Resurrection Chronology/Agreement
Nathan Tonkinson 3/28/13
Repeated detailed runs over the 4 gospels, a few
BlueLetterBible commentaries, a little Greek, and other sources
1) Below are abbreviated versions of the gospel resurrection accounts
2) Then one possible composite account (I imagine that there are several valid possible chronologies to the four stories given in the gospels). I tried to put as much of the detail from all four stories as I could up to the second return from the tomb. After that I'm no so concerned.
3) A list of potential conflicts between the accounts and a short list of comments
Matthew: (Matt 27:47-28:20)
·
Joseph [of Arimathea] wraps and puts Jesus in
his own new tomb which he cut out of rock and rolls the stone closed. Mary
Magdalene and Mary [of James and Joses] witness this. /Jesus’s siblings were
James, Joseph, Simon and Judas, so this Mary is not Mary mother of Jesus/
·
Priests, fearing disciples stealing the body,
ask Pilate to make the tomb secure. He answers “Take a guard [or you have a
guard]. Go and make it secure.” /It’s debatable based on this which kind of
guard it is./
·
Dawn of the day of the first week Mary Magdalene
and Mary [of James and Joses]. Violent earthquake. Angel of LORD looks like
lighting and snow rolled back the stone and sat on it. The guards are afraid
and fall like dead men. Angel says to women JC has gone. Come see where he lay,
then go tell the disciples.
·
Marys run off and JC meets them presumably
before they tell because he asks them to tell disciples to go to Galilee (same
as angel).
·
Guards tell priests “what happened” (whatever
that may be) and priests bribe and tell them to say “disciples stole body and
night while we slept”.
·
Disciples go to galilee to mtn where JC told
them to go. [But Matt does not mention JC speaking to them, so it implies other
conversations?]
Mark: (Mark 15:42-16:20)
·
Joseph [of Arimathea] wraps and puts Jesus in
his own tomb, which is cut out of rock, and rolls the stone closed. Mary
Magdalene and Mary [of James and Joses] witness this.
·
Sabbath is over – Mary M., Mary of James and
Salome bring spices. Just after sunrise they are expecting that the stone be
still over the tomb. Enter tomb and see angel sitting on right side. He says JC
is not here, he will meet you in Galilee. They tell no one.
·
JC appears to Mary M. and she tells disciples
who were mourning and they don’t believe it.
·
Brief description of road to Emmaus.
·
Appears to 11 as they eat.
·
He gives speech about snakes which is slightly
similar to great commission.
·
He is taken up into heaven.
Luke: (Luke 23:50-24:53)
·
Joseph of Arimathea takes, wraps, and buries JC
body in new tomb cut out of rock.
·
Early in morning first day of week the women
take spices and find stone rolled away. They enter and do not see body. Two
angels appear besides them and talk about his resurrection prediction. Then
they go back and tell the 11. These woman are Mary M., Joanna, Mary of James,
and others.
·
Peter runs and sees tomb empty.
·
Road to Emmaus and they tell the disciples. As
they tell story JC appears and he eats fish.
·
JC leads them out to Bethany, blesses them, and
is taken up into heaven.
John (John 19:38-21:25)
·
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus wrap body
according to burial customs. They bury Jesus in a garden near his crucifixion
in a new tomb.
·
While it’s still dark first day of week Mary M.
sees that the stone is rolled away and runs to tell Peter and one whom he loved
[John]. John outruns Peter but eventually both go in, see empty linen, and
believe but not understand.
·
Mary stands outside tomb weeping then sees two
angels, one at head of body and one at foot. Then she turns around and sees JC
who she thinks is the gardener but then recognizes. He says he hasn’t gone to
the father yet /get new body or ascension?/
·
Evening of the first day of the week with
disciples (probably minus Thomas due to next verses) in locked room JC stands
among them. He gives them holy spirit.
·
Thomas doubts and a week later with doors locked
JC appears again and deals with Thomas.
·
JC did many other miraculous signs in the
presence of his disciples but not recorded.
·
Sometime later miraculous catch of fish /
reinstatement of Peter.
·
Many other things but could not be recorded.
TOGETHER: This is
a possible chronology which I have checked repeatedly against the four gospel
accounts and their details with help from a few commentaries and chronologies.
I have not checked later New Testament accounts, extra-biblical resources, or done detailed language study. Chronologies exist that are different from this one.
() On evening of preparation day Joseph, from Judean town of
Arimathea rich man disciple member of the Council good and upright who had not
consented to their decision and action, and Nicodemus (Nick is probably at the
asking but certainly at the preparation and burial) ask Pilate for JC body.
Pilate is surprised he’s dead already and asks a centurion about it. But then
he lets Joseph with Nick take down the body, wrap it in clean linen, load it with
75lbs of myrrh and aloes, and put body in Joseph’s own tomb, which is near the
crucifixion site in a garden and newly cut out of rock in which no one had been
laid, and roll the big very large stone closed. Mary M and Mary JJ witness
this.
() The next day (the one after preparation day) the priests,
fearing disciples may steal the body to say he rose on the third day, ask
Pilate to make the tomb secure until the third day. Pilate answers ‘Take a
guard [or “you have a guard”]. Go and make it secure.’ So they do and use a
seal.
After the Sabbath is over first day of the week early in
morning while it’s still dark the women (Mary M, Mary JJ, Salome, Joanna, and
possible others) begin journey to take spices to JC.
() Presumably before the
women arrive at the tomb, probably during their journey. Violent
earthquake. An angel of LORD looking like lighting and snow rolled back the
stone and sat on it. The guards are afraid and fall like dead men.
() Now after sunrise the women wonder who will roll the stone
away, arrive and find it moved. They enter and do not see body. Two angels
appear beside them, either one of them sits on the right side or there is a
third angel, and say he has risen, talk about his resurrection prediction, and
tell them to tell the disciples to meet JC in Galilee. They (Mary M, Joanna,
Mary JJ, and other) tell no one meaning they don’t tell the public and/or don’t interpret/change the message but tell the 11.
After Mary M reports, Peter and John run to the tomb, Peter arriving first,
look in and see the empty linen with separate cloth folded up – John believes.
Mary and at least one other woman presumably follow the two or something
because Peter and John leave the tomb and she is weeping outside. She sees two
angels clothed in white sitting where his head and feed were. She talks to them and still thinks someone
stole the body. Then she turns around and sees JC but thinks that he’s a
gardener, but then he speaks to her and multiple people clasp his feet and worship
him. She, possibly along with the other women, go tell the 11 or more disciples
who were mourning that he’s alive. They don’t believe it.
() The first day of the week the evening of the resurrection the
Road to Emmaus happens followed by his first appearance doors locked when
Thomas is not with them. He shows them his hands, they are overjoyed, he talks
about sending them and gives the HS. He eats fish.
() The next week JC appears again doors locked to the 11 with
Thomas. He might do many other signs among them at this meeting or later or at
undefined points in the story. This may be the time of his snake speech at the end of Mark.
() Sometime later the miraculous catch of fish / reinstatement
of Peter happens. Persons involved include Jesus, Peter, Thomas, Nathanael,
James, John, and two other disciples.
() Great commission on the mountain in Galilee. Some still
doubt JC.
() He leads them to Bethany, blesses them, and is taken up into
heaven.
() Many other things could not be recorded.
PROBLEMS:
1) In order of the gospels, the time that the women bring
the spices is dawn, early morning just after sunrise, early morning, and while
it is still dark. It’s possible to see that they contradict each other. At the
same time, it’s conceivable that the sun could have just barely risen and it’s
still dark due to shadow. Most likely the accounts differ because it took time
to walk. Matthew has just after sunrise at a time that seems close to their
arrival and suggests that the resurrection (at least the earthquake and stone
rolling) happen during their walk.
2) In Mark it says at the end (verse 8) that the women told
no one. So how did anyone find out? In the previous verse the angel tells them
to go tell the disciples, so this means that they either didn't talk among
themselves or didn't announce it to the general public, just the disciples.
3) The women report to the disciples twice. The second time
they are still mourning (Mark). Have they not reacted properly to the
resurrection of JC? No, they (at least Mary M) thought someone else took the
body (John 20:2, 13)
4) In Matthew it says the angel rolled away the stone and then sat on it. (However there is no mention of his position between sitting on the stone and talking to the women, over which the guards freak out and the women finish walking to the tomb, otherwise they would have seen the commotion.) In Mark they find the angel
sitting inside and in Luke two angels suddenly appear standing. The NIV study notes say that perhaps the position of the angel(s) changed during the conversation. In this case they appeared standing but sat later. I'm not sure if I buy that, but it's the only thing I have so far. The only thing I know of importance from the language study that 'standing by' in Luke has a sudden, confronting connotation and along with the world for 'behold' supports the NIV suddenly translation. [I got this from the Biblos.com Strongs concordance of the word.] However the stand verb is pretty strongly just an 'near at hand' like at your elbow kind of feel rather than specifying a specific position. Two angels appearing in a tomb that supposed to be occupied is pretty confronting no matter what position they're in. If anyone else has interpretations or more solid logic to prove that this is a contradiction let me know.
5) In different accounts there are different women and number of angels. No
account contradicts the other so technically they’re still true. However it’s a
little odd that they’d omit things angels. My best guess is that they had specific messages and focus areas, and had so much material they could not possibly fit it all. John says twice that Jesus did many other miraculous signs, so many that the world could not contain the books that would be written. So if you must omit quite a few amazing things, it is not surprising if a few angels didn't make the cut.
6) For my chronology, the disciples don’t believe he’s risen even after John and
Peter go and come back. However, since John and Peter didn't see JC, they
probably assumed someone stole the body. So just Mary saying may not convince
them. This also supports the idea that the Matthew appearance of JC to the
women with worship occurs on the second trip back (this trip).
NOTES:
1) Confusion may also arise from the physical construction
of the tomb. Perhaps the door stone was somewhat deep into a cave, so one can be said
to ‘go inside’ without actually going in. Something like that.
2) It’s debatable based on this which kind of guard it is.
Asking Pilate, the seal, and that the priests provided safety for the guards
from the governor (most assume Pilate). However, that Pilate ordered the
priests to take a guard or ‘you have a guard’ and that the guards reported to
the priests (except that they could be afraid of Pilate) support a Temple
Guard.
3) Mary mother of James and Joses is NOT the mother of Jesus
because he didn't have a brother Joses that we know of. His brothers are James,
Joseph, Simon, and Judas. (Matt 13:55-56)
