Mary Magdalene and the resurrection of Jesus

[Christian2]

I need some help figuring this one out.

Matthew 28
The Resurrection
1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

vs.

John 20

10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

If the angel told Mary that Jesus had risen (Matthew 28), then would she ask the "gardener" if they had moved the body?

Thank you.

[PaulSacramento]

There are multiple accounts that h ave been written about what happened at the tomb:
Matthew:
28 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where hea lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead,b and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” 8 So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Mark:
16 When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 4 When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.a

Luke:
16 When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 4 When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.a

John:
20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to looka into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew,b “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Many people like to focus on what the difference are, when they should focus on all they have in common.
As Gospels write down the accounts of what happened and they write them down according to the traditions that they follow.
Variances in story telling are natural and can be explained in many ways:
Some audience wanted my details, some writers liked to be "poetic", etc.
They were all base don oral trations and when people put down an oral tration on paper, their own personal writing style can "change" the tradition.
Yet the facts and core remain SOLID in all 4 gospels:
On Sunday, the femals followers of Christ went to His tomb and found it empty and Christ then appeared to them and after to the others, in BODILY form.
He ate with them, fix them food, broke bread with them and they touched him.
He was real and in substance NOT immaterial.

[Christian2]

PaulSacramento,

Perhaps Mary Magdalene left immediately to go and tell the disciples and it was the other women who heard that Jesus had risen and Mary wasn't there to hear that report?

[PaulSacramento]

PaulSacramento,

Perhaps Mary Magdalene left immediately to go and tell the disciples and it was the other women who heard that Jesus had risen and Mary wasn't there to hear that report?

We can speculate all we want and never reach a conclusion.
Fact is that the people that heard these things at the time didn't seem to have any "contridiction issues".

The are varying accounts of many things in history, Ceaser crossing the Rubicon, The 300 at Thermopolaye, stories about Troy, Alexander, etc, etc.
Even in out current time we have "contridictions" about the holocaust for example, how many died for example.

Focusing on the supposed contridictions that CAN'T be cleared up is pointless when the CORE of the different stories are all in agreement.

BUT if you want to get down the the nitty gritty, what we have is a case of an original "passion narrative" that first appears ( from the oral tradtion) in Mark, then gets developed further with more detail in Mat and then when Luke writes it up, he combines the multiple sources to add more detail.
John's doesn't go oever what was already in writing but adds his OWN fresh perspective.

[Christian2]

PaulSacramento,

Perhaps Mary Magdalene left immediately to go and tell the disciples and it was the other women who heard that Jesus had risen and Mary wasn't there to hear that report?

We can speculate all we want and never reach a conclusion.
Fact is that the people that heard these things at the time didn't seem to have any "contridiction issues".

The are varying accounts of many things in history, Ceaser crossing the Rubicon, The 300 at Thermopolaye, stories about Troy, Alexander, etc, etc.
Even in out current time we have "contridictions" about the holocaust for example, how many died for example.

Focusing on the supposed contridictions that CAN'T be cleared up is pointless when the CORE of the different stories are all in agreement.

BUT if you want to get down the the nitty gritty, what we have is a case of an original "passion narrative" that first appears ( from the oral tradtion) in Mark, then gets developed further with more detail in Mat and then when Luke writes it up, he combines the multiple sources to add more detail.
John's doesn't go oever what was already in writing but adds his OWN fresh perspective.

Well, I am trying to harmonize these accounts.

John 20, 1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

John says Mary Magdalene came alone to tell the disciples, leaving the other women at the tomb.

Matthew 28: 1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Matthew says Mary Magdalene was told that Jesus had risen.

Mark 16: 1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

Mark agrees with Matthew. Mary Magdalene was there are heard that Jesus had risen.

Luke 24: 1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.
9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

I don't see how Matthew, Mark and Luke can be harmonized with John 20.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[PaulSacramento]

I don't see how Matthew, Mark and Luke can be harmonized with John 20.

You are focusing on what YOU think is a discrepency when all it is is a difference in detail.
All agree that it was Mary and some point out that she was accompanied by other(s).
But it seems you issue is with what Mary seems to have told the disciples.
The issues seems to be John's version of what happened.
In the synoptics Mary is TOLD what happened to Jesus and where she.they will see them.
In John it says that Mary told Peter and the beloved disciple that THEY took the Lord and she didn't know where they put him".
No notice that Mark and Matt don't tell us what Mary told the disciples BUT Luke says that whatever she told them, it didn't make any sense.
It may be that what John says is what Mary did say to them.
Why? because she was probably freaked to NO END !