Mary Magdalene was the first person to see the risen Christ. It could have been Peter,  John, Nicodemus, Joseph, the Jerusalem Tribune, Pilate or anyone else. It was Mary whom God chose. What an incredible privilege, and it is easy to see from what is written there that she loved the master. She was thankful and caring. Her visits to the grave exhibited how she felt. If one very carefully follows the sequence of events integrating the four gospels, it was on her third and fourth visits to the grave that the greatest event in all history was revealed to her, that Jesus Christ was alive!

On Wednesday at dusk Mary and the other Mary (Matthew 27:61) saw Joseph of Arimathaea put Jesus' body in the sepulchre. They observed he had not done the ceremonial anointing (Joseph actually believed that Jesus' death was temporary) These women did not see Nicodemus actually do the ceremonial burying later, so it was in their minds that Jesus had not been properly taken care of. Thursday was a high holy day, a special sabbath, so they did nothing that day.  On Friday they bought and prepared spices for burial anointing. The next day was Saturday and it was the weekly sabbath and they rested that day until the end of the sabbath Saturday evening. (Hebrew days ended and started at sunset) On Mary's second visit to the sepulchre with the women carrying the ointments and the spices, they saw a guarded grave with a big stone rolled over the opening. The authorities were concerned that something might happen to the body and the tomb was heavily guarded.  They went home with their spices and ointments because they couldn't get into the sepulchre. This is the background before Mary's spectacular third visit to the tomb later, when it was dark (Sunday). 

On her third visit Mary went back alone (can you imagine what was in her mind?). The stone was rolled away and the body was gone! She then ran back to tell Peter. Peter and another disciple went to the grave (Mary followed - her 4th trip) Peter assessed the situation (stone rolled away, no body) and went home. Mary stayed and looked in and saw two angels and then turned around and saw Jesus  and he made himself known to her.  So Mary was the first to see evidence that Jesus had gotten up from the dead and the first to actually see him and talk to him.

Mark 16:9-11: 9Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. 10And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.

Peter had just been there along with the other disciple (whom Jesus loved), but it was Mary that first saw the risen Christ. Jesus Christ ministered to her heart. That was his first recorded act in his risen body to a human being.