The most significant affirmation of women in the New Testament may well be found in the tradition made prominent in all four Gospels that women were the ones to find the tomb of Jesus empty; that according to Mark and Luke the announcement of Jesus’ resurrection was first made to women; that according to Matthew and John, Jesus actually appeared first to women (in John to Mary Magdalene alone); and that according to all four Gospels women were commissioned to inform Peter and the other apostles as to the most fundamental tenet of the Christian faith, that Jesus is not dead but risen!

For most readers of the Gospels the stories are taken at face value, leaving no doubt as to the priority of women in knowing and proclaiming the foundational fact to Christian faith. But for critical scholarship the matter is not that simple.

from Woman in the World of Jesus