Resurrection Morning

I was reading along this morning in Mark and came across something that I hadn’t thought a lot about before. I’m sure many have harmonized these passages before, but as an exercise I’m going to see where it leads. All this is from my examination of the Gospels in the English Standard Version (ESV).

Clearly it was on the first day of the week, and after the Sabbath (which would be a Sunday morning). Although each of the gospels tell it differently, it appears that it was some of the women who had come with him from Galilee that initially went to the tomb.

So who was there?

Matthew mentions Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” (which is probably a reference to Mary the mother of James).

Mark mentions Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome.

Luke mentions Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna, and “the other women with them”.

John only mentioned Mary Magdalene.

Now when was it more precisely?

Matthew states it was “toward the dawn”, which would indicate that it was still dark, the sun not yet risen.

Mark states that it was “when the sun had risen”.

Luke states that it was “at early dawn”

John states that “it was still dark”

So what happens now?

Matthew says there is a great earthquake, and an angel rolls the stone back and sits on it.

Mark states that by the time they got there, the stone had been rolled back.

Luke also states that “they found the stone rolled away from the tomb”

John also states that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

So who is the first to speak to them, to whom does he speak, and what does he direct them to do?

Matthew states that the angel talks to the assembled women, and tells them to go and tell the disciples, and they will see him in Galilee.

Mark states that “a young man sitting on the right side dressed in a robe” tells the three mentioned to tell the disciples (and Peter) that he is going before them to Galilee.

Luke states two men were standing by them in dazzling apparel, and they simply encourage the women to remember Christ’s words about how he would arise. (although in the disputed verses of Mark 16 (9-20) it mentions that Christ appears first to Mary Magdalene).

John states that there was no one initially there, but later Mary Magdalene is spoken to by two angels, then, mistaking him for a gardener, actually speaks with the risen Lord, who instructs her to tell the disciples.

So did the women do as they were instructed?

Matthew says that they ran to tell his disciples.

Mark says they fled from the tomb and said nothing to anyone (although in verses 9 & 10 of the disputed verses of Mark 16 (9-20) it mentions that Mary Magdalene went and told “those who had been with him”.

Luke says they told everything they heard to the eleven and to all the rest.

John says that Mary Magdalene told all to the disciples.

Since we know that all scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16), and that scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35), then what we have here is a prismatic view of that event as revealed by the Holy Spirit to us through these writers. After all, none of the human writers of the gospels were present at the tomb initially, so they have no idea themselves. At best, it would be what each of them heard from the women present, but it is more likely that this event was reveal in different ways to provide us with a mosaic of the event.

Certainly we know that Mary Magdalene played a prominent role in this event, and that Christ appeared to her and talked with her first….a women who was previously demon possessed, but had been healed. It was early morning around dawn, and probably dark initially. When Mary first saw Christ, the low light probably was part of the reason she failed to recognize Christ, mistaking him for the gardener.

The shaking of the ground as the stone was removed could well have happened just prior to their arrival at the tomb, since Matthew doesn’t actually say the women witnesses the moving of the stone…only that it had been move and there was an earthquake (probably not what we would consider an earthquake (severe and widespread), but ground movement just the same).

We know from the larger biblical record that angels are not always seen by all, at all, or at all times (i.e. Numbers 22:22 The donkey saw the angel at first, and only later in verse 31 does the Lord open Balaam’s eyes to see the angel.), so the number of angels that were visible to the women may have varied.

It is clear that the women (especially Mary Magdalene) went and told the disciples all they had seen. The statement in Mark that they “said nothing to anyone” is probably more of a reference to anyone other than the disciples…at least that is my interpretation of the text.

Perhaps one of the most beautiful pictures of this event in my opinion occurs in John’s gospel though. In fact, if you want to be truly blessed, I would suggest that you navigate to the following link Beth Moore Videos and view the Beth Moore videos (there are three of them) in the Mercy Seat series. Her telling of the story is priceless, and will give you food for thought you might not have considered.

The beauty and power of this one event, provides for everyone who believes in Christ that hope that sets us apart from the rest of mankind. We have our sin debt paid, his righteousness transferred to our account. Our Lord has defeated death and Hell, to reign forever in Heaven and is coming again in power to gather his own to himself, that where he is, there we will be also.

Amen and Amen !!!