The "Easter Story" as Narrated in Scripture

There are three critical movements that we celebrate from "Good Friday" through "Easter Sunday": the first is the passion, crucifixion, and death of Jesus; the second is the "empty" tomb and the "resurrection" of Jesus "from the dead" on the "third day"; and the third is the "appearances" of Jesus to others after his death and resurrection.¹

Many who attend Easter Mass or other Christian services today have a preconceived understanding of the "Easter story" based on the teachings and rituals of their respective faith communities. They may generally be unaware of various differences in this story as recorded in the writings of Paul and the four Gospels.² Instead, the narratives found in these writings are generally merged and harmonized together and presented as a unified story that conveys the theological meaning intended by the Catholic Church or other Christian faith traditions.

Moreover, this preconceived understanding generally includes the acceptance that all or some narratives of the "Easter Story" are or are required to be factually true. That is, the acceptance that the events as recorded in scripture actually occurred in history independent of any act of faith; especially the necessity of Jesus's resurrection from his death. "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins" (1 Cor. 15:17). In other words, these events could have been independently and simultaneously filmed, videotaped, or otherwise documented had this techonology existed at the time. Any discepancies noted in these narratives are either ignored or explained away.

Let us consider some of these narratives pertaining to the Easter Story, as reported in the Gospels and the authentic letters of Paul, and included as part of the twenty-seven books of the "New Testament" accepted by the Church:³

Is the crucifixion historical? At the time of Jesus, crucifixion was a customary means of execution by Romans for certain types of crimes. All four Gospels, the writings of the Apostle Paul, as well as non-biblical sources such as the writings by Flavius [Josephus] and Tacitus,⁴ acknowledge the crucifixion of Jesus by the Romans authorities. Applying certain criteria (e.g. criterion of multiple attestation, criterion of dissimilarity, criterion of embarrassment, etc.), used by historical scholars when evaluating the historical reliability of Scripture or other literature, most scholars believe the crucifixion of Jesus was a historical event.

Who were the first to arrive at the empty tomb? Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome [Mark 16:1]; "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary" [Matt. 28:1]; "Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; the others who accompanied them" [Lk 24:1,10]; "Mary of Magdala. . .[who] ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved,. . . [who] went out and came to the tomb" [Jn 20:1-3].⁵

Who Did the Disciples First See at the Tomb? In Mark, "A young man...clothed in a white robe," sitting in the tomb, appeared to Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome. [Mk 16:1,4-5]. In Matthew, an angel appeared to "Mary and the other Mary" [Matt 28:1,5]. In Luke, "two men in dazzling garments appeared to" the "women of Galilee" ("Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; the others who accompanied them") who came to anoint Jesus's body with spices [Luke 23:55-24:1-4, 10]. According to John, although Peter and the other disciple did not see anyone when they looked inside the tomb, after they ran off to tell the other disciples, Mary stayed and when "she bent over into the tomb" she "saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been." [John 20:11-13].

How was the stone moved from the front of the Jesus's tomb? In Mark, no explanation was given, other than there being a young man dressed in a white robe sitting inside the tomb [Mark 16:1-5]. Matthew states "there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it"; and despite the tomb being guarded by soldiers [Matt. 27:62-66, 28:2]. Luke offers no explanation except that "two men in dazzling garments appeared to the [women]" [Luke 24:1-4]. John provides no explanation [Jn 20:1].

When did Jesus appear to his disciples after his resurrection? The original version of the Gospel of Mark, believed to be the first Gospel written, does not mention Jesus visually appearing to his disciples after his death, ending the Gospel with the women who "fled from the tomb, seized with trembling and bewilderment. They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." [Mark 16:1-8]. However, later manuscripts of Mark include additional narratives stating, "When he had risen, early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons, who "went and told [Jesus's] companions who were mourning and weeping. Jesus "appeared yin another form to two of them walking along on their way to the country;" and "later, as the eleven were at table, he appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised; and to "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned." Jesus then ascends into heaven [Mark 16:9-17, 19-20].

Like Mark [16:7], Matthew has the angels stating to the women that Jesus will appear to his disciples in Galilee [Matt. 28:10] "The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted." [Matt. 28:16-20].

The Gospel of Luke has Jesus appearing to his disciples on the "Road to Emmaus" and in a closed room that evening in Jerusalem [Luke 24:1-35, 36-39]. Jesus then leads them out to Bethany and "was taken up to heaven" that same day [Luke 24:50-51] The "Acts to the Apostles" says Jesus appeared to his disciples during the forty days following his resurrection, at which time Jesus "was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. [Acts 1:1-12].

John has Jesus first appearing and speaking with Mary Magdeline at the empty tomb [John 20:15-17]. That evening, "when the doors were locked," Jesus appeared to his disciples in Jerusalem without Thomas being present [John 20:19-23]. A week later, "although the doors were locked," Jesus again appeared to the disciples with Thomas present [John 20:24-29]. Sometime after this, Jesus appeared to seven of his disciples while they were fishing on the "Sea of Tiberias" [Sea of Galilee], and he specifically conversed with Peter [John 21:1-23].

How are Jesus's appearances to his disciples described? The resurrected Jesus is described as having a physical body, able to communicate, who eats and can be physically touched, but yet who is able to pass through locked doors or other physical barriers at will [cf. Lk 24:13-35, 26-43; John 20:19-20; 26-27].

Did the Disciples Have Difficulty in Recognizing Jesus? Mary Magdeline didn't initially recognize Jesus and thought he was a gardener [John 20:11, 15]. The disciples whom Jesus walked with on the Road to Emmaus did not recognize him until they started eating at night and Jesus broke the bread [Luke 24:13–35] Other than possibly Thomas initially doubting Jesus's presence, there is no mention that any of the other disciples had any difficulty in recognizing Jesus when he appeared to them.
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Since the narratives of these events were first written almost two thousand years ago, beginning about eighteen years after Jesus's death, a question for consideration is whether we can experience meaning from these narratives regardless of whether any or all of them are factually true or not.

1. A corollary issue concerns whether Jesus entered "hell," "Hades," or other place of the dead before his resurrection. The "Apostles Creed," states Jesus "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven,..." The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, formulated in the Fourth Century, states, "For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accorance with the Scriptures."

2. Contemporary scripture scholars believe Jesus was crucified sometime between 30 and 33 C.E. The majority of Scripture scholars believe the Apostle Paul wrote seven letters, although thirteen are attributed to his name, from approximately 48 C.E. 64 C.E. However, Paul never witnessed the historical Jesus before his death nor, other than commenting on Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection, does not write about any other events or specific teachings attributed to Jesus. According to the Acts of the Apostles, "On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? [Paul] said, “Who are you, sir?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." Paul's companions seeing the light, but they did not hearing any voice. [Acts 9:1-9; cf. Acts 22:5-11; 26:12-18].

These scripture scholars also believe that "Mark" was the first Gospel written, shortly before 70 C.E., followed by the Gospel of Matthew, then the Gospel of Luke around 80-90 C.E., and finally John around 90-100 C.E. The most ancient manuscripts of the Gospel of Mark abruptly end with Chapter 16, verse 8, with the longer version of Mark 16:9-20 found in later manuscripts, but included in the canonical Gospel by the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century. Contemporary scripture scholars also contend that none of the Gospels were written by anyone who personally knew the historical Jesus before his death.

3. Differences can also be found in the Gospel narratives related to the Christmas Story (only presented in Matthew and Luke), Good Friday, as well as in presenting different events, words, or actions attributed to Jesus. For example, the wedding of Cana and the raising of Lazarus from the dead, which are miraculous events personally witnessed by Jesus's disciples, are only reported in the Gospel of John (John 2:1-12; 11:1-44).

4. Flavius Josephus (c. 37-100 C.E.) was a Jewish–Roman historian and military leader, who fought in the Jewish rebellion, was captured by the Romans, and was granted Roman citizenship. He was an interpreter for the Roman General Titus when he led the siege of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. resulting in the destruction of the Jewish Temple. Tacitus (c. 56-120 C.E.) was a Roman historian and Senator. Their respective writings included references to Jesus of Nazareth being crucified by the Roman authorities.

5. According to scholars, given that one of Rome's purposes in employing crucifixion was to punish, humilate, and degrade those who were crucified, and as an example to bystanders, it was customary for the bodies of people who were crucified to remain on the cross until they decomposed or served as food for scavenging animals. However, exceptions were made to this practice and burials were permitted at the request of important people. All four Gospel accounts record Jesus being buried in a tomb provided by Joseph of Arimathea [Mark 15:42-47; Matt. 27:57-61; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42]