Either one, two, three, or more than three women came to the tomb (John 20:1; Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:10)
One approach to this conundrum is to simply say that each gospel account gives us only part of the story, and so all must be taken into account to get the complete picture. Thus, John only mentions Mary Magdalene since she is the most important figure for him. He does not specify one way or the other whether there were any other women present. Similarly, Matthew gives us an additional name, as does Mark. Luke gives the most complete details by adding a number of additional women without giving their names. This is in keeping with Luke's emphasis on women in his gospel.
An alternative explanation is offered by Geldenhuys in his commentary on Luke. It goes roughly like this: The three women listed by Mark run first to the tomb while the others follow with the spices. Mary Magdalene reaches the tomb first, sees that it is empty and runs off to tell Peter and John. The other Mary and Salome approach the tomb and see an angel inside. Then the remaining women, including Joanna, reach the tomb and see two angels. This scenario also helps to answer the next contradiction.
Two standing angels were seen by the women. (Luke 24:4)
Only one sitting angel was seen by the women. (Matthew 28:2,5)
One should also add the account in Mark 16:5-6 into the mix. A more complete summary of the three accounts is as follows:
Matthew: The women go to the tomb. The “angel of the Lord” descends from heaven, rolls away the stone and sits on it. The guards become as dead men. The angel talks to the women.
Mark: The women go to the tomb and find the stone already rolled away. A young man is seated to the right of the tomb.
Luke: The stone is already rolled away when the women arrive. Two men in dazzling clothes stand before them.
Let's take the details one at a time to show how they can be resolved:
When was the stone rolled away? Mark and Luke agree that it had been done before the women arrived. But what about Matthew? F.F. Bruce states the obvious alternatives: “Matthew seems to imply that they also saw the opening of the tomb, although he may narrate the opening of the tomb as something that happened while the women were traveling and before they arrived at the tomb.”
Was/were the angel/angels sitting or standing? Again, Bruce points out that unless we feel that angels are somehow incapable of motion, they could move about at will so that, for example, a seated angel could get up and stand, and vice versa.
How many angels were there? Here are three possible approaches to answering this question:
1. Geldenhuys explains that although two angels were present, “obviously only one of the angels would act as spokesman” and thus the other one could easily be ignored or forgotten by the witnesses who acted as sources for Matthew and Mark or by the evangelists themselves in the interest of simplicity.
The stress on two angels as witnesses to the resurrection by Luke also serves the function of tying this event with the two heavenly witnesses at Jesus' transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36) and ascension (Acts 1:10). This possibility is brought up by Ellis, Craddock, and Porter in their commentaries on Luke's Gospel. In favor of this proposal is the fact, brought out by Marshall, that the clothing in Luke's transfiguration story is said to be dazzling (exastrapto) and angel's garments are similarly called radiant (astrapto).
3. A final point is that there is no telling whether or not an angelic being possesses the power to appear as either a single or multiple entity, depending on the viewer and the circumstances. Consider Genesis 18-10 where Abraham interacts with angelic beings:
18:1 The LORD appeared to Abraham.
18:2 It was three men who appeared.
18:3 Abraham addresses them in the singular as “my Lord.”
18:5-9 They are now in the plural.
18:10 One of them speaks.
18:3-15 The LORD speaks to Abraham.
18:16 The “men” leave for Sodom.
18:17-20 The LORD speaks to himself.
18:22 The men leave while the LORD stays behind.
18:23-33 The LORD speaks with Abraham and then leaves.
19:1 The two angels come to Sodom.
One explanation is that God appeared as one of the three men, but another possibility is some sort of supernatural “shape-shifting” going on.
The women came to the tomb at sunrise. (Mark 16:2)
It was some time before sunrise. (John 20:1)
Robertson's Harmony of the Gospels gives two possible explanations.
John notes the time that the women started from Bethany when it was still dark. Soon it would have become early dawn, as Luke records in Luke 24:1. But by the time they arrived it would have been daylight, as in Matthew 28.
The expression in John 20 “the sun was risen” (aorist participle) may refer to the general phenomena of sunrise. Thus, the first gleam of daylight had appeared although the sun had not yet risen. Robertson quotes three OT passages in the Septuagint that employ the phrase in this way.
Two angels were seen by within the sepulchre. (John 20:11-12)
Only one angel was seen within the sepulchre. (Mark 16:5)
Even a cursory glance at the settings for these verses will show that they occurred at different time periods. Mark 16:5 happened the first time Mary Magdalene entered the tomb while John 20:11-12 occurred after Peter and the other disciple had already heard the word, gone to the tomb and then returned home.
The disciples were commanded immediately after the resurrection to go to Galilee. (Matthew 28:10)
The disciples were commanded immediately after the resurrection to tarry in Jerusalem. (Luke 24:33-37; John 20:19)
In the first place, the references in the second group above are totally incorrect. John 20 says nothing regarding a command to stay in Jerusalem, and the Luke 24 reference should be to verse 49 instead.
Secondly, there is no contradiction here. Jesus tells Mary that he will be meeting the disciples in Galilee, but that very evening he appears to them himself and tells them to first stay a little while in Jerusalem. We don't know the exact reason for his “premature” appearances to them in Jerusalem, but it may have been to totally convince them all, including Thomas, that he was indeed risen. Or, of course, it could have been to give them the reason for that tarrying.
The Holy Ghost was bestowed at Pentacost. (Acts 1:5,8)
The Holy Ghost was bestowed before Pentacost. (John 20:22)
Much has been written on this subject, distinguishing between the two events. For the sake of simplicity, I will just repeat what Leon Morris has written on the subject in his fine commentary, The Gospel According to John:
Some scholars hold that the two are incompatible. They maintain that Luke thought that the Spirit was not bestowed until ten days after the ascension, whereas John thought of this gift as taking place on the evening of the the day of resurrection. But this may be going too fast. The circumstances of the two gifts are completely different. And, whereas that in Acts 2 is followed immediately by some very effective preaching, no sequel to this gift is narrated [in John 20]. It is the teaching of the New Testament that “there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit (I Cor. 12:4), and the problem is probably to be solved along these lines. It is false alike to the New Testament and to Christian experience to maintain that there is but one gift of the Spirit. Rather the Spirit is continually manifesting Himself in new ways. So John tells us of one gift and Luke of another.
Again, the minor differences in wording and details should convince us that the four gospel authors did not simply get together to fabricate a common lie between them. These are four separate witnesses to the same events, either seen personally by themselves or as relayed to them by eye-witnesses.
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