There are several matters regarding the resurrection of Jesus Christ which seem to indicate that there are discrepancies between scriptural accounts of these matters.  The two basic matters that we will address are: (1) How long was Jesus Christ in the grave? and (2) What happened soon after the resurrection of Jesus Christ?

[Note: We use the wording in the New King James Version of the Bible when quoting Scripture, except when we quote a non-biblical source that is using Scripture from a different version of the Bible.]

How Long Was Jesus Christ in the Grave?

In anticipation of His impending death and resurrection, Jesus Christ states in Matthew 12:40, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”  Similarly, Mark 8:31 reports that Jesus told the 12 disciples in His inner circle that He would “be killed, and after three days rise again.”  So, both of these scriptures seem to indicate that Jesus would be resurrected after being dead for three full days.

In contrast, Jesus Christ says in Luke 24:46, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day.”  And, there are at least eleven other scriptures which likewise state that Jesus Christ was (or would be) raised from the dead on “the third day” (or in three days), including Matthew 16:21; 17:22-23; 20:17-19; Mark 9:31; 10:34; Luke 9:21-22; 18:31-33; 24:7; John 2:19; Acts 10:40; and 1 Corinthians 15:4. These scriptures seem to indicate that Jesus was not necessarily in the grave for a full three days; He may have been in the grave as little as one full day and part of two other days.  So, is it possible to determine exactly how long it was between the time that Jesus died and the time that He was resurrected?

Gleason L Archer, on page 328 of his book entitled Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, asserts that the meaning of the expression “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” refers to “three twenty-four-hour days in part or in whole.”  He goes on to say,

Why then are three portions of day referred to in Matthew 12:40 as “three days and three nights”?  The simple answer is that the only way “day” in the sense of dawn-to-dusk sunlight could be distinguished from the full twenty-four-hour cycle sense of “day” was to speak of the latter as “a night and a day”. . . . According to ancient parlance, then, when you wished to refer to three separate twenty-four-hour days, you said, “Three days and three nights” – even though only a portion of the first and third days might be involved.

Norman Geisler, Ph.D., and Thomas Howe, M.A., support Archer’s position.  On page 343 of their book entitled When Critics Ask, they note that most biblical scholars “take the phrase ‘three days and nights’ to be a Hebrew figure of speech referring to any part of three days and nights.”  They then assert,

Jesus used the phrase “on the third day” to describe the time of His resurrection after His crucifixion. . . . But “on the third day” cannot mean “after three days” which 72 hours demands.  On the other hand, the phrase “on the third day” or “three days and nights” can be understood to mean within three days and nights.

[T]his view fits best with the chronological order of events as given by Mark (cf. 14:1), as well as the fact that Jesus died on Passover day (Friday) to fulfill the conditions of being our Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7; cf. Lev. 23:5-15).

Some people might question why someone would say “three days and three nights,” if that person means only parts of three days, but even in today’s world, there are statements which people make that should not be regarded as precise statements.  For example, when people say that there are tons of something, they frequently do not intend for the term tons to be taken literally.  Instead, they may intend for the term tons to indicate a very large amount of whatever it is that they are referring to.

However, Geisler and Howe, note on page 343 of their previously-mentioned book, “Some scholars believe Jesus was in the grave for three full days and nights. . . . [T]hey insist that this is the literal meaning of the phrase ‘three days and nights.’”

John 19:31 provides an additional consideration regarding this matter.  This scripture indicates that the Jews did not want the bodies of Jesus Christ and the two other men who were crucified with Him to remain on their crosses on the Sabbath.  Although it may be argued that the Sabbath day referred to in this scripture was Saturday, it could refer to Passover Day.  In this regard, Unger’s Bible Dictionary explains that, “The name Sabbath is applied to divers [i.e., various] great festivals, but principally and usually to the seventh day of the week. . . .”

In any case, the Bible clearly states that Jesus Christ died on the day before Passover began.  John 19:14 says the crucifixion of Jesus was on “the Preparation Day of the Passover.”  And, the other three gospels make similar references (see Matthew 27:62; Mark 15:42; and Luke 23:54).  If the Bible scholars who argue that the Passover was not a fixed day (Friday) are correct that the day of the week for the Passover floated from year-to-year, the Passover did not necessarily begin on a Friday, and, therefore, Jesus may not have died on the Friday afternoon immediately before the Passover began at sundown.

According to Matthew 24:26, Jesus Christ died about the ninth hour of the Jewish daytime, which began at 6:00 a.m., as we measure time.  Therefore, He died at approximately 3:00 p.m., based on our system of time.  So, if Jesus was crucified on Friday, as is generally believed, He was in the grave during the daytime hours for parts of three days, but in the grave for only two nights (i.e., Friday and Saturday).

Regardless of whether or not Jesus died on a Friday, there is ample evidence that He arose from the grave approximately three days after His crucifixion and death.  [For a discussion of reasons to believe that Jesus Christ was resurrected from death, click on “Was Jesus Christ Really Resurrected from Death?”]

What Happened Soon after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ?

In his book entitled Is the Bible True?, Allen Bowman, Ph.D., states on page 144, “Much effort has been expended on attempts to reconcile the four accounts of the resurrection of Christ.”

And, John W. Haley, M.A., says on page 328 of his book entitled Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible,

Owing to the condensed and somewhat fragmentary nature of these several narratives [the four Gospel books], and their neglect of strict chronological sequence, they present some difficulties and apparent discrepancies.

Basil Atkinson, Ph.D., on pages 132-133 of his book entitled Is the Bible True?, which is exactly the same title as the previously-cited book of Bowman, provides the following additional perspective on this matter:

It is the accounts of the resurrection appearances that illustrate more than any other part of the Gospels the independence of the evangelists [the writers of the four Gospel books].  They all write from different standpoints, and they all supplement each other’s information.

The witnesses are clearly independent, and yet as we piece their accounts together we can make out a definite chain of events that must have happened, to which every statement of each evangelist contributes. . . . All emphasize different incidents.

Furthermore, on page 302 of Inerrancy, a book that Geisler edited, he states,

[N]one of the evangelists is obligated to give an exhaustive account of any event.  He has the right to record an event in light of his purposes.  Moreover, it must be remembered that the accounts of all four Gospel writers together do not exhaust the details of any event mentioned. . . . All that is required is that the sentences used by the writer be true.

We believe that the sources which we have quoted indicate that the differences in the four Gospel books as to what happened soon after the resurrection of Jesus satisfactorily explain how these differences can be reconciled and, therefore, there are not any irreconcilable discrepancies among the Gospel accounts.

Now, we will consider some of the specific information regarding several of the incidents that occurred after the resurrection of Jesus, as recorded in the four Gospels.

Who were the first of Jesus Christ’s followers to visit His tomb on the morning of His resurrection?

Matthew 28:1 mentions Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary.”

Mark 16:1 mentions Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome.

Luke 24:10 mentions Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna, and other women.

John 20:1 mentions Mary Magdalene, and verse 11 mentions her making a subsequent visit to Jesus’ tomb.

Apparently, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and several other women were the first of Jesus Christ’s followers to visit His tomb on the morning of His resurrection.  The variations in the accounts probably result from the writers focusing on different women.  On page 391 of his aforementioned book, Haley states that none of the four writers “denies that more women were present than those he mentions by name.  John does not assert that Mary Magdalene only was present; in fact, he intimates the contrary, for he represents her as saying, in vs. 2, ‘We know not where they have laid him.’”

How many angels were seen by the women at Jesus Christ’s tomb after His resurrection?

Matthew 28:2-7 mentions one angel, who spoke to the women.

Mark 16:5-7 mentions one young man (presumably, an angel), whom the women saw.

Luke 24:4-7 mentions two angels, whom the women saw, and at least one of them spoke to the women.

John 20:  No angels are mentioned in the account of Mary Magdalene’s first visit to Jesus’ tomb, but verses 12-13 mention that she saw two angels when she returned to the tomb later.

Evidently, there were two angels, but only one of them spoke to the women.  With regard to Mary Magdalene’s first visit to Jesus Christ’s tomb, the absence of mention of a second angel by Matthew and Mark, or of any angels by John, is insufficient reason to assume that there were not two angels present.  Arguing that something is not true, just because a writer did not mention it, is an argument from silence, which is regarded by scholars as an invalid argument.

Did the women see Jesus Christ as they were leaving His tomb?

Matthew 28:9-10 states that Jesus met the women as they were leaving His tomb.

Mark 16:9 notes that Jesus “appeared first to Mary Magdalene,” possibly after her second visit to Jesus’ tomb.

Luke 24:  No mention is made of Jesus appearing to any of the women as they were leaving His tomb.

John 20:14-17 indicates that Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene as she was leaving Jesus’ tomb the second time.

Since Matthew says that Jesus Christ appeared to several women after they had visited His tomb, Jesus must have done so after the women had made a second visit to the tomb, because both Mark and John indicate that Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene after her second visit, and Mark states that she was the first person to see Jesus after His resurrection.  The failure of Luke to mention that Jesus appeared to any of the women as they were leaving Jesus’ tomb should not be regarded as a discrepancy.  Apparently, Luke just chose not to mention the incident.

After the women left the tomb, did they tell Jesus Christ’s disciples of their experience at His tomb?

Matthew 28:8 indicates that the women left the tomb with the intention of telling the remaining 11 disciples in the inner circle of Jesus about their experience at the tomb where Jesus had been buried.  However, there does not seem to be a definite statement subsequently as to whether or not the women actually did tell those disciples.

Mark 16:8 says that the women “said nothing to anyone,” but verse 10 says that Mary Magdalene “told those who had been with Him” [i.e., the 11 remaining disciples and, perhaps, several other people who were with these disciples].

Luke 24:9 states that the women “told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.”

John 20:1-2 notes that Mary Magdalene told Simon Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved (presumably, John) after her first visit to Jesus’ tomb.

Apparently, after her first visit to Jesus’ tomb, Mary Magdalene told the 11 remaining disciples in Jesus Christ’s inner circle about her experience, but only Peter and John acted upon what she said, as indicated by the fact that they were the only disciples to go to the tomb to see for themselves whether or not Jesus was still in the tomb where He had been buried.  This may help to explain why only these two men are mentioned in John’s gospel as the disciples whom Mary told about her experience.  The statement in Mark that the women said nothing to anyone could mean that the women did not tell anyone except the remaining 11 disciples and those who may have been with the disciples at that time.  Another possibility is suggested by Geisler and Howe in When Critics Ask.  On page 377 they state, “[I]t may be that at first they held their peace (as Mark indicated), and then later spoke up. . . .”

Conclusion

We have attempted to reconcile what initially seem to be discrepancies regarding several matters that pertain to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.   We believe that the explanations which have been provided in this article should be sufficient to alleviate concerns as to the veracity of all the biblical accounts pertaining to these matters.