by Stuart H. Gray
In this blog we shift our focus to the angels who reportedly turn up at the empty tomb.
1 – How many angels attended Jesus’ tomb? Were they found inside or outside, and were they sitting or standing?
2 – Do the accounts disagree about who was the first person to enter Jesus’ empty tomb on Sunday morning?
1 – How Many Angels Attended the Tomb, Were they Inside or Outside, and Were They Sitting Down or Standing Up?
Matthew’s account:
“…Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 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. His appearance was like lightening, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” (Matthew 28:2 – 6, NIV)
Matthew says one angel talked to the women once they arrived at the empty tomb. The location of the angel during Matthew’s flashback scene (described here) is outside the tomb. He sat on top of the stone. The flashback scene ends at verse 5. We know the narrative switches back to the present because in verse 6 the angel now talks with the women.
“The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid…” (Mt. 28:6, NIV)
Where is the angel at this point? Is he still sitting on the top of the stone? Possibly. We can’t tell from Matthew’s description. Presumably, time has passed between the flashback events and the angel’s words to the women. It is plausible that in this intervening period, the angel has moved inside the tomb. He is waiting for the women to come and look at the tomb.
It is likely that the angel moved the stone from the front of the tomb for an important purpose. It wasn’t to let Jesus out. It was to let the women see he had been raised. The angel was waiting at the place where his body had been laid. We don’t know from Matthew whether he is sitting or standing.
Mark’s account:
“As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen!” (Mark 16:5 – 6, NIV)
First, Mark says a young man in white is sitting inside the tomb. There’s a pattern in the Bible of referring to angels as people (Gen. 18:1-2, Heb. 13:2). Also, Mark recounts the alarm felt by the women when they saw the young man. Clearly, there was something unusual about this person and it scared them. The last thing to notice from Mark is he says the angel is sitting down.
Luke’s account:
“…when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightening stood beside them. 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? He is not here; he has risen!” (Luke 24:3 – 6, NIV)
Like Mark, the women enter the tomb before encountering the angel. However, this time they find two angels, not one. And the angel’s words differ from both Matthew and Mark’s account. Is there a contradiction between these accounts?
Can We Harmonize Luke, Matthew, and Mark’s Accounts?
First, the behavior of the women is consistent in all three accounts. The women arrive at the tomb. They observe it is open, and they enter. We can infer their entrance in Matthew’s account, while we hear about it explicitly from both Mark and Luke.
Second, we have two angels reported in Luke. However, notice that only one angel appears to be speaking to the women in Luke’s account. This is just the same as Matthew and Mark’s account of angel interaction. It is possible that Matthew and Mark are spotlighting the one angel who actually talks with the women. Matthew and Mark omit to mention the non-speaking angel. But omission is not the same thing as denial. They don’t state there is absolutely only one angel there. If two angels were present then at least one angel would have been present as well.
Third, Luke describes the posture of the angels as standing. Mark says the angel is sitting. Is it possible that both Mark and Luke are correct about the posture of the speaking angel? Sure. Perhaps he changed posture as the events unfolded inside the tomb. This seems plausible to me.
John’s account:
John picks out Mary Magdalene from the other women in the group. He describes events from her point of view.
“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. 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 20:1 – 2, NIV)
Mary immediately leaves the other women at the empty tomb. She runs to find John and Peter to tell them what has happened. Presumably the men are both staying at John’s house in Jerusalem. Mary’s report suggests she arrived at the tomb that morning in a group. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him.” (Jn. 20:2, NIV) This makes John’s account consistent with the other accounts.
Luke agrees with John that Mary Magdalene reported the empty tomb to Peter and John. (Lk. 24:10) John then describes Peter and himself running to the empty tomb. They see no angels, and they go back home. Luke agrees with John that Peter visited the empty tomb. (Lk. 24:12) But he neglects to mention John was with him. He spotlights Peter.
I am assuming the following. Once the men arrive at the empty tomb, the original group of women have already left.
John Describes a Subsequent Angelic Encounter Compared To the Synoptic Gospels
The Synoptic gospels omit Mary Magdalene’s second visit to the tomb that morning as described by John. Clearly, having gone to fetch the disciples, she has followed them back to the empty tomb again. Now we read…
“Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” (John 20:10 – 13, NIV)
John is describing a subsequent angelic encounter that followed the one reported by the Synoptic gospels. This new encounter occurred to Mary Magdalene on her own. Like the earlier encounter, the angels are inside the tomb. But this time, both angels seem to have spoken to her.
Conclusion – Harmonization is Plausible
How many angels were at the tomb? It is reasonable to presume there were two angels. Were they inside or outside the tomb? They were inside the tomb. What was their posture? Were they sitting or standing? Both. They were moving posture as the encounter proceeded.
However, John describes a different angelic encounter compared to the other gospels. It seems reasonable to presume that John’s account supplements the other accounts. We need to read John and the Synoptics to get a full picture of what happened.
2 – Do the Accounts Disagree About Who Was the First Person to Enter Jesus’ Tomb?
This contradiction claim was made to me recently. It is odd to me tho. The accounts all agree that the first persons to enter the empty tomb was not a human being at all. It was an angel. The accounts either state explicitly, or allow us to infer, the angel location as being inside the tomb.
The first human being to enter the empty tomb is not named by any of the accounts. Matthew does not say who was first. We can infer that once Mary Magdalene has left, the remaining women looked inside and saw the angels. One angel spoke to them. Mark says the women entered the tomb. Mark identifies the other Mary and Salome, but does not state who was first to go in. Luke is not specific about the identity of the women who first enter the empty tomb. John reports he was first into the tomb followed by Peter. Yet a close reading of John 20:2 suggests John was not first into the tomb. The original group of women preceded him. They had been there and already left the empty tomb before the men arrived. So, again, this suggests the original group of women were the first to enter the empty tomb. But we do not know which lady was the first to enter.
In summary, none of the accounts name the first human being who enters the tomb. They do identify the names of some individuals who enter the tomb at different times that morning. None of the accounts are clear on who is first into the tomb. Consequently, I do not believe we can say a contradiction occurs on this point. We simply don’t have enough data.
Conclusion
It seems clear the accounts agree that two angels attend the tomb. Only one angel spoke to the women during the initial encounter. The angels spoke from inside the tomb. Finally, we saw that the accounts do not identify the first person to enter Jesus’ tomb on Sunday morning. Though they are clear that the angels did precede the people. Given that situation, the accounts all agree the angels were therefore first to enter the tomb on Sunday morning.
