Resurrection Story
Introduction
You may be aware of the Centurion story in Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10. The events and meaning are near identical, though there is a glaring difference: in Matthew the centurion personally speaks to Jesus, but in Luke he sends Jewish elders and friends. Do we need to make the two stories work together? How? In my mind this highlights what the Bible is: a retelling of events from witnesses and various sources, inspired by God. In which case, we were meant to see the differences! Perhaps they add to the authenticity of the medium.
The multiple Resurrection Stories can be confusing at times. I'd like to try to combine all four stories into one cohesive event. Hopefully you can follow along with the below chart, though I believe the original authors may have condensed a lot of the stories already.
| Event | Matthew 28 | Mark 16 | Luke 24 | John 20 | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who | Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (Matthew 28:1) | Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome (Mark 16:1) | Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; also the other women (Luke 24:10) | Mary Magdalene (John 20:1) | |
| Time | As it began to dawn (Matthew 28:1) | Very early, when the sun had risen (Mark 16:2) | Early dawn (Luke 24:1) | While it was still dark (John 20:1) | Mary arrives when it is dark, she returns to tell others. Only John reports this and has Mary arriving earlier than the others |
| Earthquake | A severe earthquake, angel descends and rolls away the stone (Matthew 28:2-4) | Only Matthew reports this | |||
| Peter and John | Mary tells Peter and John who visit the grave and then leave (John 20:2-10) | ||||
| Angel Speaks | Angel says not to be afraid (Matthew 28:5-7) | Young man says He is not here (Mark 16:5-7) | Two gleaming men say He is not here (Luke 24:4-7) | I believe the angel speaking in Matthew 28:5 is the angel inside the tomb, not the one sitting on the rock outside (who had left by the time the women got there). Note John has Mary weeping outside while the others enter | |
| Angel Speaks | Mary weeping, enters tomb, hears Angels (John 20:11-13) | ||||
| Jesus Visits Mary | First appeared to Mary (Mark 16:9) | Mary talks to Jesus (John 20:14-16) | The other women had left when Mary entered which is why she was the first to see Him | ||
| Jesus Visits Women | As the women run back, they meet Jesus on the way (Matthew 28:8-10) | Even though Matthew mentions Mary in verse 1, when the women leave here, Mary is still weeping by the tomb. Then she is entering to see Jesus before the other women running back see Him | |||
| Peter Returns | Peter runs to tomb again (Luke 24:12) | I feel this is Peter returning to the tomb a second time, which fits with his character. He had just betrayed Jesus three times and was eager to reconnect with his Savior. You can see this on another day when he jumps from a boat to reach Jesus on the shore in John 21:7 | |||
| Guards Report | The guards report what happened, paid to keep quiet (Matthew 28:11-15) | Only appears in Matthew | |||
| Two On Road See Jesus | Two walking (Mark 16:12) | Two going to village (Luke 24:13-35) | Luke gives the most detailed account of the two on the road walking with Jesus | ||
| Jesus in Jerusalem | Two return to Jerusalem, Jesus suddenly appears (Luke 24:33-37) | Doors were shut, Jesus appears (John 20:19-21) | |||
| Thomas Believes | He appeared to the eleven (Mark 16:14) | Jesus tells Thomas to place his finger on His hands and side (John 20:26-31) | This happens eight days later | ||
| Galilee Mountain | Jesus gives the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) | Notice some disciples were still doubtful. This was even after the times Jesus had visited them in Jerusalem | |||
| More Events | Elsewhere in the Bible, the disciples meet Jesus by the sea (John 21), He appears to five hundred (1 Corinthians 15:4-8), etc. (John 20:30) | ||||
| Ascension at Bethany | Sat down at right hand (Mark 16:19) | Carried up to heaven (Luke 24:50-51) | This is also reported in Acts 1:9-11 |
Difficult Passages
Right now it is Christmas, and I just read about Mary, how she was told she would give birth to the Savior. At first Mary questions how that is possible, and the angel explains to her. Then her response is "may it be done to me according to Your Word" (Luke 1:38). When we believe in Christ, we have faith that when we die we will be given eternal life. It is out of our hands and we put trust in God that "it will be done to us according to His Word"; that "we will be saved" by "confessing Jesus as Lord" (Romans 10:9).
For the last few months I have been hanging out in chat rooms where people debate God. Many times people have gotten "lost in the weeds" picking apart verses in the Bible. I resolutely feel it is good to ask questions about God, just like Mary. I teach Sunday School and I want the kids to ask me any questions they can come up with. But there is a point where you have to believe the answers you are getting.
So for the above four chapters on the Resurrection, I do not see how the angel sitting on the stone in Matthew would also be talking to the women inside the tomb. And when Mary arrives in John's book, the stone had already been rolled away. I also don't see how the men on the road could return to "the eleven" in Mark to report what they saw and have Jesus appear in the midst of them, and yet Thomas learns of His return eight days later in John's chapter. I feel Matthew condensed the narrative of the angel on the stone compared to the ones in the tomb, and that Mark condensed the two meetings with Jesus in Jerusalem into one event.
Does this mean we have been misled by the scripture? May it not be! Does it change the meaning of the events? Wouldn't this scripture, that is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16), know it is getting things wrong? I feel the narrative of each chapter is whole, and that they all can still "give [us] the wisdom that leads to salvation" (2 Timothy 3:15). The purpose of each chapter's meaning is present: to convey that Christ had risen. By reading all four chapters we can get a better idea of what happened. (Incidentally, the account of Paul's conversion is told three different times in the scripture: Acts 9, Acts 22, and Acts 26. The last two times is repeated by Paul himself, and there are subtle differences in each. Depending on the purpose of each recount and who the audience is, the author might emphasize different aspects of the story.)
Christ's resurrection is crucial to our salvation (1 Corinthians 15:14), and I am grateful for the details we get of it in these four chapters. "But the fact is, Christ has been raised from the dead", so let us rejoice!