RESURRECTION – Sunday Morning
Just like the details of the crucifixion and burial, we need all four gospels to piece together the full account of what happened on Sunday morning.
If you will indulge me, I think I’ll drop the verses in here as near to a combined and chronological narrative as I’m able to do.
“When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” Mark 16:1-3 ESV
“Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them…”
Luke 24:10 ESV
(The “other women” mentioned in the crucifixion narrative are: Mrs Zebedee, Jesus’ Aunt, and Mary the wife of Clopas, so there may have been 5-6 or more.)
“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.”
Matthew 28:2-4 ESV
“And they [the women] found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.”
Luke 24:4 ESV
“… they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.”
Mark 16:5 ESV
“And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words,”
Luke 24:5-8 ESV
“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.”
Matthew 28:5-6 ESV
“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.””
Mark 16:7 ESV
“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.”
Mark 16:8 ESV
“While they [the women] were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.”
Matthew 28:11-15 ESV
“and returning from the tomb they [the women] told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.”
Luke 24:9, 11 ESV
(I’m not sure, but it seems like perhaps the women split up at this point. Note that the angel mentions Peter separately, as if he is distinct from the group. After the betrayal, he probably has removed himself. Perhaps the women split up and Mary Magdalene when to find Peter while the others went to tell the 11 and “the others,” which would be the disciples who were not “the 11” like Joseph of Arimathaea, Nicodemus, and probably as many of “the 70” as they could find.)
“…So she [Mary Magdelene] ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved [John], 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. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;”
John 20:1-8 ESV
“Then the disciples [Peter & John] went back to their homes.”
John 20:10 ESV
“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). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.”
John 20:11-18 ESV
“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. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.”
Mark 16:9-11 ESV
It looks like perhaps Mary Magdalene went first to Peter and John, they do not believe her. The the 3 of them come back to the tomb, Peter & John see and believe while the rest of the disciples do not yet believe. Mary Magdalene then encountered Jesus one-on-one. Interestingly, Jesus does not allow her to cling to Him because, as High Priest, He must be absolutely pure because He is about to do this…
“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”
Hebrews 9:11-12 ESV
“For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.”
Hebrews 9:24 ESV
Personally, I don’t think Jesus waited for 40 days until the Ascension to do this. I think this happened right after He told Mary He was about to “ascend” to the Father.
While things are going on in the heavens, the Roman soldiers are making deals with the chief priests and the other women have gone to find and tell the other disciples about the empty tomb and the angels. And at some point later that morning…
“So they [the women] 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 28:8-10 ESV
Notice the difference? This time, Jesus does not forbid them to touch Him. This suggests to me that He has ascended to the Father in the heavenly temple, has presented His own blood of atonement, and has returned to make Himself known to the disciples.
There are TWO encounters of the women with Jesus. In the encounter recorded by Matthew, none of them are named. Mark says Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene – though this is in the “longer ending” of Mark which is missing from the oldest manuscripts so some may doubt its validity. But John backs it up when he shows Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene in detail. The dialogue gives no indication of this being a second encounter. So I must assume that either:
- Mary Magdalene was not in the group of women who clung to Jesus’ feet. Or
- That group encounter came after Mary’s personal encounter with Jesus.
Resurrection morning was rather disorienting and confusing. It’s not like all the followers of Jesus had a group chat where they could let everyone know at once that the tomb was empty. It was all word of mouth between people on foot and hiding out for fear of being arrested themselves. Jesus doesn’t stay in one spot. Different disciples are coming and going and seeing different things.
But there is ONE statement that is absolutely intriguing. This one…
“Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;”
John 20:6-8 ESV
What could Peter and John have possibly seen in the linen cloths that instantly banished all doubts about Jesus being risen?
There was something about the WAY the linen was lying there that made Peter and John believe that Jesus was risen.
Most artwork depicts the linen in the tomb as haphazardly draped and cast aside…
Others make much of the idea that the linens were “folded.” (Never mind that the Greek word doesn’t mean folded flat but more like “wrapped.”) So you’ll see images online like this and they’ll interpret all kinds of meaning into it.
Remember how I said in the post about the Burial that the gospel writers consistently used the word entulisso to describe the linen wrapped or wound around Jesus?
Anyone – an angel, a person – could’ve come into the tomb and unwrapped the body of Jesus and taken the body away. This is NOT proof of a resurrection. They could’ve left the linen in a pile or folded it into neat stacks. Peter and John could’ve seen a heap or folded stacks and it would not make them believe.
But there’s one way – and only one – that the linen could’ve been left behind that no human or angel could’ve pulled off. And seeing it would be instant and irrefutable proof that Jesus was not a stolen dead body but gloriously alive.
And it’s THIS:
Look closely.
It’s empty.
You could run up and look down inside the hollow shell of fabric all the way to where the feet had been.
And there’s no way Jesus got out of there unless He passed THROUGH the fabric.
The myrrh and aloes (not to mention blood) would’ve dried and stiffened the linen. It would be kind of like paper mache. You can’t unroll it from a body without destroying the shape.
No one could’ve unwrapped the body and left this shape behind.
No one could’ve stolen the body (still wrapped) and made a replica of the empty shell the exact shape of Jesus.
This linen shell disproves any claim to a stolen body.
This linen shell disproves any claim that Jesus only “fainted” and revived in the tomb and unwrapped Himself.
I can come up with dozens of rational explanations for a haphazard pile of linen or neatly folded pieces of linen. But the only explanation for an empty cocoon of linen is a Resurrection MIRACLE.
I believe wholeheartedly that THIS is what Peter and John saw that made them believe.
If I was one of those women, I absolutely would’ve gone and collected that linen and kept it. So maybe the Shroud of Turin was incorporated somehow and kept and is authentic. Personally, I choose to leave that door open while still acknowledging the differences in the text and Jewish custom.
Jesus isn’t done appearing to the disciples. He’s just getting started. He will appear 3 more times before the day is over. We’ll look at those tomorrow.
