15
Two Witnesses to Jesus and Christ
Among the examples we find in the Bible of who can take us into deeper
knowing of both Jesus and Christ, two witnesses stand out: Mary Magdalene,
who fully knew Jesus in his humanity and was also the first to see him as the
Risen Christ; and Paul, who never knew Jesus in his humanity and almost
entirely speaks of Christ. He then becomes the most eloquent witness of this
version of Jesus through his many letters. This is the same experience available
to all of us, the always-present Christ more than the time-bound Jesus, so Paul is
a perfect writer for the New Testament and for all later history.
Magdalene loved a very concrete Jesus who led her to a ubiquitous and Risen
Christ. Paul started with a Universal Christ and grounded it all in a quite
homely and lovable Jesus, who was rejected, crucified, and resurrected.
Working together, Magdalene and Paul guide and direct the Christian
experience in truly helpful ways toward both Jesus and Christ, but from
opposite sides.