The Resurrection

Merging the four gospel accounts of the Resurrection requires some mental effort, but they do fit together without contradiction. Some aspects of the story are brought out in more detail in one gospel than another, (I.e. all four accounts mention Mary as the first woman at the tomb but three of the authors add details regarding the women who came with her), but never do the added details contradict what another gospel author has written. The order of events is as follows...

Mary and a group of women head to the tomb at daybreak on Sunday, wondering how they will roll away the stone.

While in route, an earthquake moves the stone and causes the guards to faint.

An angel tells them to tell the disciples of Jesus' resurrection.

Frightened, they set out to find the disciples and say nothing to anyone along the way.

The disciples are skeptical but Peter and John rush to the tomb and find it empty.

The disciples go home leaving Mary and the other women at the tomb.

Mary sees two angels.

Jesus, initially mistaken for a gardener, appears to Mary with a message for the disciples.

Mary and the women return to the disciples to deliver Jesus' message.

Jesus appears to the women along the way and gives further instructions for the disciples.

Meanwhile, the guards have woken up and realized that they are in big trouble. Their lives are in jeopardy for failing to secure the tomb and they jump at the opportunity to lie to save their own skins. Matthew reports that their story spread widely and was still circulated at the time of his writing. Two problems exist with this explanation. If the disciples had stolen the body to perpetuate the myth that Jesus had risen from the dead, then they would have knowingly based their entire life's work on a lie and been willing to suffer persecution and death in order to preserve that lie. All eleven would have signed on for that? Doubtful. If the Roman government or the Jews had stolen the body, they would surely have produced it when Christianity immediately sprung forth. That would have been the quickest way to bring an end to the movement. If His body was still in the tomb, the government could easily have removed the stone and demonstrated that He had not risen. The only possibility left is that He really did disappear from the grave. Interestingly, less than 10 years after this event, the Emperor Claudius passed a law against grave robbing and tampering with the seal of a grave. This seems strangely indicative of the immense attention that this particular incident of "grave robbing" received.

Tomorrow's reading: Luke 24:13-49, 25:35-43; Mark 16:12-18; Matt. 28:16-20; John 20:19-21:25