John 20:1-2 Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
Luke 24:1-10 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'" And they remembered His words. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles."
Matthew 28:1-10 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you." So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!" So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me."
Mark 16:1-8 Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going [a]before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.” So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Read those. What do they have in common? They all start on the day after the sabbath.
And that's it. These are four very, very different stories about THE most important event in the Bible: the resurrection. If this were four witnesses testifying in court, the jury would reject them. They don't differ on little things; they differ on EVERYTHING.
In John's account, there's nobody at the tomb. In Mark's, there's a "young man". Mark uses the word for "angel" throughout his Gospel, but not here. But that's a quibble. Maybe the "young man" described in Mark is the angel described in Matthew. But wait, Luke has TWO angels...or men. Zero, one and two: contradiction.
In John's account, Mary Magdalene comes back and doesn't know what has happened at all, "we don't know where they've laid him!" But that's impossible, considering that two angels - or men - just TOLD Mary Magdalene and all the other women that he had been resurrected. And then there is the one angel, in Matthew, who told them that he was raised and going before them in Galilee. The man in Mark says the same thing - that Jesus is in Galilee and will see them there. So, which is it.
What is more, Matthew and Mark both have an angel, or a boy, telling them that Jesus is risen, and that they will see him in Galilee. But John has a stupefied Mary Magdalene having no idea where Jesus is, and then has Jesus seeing them all, not in Galilee, but in the upper room a few times several days later. But wait, Jesus appears to the women right there at the tomb, and they grab his feet, but he tells them to tell the men to meet him in Galilee.
Wait, no, John has Mary Magdalene back at the tomb, weeping because Jesus is gone, after the men have come and looked, and Jesus appears to her and says not to touch him, because he hasn't risen yet.
Hmmm. And, for their part, the women in Mark are so afraid they don't tell anybody.
Now you're going to tell me: there is no contradiction here! After having been SHOWN contradiction after contradiction. So, you're going to lie to my face, because the alternative is to admit the obvious: the Bible has contradictions in it. Simple as that. It was written by men, not God, and those men had different stories, and they recorded what they knew. And some of that was inaccurate, incorrect, wrong.
That's not a hard thing to say, because it's OBVIOUS when you look at the varied stories of the resurrection. It's only hard for you if you've made the Bible an idol and said it's perfect.
And it isn't saying that it's perfect that makes it an idol, no, it's THIS: Most people see the imperfections in the Bible, acknowledge it was written by men and thus is subject to human imperfections, but that it nevertheless broadly accounts the truth of God in the world, of Jesus being his son. The imperfections and contradictions in the details mean that you cannot get too literal about those details, but the overall picture it gives is true. Scholarship helps one understand these things, and not be troubled by them.
The idolatry comes in when you claim that a thing that clearly isn't perfect, is perfect, when you deny the obvious, and then when you state that if it ISN'T letter perfect, then it's all a lie. Well, then it's all a lie by YOUR standards, because I've already shown you a weakness in the text. There are many more. This doesn't trouble MY faith in God or in Jesus. But YOU say that if one doesn't believe in the Bible's letter perfection, then it all falls apart. You have made an idol of the Bible, which then forces you to be intellectually dishonest and say there are no contradictions, because YOUR religion says that if it isn't, then your religion shatters like glass because then there's "no authority".
So, you'll look at the contradictions that I just showed you, that everybody can see in plain English, and you'll lie in your denial and say there's no conflict, because the alternative is to admit the conflict and have your faith in God shatter. And THAT, my friend, is why God said not to make idols. You've made your Bible an idol, and claimed that because it's the word of God, it IS God - perfect. But none is perfect but God, and the Bible ISN'T God. Obviously - look at the imperfections in it!
Get rid of your idolatry. Remain a Christian and faithful to God,
