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The Short Answer
In the first century, a woman's testimony barely counted in court — which makes this the detail no inventor would write: all four Gospels agree the risen Jesus showed himself first to women, and sent Mary Magdalene to tell the apostles. If the church were crafting propaganda, Peter finds that tomb. Instead the record keeps the embarrassing truth — because it was the truth. And it fits Jesus perfectly: the first witness of the new creation was someone the world had counted as last.
How sure are we? It's in all four Gospels — historians call this the 'criterion of embarrassment'
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Key Scripture
tap any to readJohn 20:16-17
Read →“Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him, "Rabboni!"... Jesus said to her, "...go to my brothers, and tell them..."”
Luke 24:10-11 — the embarrassing part, kept in
Read →“It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James... who told these things to the apostles. These words seemed to them to be nonsense, and they didn't believe them.”
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Watch
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From the Collection
Mary Magdalene
character profile · the first witness
Crucifixion & Resurrection — AD 30
see it on the timeline
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Why It Matters
“The first sermon of the resurrection era was preached by a woman to men who didn't believe her. God's pattern since Eden's promise: the world's overlooked carry the headline.”
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