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Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, “The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” (Luke 24:5–7)

Carl Heinrich Bloch, The Resurrection. Artmedia/Alamy Stock Photo.

As the sun rose that first Easter morning, some women who followed Jesus found that Jesus’s body was no longer in the tomb where he had been laid. Soon Peter and the Beloved Disciple, traditionally identified as John, followed, not finding Jesus but witnessing the discarded graveclothes. These evidences, together with the testimony of angels, changed the pain and grief that they had felt on Friday to hope and then joy. Subsequently Mary of Magdala, other of the women, Peter, two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and then ten of the eleven remaining apostles saw the risen Lord, receiving proofs positive as they saw, heard, and touched Jesus, who also demonstrated the reality of his physical resurrection by eating in front of them. Perhaps most significantly, he presented the tokens of his sacrificial death in his hands, feet, and side as tangible signs that he had, in fact, completed his atoning sacrifice.

So momentous were the events of that first Easter Sunday that Christians later began to celebrate “the Lord’s Day” (see Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 16:2; Rev 1:10) as their weekly Sabbath, replacing the Saturday of the Old Testament as our weekly Sabbath. Just as the original Sabbath commemorated the completion of God’s initial creative work, the new Lord’s Day on the first day of the week celebrates the new creation begun with Jesus’s resurrection. As we honor our Sabbath each week, we thus have an opportunity to reflect again and again upon the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yet while every Sunday can be Easter to us, and although the covenants that we renew each week enjoin us to remember him always, after commemorating all the events of Jesus’s last days during Holy Week, our yearly Easter celebration can be a particularly powerful and joyful experience, one that can deepen and strengthen our faith and love.[1] One Easter season President Hunter testified,

On this beautiful and sacred Easter weekend, surely no doctrine will be the subject of more sermons nor the object of more praise than that of the atoning sacrifice and the literal resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ. And so it should be at Easter and at every other season of the year, for no doctrine in the Christian canon is more important to all mankind than the doctrine of the resurrection of the Son of God. Through him came the resurrection of all men, women, and children who have ever been—or ever will be—born into the world.[2]

Texts: Mark 16:1–8; Matthew 28:1–15; Luke 24:1–12

Because of the important contributions of each of the Synoptic accounts of the empty tomb, we have included all three here. The earliest account from Mark is also—at least in the most secure manuscript traditions—the shortest, leaving the women who came to the tomb fleeing in amazement. Matthew’s version provides the additional detail of an angel descending to remove the stone that blocked the tomb’s entrance, frightening the guards. It also records an appearance of the Risen Lord as the women went to tell the other disciples that the tomb was empty. In many ways Luke’s is the most refined, and it also includes an element that we will see is common to John’s account, that of Peter’s visit to the empty tomb.

Mark

¹And 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 him. ²And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. ³And they said among themselves, “Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?” ⁴And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. ⁵And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. ⁶And he saith unto them, “Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. ⁷But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.” ⁸And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.

Matthew

¹In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. ²And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. ³His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: ⁴And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. ⁵And the angel answered and said unto the women, “Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. ⁶He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. ⁷And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.”

⁸And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.

⁹And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “All hail.” And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. ¹⁰Then said Jesus unto them, “Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.”

¹¹Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. ¹²And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, ¹³Saying, “Say ye, ‘His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.’ ¹⁴And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.” ¹⁵So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

Luke

¹Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. ²And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. ³And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: ⁵And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, “Why seek ye the living among the dead? ⁶He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, ⁷Saying, ‘The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’” ⁸And they remembered his words,

⁹And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. ¹⁰It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. ¹¹And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. ¹²Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.

The Resurrection Narratives

Background

While the resurrection accounts from the four Gospels serve as the foundation of our understanding of the rising of Jesus Christ from the tomb, understanding their relationship to each other and harmonizing them is often difficult. The first challenge concerns the ending of Mark, presumed to have been the first Gospel to have been written. While the sixteenth and final chapter of this Gospel as best known in the traditional King James Version consists of twenty verses, the oldest and most reliable Greek manuscripts break off after verse 8, producing what is often called “the Short Ending of Mark.” Because this left an unsatisfactory ending, with the women who had just been told that Jesus had risen and directed to share the good news with the other disciples instead fleeing in fear and telling no one (Mark 16:8), Mark 16:9‒20 appears to be later scribal interpolation, which, differing considerably in style and diction from secure Marcan passages, was meant to complete the story by drawing upon the other Gospels.[3] Some commentators believe that the short ending was, in fact, what Mark intended, leaving the readers alone at the tomb, wondering what they would have done in the situation and receiving the mandate themselves to go spread the good news.[4] Others argue that this was not the intended ending of the Gospel, but the evangelist was prevented—perhaps by death or persecution—from completing his account.[5] Finally, some scholars believe that Mark’s original ending was lost, noting both the awkward sentence construction at the end of Mark 16:8 and how the Short Ending on its own fails to meet the literary expectations of the rest of the Gospel.[6]

Witherington makes an interesting, and particularly strong, argument for a lost original ending, noting how this Gospel has “apocalyptic moments” at every major turning point in its narrative: the tearing open (Greek, schizomenous) of the heavens at Jesus’s baptism (Mark 1:10), the meeting of heaven and earth at the transfiguration (Mark 9:2‒7), and the supernatural events that accompanied Jesus’s death on the cross (Mark 15:33, 37‒39). If Mark had continued to the ascension of Jesus as Luke did (Luke 24:51; cf. Acts 1:9), that moment would have been a natural culmination to this pattern.[7] Given the extent to which Matthew and Luke generally follow the basic Marcan outline, if later scribes drew upon these Gospels to help reconstruct Mark’s lost original ending, they would have, in fact, helped to preserve some of this material. While the Long Ending also seems to have drawn from the much later Gospel of John (compare Mark 16:9‒10, 14 with John 20:11‒18, 24‒29), areas where Luke and John seem to have shared material are also intriguing. Since John does not seem to have been aware of Luke’s Gospel, which was written somewhat before it, the Lucan evangelist might have had contact with the Beloved Disciple, the source or original author of the Fourth Gospel even before it was written.[8] Rather than trying to unravel fully the complex relationship of the four resurrection narratives or reconcile their differences, our discussion here instead will seek to appreciate better the contributions of each, allowing them to strengthen our conviction that the Risen Lord does indeed live.

The Women and the Empty Tomb

Interpretation and Application

According to Mark, as soon as the Sabbath ended shortly after sunset on Saturday, Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, which they brought to the tomb early the next morning in order to finish the anointing of Jesus (Mark 16:1‒4; parallels Matt 28:1; Luke 24:1‒2). These were the same three women who, along with other women from Galilee, had watched the crucifixion of Jesus from a distance. Because the two Marys were also specifically mentioned as being present when Joseph of Arimathea laid Jesus in his own tomb, not only were they witnesses of the Lord’s death, but they also knew exactly where he had been buried (Mark 15:40‒41, 47), confirming that the tomb that they found open and empty that morning was the correct one.

The young man dressed in white who greeted them there told them not to be afraid before sharing the joyful news that Jesus had risen and directing them to tell the other disciples and Peter that the Risen Lord would meet them in Galilee (Mark 16:5‒7; parallels Matt 28:5‒7; Luke 24:4‒7). Although the young man in Mark serves the same function as the angel in Matthew, significantly, Mark uses the same word (Greek, neaniskos) that was earlier used for the young man who fled naked from Gethsemane when Jesus was arrested (Mark 14:51‒52). While the man’s description and the women’s fearful response to seeing him there has convinced many commentators that he was, in fact, an angel,[9] Smith argues for a direct identification of the young man with the similar figure in Gethsemane. Whereas the young man had failed in that earlier incident, abandoning Jesus and even leaving behind his clothing in his haste to get away, he has now been redeemed by the crucified and now Risen Lord. Interestingly, the light linen shirt that he had left behind in the earlier scene is the same word that was used for the burial shroud (Greek, sindōn) in which Jesus was wrapped; now, however, he is wearing a long white robe reminiscent of Jesus’s shining “exceedingly white” clothing at his Transfiguration (Mark 9:3). Noting that Jesus is crucified naked, Smith observes, “Jesus is symbolically taking the young man’s shame upon himself. . . . [Now] he has not only been restored from shame but is now assuming an even more honorable position. In effect, Jesus has swapped roles with this young man and thus made the young man’s restoration and glorification possible.”[10]

William-Adolphe Bouguerau, Women at the Tomb. Wikimedia Commons.

Even if the young man was, in fact, an angel, the suggestion that he represents how each of us can be both saved and exalted through the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus is an important one. Interestingly in Mark, before the cross and Easter, the disciples, particularly the male disciples, are characterized more often by their failures than their successes at following Jesus.[11] Throughout the Galilean ministry, they frequently misunderstood Jesus, and we saw them act poorly after each passion prediction on the road to Jerusalem. Then in Jesus’s final hours they abandoned Jesus, with Peter even denying that he knew him. Accordingly, the young man’s message to the women, “Now go, tell his disciples, and Peter, that he is going ahead of you to Galilee” (Mark 16:7, authors’ translation; emphasis added), signals that despite these earlier failings they will soon be rehabilitated even as the figure of the young man has been. Singling out Peter here is particularly striking given the recent denial, because Peter, along with the others, will soon meet the Risen Lord in Galilee, where they will revive their apostolic ministry in the place where it had begun. Even the women—who were more faithful to Jesus in his final hours and death—seem to have failed at the conclusion of the short ending of Mark, where despite the good news they have heard and the direction they have received, “they fled, for they were out of their wits with amazement, and they did not say anything to anyone, because they were afraid” (Mark 16:8, authors’ translation). Nevertheless, they, too, will be restored. Perhaps even more significantly, those hearing or reading the Gospel should see themselves in the type of the young man, redeemed and called to spread the good news.[12]

Matthew, while following Mark’s basic account, changes and expands upon it in important ways. First, rather than being a typological figure, the messenger whom they meet there is specifically “an angel of the Lord” whose descent from heaven is accompanied by an earthquake and whose countenance flashes like lightning. Whereas the three women in Mark had wondered who would dislodge or tumble the stone blocking the entrance for them, in Matthew’s version there are only the two Marys (Mary of Magdala and Mary the mother of James and Joses; see Matt 27:56, 61; 28:1), and the angel himself removes the stone and sits upon it, terrifying the soldiers who had been on guard (Matt 28:2‒4). After the women receive direction to tell the disciples (Peter not being singled out) that Jesus will go ahead and meet them in Galilee, they leave with joy as well as fear. Yet Matthew’s most significant addition, at least compared to the surviving Marcan short ending, is that while the women are on their way to relay the news, the Risen Lord himself meets them (Matt 28:9‒10). Thus, their testimonies of the resurrection, which start by seeing the tomb empty and hearing the declaration of the angel, are confirmed when they see, hear, and touch Jesus, holding him by his feet and worshipping him. With this sure testimony they become powerful witnesses; although the KJV renders the verb as “bring word” or “go tell,” and while the forms of the Greek apangellō (Matt 28:8, 10; see also Luke 24:9) can mean simply “announce” or “report,” in this context it clearly means to make a solemn or authoritative proclamation.[13] While Matthew’s final addition, the attempt of the Jewish leaders to cover up the story (Matt 8:11‒15), certainly had a polemical function,[14] in the narrative it actually underscores that the guards themselves were additional witnesses of the miracle that morning.

Luke’s account in many ways is the most elegant of the three. As in Mark, the women, not yet named, arrive and not only find the stone removed, but also “did not find the body of the Lord Jesus” (Luke 24:3, authors’ translation). While the emptiness of the tomb was implied in Mark, Luke makes it explicit, thus setting up a gradual unfolding of their awareness and understanding of the resurrection.[15] Only then do two men in gleaming clothing appear; while they are not explicitly described as angels, the number clearly separates them from the figure of the fleeing young man in Mark’s Gethsemane story. The appearance of two angels, a detail also found in John’s account (see below), underscores their roles as divine witnesses (see Deut 17:6; 19:15),[16] and unique to Luke is their question, “Why are you looking for one who is alive among the dead?” (Luke 24:5). Noting that the “one who is alive” (Greek, ton zōnta; KJV, “the living”) can also be rendered as a title, “The Living One” (compare Ps 42:2; 84:2; Jer 10:10), S. Kent Brown, emeritus professor of ancient scripture at BYU, notes that the angels are “underlying Jesus’ newly won role as the Living God, the one resurrected from death.”[17] As with the single messenger in Mark and Matthew, they then declare, “He is not here but has risen!” While we have translated the Greek verb (ēgerthē) with the traditional and more elegant “he is risen,” technically the form is passive, “he has been raised.” This may suggest that in the Synoptics Jesus, who had been crucified by men, has been raised by God, whereas according to Johannine Christology, Jesus laid down his own life and had power to take it up again (John 10:17‒18). By replacing the news that Jesus will meet the disciples in Galilee with a reference to Jesus’s earlier passion prediction (Luke 24:6‒7; cf. Luke 9:22; 18:31–34), the angels instead emphasize how the resurrection is a fulfillment of prophecy.[18]

The women in Luke do not encounter the Risen Lord at this point, but “they proclaimed all these things to the Eleven and all the others” (Luke 24:9, authors’ translation; emphasis added). In addition to the two Marys, and “the other women with them,” Luke also adds Joanna, one of the close female disciples of Jesus in Galilee in Luke 8:3, whom Richard Bauckham, professor emeritus of New Testament Studies at St. Andrews, has suggested might also be the important early Christian apostolic missionary Junia (see Romans 16:7).[19] While Luke records that the male disciples at that time do not believe the women, seeing their reports as “nonsense” (Greek, lēros; KJV, “idle tales”), he does share with John, as we shall see, a recollection that Peter ran to the tomb and saw the abandoned graveclothes (Luke 24:12; cf. John 20:6‒9). Peter’s “wondering to himself about what had happened” as he returned appears to have occasioned his own individual encounter with the Risen Lord (Luke 24:41; 1 Cor 15:5).[20]

Text: John 20:1–18

John’s account of the events at the empty tomb that first Easter morning is different enough to warrant particular attention. First, it portrays Mary of Magdala coming to the tomb alone, without the other women. She informs the male disciples, which leads Peter and the Beloved Disciple to come to the tomb (although we have seen that Luke preserves an independent memory of Peter visiting the burial site). Second, it records the moving encounter of Mary with the Risen Lord, a unique scene with particular power and significant interpretive potential.

John

¹The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. ²Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.”

³Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. ⁴So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. ⁵And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. ⁶Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, ⁷And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. ⁸Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. ⁹For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. ¹⁰Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.

¹¹But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, ¹²And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. ¹³And they say unto her, “Woman, why weepest thou?” She saith unto them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.”

¹⁴And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. ¹⁵Jesus saith unto her, “Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?” She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, “Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶Jesus saith unto her, “Mary.” She turned herself, and saith unto him, “Rabboni;” which is to say, Master. ¹⁷Jesus saith unto her, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, ‘I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.’”

¹⁸Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.

Mary Magdalene and the Risen Lord

Interpretation and Application

John’s account of the events at the empty tomb (John 20:1‒18) provides an important additional witness of what happened there that first Easter morning, but the evangelist also uses it to craft a powerful dramatic scene, one in which the historical figures—real people and powerful witnesses—serve as paradigmatic characters or important types of how people respond to the news of the Risen Lord. The first significant difference between John’s account and that of the Synoptics, of course, is that it describes only Mary of Magdala and not two or more women coming to the tomb. Running to report to Simon Peter and another disciple, “the one whom Jesus loved,” that the tomb was open, Mary declares, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him” (John 20:2, authors’ translation; emphasis added). This could suggest that she had, in fact, gone to the tomb with other women; John’s Gospel, however, frequently “stages” scenes with individual characters for dramatic effect, having one character representing a group of historical figures or, as we shall see, serving as a type of others, including future readers.[21] Her story is then interrupted by the account of the experiences of Peter and the Beloved Disciple (John 20:3‒10), with each of them also representing different responses to the signs at the empty tomb.

Minerva Teichert (1888-1976), Touch Me Not, 1937, oil on canvas, 76 1/2 x 59 3/4 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art.

Mary has traditionally been known as “the Magdalene,” but because this title has been associated with so much tradition and legend, some of it incorrect, in our translation we have preferred to render the Greek hē Magdalēnē as simply “from Magdala” (Hebrew, Migdal; Aramaic, Magdala). While Magdalene is sometimes taken to mean “tower of strength,” it has unfortunately come to refer to a rehabilitated lost woman. For instance, beginning with St. Jerome and culminating with a sermon by Pope Gregory I in AD 591, Mary was conflated with the “sinful woman” who anointed Jesus’s feet in Galilee (Luke 7:36‒50), the woman taken in adultery (John 8:1‒11), and Mary of Bethany (Luke 10:38‒42; John 11:1‒5, 28‒46; 12:1‒8), which led to the incorrect Medieval portrait of her as a reformed prostitute.[22] Her importance is evident in the fact that she appears first in every list of women in the Gospels except in John 19:25, where the mother of Jesus appears first. Because Mary was the most popular woman’s name in the first century,[23] “from Magdala” helped distinguish her from others of that same name. Usually a woman would be identified by the name of her father, husband, or son, so identifying her from her hometown might suggest that she was single, widowed, or otherwise independent. Given that Magdala was a prosperous, fish-processing center on the Sea of Galilee located at a place where a major road from the coast, the Via Maris, or “Way of the Sea,” came close to the lake as it continued toward the Syrian city of Damascus, she may have been a wealthy businesswoman, a possibility that might be supported by the notice that she, Joanna, Susanna, and “many other women” supported Jesus’s ministry out of their own resources (Luke 8:2‒3).[24] Anything else about her relationship with Jesus or her later life lies in the realm of speculation.[25]

Perhaps Mary’s role as a literary character or type gives her appearance here its greatest significance. Luke had mentioned that Jesus had freed her from seven devils (Luke 8:2). While there is no reason to doubt that she was the beneficiary of such a great miracle, because seven is the number of completeness, this miracle might suggest that as she, like all of us in this fallen world, was completely in the power of Satan until Jesus came into her life, not necessarily because of egregious personal sins, but because of her mortal state.[26] Her symbolic role here in this scene is suggested that John stresses that Mary of Magdala arrived “when it was yet dark” (John 20:1), whereas the Synoptics have the women arrive at the tomb early yet after the sun has risen (Mark 16:2; parallels Matt 28:1; Luke 24:1). Darkness and light are frequently contrasted in this John, with “characters in the dark” lacking understanding or spiritual enlightenment.[27] For instance, in Nicodemus’s first appearance, he visited Jesus “by night” (John 3:2), representing how he failed to fully understand Jesus.[28] Mary, who also starts this scene in the dark, finished it in the beautiful light of the first Easter Day.[29]

Harry Anderson, Mary and the Resurrected Lord. Courtesy of Intellectual Reserve, Inc.

John expands upon Luke’s notice that Peter ran to the tomb (Luke 24:12; John 20:3–4), adding that the Beloved Disciple joined him, outstripping Peter and arriving at the tomb first, not entering but seeing the empty grave wrappings through the door (John 20:3‒5). This is the third appearance of this character, the first being when he reclined in the arms of Jesus at the Last Supper and the second when he stood at the foot of the cross (John 13:23; 19:26). Only when Peter had gone in did this other disciple enter also, seeing, as Peter just had, that in addition to the linen wrappings lying on the grave shelf, the face cloth (Greek, to soudarion; KJV, “napkin”) was folded and placed separately. While there are various arguments about the different dispositions of the body wrappings and the face cloth, their careful placement convinced the two disciples that Jesus’s body had not been stolen, since grave robbers would probably not have taken the time to unwrap the body and then carefully fold and place the face cloth.[30] Perhaps the specific positioning demonstrated that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead: upon sitting up, presumably the first thing he would have done would have been to uncover his face, only removing the graveclothes afterward as he stood up. The references to the graveclothes—particularly to the word used for face cloth—also connect this scene with the account of the raising of Lazarus (John 11:43‒44). When Jesus called Lazarus out of his tomb on that occasion, he came out bound in graveclothes and with his face wrapped in a face cloth. Because Jesus had restored to Lazarus to mortal life, the implication was that he would need them again. Jesus, on the other hand, had risen from tomb once and for all, leaving his graveclothes behind since he would never die again.[31]

Eugène Burnand, The Disciples Peter and John on the Morning of the Resurrection. Masterpics/Alamy Stock Photo.

Peter’s response to the signs of the empty tomb and the discarded graveclothes is not detailed; only with the notices of Luke and Paul (Luke 24:41; 1 Cor 15:5) do we realize that these signs led him to continue to ponder, which led to a subsequent, intensely personal revelation of the Risen Lord. As a type, perhaps he represents the incremental growth in testimony that leads to powerful, sacred individual confirmation. On the other hand, the Beloved Disciple serves as a model for a broader range of believers; just as he “both saw and believed” when he saw the way the graveclothes were disposed (John 20:8), so can we, based upon the hope or possibility that Christ lives, come to saving faith even without seeing the Risen Lord ourselves.[32]

After the two men return to where they had been staying, Mary of Magdala is left not just crying but also deeply mourning (John 20:11), using a form of the same word (Greek, klaiō) used for the expressions of grief used for Mary of Bethany and “the Jews” before the raising of Lazarus (John 11:33). Both the angels in the tomb and Jesus ask her the same question, “Woman, why are you mourning?” (John 20:13, 15, authors’ translation; emphasis added). This is the same address (Greek, gynai) that Jesus used when addressing his mother at the wedding at Cana and at the cross (John 2:4; 19:26). While some have sought some Hebrew, Aramaic, or even Greek precedent for this form of address, seeing it perhaps as the equivalent of “Ma’am” or “Lady,” it is just as likely that John’s use is typological, with these particular historical women representing all possible women who either seek to help bring Jesus into the world or witness his resurrection.[33] Mary does not at first recognize Jesus, mistaking him for the gardener (John 20:15), perhaps because of the early light or her own tear-filled eyes. Alternatively, it may have resulted from a motif we will see again when others do not at first recognize the Risen Lord (cf. Luke 24:16; John 21:4), either because the resurrected body is in some way different from the body known in mortality or as a symbol of the need for spiritual rather than physical recognition. However, when Jesus calls her name, she immediately realizes who he is (John 20:16), fulfilling the earlier promise of Jesus, “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name. . . . My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me (John 10:3, 27, authors’ translation; emphasis added).[34]

Mary’s response apparently is to fall at Jesus’s feet, embracing him and leading him to respond, “Stop clinging to me!” (John 20:17). This is the actual meaning of the Greek, with a present imperative form (mē mou haptou) suggesting that he is asking her to stop an action that she has already begun (contrast with the KJV “Touch me not,” but compare with the JST “Hold me not”). Although there is continued discussion regarding the implications of his following statement, “For I have not yet ascended to my Father,”[35] the most likely explanation is that although Jesus will be with his earthly disciples for a short period, he in time will ascend to his Father and Mary must not seek to hold him back but continue on earth to finish her own mortal mission.[36]

Jesus then sends Mary as a messenger to the other disciples. While the first recipients of the joyful news may have, in fact, been mostly male—certainly including the remaining members of the Twelve—we have described them in our own translation as “brothers and sisters,” the Greek adelphous likely being gender inclusive. This reflects an application and extension of the imagery of the Beloved Disciple at the foot of the cross, who we suggested above in our discussion of John 19:26‒27 was transformed by Jesus’s sacrifice from a follower to a member of the family of Christ (see Mosiah 5:7; Ether 3:14). Mary immediately fulfills her commission, proclaiming (Greek, apangellousa), “I have seen the Lord!” The use again of this technical term for proclaim, together with the eyewitness testimony, earned Mary the traditional title “apostle to the apostles” (Latin, apostolorum apostola).[37] Without any further authoritative information on her own relationship with Jesus, John’s use of characters as types, and in this case, the generalizing term “woman” in particular, encourages us to see Mary of Magdala here primarily as a type for all believers who come to know and proclaim their testimonies that the Lord lives. Given the level of constraints upon women, including the general distrust of their testimonies in legal settings, imposed by the time and culture, her example is a particularly empowering one for women—and indeed, all disciples—today.[38]

Text: Luke 24:13–35

Unique to Luke is the episode about two disciples who encounter the Risen Lord on the road to Emmaus. This account is significant because, like the story about Mary of Magdala, it emphasizes the witness of everyday disciples rather than just the special apostolic witnesses of the remaining members of the Twelve.

Luke

³And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. ¹⁴And they talked together of all these things which had happened. ¹⁵And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. ¹⁶But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. ¹⁷And he said unto them, “What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?” ¹⁸And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, “Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?”

Caravaggio, Supper at Emmaus. Wikimedia Commons.

¹⁹And he said unto them, “What things?” And they said unto him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: ²⁰And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. ²¹But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. ²²Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; ²³And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. ²⁴And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.”

²⁵Then he said unto them, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ²⁶Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” ²⁷And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

²⁸And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. ²⁹But they constrained him, saying, “Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And he went in to tarry with them. ³⁰And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. ³¹And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. ³²And they said one to another, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?”

³³And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, ³⁴Saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.” ³⁵And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.

The Road to Emmaus

Interpretation and Application

Rembrandt (1606-1669), The Supper at Emmaus. Wikimedia Commons.

Luke provides the unique but moving account of an encounter that two disciples—Cleopas and an unnamed companion—had with the Risen Lord on the road to Emmaus, a town some seven miles from Jerusalem that scholars have identified with a number of modern sites to the west of the city including Qoloniya, Motza, Abu Ghosh, or el-Qubeibeh.[39] Because Cleopas may be the Greek form of Clopas, he may in fact have been the husband of one of the Marys at the foot of the cross (John 19:25; KJV, “Mary the wife of Cleophas”),[40] who according to at least one tradition was also the brother of Joseph, Jesus’s adoptive father.[41] Because his companion is not named, the second traveler could have been his wife, with the two of them returning home after being in Jerusalem for the Passover holiday.[42] While Cleopas is probably named because he was the source of this story for Luke, the significance of the story lies elsewhere. First, having two people encounter, see, and speak with Jesus fulfills the Mosaic requirement of having two witnesses (Deut 19:15; see also 2 Nephi 11:3).[43] Second, if Cleopas’s companion were a woman, her appearance would be consistent with Luke’s interest in people of all ranks, genders, and statuses, perhaps underscoring that all people, not just apostolic special witnesses, can gain a testimony that Christ lives.[44]

J. Kirk Richards, Road to Emmaus. Used with permission.

As they walk, conversing about the events of the past days, Jesus falls into step with them, but they are kept from recognizing him (Luke 24:15‒18), providing a subtle example of how Jesus can be with us in our walk through life even though we do not discern his presence. They rehearse to their new companion the swings in emotions and hopes that they had experienced in the recent days and hours. They had hoped that Jesus was the promised redeemer, yet he had been handed over and crucified. Then that morning they had received confusing reports of an empty tomb, angels, and a hopeful message that he was alive. While the two later realized that their hearts had burned within them as he unfolded the scriptures to them to demonstrate that Christ needed to suffer before he could enter his glory (Luke 24:25‒27, 32), Jesus is only clearly revealed to them when he breaks and blesses bread for them at dinner after they had arrived at their destination (Luke 24:30). As soon as they realize who Jesus is, he vanishes from their sight, but the lesson of these “average disciples” for us today is clear: we too can meet Jesus in the scriptures and in the power of ordinances, particularly the sacrament, which recounts the salvific suffering and death of the Lord. Yet he is a living Christ, one who can be with his people and appear to his apostles, as he did to Simon Peter (Luke 24:34).

Texts: Luke 24:36–49; John 20:19–31

Only Luke and John provide accounts of a visit later that day to the disciples. In both versions he gives them tangible proof that he has bodily risen from the dead.

Luke

³⁶And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, “Peace be unto you.” ³⁷But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. ³⁸And he said unto them, “Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? ³⁹Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” ⁴⁰And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.

⁴¹And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, “Have ye here any meat?” ⁴²And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. ⁴³And he took it, and did eat before them. ⁴⁴And he said unto them, “These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.” ⁴⁵Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, ⁴⁶And said unto them, “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: ⁴⁷And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” ⁴⁸And ye are witnesses of these things.⁴⁹And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”

John

¹⁹Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of “the Jews”, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. ²⁰And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. ²¹Then said Jesus to them again, “Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” ²²And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost: ²³Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.”

²⁴But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵The other disciples therefore said unto him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said unto them, “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Luca Signorelli (1450-1523), Top: The Resurrected Christ Appearing to St. Magdalene; Bottom: The Resurrected Christ Appearing to His Disciples. Wikimedia Commons.

²⁶And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace be unto you.” ²⁷Then saith he to Thomas, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.” ²⁸And Thomas answered and said unto him, “My Lord and my God.” ²⁹Jesus saith unto him, “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”

³⁰And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: ³¹But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

First Appearances to the Disciples in Jerusalem

Interpretation and Application

After Jesus reveals himself to Cleopas and his companion in Emmaus, they hurriedly return to Jerusalem, where they report their experience to the Eleven and other followers of Jesus who had gathered with them (Luke 24:33). John also speaks of a group of disciples who had gathered secretly because of concerns about the Jewish authorities (John 20:19). In both stories Jesus provides proofs positive of his bodily resurrection to groups including his surviving apostles (Luke 24:36‒49; John 20:19‒23). In Luke’s account, the disciples are frightened at first, and Jesus must reassure them and convince them that he is more than a spirit, that he has actually risen from the dead with flesh and bones, by presenting his hands and feet to them and encouraging them to touch them. The verb here is somewhat unusual (Greek, psēlaphēsate; KJV, “handle”), conveying the idea of using the sense of touch to discover or find out something yet unknown (cf. its use in Acts 17:27).[45] Though Luke does not specifically mention the signs of the nails in either Jesus’s hands or feet, given the recent crucifixion and the parallel that we will see with John 20:20, 25, these tokens of his sacrificial death might be implied.[46]

When their initial fear turns to joy, Jesus further demonstrates that he is a living, physical being by requesting and receiving some broiled fish, with some later manuscripts adding that they gave him a piece of honeycomb as well.[47] While this latter addition may not have been in the original text, it does help connect the image of Jesus’s eating with the believer’s glad reception of the joyous word of his resurrection. One of the Psalmists had declared, “How sweet are thy words unto my taste / yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Ps 119:103), and Jeremiah had declared, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them / and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart” (Jer 15:16). This implied connection with the word of God is immediately picked up by Jesus himself, who then declares, “This is the meaning of the sayings that I spoke to you while I was still with you, how all that was written about me in the law of Moses, in the prophets, and in the psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). By using the threefold division of the scriptures as it was known in his day—the Teaching or Law (tôrâ), Prophets (nəḇîʾîm), and Writings (kəṯûḇîm; “psalms” by synecdoche) still used by our Jewish friends today—Jesus thus feeds his disciples spiritually, opening their minds to the full breadth of his saving mission.[48] In anticipation of the apostolic commission that we will see he later delivers to his servants in Galilee (Matt 28:16‒10), and foreshadowing his final charge before his ascension (Acts 1:4‒5, 8), the scene closes with Jesus’s charging all present to be his witnesses.

John’s account of Jesus’s appearance to his disciples that night is considerably briefer, stressing that he showed them his hands and side but omitting references to his eating (John 20:19‒20). Their commission as witnesses is represented in this account by Jesus declaring, “Just as the Father sent me, I also am sending you” (John 20:21), and he follows it with an immediate, special endowment of power and authority when “he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whosoever sins you forgive will be forgiven for them; whosoever sins you retain will be retained’” (John 20:22‒23, authors’ translation; emphasis added). A Latter-day Saint reading of this action would separate this experience from receiving the formal gift of the Holy Ghost, which presumably would have followed water baptism, and the later special endowment of power that came at Pentecost (see Acts 2:1‒4). What appears to be occurring here is a symbolic re-creation of the disciples: just as Adam became “a living soul” when God placed within him the breath of life (Gen 2:7), they are being born again as new creatures in Christ (see John 3:3‒6), and bearing his authority, they will have authority to forgive in his name.[49]

After Jesus’s departure, the disciples tell Thomas, who was not present when he appeared to them, of their experience, echoing the eyewitness words of Mary, “We have seen the Lord!” Thomas’s incredulous response, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand in his side, I will never believe” (John 20:24‒25, authors’ translation; emphasis added), seems to suggest that the disciples had more than just seen Jesus. Rather, as in Luke, they had “touched” or “handled” him as well, having physical as well as visual proof of his resurrection. These acts may have constituted what were described as “infallible” or “convincing proofs” (Greek, tekmēriois) when Jesus “showed himself alive after his Passion” (Acts 1:3).[50] Thomas’s reaction here is surprising given his earlier, positive depictions in this Gospel (John 11:16; 14:5‒6), and it has earned him the unfortunate sobriquet “Doubting Thomas.” One possible explanation of his behavior might be found in his status as an apostle, or special witness: as one who would be charged to go to all the world and bear authoritative witness that Jesus had died for the sins of the world but now lived, he may have desired the same sure testimony that his fellows had received.

Carl Heinrich Bloch, The Doubting Thomas. Wikimedia Commons.

Although Jesus’s appearance to Thomas occurs eight days later, we will consider it briefly here because it forms a continuation of the earlier literary unit. Occurring when Thomas was present with the other disciples, Jesus gives him the same greeting with which he began his appearance the week before, “Peace be with you!” (John 20:26). After Jesus invites Thomas to feel the marks in his hands and sides, despite his earlier doubts, Thomas now makes one of the strongest Christological affirmations in John, declaring, “My Lord and my God!” Because this is the standard way that the Septuagint rendered the Hebrew title YHWH ʾĔlōhāy, Thomas effectively testified that Jesus was Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament, a declaration that ties back to the first verse of the Gospel, “the Word was God” (John 1:1). When Jesus then says, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Fortunate are those who do not see yet believe” (John 20:29, authors’ translation), if it were a rebuke, it is perhaps a gentle rebuke. He does not say that those who believe without seeing will be more fortunate than Thomas, simply that they, too, are fortunate (Greek, makarioi; KJV, “blessed”). In this, the experience of Thomas the character is perhaps most important to us as a type: if Jesus could reveal himself to Thomas despite the disciple’s earlier doubts, then we, too, can receive saving testimonies even if we at times hesitate or are unsure.[51]

As we will discuss in the next chapter, the significance of the Thomas episode is also underscored by the fact that scholars largely view it as the original ending of John’s Gospel, chapter 21 being an epilogue that was added later. After establishing that all who believe in Jesus are blessed—whether they see him or not—the Gospel’s original ending would have been “Now there were many other signs that Jesus performed in the presence of his disciples, which have not been written in this book. But these have been written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30‒31, authors’ translation; emphasis added).[52] The best textual witnesses are actually divided, with some reading “that you may believe” (Greek, hina pisteusēte, an aorist subjunctive; KJV, “that ye might believe”) and others reading “so that you may continue to believe” (Greek, hina pisteuēte, a present subjunctive).[53] Both readings have important implications. The ministry of Jesus as recorded in this Gospel—culminating in his final days and his saving suffering, death, and resurrection that we celebrate each Easter Week—is vital for both unbelievers and believers alike. The good news can bring people to Christ for the first time, but for those of us who have already accepted him, it deepens our faith and will yet bring us to our goal of eternal life.

Celebrating Easter Sunday in the Christian Tradition

In the first two centuries of Christianity, observance focused on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and used the Greek name Pascha, derived from the Aramaic pronunciation of Pesaḥ, the Hebrew word for “Passover.” While most European languages have continued to use some form of the word Pascha for the holiday, according to the Venerable Bede (AD 672‒753), an English monk and scholar, the English word “Easter” comes from Ēostre, an Anglo-Saxon fertility goddess. Modern German uses a similar word, Ostern.[54] Consequently, some Christians have increasingly opted for the more appropriate name of “Resurrection Sunday.”

In Asia Minor (modern Turkey), Eastern Christians originally celebrated Pascha at the same time as their Jewish neighbors, although by AD 165, Christians in Rome were celebrating Pascha on the Sunday after Passover. By the third century, Christians in Egypt began to focus equally upon the Crucifixion and Resurrection, and as noted in our introduction above, the current way of selecting the Sunday to celebrate the rising of Jesus Christ was settled under Constantine, with some adjustments in the Middle Ages.[55] Because the Jewish and early Christian day began at sunset the previous day, the earliest Christian observances of Easter actually took place on Saturday evening with a solemn service called a “vigil,” a term that comes from the Latin vigilia, meaning “a watch” or “guard.” Prayer and scripture reading services were held by candlelight as worshippers awaited the rising of Christ,[56] and, according to the Christian historian Eusebius (ca., AD 260‒340), Constantine “changed, too, the holy night vigil into a brightness like that of day, by causing waxen tapers of great length to be lighted throughout the city: besides which, torches everywhere diffused their light, so as to impart to this mystic vigil a brilliant splendor beyond that of day.”[57]

Pakistani Christian worshippers attend Easter services at Saint Thomas church in Islamabad, March 31, 2002. Alamy stock photo.

In Eastern Orthodox churches, the Vigil has remained the major focus of their Easter celebration, starting at midnight on Holy Saturday and ending at dawn on Easter with the Eucharist, followed by an Easter breakfast. During the Vigil, a lit candle is brought into the dark church from outside. In Western churches, the deacon sings “The Light of Christ” as he carries the paschal candle into the church.[58] During this Vigil, new members of the Church receive the Eucharist (what Latter-day Saints call the “sacrament”) for the first time. The Vigil consists of various readings from the Hebrew Scriptures and hymns of praise.[59] The Roman Catholic Church added a Sunday morning Easter service in the seventh century, and as the Protestant Reformation eliminated many earlier Catholic observances, the Easter Vigil was increasingly replaced by a Sunday morning service. The Moravians, an important reformed Protestant Church founded in today’s Czech Republic, were the first to hold a sunrise service in the United States, using it to recall the joy of the women who found the empty tomb that first Easter morn. Today Easter morning services are, along with Christmas Eve services, some of the best-attended Christian meetings.[60] On Easter morning, Greeks and other Orthodox Christians greet each other by joyfully declaring Christos Anesti, or “Christ is Risen!,” to which the customary response is Alithos anesti, or “He is risen indeed!” Similar greetings are exchanged today in different languages by members of many churches: in Western traditions it is accompanied with “Alleluia!,” an expression of praise that traditionally is not said during Lent in the lead-up to Easter.[61]

The Easter egg comes from the early Middle Ages when kings would give boiled eggs to their servants and to the poor. Eggs were forbidden during Lent, which ends on the night of Holy Saturday, and so Sunday was the first day that Christians were permitted to eat eggs. While the egg may have originated with pagans as a springtime symbol of rebirth, Christians adapted it to represent the tomb and Jesus’s new birth. The Easter Bunny, also a fertility symbol, is first mentioned in Germany in 1572, and today is said to deliver Easter eggs and other candy to help add to the joy of the holiday.[62] A folk custom with more patently Christian symbolism observed by some Episcopalians and Lutherans is the “Flowering” or “Greening of the Cross,” whereby a wooden cross is decorated with leaves and flowers to represent how Jesus’s cross, a dead tree of cursing, became a source of new life.[63] As with Latter-day Saints, Easter is marked not only by church services and traditional customs but also by joyful family gatherings and dinners.

Suggestions for Latter-day Saints

Traditional Easter cross. Sitaw/Pixabay

While celebrating many of the days of Holy Week—even one as important as Good Friday—is not as familiar to Latter-day Saints, as a community we do pay attention to Easter, eager to celebrate the Living Christ. Families with young children usually observe traditional customs, such as Easter egg hunts and gathering candy as a way to add joy to the day, and gathering with loved ones for a special holiday meal is a central feature of our practice. Going to church, singing “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” (Hymns, no. 200) or “He Is Risen” (Hymns, no. 199) with our wards, and partaking of the sacrament are usually the spiritual focus of the day, and bishoprics and ward councils can take special care to arrange for music and talks that focus on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and his resurrection.

Still, intentionally marking the preceding days of Holy Week can add to the meaning of our Easter celebrations. Even the solemnity of Good Friday and the anticipation of Holy Saturday can magnify the joy we experience on Easter morning. Likewise, filling the home with fresh flowers, especially Easter lilies, and some of the great art depicting the first Easter (see Appendix D for a full list) can add to the spirit and beauty of the day. Gathering for a family devotional—even before collecting Easter candy if there are young children in the family—can guarantee that the focus of the day is spiritual. Particularly if this is done early while it is still somewhat dark, those using an Easter wreath can recapture some of the experience of traditional Easter vigils by lighting the purple, red, and finally, for the first time, the white Easter candle, representing that the Light of the World has returned to the world. Reading one of the Easter morning accounts (Matt 28:1–10, Luke 24:1–11, or John 20:1‒18), singing an Easter hymn such as “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” (Hymns, no. 200) or “Jesus Has Risen” (Children’s Songbook, 70), sharing testimonies about the resurrection, and offering a family prayer can become treasured ways of starting each Easter Sunday.

Marking Easter

Although every Sunday is the Lord’s Day, commemorating Jesus’s rising from the tomb and serving as our Christian Sabbath, Latter-day Saints certainly ought to join with the rest of the Christian world in celebrating Easter Sunday. As President Hinckley taught,

Of all the victories in human history, none is so great, none so universal in its effect, none so everlasting in its consequences as the victory of the crucified Lord who came forth in the Resurrection that first Easter morning. . . . No force beneath the heavens could now hold back the power of the Son of God. It was as if His Almighty Father could stand no more. The earth trembled. The guards fled. The stone was moved. The Lord of heaven and earth arose from the bier, shook off the burial clothes, and stepped forth to become the first fruits of them that slept. The empty tomb bore testimony of this greatest of all miracles.[64] §

For Further Reading

du Toit, Herman. “Picturing the Resurrection.” In Behold the Lamb of God: An Easter Celebration, 185‒200.

Holzapfel. A Lively Hope, 168‒91.

Holzapfel, Richard Neitzel, and Thomas A. Wayment. “The Resurrection.” In From the Last Supper to the Resurrection, 378‒97.

Huntsman. God So Loved the World, 106‒15.

Matthews, Robert J. “Resurrection: The Ultimate Triumph.” In Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, edited by Paul H. Peterson, Gary L. Hatch, and Laura D. Card, 313–33. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2002.

Skinner, Andrew C. The Garden Tomb. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2005.

Smith. The Gospel according to Mark, 820‒35.

———. “The Resurrection.” In Blumell, New Testament History, Culture, and Society, 377‒90.

Tate, George S. “The Resurrection as Olive Branch: A Meditation.” In Behold the Lamb of God: An Easter Celebration, 165‒84.

Notes

[1] Huntsman, God So Loved the World, 107‒19 .

[2] Howard W. Hunter, “He Is Risen,” Ensign, May 1988, 16.

[3] Metzger, Textual Commentary, 102‒6. See also the discussions of France, Gospel of Mark, 685‒88, esp. 686 for his chart of how individual verses of the Long Ending of Mark correlate with specific passages in Matthew, Luke, and John; Witherington, Gospel of Mark, 412‒13n3; Smith, Gospel according to Mark, 871‒74.

[4] France, Gospel of Mark, 670‒72; Witherington, Gospel of Mark, 47‒48; Smith, Gospel according to Mark, 829‒35.

[5] France, Gospel of Mark, 673; Smith, Gospel according to Mark, 829. Witherington, Gospel of Mark, 48, notes, but dismisses, another suggestion—namely, that the Gospel was intended to end with Mark 16:8 but that the evangelist had planned to write a second volume, much as the author of Luke also wrote Acts, but was prevented from completing his design.

[6] The issue of sentence construction centers on the awkwardly short final clause, ephoubounto gar, “for they were afraid.” The conjunction gar is postpositive, meaning that it is generally the second element of a clause but rarely is the last word in a sentence, though there are some examples of it in that position. France, Gospel of Mark, 670‒73; Witherington, Gospel of Mark, 42‒47; Huntsman, God So Loved the World, 111; Smith, Gospel according to Mark, 829. Witherington and Smith come to opposite conclusions as to the likelihood of the end of a manuscript being lost. Witherington notes that scrolls were rarely rerolled after having been read, leaving their ends exposed to damage. Smith, on the other hand, suggests that they were often rerolled to the center, leaving both their beginnings and ends protected.

[7] Witherington, Gospel of Mark, 411‒12, 415‒18.

[8] Matson, In Dialogue with Another Gospel?, 379‒438.

[9] France, Gospel of Mark, 678‒79; Witherington, Gospel of Mark, 414.

[10] Smith, Gospel according to Mark, 827‒28.

[11] Witherington, Gospel of Mark, 436‒42.

[12] Smith, Gospel according to Mark, 831‒35.

[13] Ingo Broer, “angellō/���Բ��Բ������ō/apangellō,” EDNT 1.12‒13, notes, “In the resurrection narratives of the Gospels, (ap)angellō surely means more than a colorless report. The verb group lifts up the special significance of the event for the Christian faith; . . . they understand the announcement itself as effective power.”

[14] Nolland, Gospel of Matthew, 1254‒58.

[15] Marshall, Gospel of Luke, 884‒85.

[16] Brown, Testimony of Luke, 1107.

[17] Brown, Testimony of Luke, 1108.

[18] Marshall, Gospel of Luke, 885‒86.

[19] Bauckham, Gospel Women, 109‒202.

[20] Brown, Testimony of Luke, 1111.

[21] Brown, Gospel according to John, 999; Keener, Gospel of John, 1178; Huntsman, Becoming the Beloved Disciple, 8‒10.

[22] Ricci, Mary Magdalene and Many Others, 129–31, 148–50; Reid, Choosing the Better Part, 125; Carolyn Osiek, “Mary 3 (Magdalene),” Part I: Named Women, Women in Scripture: A Dictionary of Named and Unnamed Women in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, and the New Testament, ed. Carole Meyers (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001), 120–22; Brock, Mary Magdalene, the First Apostle, 168–71; Jane Schaberg, The Resurrection of Mary Magdalene: Legends, Apocrypha, and the Christian Testament (New York: Continuum, 2004), 65‒120.

[23] Mary, or Miryām, was the same name born by Miriam, the prophetess and sister of Moses, and a form of it, Mariamne, was frequently used by Hasmonean princesses in the century or so before Jesus’s time, which added to its popularity at the time of Jesus. See “Mary (name),” Part I: Named Women, Women in Scripture, 116–24; Schaberg, Resurrection of Mary Magdalene, 66‒67; Holzapfel, Huntsman, and Wayment, Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament, 136.

[24] Reid, Choosing the Better Part, 126‒28.

[25] Eric D. Huntsman, “Mary Magdalene: Biblical Enigma” (presentation on February 25, 2004, as part of the Museum of Art lecture series Mystery, Metaphor, and Meaning: LDS Perspectives on The Da Vinci Code, revised presentation: May 26, 2004, KBYU Studios); Schaberg, Resurrection of Mary Magdalene, 47‒48. In addition to early Christian apocryphal texts and later Medieval tradition, some mid-nineteenth-century Latter-day Saint leaders mused about the possible relationship of Mary Magdalene and other New Testament women with Jesus, though much of this must be seen in the context of the period’s apologetics in favor of plural marriage (e.g., Orson Hyde, Journal of Discourses, 2:81, 210; Orson Pratt, The Seer, 1853–54, 159). See the arguments of Vern G. Swanson, Dynasty of the Holy Grail (Springville, UT: Cedar Fort, 2006), 83, 85‒87, 94, though we feel that these are debatable.

[26] Ricci, Mary Magdalene and Many Others, 131–39; Reid, Choosing the Better Part, 126; Huntsman, Miracles of Jesus, 69‒70.

[27] Brown, Gospel according to John, 980‒81; Keener, Gospel of John, 1179‒79.

[28] Huntsman, Becoming the Beloved Disciple, 43.

[29] Brown, Gospel according to John, 980‒81, and especially Keener, Gospel of John, 1178‒79.

[30] Brown, Gospel according to John, 1007‒8; Michaels, Gospel of John, 990; Keener, Gospel of John, 1182.

[31] Brown, Gospel according to John, 427n44; Huntsman, Miracles of Jesus, 118.

[32] Huntsman, Becoming the Beloved Disciple, 128‒29.

[33] Brown, Gospel according to John, 99, and Huntsman, “Word Made Flesh,” 56‒57; God So Loved the World, 114; Becoming the Beloved Disciple, 30‒31, 33, 35.

[34] Brown, Gospel according to John, 1008‒10; Keener, Gospel of John, 1190‒91.

[35] Brown, Gospel according to John, 1011‒15; Keener, Gospel of John, 1192‒95.

[36] Huntsman, Becoming the Beloved Disciple, 35‒36.

[37] Schaberg, Resurrection of Mary Magdalene, 88.

[38] Huntsman, Becoming the Beloved Disciple, 36.

[39] Holzapfel, Lively Hope, 186; Carsten Peter Thiede, The Emmaus Mystery: Discovering Evidence for the Risen Christ (New York: Continuum, 2005), 24–78; Brown, Testimony of Luke, 1116.

[40] See the discussion of Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, 46‒47, 55, 130; see contra Marshall, Gospel of John, 717n63, who suggests instead that Cleopas is the Greek form of Alphaeus (Aramaic, ḥālphai). This, intriguingly, would have made him the father of the apostles James the less and Levi/Matthew.

[41] Hegesippus apud Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 3.11; 422.4.

[42] Both the gender-inclusive nature of Greek masculine plural pronouns and the context could support this. See Marshall, Gospel of Luke, 894; Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, 47, n33, and Thiede, The Emmaus Mystery, 93‒98. Brown, Testimony of Luke, 1120‒21, interestingly, reads their reference to “some women from our group” (Luke 24:22) as proving that both of these disciples were men. Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary 1:850, thought that Cleopas’s companion was “perhaps Luke, since it is he who records the account,” but this is based upon his (mis)reading of Luke 1:2, where the ambiguous antecedent of the relative pronouns and the placement of the relative clause in the KJV could seem to suggest that Luke was one of the eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word, but the Greek makes it clear that Luke received his information from these witnesses.

[43] Brown, Testimony of Luke, 1115.

[44] Huntsman, God So Loved the World, 112.

[45] Bauer, “psēlaphaō,” BDAG, 1097‒98.

[46] Brown, Testimony of Luke, 1132.

[47] Metzger, Textual Commentary, 161.

[48] Marshall, Gospel of Luke, 904‒5; Huntsman, God So Loved the World, 113; Brown, Testimony of Luke, 1135.

[49] Brown, Gospel according to John, 1022‒23; Huntsman, God So Loved the World, 113; Keener, Gospel of John, 1204‒05.

[50] Bauer, “tekmērion,” BDAG, 994.

[51] Huntsman, Becoming the Beloved Disciple, 114‒16.

[52] Huntsman, Becoming the Beloved Disciple, 116‒17.

[53] Metzger, Textual Commentary, 219.

[54] Gulevich, “Easter, Origin of the Word,” in Encyclopedia of Easter, Carnival, and Lent, 92; Saunders, “Easter,” Celebrating a Holy Catholic Easter, 181‒82.

[55] Gulevich, “Easter, History,” in Encyclopedia of Easter, Carnival, and Lent, 138‒39.

[56] Gulevich, “Easter Vigil,” in Encyclopedia of Easter, Carnival, and Lent, 146‒47.

[57] Eusebius, Eccl. Hist., 4.22.

[58] Frank Senn, “Holy Week,” in The Encyclopedia of Christianity, ed. Geoffrey William Bromiley and Erwin Fahlbusch (Cambridge: Brill/Eerdmans, 2001), 2:585–86.

[59] Saunders, “The Easter Vigil,” in Celebrating a Holy Catholic Easter, 175‒76.

[60] Gulevich, “Easter, History‒Religious Customs,” and “Sunrise Service,” in Encyclopedia of Easter, Carnival, and Lent, 139‒41, 587‒88.

[61] Saunders, “Easter,” Celebrating a Holy Catholic Easter, 177‒80.

[62] Anthony S. Mercatante and James R. Dow, in Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, vol. 1 (New York: Facts on File, 2009), 337–38.

[63] Gulevich, “Flowering of the Cross,” in Encyclopedia of Easter, Carnival, and Lent, 209‒10.

[64] Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Easter Tomb Bore Testimony,” Ensign, May 1988, 66‒67.