“And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.”
And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
Matt. 28:1–8
MARK
And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
And they said among themselves, “Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?”
And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
And he saith unto them, “Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
“But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.”
And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.
Mark 16:1–8
LUKE
Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, “Why seek ye the living among the dead?
“He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
“Saying, ‘the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ”
And they remembered his words,
And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.
It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the Apostles,
but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down he saw the linen clothes lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself what had happened.
That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.
While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.
But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
And he said to them, “What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad.
Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him.
“But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since this happened.
“Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.
“Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see.”
Luke 24:1–24
JOHN
The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.”
Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.
So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.
And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.
Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.
Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.
For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb;
and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.
They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where me you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
John 20:1–15
My analysis revealed that these four versions were intended to be read as a single story. This combined story is divided into two halves. One half consists of the visits to the tomb described in the Gospel of John. The other consists of the visits to the tomb described in the other three Gospels. In the combined story, the individuals described in the Gospel of John meet the individuals described in the other three Gospels and, in their emotional state, the different groups mistake one another for angels. This comedy of errors causes the visitors to the empty tomb to mistakenly believe that their Messiah has risen from the dead.
To see how the four versions combine into one continuous story, it is first necessary to recognize that the New Testament places the contradictory versions in one temporal stream of events, and that each version enters this shared stream of events at a different point.
The sun’s position in the sky places each version of the story in sequential order. John’s version begins earliest and the events progress through Matthew, Mark, and finally Luke.
This can be determined as follows:
In John, the first visit occurs while it is “still dark.”
In Matthew, the first visit occurs while the sun “is rising.” The author specifically uses the present tense.
Luke and Mark use the Greek words proi108 and bathus.109 Both mean “early in the morning”; however, in Mark, the superlative lian,110 meaning “extremely” or “beyond measure,” is used in conjunction with proi. Notice below that in Mark the sun has indeed risen when the visit occurs, thus creating the awkward expression “the very earliest moment in the morning after the sun had risen.” Thus, Mark’s version begins after Matthew’s but before Luke’s.
Below are the related passages in the original Greek with their English translations.
John 20:1 | th de {But on the} mia {first [day]} twn {of the} sabbatwn {week} maria {Mary} h {the} magdalhnh {Magdalene} ercetai {comes} prwi {early} skotiaV {dark} eti {still} oushV {it being} eiV {t
o} to {the} mnhmeion {tomb} kai {and} blepei {sees} ton {the} liqon {stone} hrmenon {taken away} ek {from} tou {the} mnhmeiou {tomb}.
Matthew 28:1 | oye de {Now late} sabbatwn th {on sabbath,} epifwskoush {as the sun was dawning}
Mark 16:2 | kai {and} lian {extremely} prwi {early in the morning} thV {on the} miaV {first day} sabbatwn {of the week} ercontai {they come} epi {to} to {the} mnhmeion {tomb,} anateilantoV {having risen} tou {the} hliou {sun}.
Luke 24:1 | th de {But on the} mia {first [day]} twn {of the} sabbatwn orqrou {week} baqeoV {early in the morning} hlqon {they came} epi {to} to {the} mnhma {tomb}.
The relative position of the sun indicates that the four visits do not occur simultaneously, but rather within a sequence on the same day and within moments of one another. The first visit is the one given in John because Mary Magdalene visits Jesus’ tomb in the dark, while the other three visits occur either during or after sunrise.
The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher.
John 20:1
The fact that Mary Magdalene is described as being in the dark not only establishes that this is the beginning of the combined story, it is also the start of the lampoon. In the dark, Mary sees a tomb that has had its stone moved away. Of course, in the dark it is easy to make a mistake about whose tomb it is, especially if there is another tomb close by that also has had its stone rolled away. In fact, the Gospel of John describes just such a tomb. The tomb of Lazarus.
Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb; it was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
John 11:38–39
It is important to note that in the New Testament, Lazarus’ “resurrection” occurs in the same week as Jesus’ burial and in the same general location. Bethany, the village where Lazarus lived, was located just outside Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives. The New Testament also states that Lazarus left behind burial clothes and a soudarion, a funeral cloth used to cover the face of the corpse, exactly like those found in the tomb of Jesus.
The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped with a cloth [soudarion]. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
John 11:44
I believe that these facts, though they have no theological significance, are included in the New Testament to allow the alert reader to understand that the tomb of Lazarus has had its stone removed, is adjacent to Jesus’ tomb, is empty at the time that Jesus is entombed, and has the same burial clothes inside it as those discovered in Jesus’ tomb. In other words, the details indicate that Lazarus’ tomb is a parallel of Jesus’ tomb.
Continuing with the version of the visit to the tomb in the Gospel of John, Mary Magdalene then informs “Simon Peter” and “the other disciple, whom Jesus loved,” meaning the Apostle John, that Jesus’ tomb has had its stone removed. However, notice below that it is not “Simon Peter” but “Peter” and the “other disciple” who are then described as running to the tomb. The other “disciple” arrives first but does not enter the tomb.
Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.”
Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.
So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.
John 20:2–4
So the author, by including the odd details of the race between Peter and the other disciple, creates a moment when there is one individual on the outside of the tomb because, for some reason, after beating Peter to the tomb, the other disciple does not enter it but only looks in. However, notice that he does inspect the inside of the tomb, so he is aware while still on the outside of the tomb that Jesus has “risen.”
And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.
John 20:5
The author of John now points out that there is a period of time during which one person, “Simon Peter,” is alone in the tomb because the other disciple chooses to wait outside.
Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.
John 20:6–7
At this point, not “Peter” but “Simon Peter” arrives and is the first person to actually enter the tomb and, once inside, sees “the linen clothes lying” and the soudarion.111 Notice that the reader’s attention is drawn to the linen clothes and the soudarion, on three consecutive lines. The soudarion was a funeral cloth used by Romans – not by Jews.
Next the author provides another strange detail, that the other disciple eventually does enter, creating a moment when the two men are alone in the tomb.
Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed …
John 20:8
At this point Simon Peter and John return home.
Then the disciples went away again unto their own home
John 20:10
Thus, in the Gospel of John, the sequence of events when Simon Peter and John visit the empty tomb is:
First, one individual on the outside of the tomb.
Second, one individual on the inside of the tomb.
Third, two individuals inside the tomb.
Using the time line established by the relative position of the sun, the sequence of events, the number and location of the “angels” who are inside or outside the tomb, and who greet the visitors in Matthew, Mark, and Luke is as follows:
First, one individual on the outside of the tomb. (Matthew)
Second, one individual on the inside of the tomb. (Mark)
Third, two individuals inside the tomb. (Luke)
Obviously, the sequence of events in John is the same as the sequence of the encounters with “angels” in the other three Gospels. The timeline, shown by the relative position of the sun, places “Simon Peter” and the other disciple at the exact time and location, and in the same number, as the first three encounters with the “angels” described in the other Gospels.
However, there is yet another encounter with “angels” described in the New Testament. In the Gospel of John after Simon Peter and John return home, a character named “Mary” is described as standing outside the tomb weeping. She stoops down and sees two “angels” inside the tomb. She then turns and encounters Jesus on the outside of the tomb.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb;
and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.
They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing.
John 20:11–14
If, as I am suggesting, Simon Peter and John are the “angels” that Jesus’ followers encounter in the visits to the tomb described in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, then who are the angels that Mary encounters in the passage above? The Gospel of Luke records that certain men “went to the tomb” after having been told by “some women of our company” that Jesus’ tomb was empty and that they saw “angels.”
“Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning
“and did not find his body; and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.
“Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see.”
Luke 24:22–24
The author of Luke, for some r
eason, includes the detail that the men who go to the tomb do so only after a visit by women who had seen angels. Notice the use of the plural. Only in the final visit to the tomb, in Luke, does the group encounter more than one angel. Therefore, the visit to the tomb described in Luke could occur only after Simon Peter and John, the “angels” that the first three groups encounter, have returned home. This sequence of events ties in perfectly with the details described in the Gospel of Luke.
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