What happened on Easter Sunday?
The gospels all agree that something happened on Easter Sunday, but seem to disagree over the finer details. Can these differences be reconciled? And what did happen at Jesus’ tomb?
All four gospel accounts agree on a number of basic points about what happened on Easter Sunday:
• Women visited the tomb and found it to be empty
• Jesus appeared first to the women (or a woman) and commissioned her/them to tell Peter and the other apostles
• Mary Magdalene is present in each account
• They all mention that the tomb had previously been sealed with a stone
However, there are a number of points at which the gospel accounts appear to disagree. For example:
• The number and identity of the women
• The precise time that they visited the tomb
• The purpose of their visit
• What happened to the stone
• The appearance of the messenger(s) and whether he/they were angelic or human
• The message they gave to the women
• The women’s response
By looking at the accounts side by side, it is possible to reconcile these differences and to compile a harmonised record of the events of Easter Sunday.
The number and identity of the women
Matthew 28:1 - Mary Magdalene, Mary
Mark 16:1 - Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James, Salome
Luke 24:10 - Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, others
John 20:1 - Mary Magdalene
These accounts are not contradictory but complimentary, as none of them claims to give an exhaustive list of the visitors.
Imagine I went to watch the football with my brother and two friends. The next day, if I were asked by a selection of people how I spent my evening (some of whom know my brother, but not my friends, and others of whom know only me), I might legitimately reply in any number of ways: (1) I watched the football; (2) I watched the football with my brother; (3) I watched the football with some mates; (4) I watched the football with my brother, Andy, and Martin. At no point have I contradicted myself. I have merely given fuller or shorter versions of the same story.
In fact, as we shall see, the discrepancies surrounding the number and identity of the women are easier to harmonise if we suppose that there were two groups of women visiting the tomb, intending to meet each other there.
The timing of their visit
Matthew 28:1 - Toward the dawn
Mark 16:2 - Very early, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb
Luke 24:1 - At early dawn they went to the tomb
John 20:1 - Early, while it was still dark
Was it dark or had the sun risen? There really is no contradiction here, because there is a natural crossover point where the sun is rising yet some darkness remains. What’s more it is conceivable that the women may well have set out while it was still dark (John 20:1) but arrived once the sun had fully risen (Mark 16:2).
The purpose of their visit
Matthew 28:1 - To see the tomb
Mark 16:1 - To anoint the body with spices
Luke 23:56 - To anoint the body with spices
John 20:1 - For no particular reason
Once again, there really is no discrepancy, for none of the accounts make statements that exclude the others. The fact that John lists no particular purpose doesn’t mean that there was none. It was most likely assumed, and therefore left unstated, that their reason for visiting was to anoint the body.
The stone
Matthew 28:1-6 - They saw an angel roll it away
Mark 16:4 - Had been rolled back
Luke 24:2 - Had been rolled away
John 20:1 - Had been taken away
The major contradiction seems to be between Matthew and the other three accounts. Matthew writes:
‘Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.” (Matthew 28:1-6)
Matthew’s account never states that the women actually saw the angel remove the stone. Verse 1 tells us that they set out on their journey, and then Matthew cuts to the earthquake and appearance of the angel to the guards, which presumably happened whilst the women were still travelling. By the time they had arrived, the angel had, according to Mark 16:5, moved inside the tomb. Thus once again, there is no contradiction.
The messengers, their message and women’s reaction
Matthew 28:5 - One angel
Mark 16:5 - One young man
Luke 24:4 - Two men in dazzling apparel
John 20:12 - Two angels
We can safely assume that the angel of Matthew 28 and the young man of Mark 16 are one and the same. The discrepancies about the numbers, message and reactions are best cleared up if we assume there were two groups of women.
‘Mary Magdalene and her group probably set out from the house of John Mark, where the Last Supper had been held. Joanna and some other unnamed women, on the other hand, probably set out from Herod's residence, in a different part of the city. Joanna was the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household (Luke 8:3) and it is therefore highly probable that she and her companions set out from the royal residence.’ (Jay Smith, 101 Cleared-Up Contradictions in the Bible)
With this in mind we are in a position to create a harmony of the four accounts, which may look like this:
Two groups of women set out to the tomb. In one group was Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James and Salome (Mark 16:1), and in the other Joanna and her companions. (Luke 24:10 doesn’t tell us that Joanna was in the group with Mary Magdalene; merely that they all told the apostles the story. In fact, if Smith’s construction above is correct then it is likely they were in separate groups.)
Whilst they were journeying to the tomb, one angel dazzled the guards and moved the stone (Matthew 28:2-4). He then sat inside the tomb (Mark 16:5). When Mary Magdalene’s group arrived first, Mary saw that the tomb was empty and so returned to tell Simon Peter (John 20:1-2). At this point the other Mary and Salome looked inside and met the angel (Mark 16:5) who explained to them what had happened.
Mary the mother of James and Salome then ran off ‘with fear and great joy’ (Matthew 28:8) to tell the disciples. However it appears that fear got the better of them and they were too terrified to tell anyone (Mark 16:8).
When the second group arrived at the tomb the first angel who had removed the stone had left and now two angels greeted them, told them the news and sent them to the disciples (Luke 24:3-8).
Mary Magdalene, Peter and John ran back to the tomb (John 20:3-9) and then when they found it empty, the disciples returned home, leaving Mary Magdalene weeping outside. At this point she spotted two angels inside the tomb (John 20:10-11), before turning to see Jesus himself (his first resurrection appearance according to Mark 16:9). She failed to recognise him and mistook him for a gardener, but once she realised who he was she went back to the disciples, this time not only declaring that the tomb was empty, but that she had actually seen Jesus alive (John 20:14-18).
During this time, Mary Magdalene’s original group of women were cowering in fear and too terrified to tell anyone (Mark 16:8) until Jesus met them personally, told them not to fear, and sent them again to the apostles (Matthew 28:9-10). This time they went (Luke 24:10).
Conclusion
Whilst, on the face of it, there appear to be a number of discrepancies between the gospel accounts, when thought about in a clear and unbiased way, none prove to be insurmountable, and can in fact be reconciled. When read alongside each other the gospels provide a coherent and compelling picture of the events of Easter Sunday.
Liam Thatcher
