Quote:The guards watch dumbfounded as an angel uses an earthquake to roll away the stone that had sealed the tomb. The guards flee in terror. Mary Magdelalene, Mary mother of James, Joanna, and other unnamed women go to visit the grave.
Matt 28:2-4 is the only Gospel account to supply details about the guards and the earthquake.
John 20:1 focuses on Mary Magdelalene to the exclusion of the other woment in the party.
Matt 28:1 also focuses on Mary Magdelaene, incidentally mentions Mary mother of James, but not the other women.
Luke 24:10 identifies Joanna as one of the women in the party.
When they arrive they see that the tomb has been opened and they see a youth sitting on the stone. The child tells them that Jesus isn't there because he had risen and that they should tell the disciples.
Well this just isn't true. You would know if you had included Mark, whose account mirrors that of Matthew exactly, except without any supernatural content. Here's what Mark and Matthew say:
Mark 16:1-6 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. "Don't be alarmed" he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.
Matthew 28:1-5 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified".
You made it sound like the angel did its work before the women came and then the women saw the young man. Clearly from Matthew we see the women were in contact with the angel. Not only that but according to scripture, strangely enough the angel and young man are one and the same. They are described as wearing the same thing and they even said the same thing.
It's undeniable that Matthew took Mark's account and made it more amazing by turning the young man into an angel and on top of that adding an earthquake. I can say this with confidence because Mark was written before Matthew, even though in the NT Matthew has deceivingly been put first. So they are in fact describing the same character. Contradiction.
Luke and John have their contradicting similarities as well, but I don't have time right now to discuss that. Let me know if there's some sort of solution to Mark and Matthew.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" ~ Aristotle
