The Resurrection of Christ: Reconciling the Gospel Accounts

By David Van Riper

This is an in depth examination of the four gospel accounts of the resurrection of Christ. The author thoughtfully compares and contrasts the narratives, and explains the many apparent discrepancies in a measured and insightful way, using plausibility and common sense.

He finishes by providing a full, verse by verse chronology of the events contained in the four gospels; building a single resurrection narrative, including the Lords post-resurrection appearances, that he believes is unique, and prayerfully hopes will be edifying to fellow Christians.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 9, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512744651

David Van Riper

Born in Mansfield, Ohio in 1951, David is a 1993 graduate of the Heritage Baptist Institute in Cleveland, Ohio. He was wonderfully saved on July 14th, 1985. He has been involved in various local church ministries since that time. These include bus ministry, teen and adult Sunday School teacher, congregational song leader, outreach ministry at a local golden age center, and preaching the word of God. David currently attends the Harmony Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio. This is his first book.

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Copyright © 2016 David Van Riper.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-4465-1 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 6/8/2016

CONTENTS

Introduction

1.    Errors And Contradictions

2.    The Women Of The Resurrection

3.    The Watch

4.    Something About Gaps

5.    Gaps In The Resurrection Accounts

6.    First Arrival

7.    The Rest Of The Women

8.    The Rest Of The Day

9.    Forty Days

Endnotes

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this book is to provide a short, yet comprehensive, study help for two groups of Bible-believing Christians. First, for those whose faith is being sorely tested by the alleged discrepancies and contradictions repeatedly cited by unbelieving apologists and skeptics as proof that the resurrection accounts, and therefore all of the scriptures, are flawed and uninspired. Indeed, that they are so full of errors that only a religiously blind fool would believe the Book to be accurate and dependable. The second group consists of those believers who, though firmly grounded in the scriptures, have been unable to find compelling, plausible explanations for the many seemingly contradictory statements recorded by the authors of the four resurrection narratives. I readily admit that numerous efforts have been made by reputable scholars, who are much more gifted and able than I to answer the critics. However, nothing I have ever read-or heard taught, for that matter-has offered a complete and satisfactory explanation of those differences, or puts the four accounts in full chronological order in a consistent and detailed way.

I finally determined to do a comparative, verse by verse study of the gospel narratives. By proceeding in faith that the problem texts in the four resurrection accounts could be reconciled, using reason and common sense; while accepting the expanded or contracted narrative present in portions of each version of these events, I have reached the conclusions found within these pages. It is my fervent hope that the reader will be blessed and strengthened, and come away with a renewed appreciation and respect for God’s Holy Word.

1    ERRORS AND CONTRADICTIONS

There are three important premises which must be accepted in any reading and subsequent comparison of the gospel accounts of the resurrection in order to adequately reconcile all of the many so-called discrepancies. The first is that each writer either expanded or contracted portions of his particular narrative by adding specific details, skipping certain details, or even adding some parenthetical verses to fill in gaps or to summarize for the reader. Secondly, it must be understood that after Jesus’ hasty burial, His disciples, specifically the women, separated and waited out the sabbaths in different locations rather than being assembled in the upper room in Jerusalem in one large group with the eleven. The third premise follows from the second. Since the women who visited the sepulcher early on the first day had divided into smaller groups while staying in various homes, it is logical that each small group would have left their abode separately and arrived at the tomb of Christ apart from the others, perhaps with many minutes between each. Yet, in the broader context, the women as one group could have been said to have visited the tomb very early in the morning on the first day of the week.

One additional comment: skeptics believe that if all four gospels are not in perfect agreement, then they must be flawed; that is, contradictory. The common response by Bible believers is that four authors, each writing from his own unique perspective, would naturally have placed emphasis on different portions of the full sequence of events as they were recollected and recorded. This is true, of course. But beyond that, it is also true that each writer was led directly by the Holy Spirit to set pen to parchment, and record specific information which may or may not be common to the other gospels. This is what makes the accounts complementary, and thus enables us to plausibly explain the apparent errors cited by the critics. Unbelievers, of course, would be no more satisfied if only one gospel had been written. They would just as gleefully pick a single record apart based on internal errors as they do the four. This book is not meant to convince skeptics of the reliability of the Bible; but to instill confidence in believers, some of whom may be doubting the veracity of the scriptures due to the unceasing attacks by the higher critics, as well as by more conservative scholars who have a strong penchant for correcting scripture, or attributing copyist error as the explanation for certain problem texts.

The following examples of errors offered here are among the most frequently cited as proof by skeptics that the resurrection accounts are inconsistent to the point of absurdity. Unbelieving experts are constantly poring over the scriptures looking for new flaws; and so this list is by no means complete. I should note that examples 9 and 11 pertain to the Lord’s entombment.

1. In Matthew 28:6-8 the women leave the empty tomb with fear and great joy, while John 20:1-2 describes Mary Magdalene (and presumably the others) as being distressed and perplexed over the missing body of the Lord, …and we know not where they have laid Him.

2. Matthew 28:1 says that it was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary who visited the tomb. Mark 16:1 includes Salome. Now in Luke 23:55-24:1 only Mary Magdalene and Joanna make the trip, while John 20:1 indicates that only Mary Magdalene visited the sepulcher.

3. In Matthew 28:1 the women arrived at the tomb …as it began to dawn…. Mark 16:2 …at the rising of the sun…. Luke 24:1 …very early in the morning…. And John 20:1 says …while it was yet dark….

4. Matthew 28:2 says that after an earthquake one angel descended, rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. Mark 16:5 describes one young man sitting inside the tomb. Luke 24:2-4 claims there were two young men who suddenly appeared standing inside the sepulcher. Finally, John 20:12 has two angels sitting inside the tomb at either end of the place where the body of Jesus had been.

5. In Matthew 28:8 the women ran to tell the disciples, while Mark 16:8 says that the women said nothing to anyone. And, according to Luke 24:9 the women ran and told the disciples and others; but John 20:10-11 says they all went home, leaving Mary Magdalene alone at the sepulcher.

6. Matthew 28:8-9 indicate that Jesus` first resurrection appearance was not at the tomb, but was close by. Luke 24:13-15 says it was on the road to Emmaus, a village about seven miles from Jerusalem. But John 20:13-14 says it was just outside the sepulcher.

7. In Matthew 28:9 Jesus lets Mary Magdalene and the other women hold Him by the feet. However, John 20:17 records that He told her not to touch Him because He had not yet ascended to His Father. Further, one week later, still with no ascension, Christ tells Thomas to touch Him (JN.20:27).

8. The order of the resurrection appearances of Jesus as given by Matthew: Mary Magdalene, the other Mary, then the eleven (28.1-18). Mark 16.9-14 says Mary Magdalene, two others on the road to Emmaus, and then to the eleven. Luke 24.15-36 lists Peter(?), the two (Emmaus), then the eleven. John 20:14,21:1 offers Mary Magdalene, then the disciples without Thomas, later with Thomas, and then with the eleven again. In 1 Corinthians 15:5-8, Paul claims Peter was first, then the twelve, then five hundred, then James, afterward to all the apostles, and finally to Paul himself.

9. John 19:39-40 reveals Joseph and Nicodemas anointing the body of Jesus and placing it in the tomb. Luke’s version has the women observing what happens to His body and then leaving to prepare spices for anointing the Lord’s body (23:55-56), although they already saw it had been anointed.

10. In Mark 16:5 and Luke 24:3 the women entered the sepulcher. John 20:1-2,11 gives no indication that they entered the tomb.

11. Luke 23:55-56 states that the women prepared the purchased spices and then rested on the sabbath. Mark 16:1 says they bought and prepared the ointments and spices after the sabbath was past.

After a cursory reading of the above problem texts, it is not unreasonable to honestly question the accuracy of the gospel accounts. There is nothing wrong with honest, open skepticism on the part of a non-believer who is seeking real answers. However, since the unbeliever cannot spiritually discern scriptural Truth (1 COR. 2:14), it is impossible for him to view the Bible