Mark tells us: “When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary, the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint” Jesus (Mark 16:1). However, Luke doesn’t name the women, but he does tell us: “And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulcher, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment” (Luke 23:55-56). While Mark tells us that the women labored “when the Sabbath was past,” Luke records that first the women did their labor and then “rested the Sabbath day, according to the commandment. So, does Luke contradict Mark or is there another explanation?
In a previous study[1] I made the claim that Jesus wasn’t crucified on what we call Good Friday. The day after Jesus’ crucifixion was, indeed, the Sabbath, but not the 7th day Sabbath. Rather, it was a particular Sabbath day, a great one or an annual one. Luke even alludes to this when he says Jesus was buried (Luke 23:53), and “the Sabbath drew on” (Luke 23:54), and John agrees in that Jesus’ burial place was chosen, because it was nearby (John 19:41-42). Therefore, Mark’s testimony has the women laboring after the great Sabbath, or the annual Feast Day of Unleavened Bread, and Luke has the women laboring before the weekly, 7th day, Sabbath. In other words, there were more than one Sabbath days that week, and they had at least one ordinary day between them for the women to buy the needed spices and prepare them for anointing Jesus’ body, which they tried to do on the first day of the week. However, they found Jesus’ body was no longer in the tomb (Mark 16:2-6)
Notice that the women journeyed to the tomb, where they witnessed Jesus’ burial take place (Mark 15:46-47; Luke 23:55), and coming at sunrise they wondered who would role the stone away from the tomb (Mark 16:2-3). Nevertheless, when they arrived at the burial site, they found the tomb was already open, and they could enter without any trouble (Mark 16:4). John tells us Mary Magdalene came early, while it was still dark at the tomb (John 20:1), but she saw no one in the tomb and presumed Jesus’ enemies had taken his body away (John 20:2). Apparently, there were at least two groups of women who came to the sepulcher that day; one group probably coming from Bethany, while the other came from Jerusalem.[2]
When the women, probably after the second group arrived, looked into the tomb, they saw a young man, and they were frightened (Mark 16:5). Nevertheless, the young man, who was actually an angel, tried to comfort them, telling them not to be afraid, for while they came seeking Jesus, he had actually arisen from the dead and is alive (Mark 16:6-7). Next, he told them to go and tell Peter and Jesus other disciples to go to Galilee, where they would find Jesus (Mark 16:8), just as he told them earlier (Mark 14:28; see Matthew 26:32). Therefore, of all of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances, this one, which the angel mentioned, was the only one that was planned beforehand. No doubt it is the event where over 500 brethren saw him at once (1Corinthians 15:6), but some who witnessed that particular event were unbelievers (Matthew 28:16-17).
Immediately, the women, amazed and frightened, left the tomb. Mark describes one group of women as saying nothing to no one (Mark 16:8). These were the women returning to Bethany. Nevertheless, the women who returned to Jerusalem are mentioned by Matthew, and it was this group of women who met Jesus on the way. After seeing Jesus, they returned to Jerusalem and told his disciples the good news (Matthew 28:8-10).
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[1] See my study: The Day of Jesus’ Burial.
[2] See my earlier study in the Gospel of Luke: A Hidden Highlight in Jesus’ Appearances.
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