Horsham: 2nd April 2026
Christ Appears to Mary, Mother of Christ
If you’ve visited my blog before, you probably know that I describe myself as a contemplative evangelical. I’ve written elsewhere about what that means to me, but put simply, the word ‘evangelical’ simply means that I regard the teachings of Scripture (both Old and New Testament) to be the essential core and basis of my faith. That being the case, you may wonder why I am starting this series on the resurrection with the appearance to Mary, the Mother of Christ. I can’t offer you a bible reference, because this incident doesn’t appear anywhere in Scripture.
The answer is simple. I have been exploring the ‘contemplative’ side of my faith using (not for the first time) the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola, who, in common with the widely accepted teaching of the Catholic Church, believes that the first appearance of Christ in his resurrection was to Mary, the Mother of Jesus.
Later in this series, we’ll see that there is a similar tradition that Christ appeared to Joseph of Arimathea (the similarity is that again this ‘incident’ is not reported in the Bible). Whilst they are not in Scripture, these are deeply held beliefs within the Catholic and Orthodox traditions, and so I’m exploring the background and why they are regarded as so significant. I found myself sufficiently interested in the teaching to spend some time reading about it.
The Background
Stories of the appearance of Christ to his mother date back to the earliest Church traditions and appear in writings from the 2nd – 4th Centuries. The story reoccurs in earliest writings of both Catholic and Orthodox traditions. It was most strongly supported in the writings of Saint Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419), whose Easter sermons strongly advocate the first appearance to Mary, but are largely based on assumptions about the depth of relationship which should exist between mother and son.
‘If indeed, someone were overseas, and his mother had unnderstood that he had died, and he nevertheless healthy returned and would visit first other friends, and only last came to his mother, this would not be a good son, nor would he seem to have honoured his mother.’ (St Vincent Ferrer, quoted at www.ewtn.co.uk/article-after-his-resurrection-Jesus-appeared-first-to-mary-his-mother-mary-say-the-saints/)
Other writings point to the merits of Mary’s faith, pointing at moments such as the annunciation (Luke 1:26-38)
Perhaps surprisingly, the strongest modern influence comes from comments by Pope John Paul II who wrote ‘it is legitimate to think that the Mother was probably the first person to whom the risen Jesus appeared.’ (General Audience, Vatican, May 21 1997).
Importance of Mary
Let’s be clear – Mary is one of the most important characters in the Gospels. As protestants, we tend to be a bit reticent to talk about Mary. We rightly admire her readiness to trust God in our advent services, but rarely mention her during the rest of the year. Yet she had a unique position, being there at the very beginning and at the very end of Christ’s life on earth.
Of course, we are uncomfortable because we have been warned against the ‘worship’ of Mary, mother of Christ, but in reality, in most Catholic traditions at least, Mary is venerated rather than worshipped. I’m not going to go into that too much here, but there is a huge difference.
Whilst I think that, from a protestant perspective, the veneration of Mary sometimes looks like worship, it seems to me that in our rush to distance ourselves from idolotary we can overlook the extraordinary importance of Mary and her role in the birth, life and death of Jesus.
Scriptural Context
So, before we get carried away with criticism, we need to remember that Scripture is clear that the resurrection period was 40 days long (Acts 1:3). Yet we have very few scriptural records of the appearances of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15 , the Apostle Paul mentions a time when Christ appeared to more than 500 people at the same time, although this extraordinary incident is not recorded in any of the Gospels (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). The Road to Emmaus is mentioned only in Luke, and the appearance to Thomas is found only in John. So, it is reasonable to question whether the Gospels give us the complete story of the resurrection period?
John reminds us that not everything Jesus ever did is recorded in the Gospels (John 21:25), and it seems to me that this probably applies to his whole time on earth, including the resurrection period. That being the case, it is feasible that Mary did experience the presence of her son in his resurrection, and in human terms it would seem to be unfair if she didn’t. However, as an evangelical, I believe that we need to be constantly careful in our interpretation of Scripture, and particularly mindful of the risks of adding to the story (Deut 4:2; Galatians 1:9).
End Piece
For myself, I believe that we have much to learn from contemplative reflection on the life of Mary, Mother of Christ. From the annunciation, through to her desperate and lonely vigil at the foot of the cross, Mary is a huge (and often overlooked) witness to the whole life of Christ. Yet in common with most biblical character, we know frustratingly little about her. Having said that, if I am to hold to the belief that the Bible is the core of my beliefs, I have to be deeply skeptical of the introduction of any teaching about the life and resurrection of Christ which are not wholly based on Scripture.
We need to be constantly careful in our interpretation of Scripture, and particularly mindful of the risks of adding to it, either literally of by implication (eg Deut 4:2; Galatians 1:9). In doing so we mislead ourselves and others. This responsibility weighs particularly heavily on those who lead or teach. I have no doubt that Christ appeared in his resurrection many times, and to many different people. It would be particularly special if amongst them was his mother, Mary. The Bible doesn’t say that the resurrected Jesus didn’t meet Mary, but importantly, be in no doubt that it doesn’t say that he did.
‘Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.’ Proverbs 30: 5-6.