The Resurrection Of Jesus
THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS
LUKE 24:1-12
The day of days had come at last. Of all the people in this paragraph, who are you most like?
Luke chose to record the appearances of Christ associated with Jerusalem. There is no reason at all why he should not have been selective in his recording of events. It would have been held against him with equal cogency had he merely traversed ground covered by the other evangelists.
The alleged discrepancies in the narrative are likewise of little consequence. Luke, for example, mentions two men in the tomb. Mark mentions only one (Mark 16:5). Mark was writing in great haste, and appears, indeed, to have been unable to finish his account before violence or arrest interrupted him. He naturally mentions the spokesman of the two visitants. Such words in no way deny the fact of two appearances recorded by Luke. Two contains one, as the greater contains the less. For a detailed study see N. Geldenhuys’ Commentary on Luke, pp. 626–628.
Luke’s informants are again apparent. Joanna (Luke 8:3) probably gave him such details as those set down in this story, as she no doubt gave him those of 23:8-12. When Luke was combing Palestine for surviving witnesses of the resurrection, twenty years later, the apostles were abroad. The women were a more stable group. It is also to be remembered that Luke was a close friend and traveling companion of Paul who was in prison at Caesarea, but accessible to his associates. In 1 Corinthians 15:1-7 Paul penned what is probably the first account of the resurrection, for the epistle antedates Mark. It is quite impossible to imagine that Luke did not know of the events which Paul enumerated. He was deliberately selective.
Observe also 24:12. As Mark omitted one angel, so Luke omits one apostle from his account. He had no doubt heard Peter describe the event: “I ran to the tomb, stooped and looked in. I saw the grave clothes …” John naturally tells a fuller story (John 20:3-10).
Notes The alternative to sane and honest reporting by the Gospel writers is pious fraud; such a tainted source would have smoothed out the apparent differences. Note how the behavior of the disciples likewise militates against the theory that the story was fabricated. 24:8: contrast 22:61. 24:10: Mark 16:1 adds Salome to the list. 24:11: “idle tale”—a medical word for “delirious babbling.”