Tag Archive for: crucifixion

In my last post, we began to look at evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. We covered three key facts that ancient primary source documents tell us regarding Jesus and the events surrounding his death. They were:

  1. Jesus died by Roman crucifixion.
  2. Jesus’s tomb was found empty.
  3. Soon after the crucifixion, people said they saw Jesus alive. This included the apostle Peter, the church persecutor Paul, and the skeptic James the brother of Jesus.

Today, we’ll look at one more key fact, and then we’ll consider what conclusions we can draw.

4) Jesus’s followers were willing to die for their belief in the resurrection.

After Jesus’s crucifixion, his scared and confused followers scattered and hid. But then something amazing happened: they claimed they had seen Jesus alive again! Suddenly, they were transformed. They spoke boldly and publicly about Jesus being raised from the dead. Even after Jewish leaders and Roman officials threatened them with punishment, torture, and death, they refused to recant their testimony about seeing Jesus alive.

The biblical books tell us of some of the persecution, but extra-biblical sources tell us about the martyrdoms of Peter, Paul, and James (Sean McDowell, The Fate of the Apostles: Examining the Martyrdom Accounts of the Closest Followers of Jesus , 91, 113, 134).

Martyrs testified to the resurrection
Many early Christians lost everything (Konstantin Flavitsky, 1862, public domain)
  • Peter went from denying he knew Jesus to boldly proclaiming Jesus’s resurrection. Rome crucified Peter.
  • Paul transformed from persecuting Jewish Christians to claiming he saw Jesus alive. He boldly spread news of the resurrection throughout the Roman empire. Rome beheaded him.
  • James the brother of Jesus changed from thinking his brother was crazy before the crucifixion to claiming the resurrected Jesus appeared to him. He became a leader of the Christian church (Acts 15:13; 21:18; Galatians 2:9). Jewish leaders executed him.

The disciples’ willingness to testify that they saw Jesus alive after he died despite threats against them is evidence that the disciples had experiences that they sincerely believed were appearances of the resurrected Jesus.

Don’t people die for lies?

But don’t people die for lies they believe are true? Yes, but there’s a crucial difference between them and those who claimed to see Jesus alive. Gary Habermas and Michael Licona explain:

No one questions the sincerity of the Muslim terrorist who blows himself up in a public place or the Buddhist monk who burns himself alive as a political protest. Extreme acts do not validate the truth of their beliefs, but willingness to die indicates that they regarded their beliefs as true. Moreover, there is an important difference between the apostle martyrs and those who die for their beliefs today. Modern martyrs act solely out of their trust in beliefs that others have taught them. The apostles died for holding to their own testimony that they had personally seen the risen Jesus. Contemporary martyrs die for what they believe to be true. The disciples of Jesus died for what they knew to be either true or false.

Gary R. Habermas and Michael R. Licona, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2004), 59.

The conclusion of skeptics

That is why skeptic Bart D. Ehrman writes,

Historians, of course, have no difficulty whatsoever speaking about the belief in Jesus’ resurrection, since this is a matter of public record. For it is a historical fact that some of Jesus’ followers came to believe that he had been raised from the dead soon after his execution. We know some of these believers by name; one of them, the apostle Paul, claims quite plainly to have seen Jesus alive after his death.

Bart D. Ehrman, Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 231 (emphasis mine).
Ascension of Christ after resurrection
Rembrandt: The Ascension of Christ

It is also why atheist Gerd Lüdemann writes,

It is certain that something must have happened after Jesus’ death which led his followers to speak of Jesus as the risen Christ.

Gerd Lüdemann, What Really Happened to Jesus? An Historical Approach to the Resurrection, trans. John Bowden (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1995), 26.

Scholarly consensus

In fact, Gary Habermas surveyed more that 1,400 sources on the resurrection since 1975 and concluded this:

Perhaps no fact is more widely recognized than that early Christian believers had real experiences that they thought were appearances of the risen Jesus. A critic may claim that what they saw were hallucinations or visions, but he does not deny that they actually experienced something.

The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, 60.

What Best Accounts for These Facts?

Here are some of the options that skeptics put forth.

The resurrection is a legend?

The claims about the resurrection occurred too soon after the crucifixion for a legend to arise, and the disciples’ willingness to die shows they believed they saw the risen Jesus.

Jesus swooned?

A team of medical experts examined what we now know about scourging, crucifixion, and the account of Jesus’s death. Scourging resulted in severe blood loss. The crucified victim sometimes lived for days in tremendous pain. To exhale, he had to push up on his nail-pierced feet and wrists. Thus, when the soldiers wanted to hasten the death of the two men crucified with Jesus, they broke their legs. When they saw that Jesus was already dead, they pierced his side with a sword, causing a flow of blood and water. Here is what the medical team concluded:

Clearly, the weight of historical and medical evidence indicates that Jesus was dead before the wound to his side was inflicted and supports the traditional view that the spear, thrust between his right ribs, probably perforated not only the right lung but also the pericardium and heart and thereby ensured his death… Accordingly, interpretations based on the assumption that Jesus did not die on the cross appear to be at odds with modern medical knowledge.

William D. Edwards, Wesley J. Gabel, and Floyd E. Hosmer, “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ,” JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 1986, 255:1463.

More problems with the swoon theory

Resurrection came after the crucifixion
“The Three Crosses,” by Rembrandt, 1653

Even if Jesus had somehow survived, he could not have rolled away the heavy stone, made it past the guards, and walked on injured feet to find the disciples. And if he had, the disciples would have thought that he survived, not that he was resurrected. They would have had to get him medical care and nurse him back to health. A weak and wounded Jesus would not have inspired the disciples to risk their lives proclaiming Jesus was raised from the dead.

Finally, this theory can’t account for the radical transformation of James and Paul.

The disciples hallucinated?

By far the most popular theory today among skeptics today is that the disciples only hallucinated what they thought were actual appearances of the resurrected Jesus.

But the hallucination theory doesn’t work because hallucinations are individual experiences of the mind, like dreams. Therefore, they cannot be shared. Yet, many of the testimonies about Jesus’s appearances were to more than one person at a time. Jesus appeared more than once to the eleven (John 20:19,26; 21:1), to two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-31), and on one occasion to more than 500 people (1 Corinthians 15:6).  Interestingly, when Paul writes about the appearance to the 500, he claims “most of whom are still alive,” implying, “You can go ask them yourselves.”

Indeed, for their experiences to be hallucinations, John would have had to have hallucinated Peter talking to Jesus while Peter hallucinated talking to Jesus when John passed by, both hearing the same words. While Thomas hallucinated Jesus telling him to put his hands in his wound, the other ten disciples would have had to have hallucinated watching the conversation.

Hallucinations aren’t shared

In fact, when U.S. Navy SEALS train, hallucinations are common due to extreme fatigue and sleep deprivation. But no two hallucinations are alike:

Most hallucinations occur while the candidates, as a team, paddle in a raft out in the ocean. One believed that he saw an octopus come out of the water and wave at him! Another thought he saw a train coming across the water headed straight toward the raft. Another believed that he saw a large wall, which the raft would crash into if the team persisted in paddling. When the octopus, train, and wall were pointed out by the candidates to the rest of the team, no one else saw them, even though they were all in the same frame of mind. Most of them hallucinated at some point, but none of them participated in the hallucination of another.

The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, 106-107.

The disciples stole the body?

Then they died for what they knew was a lie, and no one does that. People die for what they think is true that turns out to be false. But if they stole the dead body, then they were proclaiming a resurrection they knew didn’t happen. No one dies for what they know is a lie.

resurrection
“The Resurrection” ~ woodcut by Dore

In addition, this doesn’t account for the conversion of the two skeptics, James and Paul. Neither believed Jesus was the Messiah before the crucifixion. Both had experiences that they thought were appearances of Jesus. Both were willing to die rather than recant their testimony that they saw Jesus alive after the crucifixion.

Habermas and Licona write,

If the direct witnesses really believed that he rose from the dead, we can dismiss contentions that they stole the body and made up the story. In fact, virtually all scholars agree on that point, whatever their own theological positions.

The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, 62.

That Jesus really was raised from the dead?

This best accounts for the historical facts: Jesus really was raised from the dead. That’s why we can trust him and what he said.

That Jesus really was raised from the dead best accounts for the historical facts. Click To Tweet

Interested in the evidence that Jesus fulfilled Old Testament promises, prophecies, & types? See my book, Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament.


Related Posts

Books You Might Like

Is there evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Or is Christianity simply a matter of blind faith?

It claims not to be. According to the Gospels, Jesus said his being “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” would be the “sign” that he came from God in fulfillment of Old Testament scriptures (Matthew 12:39-40). This is an obvious reference to his death, burial, and resurrection on the third day. Paul said that God “has given proof…to everyone” that he would judge the world by Jesus “by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). He also wrote, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14).

If the resurrection is supposed to prove so much, what evidence do we have today that it really happened?

Quite a bit.

The Testimony of Ancient Documents

Crucifixion before Resurrection
The Crucifixion (Rembrandt [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

We possess many ancient documents that tell us about the beginnings of Christianity. Scholars call these primary source documents. A primary source document is a first-hand account of a topic. Some of the primary source documents are extra-biblical (outside of the Bible).

The four Gospels, Acts, and 1 Corinthians are also primary source documents. They record Jesus’s death as well as eyewitness testimonies of Jesus’s subsequent resurrection.

A few skeptics object that these documents have not been accurately transmitted. That is, they claim the biblical sources must have been altered over time. But this is not true. Scholars use what’s called the bibliographical test to gauge how accurately ancient documents have been transmitted.

The bibliographical test examines the reliability of ancient manuscripts.

This test compares the number of surviving manuscripts of ancient documents and how much time elapsed between the earliest surviving copy and the date the original manuscript was handwritten.

Clay Jones explains:

The bibliographical test examines manuscript reliability, and for more than a generation Christian apologists have employed it to substantiate the transmissional reliability of the New Testament. The bibliographical test compares the closeness of the New Testament’s oldest extant manuscripts to the date of its autographs (the original handwritten documents) and the sheer number of the New Testament’s extant manuscripts with the number and earliness of extant manuscripts of other ancient documents such as Homer, Aristotle, and Herodotus.

Since the New Testament manuscripts outstrip every other ancient manuscript in sheer number and proximity to the autographs, the New Testament should be regarded as having been accurately transmitted. 

Clay Jones, “The Bibliographical Test Updated,” The Christian Research Journal

In other words, the bibliographical test shows that the biblical texts were accurately copied.

Ancient Documents Establish Key Facts

Now let’s move on to key facts that the primary source documents establish. Even skeptical and atheist scholars agree on a surprising number of basic facts.

1) Jesus died by Roman crucifixion.

Resurrection came after the crucifixion
“The Three Crosses,” by Rembrandt, 1653

That Jesus was crucified around AD 30 is a fact of history attested to in multiple primary source documents, including documents written by those who didn’t believe Jesus rose from the dead.

For example, the Roman historian Tacitus (56–120) wrote,

Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus.

Tacitus, Annals

Of course, the “extreme penalty” is crucifixion.

Skeptic and co-chair of the Jesus Seminar John Dominic Crossan writes,

That he was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be.

John Dominic Crossan, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1987), 179 .

The biblical sources also record the crucifixion: Matthew 27:32-31; Mark 15:21-47; Luke 23:18-54; John 19; Acts 2:23, 36; 4:10; and 1 Corinthians 1:23; 2:2; 2:8. Dr. Gary Habermas and Dr. Michael Licona write that the evidence for this and other data we’ll look at

are so strongly evidenced historically that nearly every scholar regards them as reliable facts.

Gary R. Habermas and Michael R. Licona, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2004), 48.

2) Jesus’s tomb was found empty.

The four Gospels record that Jesus’s dead body was laid in a tomb, but the tomb was found empty days later. Here’s what else they record.

A Jewish leader placed Jesus’s dead body in a tomb.

Angel in tomb after the resurrection
“The Resurrection” ~ woodcut by Dore

All four Gospels record that a member of the Jewish ruling council named Joseph of Arimathea removed Jesus’s dead body from the cross and laid it in his own tomb (Matthew 27:57-60; Mark 15:42-46; Luke 23:50-53; John 19:38-42). This is significant because it is highly unlikely that the Gospel authors would fabricate this detail since it would have been easily verifiable by people alive at the time. Additionally, the early Christians blamed the Jewish leaders for the crucifixion, which makes it incredulous that they would invent a story about one of them attending to Jesus’s body.

Details like these are why cofounder and president emeritus of Internet Infidels, Jeffrey Jay Lowder, writes,

The burial of Jesus by Joseph of Arimathea has a high final probability.

Jeffrey Jay Lowder, “Historical Evidence and the Empty Tomb Story: A Reply to William Lane Craig,” in The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave, ed. Robert M. Price and Jeffery Jay Lowder (Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2005), 265–66.

The tomb was found empty.

Next, the four Gospels report that on the third day after burial, women found the tomb empty (Matthew 28:1-15; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-10). Clay Jones explains the significance:

That the Gospels record women as being the first to discover the empty tomb makes it likely because of what is called the “criterion of embarrassment.” The criterion of embarrassment is a type of critical analysis where authors are presumed to be telling the truth if they record something that might be embarrassing to them or their cause. In short, no one in first-century Palestine would concoct a story with women taking the lead in the most vital discovery of Christianity!

Clay Jones, Immortal: How the Fear of Death Drives Us and What We Can Do About It (Oregon: Harvest House, 2020).

They record that after that, two disciples found the tomb empty (Luke 24:12; John 20:2-7).

The Jews claimed the disciples stole the body.

Matthew wrote that the Jewish leaders paid the guards who were watching the tomb to say that the disciples came at night while the guards slept and stole the body (Matthew 28:11-15). Extra-biblical documents attest to this report too. Justin Martyr (100–165) in his dialog with the Jew Trypho wrote:

You have sent chosen and ordained men throughout all the world to proclaim that a godless and lawless heresy had sprung from one Jesus, a Galilaean deceiver, whom we crucified, but his disciples stole him by night from the tomb, where he was laid when unfastened from the cross, and now deceive men by asserting that he has risen from the dead and ascended to heaven.

Justin Martyr, “Dialog with Trypho,” in Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers, vol. 2, Justin Martyr and Athenagoras, trans. Marcus Dods, George Reith, and B.P. Pratten, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Edinburg: T&T Clark, 1879), 235.

Why would the Jewish leaders claim Jesus’s body was stolen unless the tomb was empty? Additionally, if the Jewish leaders weren’t saying this, why would Matthew report this embarrassing detail?

Without an empty tomb, Christianity wouldn’t have begun.

Finally, if the tomb wasn’t empty, all the Jewish and Roman leaders had to do to quell Christianity was to produce Jesus’s body. Habermas and Licona note,

In the arid climate of Jerusalem, a corpse’s hair, stature, and distinctive wounds would have been identifiable even after fifty days.

The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus , 70.

Christianity’s critics nowhere claimed to have found his body. Instead, they claimed the disciples stole the body. That is why

…roughly 75 percent of scholars on the subject accept the empty tomb as a historical fact.

The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus , 70.

3) Soon after the crucifixion, people said they saw Jesus alive.

The primary source documents tell us that Jesus’s followers and two former skeptics all saw Jesus alive.

Ascension of Christ after resurrection
Rembrandt: The Ascension of Christ

Jesus’s followers claimed to see Jesus alive.

After Jesus’s crucifixion and burial, his confused and scared followers scattered and hid. But something happened that emboldened them.

Matthew recorded that he and the other ten disciples saw and spoke to the resurrected Jesus as a group (Matthew 28:16-20).

John wrote that the risen Jesus appeared to him, the other ten disciples, a woman, and others, often in groups (John 20:11-31).

Peter proclaimed to thousands that he was a witness to the fact that God had raised Jesus from the dead, as the non-Jewish historian Luke recorded (Acts 2; Acts 3:15; 4:10; etc.). Peter also wrote about the resurrection (1 Peter 1:21).

Former skeptic James saw Jesus alive.

Before the crucifixion, Jesus’s brother thought Jesus was “out of his mind” and tried to stop him from teaching publicly (Mark 3:21; John 7:5). According to an early Christian creed, the resurrected Jesus appeared to James (1 Corinthians 15:7).

Former Christian persecutor Paul claimed to see Jesus alive.

Paul (also known as Saul) was a devout Jew and a member of the strict Pharisee sect. He persecuted Jews who became Christians (Acts 8:3). Then one day he had an experience which he described as an encounter with the resurrected Jesus (Acts 9:1-9).

Jesus’s followers proclaimed the resurrection soon after the crucifixion.

I mentioned an early Christian creed. Paul quoted it here:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas [Peter], then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

1 Corinthians 15:3-8

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians around AD 55 (The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, 52). He wrote that he had earlier “delivered” to them what he had “received.” That means Paul received the creed before his earlier visit to Corinth.

Based on this, skeptic Gerd Lüdemann writes,

We can assume that all the elements in the tradition are to be dated to the first two years after the crucifixion of Jesus.

Gerd Lüdemann, Resurrection of Jesus: History, Experience, Theology (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1995), 38.

Likewise, atheist Michael Goulder notes that Paul’s testimony

…goes back at least to what Paul was taught when he was converted, a couple of years after the crucifixion.

Michael Goulder, “The Baseless Fabric of a Vision,” in Resurrection Reconsidered, ed. Gavin D’Costa (Oxford: Oneworld, 1996), 48.

To Be Continued

We’ve looked at key three facts that primary source documents support. That’s all we have room for in this post. So I’ll continue with the last one and the conclusions we can make from them in my next post.

The last one’s a doozy you won’t want to miss!

Discover how primary source documents provide evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Click To Tweet

Interested in the evidence that Jesus fulfilled Old Testament promises, prophecies, & types? See my book, Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament.


Related Posts

Books You Might Like

Jesus fed the multitudes before saying we must eat his flesh

“The Feeding of the Five Thousand” by Jacobo Bassano

Question: I was chewing on the passage where Jesus says we have to eat his flesh and drink his blood. How would you approach why Jesus would use these words?

That is a great question. After all, Jesus’ words in John 6:53-57 caused many people to stop following him. Let’s look first at the context of what Jesus said, then at what the words mean, and finally at why Jesus would use such a distasteful phrase.

The Context

The day before, Jesus fed 5,000 men and an unknown number of women and children from five small barley loaves and two fish. This miracle reminded them of the miracle of manna that their ancestors ate in the desert when Moses led them out of slavery. Many Jews of Jesus’ day were expecting “the Prophet”—someone God would send who would be like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-19)—and this supper caused them to exclaim: “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

They planned to force Jesus to be king (5,000 men were plenty to start a rebellion), but he slipped away. The next day they found him on the other side of the sea. Jesus warned them that they sought him not because of what the sign signified, but because they wanted full bellies (John 6:26). He refused to give them more bread and instead made claims they considered outrageous: he was the bread of life; he came from heaven; he could grant eternal life; and he could satisfy spiritual hunger and thirst.

This was not what they wanted. They wanted Jesus to lead a rebellion against Rome and keep filling their stomachs.

When they argued, Jesus proclaimed:

I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:53-54 (NIV)

They replied, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” Many not only stopped listening to him, they stopped following him.

What does “eat his flesh” mean?

Jesus’ initial point is that Jesus is the bread of life in that he satisfies spiritual hunger and gives eternal life, just as barley cakes and manna satisfy physical hunger and give physical life (6:35, 48-51).

Continuing the bread of life motif, “eat his flesh” is equivalent to believe in Jesus and thereby partake of all that his body’s death on the cross offered, including payment for sins and eternal life. As research professor of New Testament and commentator D. A. Carson puts it, It is appropriating Jesus through faith. [1] (If you’d like to see the verses that explain this, see “A Little Deeper: Equivalent Expressions” at the end of this blog.)

Why would Jesus say something so offensive?

Still, referencing cannibalism and drinking blood was offensive to Jews. Why would Jesus say something which would cause so many to abandon him? Here are three considerations.

Jesus wanted people to seek understanding

Jesus often used words with spiritual meanings that could be misunderstood if taken literally. Those who believed he was the Messiah could seek to find out what he truly meant, while those who weren’t listening for spiritual truth could shake their heads and walk away. Jesus often said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”—those without ears to hear he didn’t pursue.

Jesus wanted true followers

Those who left were at odds with Jesus’ mission: they wanted him to lead a political rebellion and perform daily miracles to meet their physical needs on earth. Presenting a difficult teaching drove away the distraction of false followers attempting to mold him into what they wanted rather than accepting from him what he offered.

Jesus’ metaphor would stick so they might later understand

The words were so graphic that the hearers would never forget them. Jesus spoke mainly in figures to the crowds, and when he plainly told the Twelve about his coming death and resurrection, they didn’t understand (Luke 9:21-22, 44-45). After the resurrection, Jesus’ disciples understood the significance of the crucifixion and openly preached that Jesus had died for the sins of the world. Those who quit following Jesus on this day who later heard of Jesus’ death and resurrection would be able to then understand that Jesus was saying that they needed to partake of his eternal sacrifice for them—if they finally had ears to hear.

***

A Little Deeper: Equivalent Expressions

How do we figure out what Jesus meant in this passage? First, John 6 is rich in imagery and metaphors that mean similar things. Looking at which expressions in Jesus’ sermon are equivalent helps us understand what he means.

  • Jesus equated laboring “for the food that endures to eternal life” to believing in him (John 6:27, 29), so we obtain the bread of life by believing in Jesus.
  • “The bread of life” is also “the food that endures to eternal life”; “the true bread from heaven”; “he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world”; and Jesus’ “flesh” that he would “give for the life of the world” (6:35, 27, 32, 33, 51).
  • Jesus gives eternal life to and raises from the dead those who (a) believe in him; (b) eat the bread of life; and (c) feed on his flesh (6:40, 51, 54), so all three are equivalent.

Second, “eat” is clearly metaphorical. Just as you used “chewing on” in your question and I used “distasteful” in my first paragraph, so we often use phrases related to eating metaphorically: we drink in a sunset, taste the good life, swallow the hard truth, and eat humble pie. We usually mean something like partaking of or participating in.

Third, John 1 tells us Jesus was the Word who “was with God” and “was God” and “became flesh”; this flesh is what he would give for the life of the world (John 1:1, 14, 6:51). He offered his body to be sacrificed in place of ours in order to pay for our sins, and thus showed himself to be “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Hebrews 9:28, 10:10; John 1:29).

Fourth, Jesus explained his meaning further during the Last Supper when he instituted communion so that his followers would eat bread and drink wine in memory of what he accomplished on the cross (Luke 22:17-20).

  1. [1]Carson, D. A., The Gospel According to John (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 1991), 305.

Questions: Why did Mary Magdalene ask where Jesus’ body was when earlier an angel told her Jesus had arisen? Why do the gospel accounts differ as to which women went to the tomb and which saw Jesus alive?

Several questions arose in my church’s women’s Bible study about differences between the gospel accounts regarding the women at the resurrection who saw the empty tomb and witnessed Jesus alive.

Why did Mary Magdalene ask the man she thought was a gardener where Jesus’ body was (John 20:15) when earlier an angel had told her Jesus had arisen (Mark 16:6)?

When we read that the angel told Mary and the other women that Jesus had arisen, we know what the angel meant: Jesus had risen from the dead and was alive. But Mary didn’t know that.

Questions about Magdalene and women at the resurrection

“The Mourning Mary Magdalene” by Colijn de Coter (1493-1506)

When Jesus told the apostles he was going to die and rise again, they didn’t understand what he meant (John 16:17, 20:9). When the angel told Mary and her friends that Jesus had risen, she likewise didn’t know what he meant, perhaps thinking he spoke of Jesus’ soul. She remained intent on finding Jesus’ body so she could properly anoint it with spices.

Why do the gospel accounts differ about which women went to the tomb?

Matthew tells us of Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the younger—one of the apostles—going to the tomb (Matthew 28:1); Mark mentions the two Marys and Salome (Mark 16:1); Luke describes the two Marys, Joanna, and other women (Luke 24:10); and John speaks only of Mary Magdalene (John 20:1).

We’ve all experienced recounting something that happened to us only to see our listener’s eyes drift towards an exit, and none of us likes that. So when we relate events, we choose important details and often mention just people our listeners know.

For instance, Clay and I told my father-in-law that while traveling with Craig Hazen (whom he knows), we met the pastor of his church. We didn’t mention we were also traveling with J. P. Moreland because my father-in-law doesn’t know him.

That’s the way we all tell the stories of our lives. We can’t give every detail: life’s too short. When writing, we trim down to what we think will make our point without overwhelming our readers with non-essentials that wouldn’t interest them. And that’s what the gospel writers did. They picked what they considered the most important details and mentioned the people their readers knew. All mentioned Mary Magdalene, who was a wealthy, well-known leader of the women who had ministered to Jesus and who had the honor of being the first to see the risen Lord.

In John’s case, he tells us he wrote of the miraculous signs Jesus did in the presence of his disciples (John 20:30), so one of the reasons he may have told of only Mary Magdalene’s experience, and not those of the other women, is he was sharing what he directly experienced: Mary came directly to him and Peter when she returned from the empty tomb, he and Peter then ran to the tomb and when John came out, he saw Mary standing outside weeping.

Why do the gospel accounts differ as to which women saw Jesus alive?

Matthew tells us of Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the younger seeing Jesus (Matthew 28:9), while Mark and John tell us Mary Magdalene was the first to see Jesus alive (Mark 16:9, John 20:15-18).

Mary Magdalene was the first to see Jesus alive, and the other Mary joined them later. The gospel writers chose to emphasize different encounters. All describe Jesus appearing to the eleven remaining disciples, and some describe additional encounters.

Other New Testament books tell us Jesus appeared to more than 500 people, including Jesus’ brother James, Joseph called Barsabbas, Matthias, and Paul (Acts 1:21-23, 1 Corinthians 15:4-8). Most of the people are unnamed, and only a few of the encounters are described.

Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. ~John 21:25

 

I wrote this poem in celebration of Easter and all Jesus accomplished through his life, death, and resurrection. May you be blessed in this remembrance of Jesus Christ, the resurrected King.

***

“The Resurrection” ~ woodcut by Dore

He came to us having counted the cost—
Teller of parables, seeker of lost.
Ears do we need to hear words he does teach,
Deep into hearts must his truths fully reach.

Calmed he the storm and on water he walked;
Crowds gathered ‘round him whenever he talked.
Food he did multiply, crowds so to feed;
Man among tombstones from demons he freed.

He called to life little girl who was dead;
Drink is his blood and his body is bread.
He said, “Deny self: a cross you must bear,
I came from heaven and God’s words I share.

My words obey and of death you’ll not see;
God is my Father: he glorifies me.
I’m resurrection and life—do believe
So of eternal life you can receive.”

He proved his words and his might did amaze,
When he raised Lazarus dead for four days.
Donkey he then to Jerusalem rode;
Shouts of “Hosanna!” on him crowds bestowed.

Passover shared he with followers dear,
Knowing the time for his great work was near.
“I to my Father’s house go to prepare
Room for you,” he said, “for I’ll take you there.

I am the way and the truth and the life;
Peace I give you, but the world gives you strife.”
Then to Gethsemane walked they to pray;
“Father, not my will but yours,” did he say.

Soon his betrayer on cheek gave a kiss;
Now the disciples fled—all was amiss.
High priest condemned him and said he must die:
“Blasphemy!” claimed he, “not Son of God high!”

Peter denied him and rooster did crow;
And unto Pilate did Jesus then go.
He bore their mocking while his back was torn,
Scourged was he, beaten, and crowned with sharp thorn.

Soldiers then crucified him on a cross,
Nailing his wrists and his feet—such blood loss!
Lifted on high for onlookers to see
Mockers threw insults: “Won’t God rescue thee?”

Sun hid its face from the land all around
Passover Lamb’s blood from cross dripped to ground.
Cried he, “My God, my God, why are you gone?”
“Will he be saved?” shouted those who looked on.

Burst from his lips, “It is finished”—and then
Died he, and sun gave its light back to men.
Earth did then quake, temple veil was torn
For by his death, he our sins had now borne.

Spear pierced his side and from wound now did spill
Water and blood onto Calvary’s hill.
Followers laid his cold body in tomb
Mourned they and wept, crying, “Why came this doom?”

Dark were their hearts as they struggled to see—
Till came the first rays of dawn on day three.
Angels did roll from the grave the large stone;
There lay the grave clothes, but no body prone!

He had arisen: him death could not hold;
Came he to Mary, who now was consoled.
Peter then saw him, and five hundred plus;
Said he, “For witnesses you’ve been called thus.”

Finally heavenward he did ascend;
There he abides till he comes in the end,
Gathering all to him who do believe,
That of eternity they may receive,

Living and loving with Savior and Friend,
Who conquered death that their life would not end.
Lamb who was dead, but who now lives above,
Died he to save us, so great was his love.

Related Blogs

A Christmas Poem