Originally posted by Proper Knob
Here you go. Two discrepancies.
Who was in the tomb? An angel, or two, or a young boy or no one?
Who opened the tomb? Was it already open or did and angel open it?
Well, let's see. Some of these things I can only speculate about.
Going in NT order:
Matthew
"And the angel answered and said to the women. Do not be afraid, for I know that you are seeking Jesus, the crucified. He is not here, for He has been raised, even as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying." (28:5-6)
So
Matthew does not tell us anyone was in the tomb.
The emphasis of
Matthew is who was NOT in the tomb -
Jesus.
Who may have been there, whether no one or one or two or more somebodies, is not explicitly stated.
Going on to
Mark.
Mark -
"And when they entered into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right, clothed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, Do not be alarmed. You are seeking Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has been raised; He is not here. Behold the place where they laid Him." (15:5,6)
So
Mark says a young man in a white robe was there.
Was it the same women as mentioned in
Matthew? The only one that I am certain was of this group inside the tomb was Mary Magdalene. I think I know that the additional women Mark speaks of include another Mary who was the mother of James. Whether that was the other Mary that Matthew mentioned, -
"Mary the Magalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave" I do not know.
Was
"the other Mary" (Matthew) the
"Mary the mother of James" (Mark) ? I don't know.
Mark adds also Salome - three women.
Did they all come at the same time , Mary Magalene, Mary mother of James, and Salome ? I don't know. But at least two of them were spoken to because the young man spoke to
"them" -
"And he said to them, Do not be alarmed." (v.6)
Now on to Luke:
Luke - " ... the women who had come together with Him out of Galilee followed after and beheld the tomb and how His body was laid. And they returned and prepared spices and ointment. And on the Sabbath they rested ... Now on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they found the stone rolled away from the tomb ..." (23:55,56a; 24:1,2)
Who
"they" is must include but not necessarily be limited by the women explicitly mentioned in verse 10 -
"Now they were Mary the Magadalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James ..." (v.10a) And these three were joined by some other unnamed women
" ... and the rest of the women with them."
Who does Luke say was in the tomb? It says
"But when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
And while they stood perplexed about this, behold two men stood by them in dazzling clothing. And they became frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, and the men said to them, Why are you seeking the living One among the dead?
He is not here but has been raised ..." ( v.6a)
If I make the assumption that Luke means they stood perplexed INSIDE of the tomb then I would assume that within the tomb Luke records two men in dazzling clothing were there. Whether this exchange between the two men and the women occurred inside the tomb or outside the tomb is not totally clear to me. I'll assume that they stood perplexed inside of the tomb.
The word
stood is supplied by the editors.
"While they perplexed about this, behold two men stood by them ..."
It is possible that some of the group were outside the tomb and some were inside. It is possible that all stayed together. It is possible that the perplexed in the general area of the tomb but not specifically inside of it.
Perhaps it is also possible that one group of women OR A woman, had one experience inside the tomb and others or another of the group had another experience outside the tomb. The bottom line was that the heavy stone was already rolled away and Jesus was not there inside the tomb.
Finally we come to
John
John - "Now on the first day of the week, Mary the Magalene came early to the tomb white it was yet dark and saw the stone taken away from the tomb. She ran therefore and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him." (20:1,2)
This was one visit. Did she go in? I do not know.
But after the following event we are told she went in.
Peter and probably John raced to the tomb. John (probably) looked inside. It does not say that he saw ANYONE.
Peter went inside. It does not say that Peter saw ANYONE inside.
In both instances it just says they saw the grace clothes neatly arranged and.
Then on this subsequent RETURN to the tomb first it says Mary stood outside and then looked in.
"But Mary stood outside at the tomb weeping. Then as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb and behold two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain."
So in this visit Mary saw two angels in white sitting there inside the tomb.