Some modern atheists like to debunk the story of Christ’s resurrection by referring to it as a myth. But most now acknowledge that something significant happened that transformed the disciples into an army proclaiming the risen Christ.

Oddly, one of the most compelling arguments that Christ’s resurrection was not a fabrication is found within the story itself.

This is because the first people to discover the empty tomb were women. Additionally, the first person to see the risen Christ was also a woman.

Mark writes, “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might come and anoint Him” (Mark 16:1). When they arrived, the women saw that the large stone covering the tomb’s opening had been rolled back. They noticed that Christ’s body was missing.

An angel told them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; see, here is the place where they laid Him” (Mark 16:6).

At first, the women thought someone had ordered the removal of Christ’s body. They rushed back to tell Peter and John what had happened.

When they heard the news, the two men ran to the tomb to find out what was going on. After arriving, they went inside and saw it was empty and examined the strips of grave cloth inside (John 20:4-8).

Mary Magellan, who returned to the tomb with them, chose to stay at the tomb after Peter and John returned home. John says she wept.

In doing so, she became the first person to encounter the resurrected Christ. Initially, Mary thought Jesus was the gardener and asked if He had removed Christ’s body (John 20:14-19).

 Jesus *said to her, “Mary!” She turned and *said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Jesus *said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” (John 20:14-19 NET)

Jesus then told Mary to tell Peter and the other disciples that He had risen. But I wonder why Christ didn’t appear to Peter first? He was the leader of this group. Or even the other 10 apostles.

What makes this even more intriguing is at this time, women were rarely used as witnesses to testify in court. When they did, their testimony was considered to be worth far less than a man’s.

If the resurrection story was a fabrication, the Gospel writers would have certainly chosen men to discover the empty tomb. As well, a woman would not have been depicted as the first to see the resurrected Christ. Men would have given the story much more credibility.

We even see this at play when Paul provided his evidence on the resurrection of Christ in 1 Corinthians 15. Paul starts off by stating that the Lord “appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive^, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.”

Paul didn’t include Mary’s testimony, even though she was the first to see the resurrected Christ?

Since, he was presenting evidence, a woman’s testimony would have been considered irrelevant. I suspect it was for that reason, Paul didn’t include it.

I don’t know why Christ purposefully chose to appear to Mary first. Maybe the Lord was responding to her tears? Maybe, Jesus was making a point that He was not a respecter of persons? Whatever the reason, it is evidence that this historical event took place just as the Gospel writers recorded it.

The tomb was empty. Jesus had risen.