WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN HOLY WEEK? Part 9
SUNDAY FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK EASTER DAY
Before we think about what really happened on that first day of the week, i.e. the first working day after the sabbath, let’s compare what the four gospels say.
Comparing accounts
Mark: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James (presumably James the son of Alphaeus who was one of the Twelve) and Salome took spices etc. to anoint Jesus’ body. They found the heavy stone rolled away from the tomb entrance. Inside was a young man dressed in white who told them that Jesus had risen. Then they ran away.
Luke: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna and other women went to the tomb. They found the tomb empty. Then two men in clothes gleaming like lightning appeared and told them that Jesus had risen. They ran back and told the disciples who did not believe them. Jesus met two disciples walking to Emmaus that afternoon. He then appeared to the Eleven + others the same evening. Perhaps a month later they returned to Jerusalem and Jesus spoke with them there.
Matthew: Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb. There was a violent earthquake. An angel with clothes white like lightning rolled the stone aside and sat on it. The Jewish guard were terrified and became like dead men. The angel told the women that Jesus had risen. The women ran off frightened but joyful. Suddenly Jesus met them, and they worshipped him. The guards reported to the high priests who told them to say that the disciples had stolen the body. The Eleven met Jesus on a mountain in Galilee.
John: Mary Magdalene went to the tomb, found it empty and told the disciples. Peter and (John?) ran to the tomb and found it empty. Mary stayed there weeping and saw two angels in the tomb. Then Jesus met her there, and she went back and told the disciples. That evening Jesus appeared to the Eleven (minus Thomas). A week later he appeared to the Eleven, including Thomas. Later he appeared to them by the Sea of Galilee.
Mark’s gospel has the soberest account. Instead of two angels, we have young man in white clothes. Luke sticks to the facts as he heard them. Matthew I find rather hysterical and I place little weight on his account. John has a specific purpose in mind which is to report in detail Mary Magdalene’s experience, so that the readers may “come to believe that Jesus is the Christ…” (John 20.31)
So what’s the real story?
Jerusalem from the road leading to Bethany, 1842 Wellcome Library, Londonimages@wellcome.ac.uk
Mary Magdalene and at least four other women walked to the tomb, starting at first light. It would have taken them at least an hour to walk it, because the tomb was on the opposite side of Jerusalem from Bethany. They were wondering how to roll the stone away. The disciples could not do it, because they still feared arrest by the authorities.
Perhaps the women hoped that they could persuade some helpful passers-by. But they found the stone had been rolled away already. This was amazing, because the stone would have weighed at least a ton and would have had to be rolled uphill along a groove.
Anyway, the tomb was open. Their first thought must have been, grave-robbers! Or, the Sadducees, pursuing Jesus even beyond death. Then they saw the mysterious young man neatly dressed in white sitting inside the tomb. He said, “‘Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” (Mark 16.6,7) ‘So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. ‘ (Mark 16.8)
The other gospels all say they told the disciples. So what is this ‘not saying anything to anyone’? I think it could mean the people they encountered on the hour and a half’s journey back, whether they went through the middle of Jerusalem, or if they skirted the outside walls. There were plenty of people around, all eager to hear a good story from a group of anxious women. And not a few informers for the Sanhedrin. In fact, none of Jesus’ followers proclaimed his resurrection until Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit forced them to go public. The actual concluding words in Greek are: ‘ephobontou gar’ – ‘they were afraid for.’ Now ‘gar’ is never used as a concluding word. Perhaos it is mark’s equivalent of a series of dots: … Perhaps this is Mark’s way of saying, not ‘The End’, but ‘The Beginning’.
The next appearance seems to have been to Simon Peter (Hebrew Cephas, i.e. ‘Rocky’), recorded by Luke 24.23 and by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15.5.
Both John and Luke agree that Jesus did appear to the disciples that evening. Luke adds the appearance to Cleopas and his companion while walking to Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.
A question. Did the disciples go back to Galilee with the other pilgrims at the end of the feast, i.e. after Jesus second appearance to the disciples in John 20.26-29? Or did they stay in Jerusalem? The word ‘Galilee’ does not help us, because it is a general word meaning ‘region’ The full name of Galilee in the north was “Galil Goyin” – Region of the Gentiles. The region around Jerusalem, i.e. Bethany et al., could be referred to as ‘Galil Yerushalayim’ – Region of Jerusalem. (from ‘the Resurrection of Jesus’ by Rabbi Pinchas Lapide)
So there is a question mark about Jesus appearances over the following weeks. But the events of that first day of the week, which we call Easter Day, are in my opinion well established. An angel at the tomb, appearance to Peter, appearance to the Eleven. The appearances to Mary Magdalene, and to Cleopas and his companion are convincing, even though only John in the one instance and Luke in the other record them.
I think it’s good enough for a rational faith.
HappyEaster!