Resurrection Contradiction: The Women's Testimony

It's fairly common for people to allege that the New Testament contains contradictions.  This is particularly the case with the resurrection accounts.

Previously we discussed an apparent contradiction involving Luke's usage of giant timeskips.  Today I want to look at the other major one:

When did the women see the angels and Jesus?

The Synoptic Data:

Let's start with Matthew's Gospel:

"Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.

But the angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.'

So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, 'Greetings!' And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.'”  - Matthew 28:1-10

Now let's add in what Luke says:

"Returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles,  but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.  

But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened." - Luke 24:9-12 

So let's recap:

• The women, including Mary Magdalene, go to the tomb and discover it empty.
• They are confronted by angels who say Jesus is risen.
• They begin running back to the Apostle's hideout.
• They're intercepted by Jesus along the way.
• They give their report to the Apostles
• The Apostles are incredulous, but Peter decides to visit the tomb

Why Is Mary Clueless?

Now let's turn over to John's Gospel and see what he has to tell us:

"Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 

So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. [...]

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping?' 

She said to them, 'They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.' 

Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?'

Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, 'Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.' 

Jesus said to her, 'Mary.' 

She turned and said to him in Aramaic, 'Rabboni! (which means Teacher)."              - John 20:1-16

Now let's summarize what John tells us:

• Mary sees that the tomb is empty.
• She returns to Peter and John with no idea what happened.
• The trio returns to the tomb.
• Peter and John enter the tomb.
• Mary sees Jesus, but doesn't recognize Him.
• She (unknowingly) asks Jesus what happened to the body.
• Mary realizes it is Jesus.

Notice the problem?  If you only had Matthew and Luke, you'd think she not only knew what happened to the body, but actually met Jesus before talking to Peter.  But John tells us she was clueless until they returned to the tomb.

What gives?

Piecing it Together:

Well... it's got to fit together somehow.

My first instinct is to say, "Maybe someone just told the story out of sequence."  This isn't unreasonable, because there are tons of sequence differences between the Gospels.  It's well established that the Gospel writers didn't feel bound to perfectly preserve the order of every event.

However, the problem seems to run deeper here because we're not just seeing events told out of sequence.  The synoptics put emphasis on the the women coming back to the Apostles reporting supernatural encounters.  But John really puts an equally heavy emphasis on Mary not knowing anything until the return trip.

That's the key thing;  Mary had to be ignorant of the encounters at the tomb.  For the story to make sense, she had to leave before those events happened.

Thus, you get something like the following:

• Mary Magdalene and the other women see the tomb empty.
• Mary immediately returns to the Apostles to report the apparent body-theft. 

• Meanwhile, the other women approach the tomb and are confronted by angels.
• On the way back to the Apostles, those same women run into Jesus.
• The women rendezvous with Mary and the Apostles, adding their report to hers.

• Peter, John, and Mary don't yet believe, but return to the tomb to check.
• Peter and John enter the tomb.
• Mary has a personal encounter with Jesus.

That's how you stitch it all together.

Not Quite...

Mary Magdalene is sometimes called "the Apostle to the Apostles" because she is supposedly the first person to tell them about the resurrection.  However, when you look carefully at John's Gospel, we see that isn't the case.

Mary is the first person to report the empty tomb.  However, the other women are the first to report the resurrection.  And here's the kicker:  Mary didn't believe them.  She went back to the tomb still convinced the body had been moved.

She found it as hard to believe as anyone else.