This is my attempt to order the four accounts of the empty tomb morning.
At least five women went to the tomb on Resurrection Sunday. Four of them were named: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna, and Salome (Mark 16:1).
The women found the resurrection morning frightening. The gospel writers did not provide an orderly account of the events. They recorded mixed accounts.
Luke 24:
10 It was Mary Magdalene [1], Joanna [2], Mary the mother of James [3], and the others [4, 5] with them who told this to the apostles.
At least 5 but not as a single group.
Scene 1: Around dawn, several women on the way to the tomb
John 20:
1a Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb.
Before dawn, Mary Magdalene was the first woman on the move.
Matthew 28:
1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
At dawn, Mary, the mother of James, joined Mary Magdalene. Group 1 [G1] consisted of Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James.
Mark 16:
1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”
Group 2 [G2] consisted of Salome and at least one more woman.
These women started separately for the tomb while it was still dark and arrived separately after the sun had risen.
Group 3 [G3] consisted of Joanna and at least one more woman.
Scene 2: An angel scared the guards at the entrance of the tomb
Matthew 28:
2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel [A1] of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
John 20:
1b Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
G1 did not see A1 rolling the stone. G2 did not either. Mark 16:
4 Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large.
Scene 3: Women went inside the tomb at different times
A1 said to G1 in Matthew 28:
5b “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay." 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
After that, G2 arrived. Mark 16:
5 Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.
The young man said to G2:
6b “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
After that, G3 arrived. Luke 24:
3 When they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.
Scene 4: Jesus appeared to some women after they had departed from the tomb on their way back to the city
Matthew 28:
8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
Mary Magdalene was probably not with this later group of women. She was first and fast on her way to the city.
Scene 5: Women reported to Peter et al
John 20:
2 [Mary Magdalene] came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
Mary Magdalene had not yet seen the risen Lord. Some other women had.
Luke 24:
9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.
Scene 6: Peter and John ran to the tomb and entered it
Luke 24:
12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
John 20:
3 Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
Scene 7: Mary Magdalene revisited the tomb
John 20:
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Mark 16:
9 Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.
Mark skipped the encounter in Scene 4. Also, earlier manuscripts did not have this verse.
All the above events happened on the morning of the resurrection around the area of the tomb. The witnesses were bewildered, and the recordings were confusing.
Scene 1: Around dawn, several women on the way to the tomb
Scene 2: An angel scared the guards at the entrance of the tomb
Scene 3: Women went inside the tomb at different times
Scene 4: Jesus appeared to some women after they had departed from the tomb
Scene 5: Women reported to Peter et al
Scene 6: Peter and John ran to the tomb and entered it
Scene 7: Mary Magdalene revisited the tomb
