The women -- never identified by name -- learn first of Jesus' resurrection in the biblical Gospel of Luke. In Matthew, it is Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" who are told by the angel: "He is not here; he has risen, just as he said." Mark's Gospel ends abruptly, making no references to the Resurrection. In John, the risen Jesus again appears first to Mary Magdalene.
Yet those Palestinian Jews who became the world's first Christians were not, by nature or culture, inclined to believe in some sort of magical return to life by a crucified man, said the Rev. N. Thomas "Tom" Wright, an author, scholar and bishop-elect of the Church of England's Diocese of Durham.
Instead, they were a practical people eager to free themselves from the Romans occupying the land promised to their ancestor Abraham, Wright said.
The critical question Christians must ask about the Resurrection is not whether it occurred, said Wright, who indeed believes it did. The question to ask is what first century Jews would have thought about a Messiah or a prophet.
Such a query is the first step in developing a true comprehension of the Resurrection's meaning and significance, said Wright, author of the long-awaited "The Resurrection of the Son of God" (Fortress Press).
After Jesus' death, the people who were his followers -- products of their particular era, culture and religion -- would not have said Jesus was the Messiah, Wright said.
"They would not have dreamed of any such thing as a `resurrection,"' said Wright. "If they wanted to continue with the Messiah, they would have found another candidate.
