Angelic Encounters at the Tomb – a Gospel Conflict?

 

Descriptions in the Gospels of angelic encounters at the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth seem to vary posing a potential conflict. One Gospel describes two angels and two Gospels describe one angel at the empty tomb.

Statements of those witnessing the same event are expected to vary and, as long as they are consistent on key information, it is a hallmark of truthful authenticity and credibility. If two statements vary too much or are very nearly or exactly the same, it is a strong indication of deception.

Witness statements must be evaluated based on their own merit using longstanding investigative principals to decipher credible and truthful statements from deceptive ones. Using of a form of literary analysis and comparing other statements is part of the investigative process.

Investigations must factor in any hard evidence, such as the empty tomb and abandoned burial cloths, and key facts, information, perspective, sequence of events, etc. To determine what happened, the scene must be recreated.

All three Gospels’ descriptions vary, yet they are all tightly consistent on the main details – there was an angelic presence; the tomb was empty; the body of Jesus was gone; and the angelic pronouncement that Jesus is alive, just as he had predicted.

Setting the scene, earlier that afternoon Jesus of Nazareth had been executed by crucifixion requiring a hasty burial before Jewish Sabbath Law restricted various activities. By Jewish day-reckoning, the Sabbath began at sunset that evening.

When Sabbath restrictions were no longer a concern, the chronicles of the Resurrection of Jesus begins. The three synoptic GospelsMatthew, Mark and Luke – join the story line at different points.

Mark’s account establishes the earliest timeline identifying Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome purchasing burial spices as soon as the Sabbath ended.[1] The women worried about how they would move the stone from the entrance clearly indicating they were not aware the tomb was sealed and guarded.

Matthew’s account begins at the tomb as sunrise approached Sunday morning. The joint-contingent of armed koustodia, established by the command of Pilate at the behest of the Jewish council, were on-duty guarding the sealed tomb to prevent the theft of the body. Arriving at the tomb were the two Marys, Salome, Joanna and other unnamed women where they encountered the koustodia.[2]

Suddenly a great earthquake struck when the women witnessed an angel rolling away the stone from the entrance to the tomb. Matthew described the angel:

MT 28:2-3 “And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.” (NKJV)

At this point Mark and Luke join the story line at the tomb with each describing, differently though consistently, the physical attire of the angels:

MK 16:5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side…” (NKJV)

LK 24:4 “… behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.” (NKJV)

Luke, written after Matthew and Mark, unambiguously says there were two angels. Consistently, Luke quotes Cleopas’ witness account that he  unwittingly gave to the resurrected Jesus. Cleopas said, “they [women] came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.” The statement is plural – more than one person witnessed the empty tomb and there was more than one angel later corroborated by John’s account.[3]

Tomb – Israel

Matthew and Mark only refer to one angel with unnecessary and unexpected information, yet personifying and specific detail that adds authentic realism. Such descriptive details are typically absent from a deceptive statement.

After an angel rolled away the large stone, Matthew reports he did a curious and unusual thing – he sat on it. Not standing or hovering in the air like the stereotypical image of an angel. In dazzling array there he sat, perhaps with his legs draped over the side of the stone.

Mark describes an angel inside the tomb specifically on the right side also sitting, not standing – details typically absent from a deceptive statement. Logically, this angel cannot be the same one sitting outside on the rolled-away stone.

Body language of the angles indicates they were waiting, relaxed and inviting in demeanor. According to Matthew, the angel who was sitting on the stone at the tomb’s entrance spoke to the women inviting them to go inside:

MT 28:5-6  “”Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.”(NASB)

At the angel’s invitation, at least some of the women entered the tomb. While inside, Mark describes another angel who spoke to the women, his message similar to Matthew:

MK 16:5-6 “Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.’””(NASB)

Pointed out to the very same witnesses – the two Marys, Salome and perhaps other unnamed women – was the same spot where the dead body of Jesus had lain as they watched Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus preparing it for burial.[4] Had the angel’s statement been untrue about the crucified body of Jesus, the women would be expected to refute it… they didn’t.

Corroborating information is provided by the eyewitness Gospel of John’s account. His personal knowledge begins where he and Peter were mourning when terrified women burst into the room and Mary Magdalene excitedly announced the empty tomb.[5] They raced to see it for themselves followed by Mary Magdalene.[6]

Marveling at finding the tomb empty with only the burial cloths used to wrap the body, John and Peter decided to go home leaving Mary behind. Standing outside the tomb crying, Mary stooped and looked back inside where she saw two angels who spoke to her:

JN 20:12-13 “And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”(NKJV)

John’s source, Mary Magdalene, consistently described two angels dressed in white sitting on each end of the stone slab.[7] Mary Magdalene’s reaction, or lack of one, to the supernatural beings indicates familiarity with them.

Mary had a previous engagement with angels earlier that morning when all the terrified women did not speak to the angels and ran. This time she is not alarmed and she spoke with the angels.

One other detail, one not called out by the Gospels, is a Jewish legal fact that, if not in met, could diminish the credibility of the Resurrection event. God’s Law required two witnesses to corroborate the same point of evidence to establish a fact. Two angels as witnesses to the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth met that requirement.[8]

Are the Gospels accounts in conflict in their accounts of angels who witnessed the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth?

 

Updated February 18, 2024.

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REFERENCES:

[1] Mark 16.
[2] Luke 24.
[3] Luke 24:34. NRSV. Kirby, Peter. “Gospel of Luke.” EarlyChristianWritings.com. 2019. <http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/luke.html>  “The Book of Luke.” . Quartz Hill School of Theology.  n.d.  <http://www.theology.edu/biblesurvey/luke.htm> Tzaferis, Vassilios. Bible Archaeology Society. “Crucifixion – the Archaelogical Evidence.” n.d. <https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/crucifixion/a-tomb-in-jerusalem-reveals-the-history-of-crucifixion-and-roman-crucifixion-methods
[4] Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23.  Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah.1883. Book 5, Chapter XV. pp 1419-1420. <http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/The%20Life%20and%20Times%20of%20Jesus%20the%20Messiah.pdf>  “Centuries later, archaeologists opened the tomb of Jesus.” News24hours. photo. 2016. <https://news24hours.in/2016/10/31/centuries-later-archaeologists-opened-the-tomb-of-jesus-christ
[5] John 20.
[6] Luke 24; John 20.
[7] Shanks, Hershel.  “Crucifixion Bone Fragment, 21 CE” The Center for Online Judaic Studies. 2004.  <http://cojs.org/crucifixion_bone_fragment-_21_ce>   Romey, Kristin. “Unsealing of Christ’s Reputed Tomb Turns Up New Revelations.” National Geographic. 2016. <https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/10/jesus-christ-tomb-burial-church-holy-sepulchre>
[8] Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15; Numbers 35:30.  Soncino Babylonian Talmud.Sanhedrin. 9a; 30a; 56a, footnote #1. <https://israelect.com/Come-and-Hear/sanhedrin/index.html>  Resnicoff, Steven H. “Criminal Confessions in Jewish Law .“ Project Genesis. 2007.  <https://web.archive.org/web/20160122222638/http://www.torah.org/features/secondlook/criminal.html>

Chain of Custody – Was the Body of Jesus Stolen?

 

Oldest of the arguments against the Resurrection is the charge that the crucified body of Jesus of Nazareth was stolen from the tomb. To steal the body, a Roman/Jewish chain of custody over his body would make the claim difficult to overcome.

Procurator Pilate granted the mutilated body of Jesus to Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Jewish council. He was joined by Nicodemus, another prominent member of the Jewish Council. Both took the body to Joseph’s own unused tomb and quickly prepared the body for burial.

Witnessing the scene were women from Galilee, two identified by name, Mary the mother of Joseph (aka Jose) and Mary Magdalene.[2] The women watched Joseph roll a stone in front of the tomb entrance – confirmation by the two Jewish Council members that Jesus was indeed dead and buried.

What did or didn’t happen between the time Jesus was laid in the tomb just before dusk, Nissan 15, until Sunday is limited. Nonetheless, Matthew and Mark reported some activities that occurred.

Those who most certainly would not have wanted to be corroborating witnesses of a Resurrection became just that. After Jesus was buried late afternoon of the prior day, the next day some of the leaders of the priests and Pharisees declared to the Roman government that the body of Jesus was still in the tomb that Sabbath morning, Nissan 16:

MT 27:62-64 The next day (which is after the day of preparation) the chief priests and the Pharisees assembled before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember that while that deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give orders to secure the tomb until the third day. Otherwise his disciples may come and steal his body and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”(NET)

Top level Jewish leadership had approached Rome’s jurisdictional authority of JudeaPilate – with their concern of a false fulfillment of Jesus’ own  3-day Resurrection prophecy. As a Roman Procurator whose governing capacity included serving as a judge, Pilate had to weigh the truthfulness of their claim as well as the potential political consequences.

First was the declaration that the corpse of Jesus was lying in a tomb and the Jewish leader’s concern that it could be stolen. Rome otherwise had little regard for crucified victims, according to Josephus; however, Rome did allow the Jews’ custom to bury their crucified dead:[3]

“Nay, they proceeded to that degree of impiety, as to cast away their dead bodies without burial, although the Jews used to take so much care of the burial of men, that they took down those that were condemned and crucified, and buried them before the going down of the sun.” – Josephus, Wars [4]

Pilate most likely considered other factors, too, such as the validity of the testimony of the Jewish leaders. False witness was a capital offense making it highly unlikely they were lying to him. If the body was stolen and later found, it would complicate matters even worse. Weighing the credibility and motive of their testimony, then concluding the body of Jesus was still in the tomb, an irritated Pilate issued a terse decision:

MT 27:65-66 “Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.”(NASB) 

Pilate granted permission through what was, in essence, a Roman court order to secure the body the best way they knew how. This included stationing of a koustodia, a company of guards, at the tomb. Together, the Jewish leadership and the koustodia placed a seal on the tomb as an additional security measure.

Josephus described a “seal” process involving a combined Jewish-Roman military style squad led by a “Roman captain of the temple guards.” The Roman captain, who resided in the Tower of Antonia adjacent to the Temple, was assigned to a contingent of armed Temple guards.[6]

It was the Roman captain’s responsibility to match his seal ring with a matching seal ring possessed by the Temple leadership to verify the integrity of the seal, in this case, to secure the Chief Priest’s vestments worn at the Jewish festal sacrifices. This Roman-Jewish seal process was temporarily in place only from the death of King Herod until Vitellius became president of Syria in 35 AD – the period of years virtually coinciding with the lifetime of Jesus of Nazareth.[7]

A similar type of seal and guard process appeared to be utilized at the tomb. The koustodia were accountable to Pilate as evidenced after the resurrection event on Sunday morning when some the guards reportedly ran to the chief priests instead of Pilate. Additionally, Jewish leaders promised the guards they would handle Pilate if their adverse behavior became an issue.

Placed at the scene of the tomb holding the body of Jesus of Nazareth are the contingent of chief priests and Pharisees (possibly including stealth followers of Jesus, Joseph and Nicodemus) to witness the seal being placed on the tomb and the posting of the koustodia. Jewish leaders left with full confidence the sealed tomb was secure alleviating their anxiety that someone might steal the body of Jesus.[8]

Archenemies of Jesus obtained a legally established Roman-Jewish chain of custody over the body of Jesus that remained unbroken until Sunday morning. At dawn that Sunday morning, incredible events occurred at the tomb while the koustodia were still stationed at their post with the seal intact.

Considering there was a legally established Roman-Jewish chain of custody in place, what is the possibility his body was stolen?

 

Updated March 12, 2024.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

REFERENCES:

NET = NetBible translation; NASB = New American Standard Bible translation
Gospel references: Matthew 27-28, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19.

[1] Pearce, Jonathan MS. “Matthew and the guards at the tomb.” 2012. <http://www.debunking-christianity.com/2012/06/matthew-and-guards-at-tomb.html rel=”nofollow”> “Gospel Disproof #38: The guards at the tomb.” FreeThoughtBlogs.com. 2014. <http://freethoughtblogs.com/alethianworldview/2012/02/27/gospel-disproof-38-the-guards-at-the-tomb rel=”nofollow”>  Chain. Business2Community. image. 2015. <https://www.business2community.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Chain-red-link.jpg-300×200.jpg
[2] Edersheim, Alfred.  The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Book V. 1883. Philogos.org. n.d. <http://philologos.org/__eb-lat/default.htm>
[3] Josephus, Flavius.  Antiquities of the Jews. Book IV, Chapter VIII;
Google Books. n.d. <http://books.google.com/books?id=e0dAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
[4] Josephus.  Wars. Book IV, Chapter V.
[5] Jahnige, Joan. “The Roman Legal System.” KET Distance Learning. 2017. http://www.dl.ket.org/latin2/mores/legallatin/legal01.htm>  Adams, John Paul. “The Twelve Tables.” 2009. California State University – Northridge. <https://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/12tables.html>
[6] Josephus.  Antiquities. Book XV, Chapter XI; Book XX, Chapter I.  Wars.  Book II, Chapter XVII; Book V, Chapter VI.
[7] Josephus.  Antiquities. Book XV, Chapter XI; Book XX, Chapter I.  Smith William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. 1857. “L. Vitellius” (#5); “C. Cassius Longinus” (#18), and “L. Cassius Longinus” (#19). OpenLibrary.org. n.d. <https://archive.org/stream/schooldictionary00smituoft#page/n9/mode/2up>  Smith, Mahlon H. “Lucius Vitellius.” VirtualReligion.net. 2008. http://virtualreligion.net/iho/vitellius_1.html>  “Lucius Vitellius.” Livius.org. Ed. Jona Lendering. http://www.livius.org/person/vitellius-lucius>  “Chain of Custody in Drugs Cases.” ProhealthLaw. photo. 2015. <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7Bg40JhqJxo/Vsmv-MAWtXI/AAAAAAAAJlo/U59A28gTqRs/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/blogger-image–519822927.jpg>
[8] “koustodia”, G2892l (Strong) “#2892 κουστωδία koustodia;” “strategos <4755> and “speira <4686>” Lexicon-Concordance Online Bible. n.d. http://lexiconcordance.com>