Jesus's Resurrection
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Last updated
The Resurrection Narratives of the Gospels
We have already seen why the Gospels are so problematic for historians who want to know what really happened. This is especially true for the Gospel accounts of Jesus’s resurrection. Are these the sorts of sources that historians would look for when examining a past event? Even apart from the fact that they were written forty to sixty-five years after the facts, by people who were not there to see these things happen, who were living in different parts of the world, at different times, and speaking different languages — apart from all this, they are filled with discrepancies, some of which cannot be reconciled. In fact, the Gospels disagree on nearly every detail in their resurrection narratives.
These narratives are found in Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 20-21. Read through the accounts and ask yourself some basic questions: Who was the first person to go to the tomb? Was it Mary Magdalene by herself (John)? or Mary along with another Mary (Matthew)? or Mary along with another Mary and Salome (Mark)? or Mary, Mary, Joanna, and a number of other women (Luke)? Was the stone already rolled away when they arrived at the tomb (Mark, Luke, and John), or explicidy not (Matthew)? Whom did they see there? An angel (Matthew), a man (Mark), or two men (Luke)? Did they immediately go and tell some of the disciples what they had seen (John), or not (Matthew, Mark, and Luke)? What did the person or people at the tomb tell the women to do? To tell the disciples that Jesus would meet them in Galilee (Matthew and Mark)? Or to remember what Jesus had told them earlier when he had been in Galilee (Luke)? Did the women then go tell the disciples what they were told to tell them (Matthew and Luke), or not (Mark)? Did the disciples see Jesus (Matthew, Luke, and John), or not (Mark)? 1 Where did they see him? — only in Galilee (Matthew), or only in Jerusalem (Luke)?
Event/Detail
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Women visit the tomb
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary ()
Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome ()
Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and others ()
Mary Magdalene ()
Time of visit
At dawn ()
Very early, just after sunrise ()
Very early in the morning ()
Early, while it was still dark ()
Stone rolled away
Earthquake and stone rolled away by an angel ()
Yes, already rolled away ()
Yes, already rolled away ()
Yes, already rolled away ()
Entity in Tomb
One angel ()
One young man ()
Two men in dazzling clothes ()
Two angels later ()
Message to the women
Jesus is risen, tell the disciples to go to Galilee ()
Jesus is risen, tell Peter and disciples ()
Jesus is risen, remember his words ()
Jesus is risen ()
Women's reaction
Afraid yet joyful, ran to tell the disciples ()
Trembling and bewildered, said nothing to anyone because they were afraid ()
Told the apostles, who did not believe them ()
Ran to tell Peter and the other disciple ()
First appearance of Jesus
To Mary Magdalene and the other Mary ()
To Mary Magdalene (, longer ending)
To two disciples on the road to Emmaus ()
To Mary Magdalene ()
Instructions from Jesus
Tell my brothers to go to Galilee ()
No specific instructions in the shorter ending (); In the longer ending, preach to the world ()
Stay in Jerusalem until you are clothed with power ()
Do not hold on to me; go to my brothers ()
Report to disciples
Women told the disciples ()
Women did not tell anyone initially (16:8); In the longer ending, Mary Magdalene told the disciples ()
Women told the apostles, who did not believe ()
Mary told the disciples ()
Appearance to disciples
On a mountain in Galilee ()
Appears to the eleven as they were eating (, longer ending)
In Jerusalem, to the Eleven and others ()
In Jerusalem, to the disciples without Thomas, then with Thomas ()
Great Commission
Yes, make disciples of all nations ()
Yes, go into all the world and preach the gospel, speak in tongues, handle snakes, and drink poison(, longer ending)
Yes, repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached ()
Implied in Jesus' conversations and later in
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.