The Resurrection According to Mark

Matthew ● Luke ● John ● Harmonization ● Conclusions

When the Sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, brought spices with which to go and anoint him. And very early in the morning on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen.


They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ But when they looked they saw that the stone- which was very big- had already been rolled back. On entering the tomb they saw a young man in a white robe seated on the right-hand side, and they were struck with amazement. But he said to them, ‘There is no need to be so amazed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he has risen, he is not here. See, here is the place where they laid him. But you must go and tell his disciples and Peter, “He is going ahead of you to Galilee; that is where you will see him, just as he told you.”’ And the women came out and ran away from the tomb because they were frightened out of their wits; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

 

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This is the end of the earliest manuscripts of Mark. The remaining verses are considered to be canonical, primarily because they are made up of the post-resurrection experiences which are recorded in the other gospels. However, neither Vaticanus nor Sinaiticus include this portion, and it does not seem to be written by the author of Mark. Other manuscripts contains various other “endings” to the Markan narrative, of varying length and containing varying details.

 

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Having risen in the morning on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary of Magdala from whom he had cast out seven devils. She then went to those who had been his companions, and who were mourning and in tears, and told them. But they did not believe her when they heard her say that he was alive and that she had seen him.

 

After this, he showed himself under another form to two of them as they were on their way into the country. These went back and told the others, who did not believe them either.

 

Lastly, he showed himself to the Eleven themselves while they were at table. He reproached them for their incredulity and obstinacy, because they had refused to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. And he said to them, ‘Go out to the whole world: proclaim the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These are the signs that will be associated with believers: in my name they will cast out devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover.’

 

And so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven; there at the right hand of God he took his place, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.

 

 

  

Dan Barker's Easter Challenge

Dan Barker has issued a perennial challenge to Christians, requesting that they "tell me what happened on Easter. I am not asking for proof. My straightforward request is merely that Christians tell me exactly what happened on the day that their most important doctrine was born." The terms of this challenge are to harmonize the gospel accounts from Easter morning until the end of each gospel, without omitting a single detail.

 

I've decided to take up this challenge, simply to familiarize myself with the issues involved with this challenge, so that I may be better informed when discussing the gospel accounts with others. I intend to take as liberal a position as possible, including all non-redundant events under the assumption that differing details are omissions between the accounts. For convenience, when an event is recorded in two or more gospels, I will include the text from the older source (assuming that Mark is the oldest account, followed by Matthew, Luke and John).

 

I will not be including text from Mark 9-20, since it is not found in the original manuscripts, and most of its narrative content is a paraphrase of other gospels. I will be including Acts 1:3-12, which complements the ascension account in Luke, but I will not be including Paul's formula in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, since it does not contribute any narrative details in a context which promotes harmonization.

 

My source text translation is the New Jerusalem Bible.