Question
Who first saw the risen Christ?
Answer
There is no question, theologically speaking, that the Mother of God must have been the first to see our Lord, God, and Saviour, Jesus Christ after He rose from the dead.
And knowing this, St. Gregory Palamas (1296 - 1359) wrote what is now Homily XVIII in his corpus addressing this question in an explicit and concise manner. This sermon, entitled, “On the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers” has as its subtitle the phrase, “In which it is said that the Mother of God was the first to see the Lord after he rose from the dead”.
As I point out in Note 268 of my edition of Saint Gregory Palamas: The Homilies, “St. Gregory’s thesis turns largely on the identification of the Mother of God with Mary the mother of James and Joses.”
I also say that “Others, however, would identify Mary the mother of James and Joses with Mary the wife of Cleophas (see John 19:25)”.
Nevertheless, from an Orthodox theological and spiritual perspective, there can be no doubt that the Mother of God was first to see Christ and know the joy of the Lord’s glorious Resurrection.
Homily XVIII may also be found in Mary the Mother of God, in print, eBook (Amazon Kindle, Google Play, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, and Rakuten Kobo), and audiobook formats.
DrCNV