Last at the Cross, First at the Tomb

Summary

I like to think I’m pretty familiar with the women of the Bible. From Ruth, to Deborah, to Tamar, and even Shiphrah and Puah, I’ve read these stories. I know these stories. I’ve thought a lot about these stories. I like to think that I reference them often. And I know that the Black church has a tradition of saying women were “the last at the cross and the first at the tomb.” But who were these women? When I approached this scripture on Mary Magdalene, I was surprised at how little I knew about the first person to see the resurrected Christ. For me, she’s always been the “other” Mary.

In recent years it’s been more “ok” to reference Mary, the mother of Jesus. I long had the impression from Protestants that Mary is someone to be looked up to, but certainly not to be held in the same regard as say, the way Catholics beatify Mary. So in Protestant circles, the “other” Mary possibly gets an honorable mention when it comes to important women of the Bible.