Dr. Catherine Kroeger, in her article titled, The Neglected History of Women in the Early Church, notes that women were the last disciples at the cross and the first at the empty tomb. She was captivated by their integral relationship to the work of the church in its early centuries. Below is an excerpt from her article.
“It is no surprise that women were active in the early church. From the very start—the birth, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus—women were significantly involved. In fact, women were the major witnesses of his crucifixion and resurrection. Matthew, Mark and Luke all record that a significant group of women had followed Jesus in his Galilean ministry, and that they were present at his execution—when the male disciples were conspicuously absent. All three describe the women’s presence at Jesus’ burial. Luke declares that the women who had followed Jesus from Galilee still followed along as Christ was carried to the tomb. Mark details the care with which Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses, brother of James the younger, noted where He was laid, while Matthew tells how they kept watch over the sepulcher after the men had left. John tells of the group immediately beneath the cross, three women and one man. John alone preserves the garden interview between Mary Magdalene and the Risen Christ. The early church considered Mary Magdalene an ‘apostle to the apostles,’ and Luke relied heavily on the testimony of women as he wrote both Luke and Acts. The involvement of women continued in the first few decades of the church, attested by both biblical and extra-biblical sources. A number of women served as leaders of the house churches that sprang up in the cities of the Roman Empire—the list includes Priscilla, Chloe, Lydia, Apphia, Nympha, the mother of John Mark, and possibly the ‘elect lady’ of John’s second epistle. The walls of the Roman catacombs bear pictures showing women standing in prayer, exercising a ministry of intercession and benediction, and dominating the scene. To this day, their steadfast faith and ministry still bless us.”