Mary Magdalene: Feminist and most beloved of Jesus

Let it be spoken. Mary Magdalene was the closest, most caring, and most favored disciple of Jesus. She was the leader of the early Christian church and may even be the unidentified "beloved disciple" (according to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Magdalene) to whom the Gospel of John is ascribed. She was the most penitent of the disciples (and not a prostitute or adulteress, as some have tried to imply) and was called "apostle to the apostles" because she was the first to witness the empty grave of Jesus and, after having communicated this to other male disciples, the first mortal to look upon and recognize the resurrected Jesus. She was among the women who remained at Jesus' cross, after the male disciples left. It was she who anointed Jesus' feet. And yet Mary Magdalene was not declared a saint until the liberal Vatican II did so in 1969, a move the current conservative Catholic church leadership would no doubt like to revoke.

That Mary would be so denied by the church and by intolerant modern-day patriarchs of all stripes says more about sexism and our continuing rejection of the Gospel, of devotion, of spirit, and of the example of Christ than any "law of God." The disciples could not or would not recognize Mary as favored by Jesus, yet Jesus' favor of Mary is entirely consistent with Jesus' revolutionary new message: the oppressed, the gentle, the penitent, the insignificant shall be exalted, not the powerful, or wealthy, or famous. Mary served well and devotedly without regard to her status, so she was recognized. The male disciples lacked faith and showed too much concern for their own status, and so, caught up in the world, they could not know Jesus' as deeply.

From Wikipedia: "Then they grieve, saying, "How shall we go to the Gentiles and preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of the Son of Man? If even he was not spared, how shall we be spared?" And Mary bids them take heart: "Let us rather praise his greatness, for he prepared us and made us into men." She then delivers — at Peter's request — a vision of the Savior she has had, and reports her discourse with him, which shows Gnostic influences.
Her vision does not meet with universal approval:
"But Andrew answered and said to the brethren, 'Say what you think concerning what she said. For I do not believe that the Savior said this. For certainly these teachings are of other ideas."
"Peter also opposed her in regard to these matters and asked them about the Savior. "Did he then speak secretly with a woman, in preference to us, and not openly? Are we to turn back and all listen to her? Did he prefer her to us?"

[According to Dr. Karen King, a professor of church history at Harvard Divinity School, "The confrontation of Mary with Peter... reflects some of the tensions in second-century Christianity. Peter and Andrew represent orthodox positions that deny the validity of esoteric revelation and reject the authority of women to teach." (introduction, The Nag Hammadi Library)]

Attachment to authority and power, and rejection of the role of women in preaching and bringing forth the message of Christ, is also thoroughly present in modern male "disciples". I happened to stumble upon yet another pseudo-Christian, male-domination screed (http://jesus-messiah.com/w-preach/wp-ot-3.html) which talks about preaching by women as satanic and a product of "harlotry and idolatry of love emotions surrounding false doctrine" needing to be corrected by the "New Testament Man of God":

Says this sexist, false prophet, and denier of Christ's example: "At the root of the women preacher issue, is the argument, that God will bless sin if it has a holy outcome. Therefore, they reason that God will bless a woman preacher, although it is not Biblical, if her works produce a holy outcome. They reason that Eve's disobedience to one Law of God, is not equal to their disobedience to his one law that a man shall rule over the woman. This doctrine makes sin a holy act, if it has a purpose allegedly, to glorify God and exalt the woman higher in her lust for personal spiritual fulfillment as a preacher. This is falsehood."

Enough! I am male and a follower of the Living Spirit of Christ, and Christ's example is clear. Women are to be honored as Mary is to be honored. Mary, as one of the first and most notable feminists, is an inspiring model to both men and women. If anything, women, in their suffering, creation of life, care for the weak, and appeal to love and gentle forms of engagement (over violence) have shown how we can all be closer to God and to Jesus. Let the truth ring out and let no earthly authority thwart what is justified in heaven and in our hearts.