Jesus Christ Is Risen Today

Jesus Christ Is Risen Today

Matthew 28:1-15

            Matthew, Mark, Luke and John each wrote an account of the resurrection.  Actually, except for Luke, we’re pretty sure someone else wrote down the words attributed to them.  What we think happened is that Matthew, Mark and John each told their memories of Jesus to their followers.  At some point, someone said, “We’d better write these stories down before they become lost or changed.” 

Luke was probably different.  He writes at the beginning of his gospel about researching (speaking to people who actually walked and talked with Jesus) before writing.  He is most likely the actual author of his gospel as well as the book of the Acts of the Apostles.

Each writer relates a different account of Jesus’ resurrection.  About the only points they agree on are (1) people went to the tomb on Sunday morning (Mary Magdalene is the only one mentioned by all four evangelists); (2) the tomb was empty; (3) there was at least one angel present. 

More prominent are the differences.  Matthew names two women; Mark names three; Luke names three (not the same three) but says there were others; John names only one.  In Matthew’s account Jesus appears to the women as they are walking back to the city.  Mark says the angel (identified as a “young man”) told the women to go tell the disciples, but they said nothing to anyone.  Luke says that two angels told the women to report back to the disciples, and Peter came to verify their story.  John has Mary Magdalene run to tell Peter, and he and John run to the tomb.  Later, Mary is alone in the garden, weeping, when Jesus comes and speaks to her.

We want to treat these accounts as we would those in history books.  We expect the details to tally, or at least for someone to make sense of the story, and tell us which account is the true one.  We’re disappointed when everything is left up in the air, so we try to blend them into one—but that doesn’t work.  How do we reconcile the different accounts?  How do we find out which one (if any) is the way it really happened?

We must begin by looking at the problem from a different angle.  These are four people telling what they remember, or in the case of Luke what his sources remember.  We might be tempted to accept Luke’s version as closest to the truth because he most likely collated the stories he collected into the most logical, plausible account he could. 

Instead, remember the circumstances.  The disciples were in a depressed state.  Their leader, their teacher—their Lord had been executed.  As far as they could see the adventure was over.  There was nothing left to say or do.  They hadn’t grasped Jesus’ words that he would rise on the third day.  Then word came that the tomb was empty.  What should they make of that? 

To my mind, the resurrection would be much less believable if all four evangelists told the same story down to the last detail.  Like witnesses in a court case, each had a different point of view.  Each saw and heard the story from his vantage point.  Each remembered what was important to him.  It is up to the jury to listen to all four accounts, sort out the details, and come to a conclusion.

We are that jury.  We must decide which account—which details—ring true.  Perhaps they all do.  Perhaps everything in each account actually happened, but was remembered differently.  Perhaps we should be less concerned with the details than with the single most significant fact:  Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, rose from the dead that Sunday morning, and as a result, we can be reconciled to God. 

Amen!