The details of resurrection day have never been very problematic for me. I have posted (below) my chronology of the events. It should be remembered that any one gospel, here as elsewhere, chooses to leave out information provided by others. The reasons for each writer's selection of details cannot be known, but the phenomenon is well-known.
I think it is obvious that, even if the gospels were not inspired, and if they were hopelessly in conflict with each other over some details (which I do not find to be the case), they would nonetheless provide multiple witnesses to the one great event of Christ's resurrection. If the authors had made mistakes in matters of detail, they could hardly have been mistaken about the event itself. The honesty of their accounts is seen in the following features:
1. None of them describe the resurrection itself—only the empty tomb and subsequent appearances of Christ. If they were writing fiction, they certainly would have given glowing descriptions of Christ's reviving in the tomb and emerging;
2. They all agree that the first witnesses were women—a very un-Jewish thing to fabricate, if seeking credibility among the Jews, who discredited women's testimonies on court;
3. Though acquainted with each other, the writers did not make any effort to collude and to artificially force their stories into harmony with each other;
4. One or more of the disciples themselves are painted in very unflattering light in all the accounts, requiring Jesus to rebuke them. Since these men were the leaders to be followed without question in the early church, their depiction as dull and slow to believe could hardly have been thought advantageous to include in the narrative, unless true.
The Events of Resurrection Day
Collated by Steve Gregg
1. Women approach the tomb. They see, as they approach, the stone has been moved
Matt.28:1/Mk.16:1-4/Lk 24:1-2, 10/Jn.20:1
Women named:
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (Matt.28:1)
Mary Magdalene, Mary of James, Salome (Mark 16:1)
Mary Magdalene, Mary of James, Joanna, other women (Luke 24:10)
Mary Magdalene (John 20:1)
Time of day:
As Sunday is dawning (Mtt.28:1],
Early morning (Mk.16:1/Lk.24:1)
When the sun was risen (Mk.16:1)
While it was still dark (Jn.20:1)
2. Assuming the grave has been tampered with, Mary Magdalene runs to tell Peter and John
John 20:2a
3. The other women proceed to the tomb, see angels, then run away afraid
Mtt.28:2-8/Mk.16:5-8/Lk.24:3-8
4. Jesus appears to the women as they are on their way
Mtt.28:9-10
5. Mary reaches Peter and John, followed by the other women, telling the apostles
Lk.24:9-11/ John 20:2b
6. Peter and John then visit the tomb, view evidence and leave
Lk.24:12/John 20:3-10
7. Mary trails behind them, reaching the tomb after they depart—sees angels
John 20:11-13
8. Mary sees Jesus
Mk.16:9-11/ John 20:14-18
9. Jesus appears to Peter
Lk.24:34/ 1 Cor.15:5
10. Jesus appears on the road to Emmaus
Mk.16:12-13/ Luke 24:13-33
11. Jesus appears to the apostles, with Thomas absent
Mk.16:14ff/ Lk.24:36ff/ John 20:19-23/ 1 Cor.15:5
Easter chronology
Easter chronology
A former student of mine wrote to me on Easter, asking me the order of events—taking into consideration the differences observed among the four Gospels' accounts and that of Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15. I responded as follows (feel free to improve upon this):