Why did the lord appear to Mary Magdalene first?

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There’s a huge difference between something like the letter of clement, the didache, and the protoevangelium of james and then the gospel of mary. The gospel of mary is just ridiculous
 
Agreda suggests that Mary-his-mother was the first to be visited. But that was private stuff.

Out of his public followers, Mary Magdalen and the other women were first, because they had believed in him and hoped in the Resurrection as some of his most ardent followers. So many of his disciples had scattered, or hid, or fled, or denied him, or whatever— but, like John and Mary, they had stayed steadfastly with him throughout and continued to believe.

So the women had the encounter with the angel, and then hurried away to inform the Apostles. (And the Apostles didn’t believe 'em.) John arrived first, but gave precedence to Peter. They saw the empty tomb, but they didn’t get the angel encounter. And then they leave.

Mary Magdalen sticks around to cry. Now she sees two angels. They ask her why she’s crying. She’s not all, “Woah! Angels!” but instead, she doesn’t get distracted, and answers their question-- because her mind is totally on her Master. Then Jesus comes up behind her and asks her the same thing-- and she doesn’t recognize him. She thinks he’s the gardener, and she answers him. It’s not until he says her name that she recognizes him. And then he sends her back off to the disciples as well.

And the Apostles continue to hesitate. It takes a firsthand experience for them to start believing— and even Thomas misses out on that experience, and he needs to have his own personal experience, because ten other people, plus the women, plus whoever, weren’t enough to convince him.

So you can see how each follower had their very own Resurrection experience-- their privileges were connected to their level of belief and trust and hope and constancy and fervor.

So if privilege is connected to those things— where do you think his mother, his most perfect disciple, would have ranked?

Rather than assuming he completely ignored her— it would be more natural to presume she got the most awesomesauce Resurrection experience of them all.
 
You will note the account of the empty tomb is different for each Gospel
 
It all started with the resurrection. No one witnessed it, but the empty tomb and appearances of the crucified Jesus were witnessed. This is what started Christianity, and Jesus as the Christ.

The Gospels are not concerned with precise and accurate historical detail. The Gospels are concerned with the message of who Jesus was and is. And what this means.

Paul’s letters were written first about 20 to 30 years after the Resurrection. Paul concerns himself very little with the humanity of Jesus, and more with the Divinity, the risen crucified Christ.

So whether 1 or two angels were there at the empty tomb, whether the women, Mary alone or others first saw the risen Crucified Christ, you are right in questioning

Why is Mary Magdalene the first written to have seen Christ.

Could it be because she had enough faith to believe and not run off terrified. We see the Crucified Jesus very gently appearing to people. The two disciples on the road spoke at length with Jesus Christ before realising who this was.
 
Paul’s letters have about 12 references to the humanity of Jesus, to push the point Jesus was human.

Ie Jesus was born of a woman
 
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FloridaCatholic was asking, “Why are the four accounts different?” so I thought I’d throw up a quick little chart to see how they differed and whether those differences harmonize or contradict.

So, for example, the time of day differs— “at dawn” / “just after sunrise” / “very early in the morning” / “while it was still dark”, but at the same time, anyone who’s ever been out walking in the morning can know you can leave your house while it’s still dark, and two or three blocks later, it’s dawn, and by the time you get to where you’re going, it’s “just after sunrise.” So they harmonize rather than contradict.
 
Awesome chart. Perhaps Mary was the only one who did not run out of fear. Or would not.
 
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You will note the account of the empty tomb is different for each Gospel
Absolutely. The Bible is inerrant in matters of faith, but it is not a history book. Recollections differ. The Gospels weren’t written until years after the events. It would be curious not to see differences.
 
Pope Saint John Paul II in one of his Wednesday general audience stated that there is good reason to believe that the Blessed Virgin Mary was the first to see Our Resurrected Lord. His position is very defensible.

See Biblical, Logical, and Historical reasons.


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John
 
Scripture says it’s incomplete in the first place. 😉
Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
 
Probably because He knew it would be impossible to convince His Mother not to hug Him …😉
 
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To which I would add, each Gospel was written to a different group, and the writer gave those details which the writer felt important to his audience.
 
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