The Resurrection story
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Have you ever told people stories about your life. Maybe something that happened that was a big turning point for you. All of you who believe should have a testimony about how Jesus Saved you. Did you always tell the story the same way? Maybe there was something else big in your life that has great meaning. Here’s an example
Here is four versions of a testimony that I have. Four versions of how I met Amy!
We met in Korea.
We met one day when I went over to the animal health clinic.
We met at a party to welcome incoming soldiers and to say goodbye to outgoing soldiers.
We met because God brought us together at that time and in that place for His glory.
None of you know how we met other than by what we happen to have told you. You can’t say one or the other is wrong because none of them is wrong. They aren’t contradictory either, they just come from a different point of view and they actually compliment each other. You see we met in Korea and the animal clinic where she was newly assigned during a party for incoming and outgoing soldiers because God brought us together at that place and in that time. Each is a piece of the whole story, together they make a fuller picture of our beginning.
Transitional Sentence: So, I have given you four different versions of the same story, so now let’s take a look at four different versions of another story. This is the resurrection story as told by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
We’ll take a look at all four stories at the same time and see what’s the same and what’s different. The headings I’m using are the same as what is in the “Harmony of the Gospels.” I am going to focus on the version presented by Mark and compare it to the others. I’m going to begin at the end of the crucifixion story.
This section is titled:
The tomb watched by the women and guarded by the soldiers.
This section is:
47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were looking on to see where He was laid.
Matthew 27:61-66
Luke 23:55-56
John has no information here.
Jesus’ body has been taken down from the cross and is being placed in the tomb that belongs to Joseph of Arimathea. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses are watching to see where He is being laid. There is no time for them to properly prepare the body for burial so they will need to come back after the Sabbath is over.
Matthew and Luke also tell what is going on at this point. Matthew says that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary are watching where He is laid. This other Mary is Mary the mother of Joses, or Mary the mother of Joseph or Mary the mother of James or Mary the wife of Cleopas. It all depends on who is telling the story. But Matthew also adds dialogue about what is happening with the Chief priests and Pharisees and their request for Pilate to have the tomb secured and guarded to prevent the disciples from stealing the body. He ends this section with the guards doing their best to make the tomb secure. Luke’s version tells us about the women who were watching where the body was laid and that they went home to prepare spices for preparing Jesus’ body after the sabbath day.
Similarities - there are a couple women watching to see where Jesus’ body is laid. Differences - details about what is next, preparing the body for burial and the Chief Priests fear that His body will be stolen so it needs to be guarded.
The next section is:
The tomb visited by the women.
This section has a single verse from Mark and a single verse from Matthew.
a. Matthew 28:1
b. Mark 16:1
1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him.
c. Luke - Does not have a comparable section.
d. John - Does not have a comparable section.
The resurrection story begins with some of the women who are followers of Jesus. Here Mark says that Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother of James and Salome are bringing spices to anoint Jesus’ body. Matthew says Mary Magdalene and the other Mary are coming to see the tomb. both provide some more information about who, what and when this episode is taking place. Luke and John say nothing comparable to these two verses.
Who is going to the tomb? Mark says that Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother of James are present just as they were in the last verse, however they are accompanied by Salome the mother of the Apostles James and John. However, Matthew says that only Mary Magdalene and the other Mary are present. Mary Magdalene is the disciple who Jesus drove 7 demons out of and the other Mary is Mary the mother of Joses, James and the wife of Clopas who is the sister of Mary the mother of Jesus. That means there are two or three women heading to the tomb. Which brings us to the when of these two verses.
When: Mark says: When the Sabbath was over. And Matthew says: After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week. That’s pretty specific. But Mark’s version is a bit vague. So what do they mean when they both say the Sabbath? You probably know that the Sabbath is the seventh day. Genesis 2:2-3
2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
But do you know what the time frame was for the Sabbath? The Sabbath was observed beginning at sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday. So when the Sabbath began it would have been around 7:30 pm Friday evening and it would have ended around 7:30 pm Saturday evening. This is what makes Mark’s version vague. Did they go Saturday night after sundown or Sunday morning at dawn like Matthew said? Or should we interpret this as after the Sabbath because culturally these three women wouldn’t have gone out immediately after the Sabbath was over. They would staid inside during the late hours of the night.
And then there is the why of their trip. Mark says they bought spices along to anoint Jesus’ body. Matthew on the other hand says they are just going to look at the tomb. That is quite a difference. One story is just a walk ending at the tomb with no need to get inside. However in order to anoint the body they must get inside. Remember, there are Roman guards guarding this tomb, a seal to secure it and a huge stone blocking it. What are they to do?
So here we have a slight difference in language about the time of day, who is present and the intended purpose for the visit. Nothing really serious - yet.
So what do you think? Are these first few verses contradictory or complimentary?
Alright - the next section is:
2. The stone rolled away!
a. Matthew 28:2-4
2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.
3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.
4 The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.
b. Mark - Does not have a comparable section here.
c. Nor does Luke or
d. John
So here we have 3 verses presented by Matthew which provide information concerning the large stone that sealed the tomb. Information the other three gospel writers don’t have in their accounts. Matthew begins with how it was moved. An earthquake and an angel of the Lord. He did it. The Angel moved the stone and then he showed that moving it was nothing by sitting on it as if it was just another chair. Matthew goes on to describe the appearance of the Angel just to make sure we know that it really was an Angel. Next, he tells us what happened to the Roman guards that were tasked to secure the tomb. Oops - dead men can’t protect anything.
So why is Matthew the only one of the three to tell about how the stone was rolled away? Is it significant or will the others fill in the gap later?
The next section tells us how:
3. The tomb is found to be empty by the women. This section is the first to have information from all four gospels and is the point where John begins his resurrection story.
a. Matthew 28:5-8
b. Mark 16:2-8
2 Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.
3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”
4 Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.
5 Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed.
6 And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.
7 “But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’ ”
8 They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
c. Luke 24:1-8
d. John 20:1
Each of these versions points to when the scene is taking place, who is present, and what is going on. There are similarities in all of them but none are the same.
As for the time of day: Mark provides more information from the previous verses. After having said when the Sabbath was over in the last verse. He now clarifies the time by saying very early and just after sunrise they were on their way. Matthew says it is at dawn on the first day, it carries over from the previous verses. Luke says on the first day very early in the morning and John says early on the first day of the week. Their wording here is slightly different but they all agree that they were visiting the tomb early, around sunrise, on the first day of the week which is Sunday. Their point of view makes all the difference. One could be speaking about leaving the house as they begin their trip, one could be mentioning the middle point of the trip and another just as they reach the tomb. In other words they are all correct from their point of view. The important part is that none of them contradict the others. No one said on the second day nice and early the women went to the tomb. That would definitely be different and contradictory.
As for who is present during this section Mark, Matthew and Luke all use the plural noun of women or the pronoun they? Because all three are referring back to previous verses that tell us which women are present. The only difference here is John’s account because he is beginning his story at this point. So he actually names Mary Magdalene as the one woman present at the tomb at this time. The interesting thing about this point of the story is that the women are not alone. We’ll come back to that in a moment.
So as these woman are walking along and coming to the end of their journey what do they see? Well in Mark, Luke and John they saw that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance to the tomb. This is good because at least in Mark’s version they were wondering who would do it for them. The big difference here is Matthew’s account. He provides no information about the tomb, because he provided a detailed description of what happened in his previous three verses. Matthew told us how the tomb was opened, an earthquake and angels.
Which brings us back to the fact that the women are not alone at the tomb. There was an angel, or angels depending upon which story you read. Mark says there was one angel sitting inside the tomb on the right hand side. Matthew says the angel was sitting on the stone on the outside of the tomb. Luke says there were two angels standing beside them on the outside of the tomb. And John, well John said nothing about angels. One thing the three do have in common about the angels is that they speak to the ladies. The ladies are startled by the absence of His body and the angels reassure them that Jesus is alive just like He said He would be. Matthew says it this way.
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.
6 “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.
7 “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”
So, the women have found the open tomb, looked inside the tomb and didn’t find Jesus’ body and have talked to angels about these things. That’s a very exciting morning. Now what? Well, according to Mark the women left the tomb trembling and fled. What? The angel just told them to go tell the disciples and Peter what they had seen and were told. Matthew’s account is better, they hurried away, afraid yet filled with joy. Then they went and told the disciples. At this point Luke and John are silent.
In this section there are many differences between the stories. The differences begin with who is really there. Mark reports three witnesses, Matthew reports only two, Luke doesn’t specify by name but uses the plural of women. And John, he reports one, Mary Magdalene. After looking at the next section you will see that Mary Magdalene is the only woman specifically mentioned by name in all four gospels. Other differences in the stories include the number of angels present, their location around the tomb and exactly what the ladies did once they left the tomb.
These differences can create some doubt about what really happened. However, it also strengthens the story. Since they are not all the same the authors did not collaborate with each other to make sure all the details of their report was the same.
This leads us into the final section of the resurrection story.
4. The tomb found to be empty by Peter and John.
This section of the report is present in only two of the reports. Mark and Matthew are silent about this but Luke and John provide testimony about Peter and John visiting the tomb. John’s report has a lot more detail. Luke’s report says:
a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke 24:8-12
8 And they remembered His words,
9 and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
10 Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles.
11 But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them.
12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.
d. John 20:2-10
So here we have this wonderful bit of news being delivered to the disciples. But they don’t believe it. What? But, according to Luke, Peter gets up and runs to the tomb and takes a look. Then he wanders off marveling about it and goes home. But this isn’t the story John gives us. According to John, Mary Magdalene tells Peter and John that the body of their Lord is gone and she doesn’t know where it is. So there is a foot race. Peter and John race each other to the tomb. They both look in and see that Jesus’ body is gone so they both go home. These two stories match up pretty well, except John has personal testimony about what happened. He is the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. He went to the tomb to see about this report given by the women.
What happens next is reported in 11 of the next 12 sections. These are the random reports of appearances that Jesus made to His disciples. Each of the four gospels reports different appearances to different groups with some of them being reported by more than one gospel. The first of these reports is made by Mark and John and it is:
5. The Appearance to Mary Magdalene
a. Matthew
b. Mark 16:9-11
9 Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons.
10 She went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping.
11 When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it.
c. Luke
d. John 20:11-18
These two reports are pretty similar. The biggest difference is John’s version has a lot more detail than Mark’s. Mark only reported that Mary saw Him and what she did afterwards, he didn’t report any of the dialogue between Jesus and Mary the way John did. But one thing with this report. Mary reports that she has seen Him. In the previous section John reported that Mary told the disciples that the tomb was empty. This is her second time telling the disciples something about Jesus and they don’t believe her. Is this a we don’t believe women thing or is Mary Magdalene untrustworthy?
So, what do you think happened?
Exit: There’s the easy answer, Jesus rose from the dead, angels at the empty tomb told some women about it, they told the disciples about it, a couple of them went to see for themselves and then lots of other people saw Jesus alive. Hallelujah - He is risen! The easy answer comes through simple faith. The gospels were written by four different authors who didn’t corroborate their stories and they were meant to be read individually. They weren’t written to be put together like this.
However, we have all four gospels and there are a lot of people who have to try to prove or disprove everything so the gospels have been put together to make a stronger picture of what happened.
So how can all of these different stories be true? Well as it says the ladies were on their way to the tomb on Sunday morning. It’s early, the sun is rising, either at the beginning of their journey or as they near the tomb. There are an assortment of women. Not all of them are named in the beginning and not all are named at the end. The lack of details could mean that there is not just one group of women. There may have been two or even three groups of women traveling at different times from different directions. This could also account for the differences at the end of the story. Mark said that the ladies told no one about what they had seen because they were afraid. But Matthew and Luke said the women went and told the disciples about it. Maybe the woman who told Mark about the story went home in fear but the others delivered the message. Maybe the message was delivered by different women at different times.
John’s version of the story is obviously Mary Magdalene’s story, she is the only woman mentioned, even though the others say that Mary Magdalene was with other women. John’s account sounds like Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb with the other women, found it empty and she ran back to tell the disciples. She didn’t wait for the angel’s speech, she didn’t wait for an explanation and didn’t even think about the angels. After telling the disciples about the tomb she turned around and headed back to the tomb behind Peter and John. That is why she was the first to see Jesus alive. She was still there alone when Peter and John left. That is when He appeared to her and that is why she made a second trip back to the disciples to tell them that He is alive and that she had seen Him.
Here’s a side note: the tomb was and still is a point of interest for Christians. Believers have been visiting the site ever since that day. The tomb is located within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City.
And what about the angels? Why aren’t the numbers the same? Well once again - different witnesses and moving angels. But why a difference in number? You’d think they would all say two angels. Well they all may have seen two angels but only mentioned the one they talked to. Have you ever done that? Your standing in a group of 5 or 6 people but you only mention the one you talked with when you tell someone else about the conversation. So there was an angel who told them about Jesus being alive - even though there were actually two of them.
The difference in details can be explained by the difference in witnesses. They saw things from a different point of view or each witness chose different details to point out during their telling of the story.
Another possibility is the amount of time that had passed between witnessing the event and actually telling one of the authors about it. Details fade in our minds unless they are repeated regularly.
When you boil it all down it doesn’t matter how many women or angels were there, it doesn’t matter exactly what time they were there or whether or not they went to deliver the message to the disciples. What matters is that the tomb was open and it was empty.
Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!
So, even though all four gospels a different they each present the same truth. He has risen!
Pray:
