Last year I took a fantastic course on “Resurrection in the New Testament” at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO. One of our assignments was to attempt to create a harmonized narrative using the accounts of Jesus’ burial and resurrection in the Gospels, Acts, and 1 Corinthians. The professor had us do this not to suggest that harmonization is a great way of interpreting the Bible, but rather to show that this method creates a host of theological, historical, and hermeneutical problems. In thinking about our running discussion theme for the month of April here at Near Emmaus, I went back and reread what I wrote for the assignment, and several times found myself laughing at the ridiculousness of the story when you try to harmonize all the accounts (multiple visits to the tomb, several different people discovering the empty tomb “first,” Jesus making several trips back and forth between Jerusalem, Emmaus, and Galilee, and—my personal favorite—the discrepancy in the time of the ascension between Luke and Acts, etc.). I have posted it below so that you all can laugh with (or at?) me:
The Resurrection of Jesus: A Harmony Narrative
Late in the evening, when the Sabbath had ended, the women who had followed Jesus left the disciples and went to the market to purchase spices with which to anoint the Lord for burial. Among them were Mary the Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James), Salome, and Joanna. Early the following morning—the third day after Jesus’s death on the cross—they arose, dressed, and left their homes to prepare the body. They arrived at the tomb just before dawn, as the sun was beginning to rise, bringing with it the light of a new day. As they were nearing the garden, the women began to whisper to each other, “How will we move the heavy stone that seals the tomb?”
Suddenly, the earth trembled, and the massive stone rolled away from the entrance! A blinding light ripped the heavens open, and when the women could see clearly once again they noticed that the tomb was empty, and two men dressed in white were before them. One was seated atop the stone, while the other stood in the entrance of the tomb, not far from where Jesus’s body should have been lying. The guards who had been placed at the entrance shuddered fearfully and collapsed in a dead faint.
“Do not be afraid!” the man seated on the stone outside told the women. “You are searching for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.”
“But why do you seek the living among the dead?” asked the second man from within. “He is not here. See?” He pointed to the place where the body of Jesus was supposed to be. The linen wrappings used to dress the corpse were neatly folded on the stone bench. “He is risen from the dead, just as he told you would happen! Now go and tell Peter and the other disciples what you have seen.” When they had finished saying these things, they vanished as suddenly as they had appeared.
Out of fear, Mary (the mother of James), Salome, and Joanna fled from the tomb, telling no one of what they had seen because they were so terrified. Only Mary the Magdalene remained behind, kneeling by the stone, weeping.
Suddenly, Jesus appeared, standing behind her. “Why are you crying?” he asked. “Because,” she answered him, thinking he was the gardener, “someone has taken the body of my Lord, and I don’t know where they have put him. If you have taken him, please tell me where you have put his body, and I will go and retrieve it.”
Jesus looked at her calmly and uttered her name: “Mary.”
Turning to look at him, Mary suddenly realized who he was, and cried out “Rabboni!” (which means “teacher”).
“Do not hold onto me,” he said, “For I have not yet gone to be with the Father. Instead, go and tell my brothers and sisters that ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ Go! Run!”
And so Mary the Magdalene ran as fast as she could with a message on her lips: “I have seen the Lord!”
Just then, the guards awoke from their stupor and beheld the dead man, alive again. Frightened beyond measure, they ran into the city and told the religious officials what they had seen. Disturbed by this news, a meeting of the elders was called, and the guards were summoned and given a large bribe. “You must tell no one of what you have seen,” the elders said. “If anyone asks, you must say that the disciples of that Nazarene came in the night and stole his body away. If the governor hears about it, we will corroborate your story.” So this is what they did, and it is a story that many continue to spread to this day.
Meanwhile, as Mary (the mother of James), Salome, and Joanna fearfully made their way down the road, Jesus appeared to them. “Peace be with you!” he said. When they realized that what the men at the tomb had said was indeed true, they fell down at his feet and worshiped him. “Do not be afraid!” he said. “Go and tell my brothers and sisters that you have seen me.” And with that, they joyfully headed by way of the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem, where the rest of the disciples were staying.
When Mary the Magdalene arrived, she could barely contain her excitement. “I have seen the Lord!” she exclaimed. Just then, the rest of the women arrived with the same message. But this news sounded like nonsense to the disciples. However, Peter and another disciple were curious, and jumped up and ran to the tomb to see if what the women had said was true. The other disciple outran Peter and arrived at the tomb first, but did not go inside. Peter, however, ran inside, and they both saw the empty folded linens resting on the spot where Jesus’s body had been laid. Then they both believed, for until then they hadn’t understood that in order to fulfill the Scriptures Jesus had to rise from the dead. After this, they returned home, puzzling over the mystery they had just witnessed.
Later that same day, two of Jesus’s followers were traveling along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Jesus joined them and appeared to them as a stranger, and as they discussed the events of the previous week, he began to point to all of the places in Scripture concerning himself—throughout Moses and the prophets. As it was getting late, the travelers invited Jesus to stay the night with them. When they sat down to eat, Jesus broke the bread, and suddenly their eyes were opened and they realized who he was—but he vanished! “Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road?” they said, and immediately set out for Jerusalem to tell the other disciples all that they had seen.
That night, the rest of the disciples were meeting behind locked doors for fear of the religious authorities. Suddenly, Jesus appeared among them and said “Peace be with you!” But the disciples were terrified, thinking they were seeing a ghost. Jesus said again, “Peace be with you! Why are you afraid? It’s me! Look at my hands and feet. You can see that I am real, not a ghost; ghosts do not have bodies as I do.” They stood staring at him in joy and wonder, and he asked, “Do you have anything to eat?” So they brought him a broiled fish and watched as he ate. After eating, he told them, “My Father has sent me, and so I am sending you. Receive my spirit.” Saying this, he breathed on them, and added, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” And he left them.
Later, Thomas (called the Twin) joined them. “We have seen the Lord!” the disciples cried. But Thomas did not believe them.
“Unless I touch the nail wounds in his hands and the wound in his side I will not believe it.”
A little over a week later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples. This time, Thomas was with them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then, turning to Thomas, he said, “Here. Touch my wounds. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
“You believe because you have seen me, but blessed are those who believe without seeing,” Jesus said.
After spending the night with Peter and the rest of the disciples, Jesus spent the next few weeks in Jerusalem—forty days in all—and was later seen by at least five hundred of his followers at once, followed by James and the rest of the apostles. Afterward, he led them to a hillside outside the city and said to them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift that he promised you. John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. And you will be my witnesses, telling everyone about me throughout Jerusalem, Galilee, Samaria, and the ends of the earth, giving them this message: there is forgiveness of sins for all who repent. Now go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And know this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” And with that, he blessed them, and as he was blessing them he was taken up into the clouds and disappeared from sight.
As the disciples stood there, straining their necks to see, two men dressed in white appeared behind them. “You Galileans!” they said, “Why are you staring up into heaven? Jesus has been taken up to the Father, and some day he will return to you in the same way you saw him go.” With that, they returned to Jerusalem, and they were continually in the Temple, praising God.
You’re a real life Tatian! 🙂
Thanks for sharing this… I’d not seen an actual attempt… I’ll have to check Tatian some day, as Brian jokes about :). I also used to have that “Gospels in Stereo” or some such harmonization but never read it much and let it go many years ago.
Interestingly, more than one skeptic and/or atheist has issued the challenge to biblical literalists to attempt just what you did, in order to see the numerous major conflicts in the stories. Much as I’ve look into it and puzzled on the issues re. genre, etc., it’s still somewhat a mystery what the gospel authors were attempting and why; plus how it was taken by their intended audiences. (Not the “big purpose” reasons and methods, which are understandable enough, but some of the sub-points.)
Can you explain the Luke/Acts comment a bit? I’ll have to look at both books again, but am too lazy at the moment. Tho I go with the consensus on “Luke” writing both books, I have sometimes wondered at how/why he works in both genres with sometimes conflicting (or seemingly so) points.
Sure, @Howard. In the Gospel of Luke, the resurrection and ascension of Jesus happen on the same day. Jesus is resurrected and joins up with the disciples on the road to Emmaus; when the disciples realize it was Jesus who was eating with them, they return to Jerusalem “that same hour.” When they get back to Jerusalem and tell their fellow disciples what they had seen, Jesus shows up again, this time asking for food. Immediately following a brief discussion, Jesus leads them out to Bethany, where he is “carried up to heaven” (24:51).
In Acts, however, we find that Jesus sticks around in Jerusalem for forty days before his ascension (1:3).
I too hold to the consensus that Luke-Acts is the work of a single author, though I’m not sure how to justify this discrepancy. I’d be willing to bet that Mikeal Parsons addresses the issue in his book, Rethinking the Unity of Luke and Acts, co-authored with Richard Pervo.
Thanks! I think I now remember noting that discrepancy before also… but then it fits with my sense that correct narrative details or consistency just weren’t of much concern to the gospel writers (part of the ongoing mystique that I’ve not yet seen any scholar address as fully as I’d like). Maybe this isn’t a right implication, but it seems to me to say that there was “apologetic value” in any kind of supporting story, regardless how implausible it sounds now to us, and MAYBE even to them at the time. And I think we tend to forget or understate that the Gospels/Acts were apparently mainly for believing communities, more as support, reinforcement, than as persuaders for unbelievers.
So what do you think of the book, “Easter Enigma”, by John Wenham? I read it many years ago.
http://www.amazon.ca/Easter-Enigma-John-Wenham/dp/1842273132/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397008394&sr=8-1&keywords=Easter+enigma
@ljhooge I haven’t read it. What were your thoughts on it?
It was a while back when I read it, so I don’t remember a lot about the details, but I remember thinking it was a decent attempt. I don’t think it had as many repetitions as your attempt. … Personally I think Luke does a certain amount of ‘telescoping’ in his writing, eliminating time and events in his writing, collapsing events together. But hey, I could be wrong. Eg., does he do that in the third report of Paul’s conversion? Hmmmm. … Oh well, It’s been a while.
Joshua, You left out the message at the tomb in Mark and Matthew, “He has gone before you to Galilee, there you will see him.” Luke and John don’t have it at all. Matthew has Jesus himself repeat it to Mary. But Matthew loves to double-things.
Also note how the alleged words spoken by the resurrected Jesus increase in a Gospel trajectory from Mark to Matthew to Luke and John: http://edward-t-babinski.blogspot.com/2010/03/word-about-growing-words-of-resurrected.html
Also note how a study of Gospel trajectories allows one to see the story about Jesus growing in the telling over time: http://edward-t-babinski.blogspot.com/2014/04/gospel-trajectories-resurrection.html