![\"myrrh](\"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/myrrh-bearing-women.jpg\")
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The first to learn of the Lord\u2019s Resurrection were <\/span>\u201cMary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles\u201d<\/span><\/i> (Luke 24:10, NKJV). These women, who <\/span>\u201ccame to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared\u201d<\/span><\/i> (Luke 24:1), became\u2014in the words of St. John Chrysostom\u2014the <\/span>\u201cApostles to the Apostles,\u201d<\/span><\/i> the first to proclaim the Good News: <\/span>\u201cChrist is risen from the tomb, as He foretold!\u201d<\/span><\/i> Nothing in the Gospels is incidental. God\u2019s choice to appoint women as the first witnesses of the Resurrection reveals profound intentionality.<\/span><\/p>\n In the ancient world\u2014both Jewish and pagan\u2014women were second-class citizens. The Jewish historian Josephus, describing contemporary customs, writes: <\/span>\u201cThe testimony of women ought not to be admitted, on account of the levity and boldness of their sex\u201d<\/span><\/i> (<\/span>Jewish Antiquities<\/span><\/i>, Book 4, Chapter 8, Section 15). The Talmudic tractate <\/span>Shevuot<\/span><\/i> (Oaths), addressing legal procedure, bars women from testifying in court (<\/span>Shevuot<\/span><\/i> 30a). The Talmud repeatedly underscores women\u2019s inferior status. For instance, they were not to be taught the Law: <\/span>\u201cIt is said, \u2018\u2026teach them to your sons\u2019\u2014sons, not daughters\u201d<\/span><\/i> (<\/span>Berakhot<\/span><\/i> 20b).<\/span><\/p>\n Yet this marginalization paled compared to the pagan world. Scripture describes the first woman as a <\/span>\u201chelper\u201d<\/span><\/i> (Genesis 2:18) and <\/span>\u201csuitable companion\u201d<\/span><\/i> for man, while Greek myth gives us Pandora, bearer of the infamous box unleashing humanity\u2019s woes.<\/span><\/p>\n In Greece, women (unless they were <\/span>hetairai<\/span><\/i>, courtesans) were wholly subjugated to fathers or husbands, denied autonomy. Aristotle declared: <\/span>\u201cThe male is by nature superior, and the female inferior; the one rules, and the other is ruled\u201d<\/span><\/i> (<\/span>Politics<\/span><\/i>, Book 1). Rome offered marginally better conditions, yet women still lacked civil rights and formal political influence, requiring male guardians to represent them in court.<\/span><\/p>\n Ancient literature brims with contempt for women, portrayed as intellectually and morally deficient.<\/span><\/p>\n The fact that women first proclaimed the Resurrection became a taunt among pagan critics. The 2nd-century anti-Christian writer Celsus sneered: <\/span>\u201cWho saw Him [risen]? A hysterical woman or someone else deluded by sorcery?\u2026 He appeared secretly to a single half-mad woman and His own circle of fanatics\u201d<\/span><\/i> (<\/span>On the True Doctrine<\/span><\/i>). Similarly, the philosopher Porphyry cited an oracle from Apollo to a man desperate to dissuade his wife from Christianity:<\/span><\/p>\n Easier to write on the sea\u2019s shifting face,<\/span><\/i> Even the apostles doubted the women\u2019s testimony: <\/span>\u201cTheir words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them\u201d<\/span><\/i> (Luke 24:11). In that era, women were deemed unfit witnesses for so momentous an event.<\/span><\/p>\n First, the testimony about the women at the empty tomb is <\/span>undeniably authentic and early. That women were the first to witness the Resurrection\u2014while the male disciples initially doubted\u2014is not something the early Church would invent. Culturally, this was a scandalous, even embarrassing detail.<\/span><\/p>\n As modern biblical scholar Bishop Tom Wright observes: Wright notes that the women\u2019s testimony predates Paul\u2019s account in 1 Corinthians, which scholars date to 55\u201357 AD. Thus, the empty tomb tradition existed decades earlier.<\/span><\/p>\n Second, God\u2019s choice of women as the first witnesses <\/span>shames human pride. He elevates those the world dismisses as second-class, echoing Paul\u2019s words:<\/p>\n <\/span>\u201cBrothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were influential, not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things\u2014and the things that are not\u2014to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him\u201d<\/span><\/i> (1 Corinthians 1:26\u201329).<\/span><\/p>\n Third, these women sought Jesus not when He performed miracles before adoring crowds, nor when His kingship seemed imminent, but <\/span>when all appeared lost\u2014when He lay humiliated, destroyed, killed, and buried. They remained faithful as the world saw only defeat. For this steadfast love, they became the first to proclaim His victory over death.<\/span><\/p>\n Translated by The Catalogue of Good Deeds<\/em> The first to learn of the Lord\u2019s Resurrection were \u201cMary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[110],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-gospel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/myrrh-bearing-women.jpg","views":{"total":375,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1768490784},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paPyw9-aOk","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41560"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41565,"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41560\/revisions\/41565"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/span><\/i>Easier to soar like birds through empty space,<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Than cleanse the tainted mind of womankind.<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Let her sink deeper into lies, confined\u2014<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Sing dirges to a dead, delusive Lord,<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Condemned by wisdom, pierced by Rome\u2019s swift sword.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\nWhat Does This Teach Us? Three Key Truths<\/h2>\n
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cLike it or not, women were not regarded as credible witnesses in the ancient world. When Christians later formalized the resurrection testimony (as in Paul\u2019s account in 1 Corinthians 15), they quietly omitted the women, who were apologetically inconvenient. Yet the Gospels insist on their central role as the first eyewitnesses, the first apostles. This cannot be fabricated. If the tradition had begun with male witnesses (as in 1 Corinthians 15), no later editor would insert women. But all four Gospels emphatically do\u201d<\/span><\/i> (<\/span>The Resurrection of the Son of God<\/span><\/i>).<\/span><\/p>\n
\nSource: https:\/\/pravoslavie.ru\/70390.html<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"