Oh, the angels at the tomb? That's no problem!
At least if one has common sense. But that's only half the battle. The other half is using what one has.
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The Gospel writers seem to report different "beings" at the tomb. Matthew reports "an angel." Mark reports "a young man." Luke reports "two men." John reports "two angels." Do these accounts conflict concerning the nature of the beings reported—i.e., were they earthly men or heavenly angels? How do we respond to the critics who claim these accounts conflict?
When the Gospel writers refer to angels as men, they are describing how the angels appeared to them. Whenever angels appear to men in the Scriptures, they are almost always said to take the form of men. Nor is this surprising; it seems to be a deliberate attempt to reduce the anxiety level of those they contact. But they may reveal that they are angels in some unique way as they did in Matthew 28:2-3 or they may keep their angelic nature entirely hidden, as is plain from Hebrews 13:2. Therefore, it is not contradictory for the four Gospel writers to refer to the angels as men or as angels. Both are correct.
Regardless, Matthew specifically states it was an angel of the Lord. When angels are described as men, there is really little doubt as to the angelic nature of the men.
Luke, although describing their appearance as "men," also clearly identifies them as angels for he notes they were "in clothes that gleamed like lightning." Throughout the Bible angels are many times described as "men." In fact, sometimes in the very same passage angels are first described as "men" and later as "angels."
The Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, refer to angels in this way. It is not unique to these passages. Any critic who says this is a contradiction has not read the rest of the Bible (Genesis 18:1-3,22; 19:1,5,11-13,15; Judges 13:3,8,9-11,13; Luke 2:9-10; Hebrews 13:2).
We must remember that both Matthew and Mark are dealing with the same event. But neither writer is obligated to include every detail.
Mark simply refers to the fact that there is an angel the women encounter sitting on the right side who proceeds to give them a message. Mark compresses the story here as Matthew has done in places in his account. Luke, on the other hand, supplies more details about this event. He states in addition to the angel that speaks, there is a second angel present. Apparently the second angel does not say anything.
Concerning the number of angels recorded by Luke (two) and Matthew and Mark (one) Wenham states:
It should be said once and for all that the mention by one evangelist of two angels and by another of one does not constitute a contradiction or discrepancy.
If there were two, there was one. When learned critics make heavy weather about the accuracy of such accounts, they lack common sense. Contradiction would only be created if the writer who mentioned the one should go on to say explicitly that there was only one.
In a scene where one person is the chief speaker or actor it would often be perfectly natural to omit reference to the irrelevant fact that he had a companion.... It needs to be remembered that we are dealing with two descriptions of an event, and not with two witnesses replying to cross examination.
If witnesses, who had been in the tomb at the same time, had been asked independently, "Precisely how many men did you see?" and had given different answers, that would have shown one or the other to be unreliable. But these witnesses are not answering the question "How many?", they are giving (as all descriptions must be) incomplete descriptions of a complex event.6
In conclusion, even though Matthew, Mark and Luke have recorded differing details concerning the number of angels and their activities, the accounts do not contradict. Rather, they are complementary. Again, this does not show collusion but rather truthfulness in reporting. The writers have merely reported the events selectively, as all writers do.
Yet contemporary critics continue to discount what the Scriptures report concerning the story of the angels who were present at the Resurrection.
By Dr John Ankerberg & Dr. John Weldon
