Mary Magdalene Proclaims the Resurrection by Laura James

Kindred in Christ,

This year, Easter Sunday comes a little earlier than usual, and lands on the last day of Women’s History Month! This is totally appropriate, especially considering that the first evangelists and preachers of the resurrection were women (Luke 23:55-24:12). As depicted above, Mary Magdalene, and the other women disciples were not only the first ones to encounter the wonder of the empty tomb but were also the first to boldly proclaim to others that Christ is risen from the dead. Yet the male disciples did not believe them and regarded their statements as an “idle tail.”

The biblical Greek word translated into “idle tail” is lēros. Biblical scholars suggest that a saltier innuendo is meant by the word lēros. And in fact, the term is equal to calling something total BS!

Perhaps the other disciples were too sexist to trust the testimony of women. Perhaps the story was too bizarre to accept at first glance. Perhaps it seemed too good to be true. Like me, you may relate to all of these when first encountering the hope of the resurrection in our lives.

Rev. Dr. Thomas G. Long suggests that perhaps the other disciples’ initial resistance to the resurrection was because it would ask something big of them, and that freaks them out!

Long writes, “If they don’t accept the message, they can just call themselves alumni of Jesus’ school of religion. They can just call themselves students of an inspiring, moral, ethical teacher who had a tragic death. But if they accept the story that he is risen, then the story is far from over. In fact, it is just beginning, and their lives will change. And they will be sent out. And they will have to carry the message too. And there are some mixed feelings about that!”

Join us this Sunday at our new site, or on Facebook Live, as we encounter the beautiful and bizarre story of the resurrection and explore how it is calling us to share this message of hope with others!

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz