Zoomie:
The person pointed out that Christ told Mary to tell the apostles that he had risen from the tomb. She pointed out that this seems to be very close to a commission or an ordination.
Actually, there are several Gospel accounts of what happened that Easter morning, and in only one of them does Jesus specifically commission Mary Magdalene to tell his apostles that he has been raised from the dead (cf.
John 20:17). The other Gospel accounts tell the story slightly differently. Matthew recounts that Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” were told of Jesus’ Resurrection by an angel and told by the angel to inform the disciples; later Jesus commissioned the women himself when he appeared to them (cf.
Matt. 28:1-10). Mark also mentions that the women as a group were first told by “a young man” who told them to tell the disciples; later Jesus appeared specifically to Mary Magdalene (cf.
Mark 16:1-11). Luke recounts that the women as a group were informed of the Resurrection by “two men” and that they told the Eleven and everyone else. Luke does not speak of a specific commission or of a specific appearance of Christ to the women (cf.
Luke 24:1-11).
These passages can be reconciled, of course. For example some of the Gospel writers may have left out details other writers felt to be important, such as the specific appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene. The point is that there is no agreement on precisely what the appearance to Mary entailed, and whether Christ himself gave her a specific commission to tell the apostles of his Resurrection. Compare this to the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper – where Christian tradition holds that the apostles were ordained – and note that all of the synoptic evangelists and the apostle Paul were very careful to give the precise words of institution (cf.
Matt. 26:26-28,
Mark 14:22-24,
Luke 22:19-20,
1 Cor. 11:23-25). In other words, the Gospel writers and the apostles were very careful to record specific commissions precisely (as another example, this time of baptism, also see
Matthew 28:19-20). If the evangelists were not specific about a commission to Mary Magdalene, it is likely because there was no such commission beyond the literal request to tell the disciples of the Resurrection.
This does not mean that Christ’s request that the women tell the apostles of his Resurrection was not important. Mary Magdalene is sometimes called in a poetic fashion “the apostle to the Apostles” because she was the primary witness of the Resurrection to the initially unbelieving apostles of Christ. It is also indicative of the historical reality of the Resurrection that the message was entrusted to women. Had the whole thing been fabricated by the apostles, it is likely that the evangelists would have put the message of the Resurrection in the mouths of men, who would be given credibility in a court of law and in the court of public opinion. However, it does
not mean that Mary Magdalene or the female disciples were ordained.
(Continued below.)
