Women in Matthew

We are the midst of Matthew 26 on Sunday mornings, and I am once again struck how the Bible (Matthew at least) elevates women.  I grow tired of hearing contemporary culture (and sadly some religious scholars) claim that Scripture is archaic in its view of women.  Some claim that the Bible actually demeans and restricts women, but nothing further could be true.
Consider the first individual Matthew mentions as a messenger of the Incarnation-Mary, the mother of Jesus (Matthew 1:18).  Who were the first messengers of the Resurrection? Three women.  And in Matthew 26:6-12, who was it in Jesus final week who becomes a worshipper of the Crucifixion?  Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus.
As a complimentarian, I see how Jesus uses women in unique ways paradoxically in features that my egalitarian friends limit women’s roles all the while accusing us complimentarians of doing.