1 Corinthians 15:1-5: Why did Paul ignore this Fact?

 

 Moreover brethren I declare to you the good news which I preached to you which also you have received and in which you continue By which also you are saved if you keep in memory what I preached to you unless you have believed in vain For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received how that Christ died for our sins agreeing to the scriptures And that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures And that he was seen of Cephas[1] then of the twelve [2]

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[1] In 1 Corinthians 15:1-5, Paul defined the GOOD NEWS ^{The Gospel} as the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Mary was first at the tomb that resurrection morning. Mary was the first to see Jesus alive and not Cephas. Mary was the first preacher of the gospel. Peter [along with the other disciples] heard the gospel for the first time from a woman, Mary, who heard it from the angel.

Paul proved himself to be a strong supporter of women in ministry, examples being his equal treatment of Priscilla, Phoebe, and Junia. He learned from Priscilla. He called Phoebe a deacon. He called Junia an apostle. Pau had to know it was Mary, called the Magdalene (because she was from Magdala), who saw Jesus first after his resurrection, and not Cephas. For some reason [unintentional?], he drew a curtain of invisibility over the fact that it was a woman who saw Jesus first and preached the GOOD NEWS that Jesus alive after his crucifixion.

Most scholars agree that the gospels were written after the epistles. That being the case, the writers of the gospels, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, made certain that all the world would know it was a woman who first saw Jesus alive after he had been laid in the grave, and also that it was a woman who was the first preacher the New Testament gospel.

[2] The twelfth being Matthias, who had been with the disciples from the time Jesus was baptized by John until he died, was buried, and rose again –Acts 1:21-26

This is an excerpt from The Hungry Hearts Bible Commentary edited by this author.