Resurrection Sunday - He Is RISEN!

In Mark and Matthew, the angel tells them Jesus will meet them in Galilee.  In John, two angels tell Mary Jesus has risen during her second visit to the tomb.  In Luke, two angels remind the women Jesus had told them he would rise on the third day.

Mary Magdalene Reaches out to a Resurrected Jesus.  In the Gospel of John, on her second trip to Jesus’ tomb she turns away from the empty tomb to find a man she believes is the gardener.  In tears she asks where Jesus’ body has been taken.  “Mary,” says Jesus and she recognizes him, but he cautions her away from touching him because he has yet to ascend to the Father.  Fresco from the Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy  1303-05 Giotto de Bondone

There are different groupings of women in each Gospel.  In Mark, the women are Mary Magdalene, Mary, Jesus’ mother and Salome, Jesus’ sister.  In Matthew, they are Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, but we do not know which Mary. In Luke they are Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother of James and other women taking spices they had prepared to the tomb.  In John, it is Mary Magdalene alone who goes to the tomb.

There is guidance and direction given at the tomb. In Luke, one of the angels reminds the women that Jesus had told them the Son of Man must be delivered to the hands of the sinners, crucified and on the third day would rise from the dead.  In Matthew, the angel tells Mary and Mary that they must tell the disciples Jesus has risen and he is going ahead to meet them in Galilee.  We do not know what Mary and Mary told the disciples but in 28:16, the disciples meet Jesus on a Galilean hillside.  In Mark, the angel tells the women, “But go, tell his disciples and Peter, He is going ahead of you into Galilee.  There you will see him, just as he told you.”  In John, on her second visit to the tomb, Mary sees Jesus and he tells her to, “Go instead to my brothers and tell them I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”  

Three of the gospels record a first meeting with Jesus.  In John, on her second visit, as she turns from the empty tomb Mary sees a man whom she mistakes for the gardener.  The gardener turns out to be Jesus, but she cannot touch him because he has not yet ascended to the Father.  In Matthew, Jesus meets the women as they are on their way to tell the disciples he has risen and they fall at his feet, touching him.  In Luke, on the  resurrection day, Cleopas and another disciples were walking to Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, when they meet Jesus on the road. 

In Mark, there is no meeting of the disciples.  Mark ends with the women running away in fear, and we do not know what or if they tell the disciples.

What we do know from the gospels is the assurance, no matter the version, that the tomb is open and Jesus is not captive to death.  Through his resurrection, we have been offered the opportunity to join Jesus in the heaven he has prepared for us.