerning the women followers of Jesus, still always including Mary Magdalene: that it was they who first found the empty tomb and they to whom Jesus first appeared, commissioning them to witness to the male disciples—to no avail, of course.

(1) The earliest of these apocryphal writings is the Gospel of Peter, composed anywhere from the latter part of the first century to the middle of the second century. It is strikingly like the three Synoptic Gospels, especially Mark’s first “ending,” where the women “fearfully fled the tomb” (Mk 16:8), suggesting that the apocryphal Gospel of Peter was written before the “long ending” of Mark (Mk 16:9-20) was composed—probably early in the second century. It should be noted that Mary Magdalene is especially named here a woman disciple of the Lord.

Early in the morning of the Lord’s day Mary Magdalene, a woman disciple of the Lord—for fear of the Jews, since (they) were inflamed with wrath, she had not done at the sepulchre of the Lord what women are wont to do for those beloved of them who die—took with her her women friends and came to the sepulchre where he was laid. And they feared lest the Jews should see them, and said, “Although we could not weep and lament on that day when he was crucified, let let us now do so at his sepulchre. But who will roll away for us the stone also that is set on the entrance to the sepulchre, that we may go in and sit beside him and do what is due? For the stone was great,— and we fear lest any one see us. And if we cannot do so, let us at least put down at the entrance what we bring for a memorial of him and let us weep and lament until we have again gone home.” So they went and found the sepulchre opened. And they came near, stooped down and saw there a young man sitting in the midst of the sepulchre, comely and clothed , with a bright shing robe, who said to them “Wherefore are ye come? Whom seek ye? Not him who was crucified? He is risen and gone. But if ye believe not, stoop this way and see the place where he lay, for he is not here. For he is risen and is gone thither whence he was sent.” The the women fled affrighted. (Gospel of Peter, New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. 1, pp. 186-187)

(2) In the second apocryphal writing, the Letter of the Apostles, or Epistula Apostolorum, also written early in the second century, the women, including Mary Magdalene, were not only the first to go and find the empty tomb but also the first to see Jesus. Moreover, here at this very early period stress is placed not only the first to see the risen Jesus but also very heavily on the fact that they were sent to witness to the male disciples, who were so recalcitrant that Jesus sent a second woman, and finally went along with all of them to convince the male disciples of the resurrection.Was the expansion on this theme here both a reflection of the growing restrictions that women were experiencing in the church at that time and also a rebuke of those male leaders responsible for those restrctions?

He of whom we are witnesses we know as the one crucified in the days of Pontius Pilate and of the Prince Archeleus, who was crucified between two thieves and was taken down from the wood of the cross together with them and was buried in the place of the skull, to which three woman came, Sarah, Martha, and Mary Magdalene. They carried ointment to pour out upon his body, weeping and mourning over what had happened. And they approached the tomb and found the stone where it had been rolled away from the tomb, and they opened the door and did not find his body. And as they were moúrning and weeping, the Lord appeared to them and said to them, “Do not weep; I am he whom you seek. But let one of you go to your brothers and say ‘Come, our Master has risen from the dead.’ ”

And Mary came to us and told us. And we said to her, “What have we to do with you, O woman? He that is dead and buried, can he then live?’, And we did not believe her, that our Saviour had risen from the dead.

Then she went back to our Lord and said to him, “None of them believed me concerning your resurrection.” And he said to her, “Let another one of you go to them.” And Sarah came and gave us the same news, and we accused her of lying. And she returned to our Lord and spoke to him as Mary had.

Then the Lord said to Mary and to her sisters, “Let us go to them.” And he came and found us inside…. And … he said to us, ”Come, and do not be afraid. I am your teacher whom you, Peter, denied three times; and now do you deny again?” (Epistula Apostolorum, New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. 1, pp. 195–196)

(3) The third document was written significantly later and was the product of a definitdy Gnostic Christian group, the followers of Mani (Manicheans); it was probably written in the third or fourth century. Only fragments are still extant, and the only portion of them dealing with the resurrection concerns Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene, apparently a development of the story at the end of the canonical Gospel of John. There are several points of special interest in it. For one thing, Mary Magdalene is specifically made “a messenger (angelos) for me to these wandering orphans (orphanos) ” meaning the eleven male disciples. Further, she is asked to do this as a service, a leitourgia to Jesus. Could there be a deliberate support here for women’s involvement in leadership roles in liturgy and an implicit rebuke for those church leaders who did not allow it?

Something similar may perhaps also be the case with the reference to Mary Magdalene’s being made a “messenger,” as far as women having a leadership role over men is concerned. The male disciples, spoken of as “wandering orphans,” are really put down as badly in need of the guidance of this woman. For the women, however, it is noted that they no doubt will meet stiff resistance from the men and that consequently they must develop all their “skill (technē) and advice until thou hast brought the sheep to the shepherd,” again placing the woman in a much superior, indeed, “pastoral,” position vis–à–vis the male disciples, who are suspected by Jesus of “having their wits gone.” Even Peter is placed under Mary Magdalene’s evangelistic (eu–angelios) tutelage.

“Mariam, Mariam, know me: do not touch me. Stem the tears of thy eyes and know me that I am thy master. Only touch me not, for I have not yet seen the face of my Father. Thy God was not stolen away, according to the thoughts of thy littleness, thy God did not die, rather he mastered death. I am not the gardener…. Cast this sadness away from thee and do this service (leitourgia): be a messenger (angelos) for me to these wandering orphans (orpianos). Make haste rejoicing, and go unto the Eleven. Thou shalt find them gathered together on the banks of the Jordan. The traitor persuaded them to be fishermen as they were at first and to lay down their nets with which they caught man unto life. Say to them: ‘Arise, let us go, it is your brother that calls you.’ If they scorn my brotherhood, say to them: ‘It is your Master.’ If they disregard my mastership, say to them: ‘it is your Lord.’ Use all skill (technē) and advice until thou hast brought the sheep to thc shepherd. If thou seest that their wits are gone, draw Simon Peter unto thee; say to him, ‘Remember what I uttered between thee and me . . . in the Mount of Olives: I have something to say, I have none to whom to say it.’ ” (Gospel of Mani, New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. 1, pp. 353–354)

§170. Mary Magdalene

It should be noted that Mary Magdalene, that is, Mary from the town of Magdala, is named in all four of the canonical Gospels.

(There is no solid reason to identify her with the sinful woman of Lk 7:37–50 or Mary of Bethany.) In every instance (there are a total of twelve in the four Gospels) except Lk 8:2, the reference is in connection either with her being at the crucifixion and observing Jesus’ burial, or with her seeing the empty tomb and the risen Jesus—the former being mentioned as a preparation to recording the latter. Each time, Mary Magdalene is either named alone or is at the head of the list (with the exception of the special situation of Jn 19:25 where the focus is specifically on Jesus’ mother Mary). Moreover, all of the lists vary from evangelist to evangelist, no two lists ever being the same; however, Mary Magdalene is always listed. Scholars conclude that there was a strong and widespread tradition that Jesus appeared first of all to Mary Magdalene and that she therefore held a place of honor in the early Christian community—thereby explaining her appearance on all the lists of women in the Gospels, and in being first on all save one.

(1) And many women were there, watching from a distance, the same women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and ministered to him. Among them were Mary of Magda, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons. (Mt 27:55–56)

(2) So Joseph took the body wrapped it in a clean shroud and put it in his own new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a large stone across the entrance of the tomb and went away. Now Mary of Magdala and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the sepulchre. (Mt 27:59–61)

(3) After the sabbath and towards dawn on the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary went to visit the sepulchre. (Mt 28:1)

(4) There were some women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary of Magdala, Mary who was the mother of James the younger and Joset, and Salome. These used to follow him and minister to him when he was in Galilee. (Mk 15:40–41)

(5) He granted the corpse to Joseph who bought a shroud, took Jesus down from the cross, wrapped him in the shroud and laid him in a tomb which; had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb. Mary of Magdala and Mary the mother of Josef were watching and took note of where he was laid. (Mk 15:45–47)

(6) When the sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices with which to go and anoint him. And very early in the morning on the first day of the week they went to the tomb, just as the sun was rising. (Mk 16:1–2)

(7) Having risen in the morning on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary of Magdala from whom he had cast out seven devils.(Mk.16:9)

(8) With him went the Twelve, as well as certain women who had been “rid of evil spirits and ailments: Mary surnamed the Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, and several others who ministered to them out of their own resources. (Lk 8:1–3)

(9) When the women returned from the tomb they told all this to the Eleven and to all the others. The women were Mary of Magdala, Joanna and Mary thc mother of James The other women with them also told the apostles, but this story of theirs seemed pure nonsense, and they did not believe them. (Lk 24:9–11)

(10) Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, “Woman, this is your son.” Then to the disciple he said, “This is your mother.” And from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home. (ln 19:25–27)

(11) It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She … saw Jesus standing there…. Jesus said to her, . . . “Go to the brothers, and tell them . . .” So Mary of Magdala went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her. (Jn 20:1,15,17,18)

§171. The Apostle to the Apostles

As a result of Mary Magdalene’s role as one sent (apostellein) by Jesus to witness to the male apostles, as recorded in the canonical gospel of John 20:17, she was the only woman besides Jesus’ mother on whose feast the Creed was recited in the Western Church (Josef Andreas Jungmann, The Mass of the Roman Rite, p. 470, n. 55; Benziger Brothers, 1951). The term “apostle” in reference to Magdalene occurs often in the well–known ninth–century life of her by Rabanus Maurus: Jesus commissioned her an apostle to the apostles (apostola apostolorum)—cf. Migne, Patrologia Latina, Vol. 112, col. 1474B; she did not delay in carrying out the office of the apostolate to which she was commissioned (col.1475A); her fellow apostles were evangelized with the news of the resurrection of the Messiah (col.1475B); she was raised to the honor of the apostolate and was commissioned an evangelist (evangelisto) of the resurrection (colt 1479C). Even the acerbic Bernard of Clairvaux (twelfth century) refers to her as the “apostle to the apostles” (Migne, Patrologia Latina, Vol. 183, col. 1148).

Rabanus Maurus really simply carried on a tradition attested to many centuries earlier. Around the end of the second century or the beginning of the third, Hippolytus of Rome also commented on Jesus’ appearing first to Mary Magdalene, and the other women, and spoke of Mary Magdalene, and the other women—and symbolically Eve—as apostles and evangelists (proclaimers of the gospel, evangelium). The extant text is in a Slavonic translation, with variations in an Armenian translation:

Christ himself sent [Mary Magdalene], so that even women become the apostles of Christ and the deficiency of the first Eve’s disobedience was made evident by this justifying obedience. O wondrous adviser, Eve becomes an apostle! Already recognizing the cunning of the serpent, henceforth the tree of knowledge did not seduce her, but having accepted the tree of promise she partook of being judged worthy to be a part of Christ…. Now Eve is a helpmate through the Gospel Therefore too the women proclaimed the Gospel (from here on the Armenian translation has a few differences, see below]. But the basic fact was this, that Eve’s custom was to proclaim lies and not truth. What’s this?7 For us the women proclaim the resurrection as the Gospel. Then Christ appeared to them and said: Peace be with you. I have appeared to the women and have sent them to you as apostles.

[The differences in the Armenian translation are as follows:!

Therefore women too proclaimed the Gospel to the disciples. Therefore, however, they believed them mistaken…. What kind of a new thing is it for you, O women, to tell of the resurrection? But that they might not be judged mistaken again, but as speaking in truth, Christ appeared to them and said: Peace be with you. Wherewith he showed it as true: As I appeared to the women, sending them to you, I have desired to send them as apostles. (Hippolytus, in Die griechischen chnstlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte, 1,1, pp. 354f.; Berlin, 1897)

§172. Mary Magdalene in Gnostic Christian Literature

Besides the strong, positive tradition about Mary Magdalene in the canonical Gospels and the orthodox Christian writers quotes above and others, there is a similarly strong tradition about her among Gnostic Christians, already amply displayed above (169) in the third– or fourth–century Manichean document wherein Mary Magdalene is sent by Jesus as a messenger (angelos) to “evangelize” (euangelizein) the male disciples with all possible skill.

a. Mary Magdalene, Teacher of the Apostles

This tradition of Mary Magdalene’s superiority to the male disciples begins even earlier in the apocryphal Gospel named after her, the Gospel of Mary, probably a second–century Gnostic Christian document. In it, after Jesus commanded the disciples to go and preach the gospel and then left them, the men played the stereotypical female role—not knowing what to do and crying; whereas Mary played the stereotypical male role—confidently knowing what to do and encouraging the men. At first she succeeded admirably, but then, as she expounded her specialized knowledge from Jesus, jealousy was engendered among the male disciples, particularly Andrew and Peter, who attacked her thinking that she, a woman, might have better access to the truths of Christ than they, the men, did. Mary responded bluntly and was supported by another apostle, Levi, who rebuked Peter for being so hot–tempered and attacking Mary Magdalene. In the end they all went off to preach the gospel, so that Mary Magdalene prevailed.

But they were grieved and wept sore, saying: “How shall we go to the heathen and preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of the Son of man? If he was not spared at all, how shall we be spared7″

Then arose Mary, saluted them all, and spake to her brethren: “Weep not be not sorrowful, neither be ye undecided, for his grace will be with you all God will protect you. Let us rather praise his greatness, for he hath made us ready, and made us to be men.”

When Mary said this, she turned their mind to good, and they began to discuss the words of the [Saviour).

[Peter now says to Mary, “We know that the Saviour loved you above all other women.” He asks her to recount the revelations that she has received from the Savior, which he and the others have not heard. Mary tells how she saw the Lord in a vision and spoke with him. There follows a lengthy, complicated Gnostic conversation between Jesus and Mary.]

When Mary had said this, she was silent, so that (thus) the Saviour had spoken with her up to this point. But Andrew answered and said to the brethren: “Tell me, what think ye with regard to what she says? I at least do not believe that the Saviour said this. For certainly these doctrines have other meanings.” Peter in answer spoke with reference to things of this kind, and asked them about the Saviour: “Did he then speak privily with a woman rather than with us, and not openly? Shall we turn about and all hearken unto her? Has he preferred her over against us?”

Then Mary wept and said to Peter: “My brother Peter, what dost thou then believe? Dost thou believe that I imagined this myself in my heart, or that I would lie about the Saviour?” Levi answered (and) said to Peter ”Peter, thou hast ever been of a hasty temper. Now I see how thou dost exercise thyself against the woman like the adversaries. But if the Saviour hath made her worthy, who then art thou, that thou reject her? Certainly the Saviour knows her surely enough. Therefore did he love her more than us. Let us rather be ashamed, put on the perfect Man, [form ourselves (?)] as he charged us, and proclaim the Gospel, without requiring any further command or any further law beyond that which the Saviour said (Gr.: neither limiting nor legislating as the Saviour said).”

But when Levi had said this,] they set about going to preach and to proclaim (Gr.: When he had thus spoken Levi went away and began to preach). (Gospel of Mary, New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. 1, pp. 341–344)

b. Mary Magdalene, Most Beloved Disciple

In the above citation Peter admits that “the Saviour loved [Mary Magdalene] above all other women.” He could not bring himself to say that Jesus loved Mary Magdalene more than him, but a little later Levi does make such an admission: “But if the Saviour hath made her worthy, who then art thou, that thou reject her? Certainly the Saviour knows her surely enough. Therefore did he love her more than us.” Earlier it was noted (see §152) that in the early third century Gnostic Christian document Pistis Sophia, Jesus said, “But Mary Magdalene and John, the maiden (parthenos), will surpass all my disciples and all men who shall receive mysteries.” Beyond these there is a further Gnostic Christian apocryphal Gospel, the third century Gospel of Philip, in which Mary Magdalene is said to be called the companion of Jesus and loved by Christ “more than all the disciples.” There is also a startling passage in which Christ is said to “kiss her often on the mouth.” In this Gnostic Christian document this action obviously has a spiritualized significance, but still, Mary Magdalene is the recipient of the most intimate favors (graces) of Christ.

There were three who always walked with the Lord: Mary his mother and her sister and Magdalene, the one who was called his companion. His sister and his mother and his companion were each a Mary…. And the companion of the [Savior is] Mary Magdalene. [But Christ loved her more than all the disciples [and used to kiss her [often] on her [mouth]. The rest of the [disciples were offended] by it and [expressed disapproval]. They said to him “Why do you love her more than all of us?” The Savior answered and said to them, “Why do I not love you like her?” When a blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness, they are no different from one another When the light comes, then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness. (Gospel of Philip, Nag Hammadi Library, pp135–136; italics added.)

c. Peter’s Jealousy of Mary Magdalene

In the canonical Gospel of John, Mary Magdalene, rather than Peter, is the one to whom the risen Christ first appears, just as it is Martha rather than Peter who declares Jesus to be the Son of God, giving in the Johannine Christian community a certain priority of Mary Magdalene and other women over Peter (see §180). This does not reflect anything negative toward Peter in the Johannine Christian community, but it does probably indicate a conscious stress on the importance of women, especially Mary Magdalene, rather than Peter, whose importance in the other Gospels was probably known to the final redactor of John. As will be discussed further below, it should also be recalled that there are several lengthy and important passages in John’s Gospel which focus on women, including Mary Magdalene’s first discovery of the empty tomb, her reporting of it to Peter and the others, and Jesus’ appearing to her alone and commissioning her to “go to the brothers, and tell them.” It was probably the next sentence (or the tradition behind the sentence) in John, which said, “So Mary of Magdala went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her” (Jn 20:18), that gave rise to the expanded report in the apocryphal Gospel of Mary about Mary Magdalene reporting her conversation with Jesus to Peter and the other disciples. Further, the Gospel of John would have been found very attractive by Gnostic Christians, for, like them, it stressed light and life and a very “spiritual” kind of theology—with many long and complicated discourses placed in the mouth of Jesus. Hence it is not surprising to find Gnostic Christians, like John’s Gospel, giving a prominence to Mary Magdalene and also speaking of Peter’s fits of jealousy toward her.

Besides the male disciples’ in general taking offense at Mary Magdalene’s favored position with Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Philip, cited just above, and the specific resentment voiced by Andrew and Peter in the above–cited Gospel of Mary, there is also the extremely vicious attack on women prophets attributed to Peter in the apocryphal Kerygmata Petrou (see 291). Further, Peter’s hostility toward women in general and Mary Magdalene in particular is referred to twice (chs. 36 and 72) in the early third century Gnostic Christian Pistis Sophia, and reaches a kind of climax in the statement attributed to him in the third–century Gnostic Christian Gospel of Thomas, wherein Peter wants to excommunicate Mary Magdalene, because she is a woman, but Jesus defends her (in a way peculiar to the later ascetic time). Again the question naturally arises: was this a protest on the part of some Christian women, and their male sympathizers, against what they saw to be the rising restriction of women and even misogynism exercised by church leaders, who prided themselves on their rootage in the apostles, the chief of whom was Peter, as over against the feminism of Jesus? The solution for many non–Gnostic as well as Gnostic Christian women (as will be discussed below, §314 and pp. 341ff.) was in becoming a man, a male (vir)—that is, celibate. However, the celibate Gnostic Christian women were less willing to accept subordination to the male hierarch than were the orthodox catholic women.

Simon Peter said to them: Let Mary go forth from among us, for women are not worthy of the life. Jesus said: Behold, I shall lead her, that I may make her male, in order that she also may become a living spirit like you males. For every woman who makes herself male shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Gospel of Thomas, New Testament Apocrapha, Vol. 1, p. 522)

and Biblical Affirmations of Woman – Feminine Imagery of God-Post Biblical Period