I hope you were. Because Easter is all about surprises.
Easter is all about surprises.
The wonderful surprise we always celebrate on Easter, and indeed each Sunday when we worship together, is the surprising resurrection of Jesus. Before we think about what a strange and surprising choice Mary Magdalene was, let us take a moment to recall who were not chosen to be the first witness to Jesus resurrection. And Peter, the one who was the first to enter the empty tomb, the one who was to be the rock upon which the church was to be built he was not chosen. No, the first witness to the resurrection, the one to whom Jesus appeared, the one entrusted by Jesus to carry the glorious message of the resurrection back to the rest of the disciples and so onto us, was Mary of Magdala. Mary of Magdala, until this point only a walk-on in the drama of the gospels, was chosen.