The Apostles and the other (male) disciples of Jesus simply wouldn’t believe the testimony of the women (Mark 16:11), for the same reason they couldn’t believe Jesus’ testimony that he would rise again the third day(Matthew 16:21-22; cf. John 12:34). They simply had no context in their worldview where such an understanding would fit (Mark 9:31-32), and they were afraid to ask Jesus to clear up their ignorance. Therefore, they considered the report of the women nothing more than idle tales (Luke 24:11). The Greek word (G3026) is used only here in the New Testament, but it is used in secular literature as a medical term for delirium or hysteria.
Luke’s placement of Peter’s visit to the tomb (Luke 24:12) might lead some to think Peter wondered, if the women’s testimony were true, but this isn’t so. However, Peter made only one trip to the tomb. This is made clear by comparing the two narratives where Peter’s visit is recorded. The Gospel of John tells us that he went there to verify Mary Magdalene’s testimony that Jesus’ body was no longer in the sepulcher, and she believed someone had stolen his body (John 20:1-10), something which the other disciple also believed, when he visited the tomb with Peter (John 20:8).
Luke’s account may seem to have Peter go to the tomb after the women testified that Jesus had risen (Luke 24:9-11), but this isn’t really so. If all the male disciples took the testimony of the women as idle tales, meaning nonsense, why would Peter go to the gravesite again? Either he thought their testimony was nonsense or he didn’t. Luke says the males simply wouldn’t believe the women’s testimony. In other words, something they already believed, which was false, prevented them from even considering the truth told them by the women. Therefore, Luke must be recording Peter’s earlier visit to the tomb, when Mary Magdalene told the disciples that Jesus’ body was stolen. Peter would later tell the others that he did, indeed, verify that the tomb was empty, but he didn’t see any angel or an apparition of Jesus (cf. Luke 24:24). In other words, Luke’s placement of Peter’s visit to the tomb shows he denied the women’s testimony.
One has to ask why the Apostles and other disciples of Jesus wouldn’t believe the testimony of the women. Even more disturbing is the fact that they wouldn’t even believe Jesus that he would literally rise from the dead (cf. Matthew 16:21-22; 17:23; 20:19; Mark 9:31-32; 10:33-34; Luke 9:22; 18:31-34). I think they wouldn’t believe Jesus, even though the text says they didn’t understand. Nevertheless, they could have believed, if they desired to do so, because Jesus’ words are very clear. He would be crucified; he would die; he would be buried, and he would rise again to life. What was there not to understand? Even the unbelieving chief priests knew what Jesus literally claimed (Matthew 27:62-66), so it couldn’t be that the Apostles and other disciples of Jesus couldn’t understand Jesus’ words. They knew what he said, but they had no room in their then current worldview to receive his words literally.
The chief priests were Sadducees who didn’t believe in a resurrection, period. Therefore, they understood Jesus’ words literally. They had no context in their worldview to understand them figuratively. On the other hand, Jesus’ disciples, who had hoped that he was the Messiah, believed the Messiah couldn’t die (John 12:34). Therefore, in that context or worldview, Jesus’ words had to be taken figuratively, because a literal understanding was out of the question. With this in mind, they had to reject the women’s testimony, because the Messiah simply cannot die!
False doctrine is powerful and able to hide the truth. Even Jesus said so, when he said the traditions of the Pharisees made the word of God of no effect (Matthew 15:6; Mark 7:13). Folks are usually not afraid to approach me and tell me I am wrong about my understanding of God’s word. However, I have listened to folks at church who disbelieved what the pastor or a visiting evangelist claimed in a sermon, but they wouldn’t approach him to have the disagreement cleared up. Why? Was it, perhaps, because they didn’t want their point of view challenged and shown to be wrong? People learn to be comfortable in their understanding, and simply refuse to believe anything else that would contradict that worldview. I believe this is the context in which we should understand Jesus’ disciples’ unbelief of Jesus’ prophecy of a literal death and resurrection, and, if their false doctrine was strong enough to keep them from believing Jesus, how could we expect them to believe the women?
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