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Contradictory Resurrection Stories but Mary Magdalene and the Empty Tomb Align

by Shirley Paulson, PhD

The resurrection of Jesus is arguably the foundational underpinning of everlasting life in Christian faith. There are at least six different stories of women witnessing the empty tomb. Interestingly, while other details conflict somewhat, all report Mary Magdalene as either the only witness or in the company of a couple of other women. Why is this so interesting? Well, in part, because so many biblical authors and early church fathers worked so assiduously to diminish or even erase Mary’s role in the early church.

Should we be skeptical about the idea of the resurrection itself because there are, at times, conflicting versions? Yes and no.

What to do with contradictory details

While it may seem odd that such a crucial event would have some contradictory details, such differences are quite common for key historical events, as each author is trying to advance a specific viewpoint or person and may overstate or understate certain details (or invent them entirely!). Rather than repudiate the entire story, the existence of these differing stories actually strengthens the case for assigning greater importance to areas which align, while also providing fascinating fodder for historians to piece together the intentions of the authors or the various factions through examining the differences. Because Mary’s presence and her witnessing the empty tomb seem to be the only repeated, and therefore stable, parts of these resurrection accounts, we can start to ask important questions about why some of the authors treated her so differently.

An argument could be made that the presence of Mary at the empty tomb was an inconvenient truth to the gospel writers. They appear to minimize Mary while they preserve the great importance of the resurrection itself. For instance, the author of Luke’s gospel appears to diminish her importance by placing the account of an unnamed sex worker right next to the report of Mary and others financially supporting Jesus’s ministry. Conflating these stories makes it seem, with no justification, as if Mary is also a woman of loose morals.

At the resurrection scene, then, Luke’s author identifies Mary by name only after she leaves the scene and reports the empty tomb to the men who, by the way, consider her announcement an idle tale.

Here is a quick comparison of some gospel accounts:

Gospel of Mark (15:40, 16:1, 5, 7-8)

There were also women looking on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome,^…. When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Gospel of Matthew (28:1-10)

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. But 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, for he has been raised, as he said. …Then go quickly and tell his disciples, …So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples.

Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings! Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers and sisters to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Gospel of Luke (23:49; 24:1-5, 10-12)

All his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching these things. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body.  While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed 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 but has risen. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

Gospel of John (20:1-10) First Story

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, … Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed, for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. 

Gospel of John (20:11-18) Second Story

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white … They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? … she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “…go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Gospel of Peter (34-57)

Now when the morning of the Sabbath dawned, a crowd from Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside went that they might see the grave that had been sealed. But during the night before the Lord’s Day dawned, while the soldiers were watching two by two as guards, there was a great voice in heaven. And they saw the heavens being opened, and two men descended from there, having much radiance, and they approached the tomb. But that stone which had been placed at the door rolled away by itself, and made way in part, and the tomb was opened, and both the young men went in. Then those soldiers … saw three men coming out of the tomb, with the two supporting the one, and a cross following them. And the heads of the two reached as far as heaven, but that of the one being led by them reached beyond the heavens. …Now at dawn on the Lord’s day, Mary Magdalene, a disciple of the Lord…Taking her friends with her, she went to the grave…They found the tomb had been opened. And having approached, they bent down and saw there a certain young man sitting in the middle of the tomb. … He said to them, …he arose and went to where he came from. Then the women were afraid, and fled.

Conclusion

The depictions of Mary at the tomb are of somebody who seems weak and frightened. Such a depiction is generally consistent with her other depictions in the gospels—unnecessary, weak, and mostly irrelevant. While the fact that she is mentioned so regularly should make an astute reader question this idea of irrelevance (and, thus, every other depiction of her), there are additional texts—such as the Gospel of Mary, those in the Nag Hammadi Library, and elsewhere—that suggest her presence was far more significant. Indeed, try as they might to erase her role with Jesus and the disciples, the mere fact that her presence is the only consistent thread across all six gospel accounts points to an understanding that Mary played a pivotal role in this key event.