Harmonizing the six Biblical accounts*
of the last days of Jesus Christ

[*Matthew 26-28, Mark 14-16, Luke 22-24,
John 13+18-21, Acts 1:3-11, Acts 9 & 1 Cor. 15:4-8]

“The Word of God is living and active.”
~ Hebrews 4:12

Several months ago, I came across an article entitled “Leave No Stone Unturned”, in which its author (Dan Barker) challenges Christians & non-Christians alike to reconcile the six different Biblical accounts of Jesus’ resurrection.  In essence, Mr. Barker’s challenge read as follows:

 

“Tell what happened on Easter … In each of the four Gospels, begin at Easter morning and read to the end of the book: Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 20-21. Also read Acts 1:3-12 and Paul’s tiny version of the story in I Corinthians 15:3-8. These 165 verses can be read in a few moments. Then, without omitting a single detail from these separate accounts, write a chronological narrative of the events that occurred between the resurrection and the ascension … The narrative does not have to present a perfect picture–it only needs to give at least one plausible account of all of the facts.”

 

Needless to say, upon reading this I was more than a bit inspired.  A weighty gauntlet had been thrown down before me … and I decided to pick it up.
Now it had already come to my attention during my thousands & thousands of hours of Biblical study over the previous ten+ years that there are indeed quite a few contradictions easily found within the Bible’s pages.  Of course, this intensive study had also revealed the fact that — while a few of these contradictions are indeed quite dramatic — the vast majority of them are either easily reconciled or essentially inconsequential.  And yet despite this fact, over the past decade I have personally witnessed dozens of otherwise extremely intelligent people (Christians & non-Christians alike) become thoroughly distracted from the Bible’s deeper meanings by focusing instead on its banal trivialities.  And nowhere has this form of self-delusion been more poignantly displayed than in discussions I have engaged about the story of Jesus’ death & resurrection.

 

Yes, I know — most folks don’t take these literary discrepancies so seriously (Indeed, I would wager that most folks probably do not even know they exist).  After all, I think it is even fair to say that most people understand that almost everything found in the Bible is essentially hearsay; that its texts were written by a variety of different authors (mostly anonymously) over a large swath of time, that almost none of said authors were first-hand witnesses to the events they portray; that we have not a single original copy of any of their writings; and that — at a minimum — the path that their words took (if they were indeed divinely inspired) traveled from God, to actual eyewitnesses, to several generations of storytellers, to the Biblical authors, to several generations of copyists, to several decades of translators & interpreters … and finally to us.
While this Truth doesn’t make the Bible “false” or “wrong” or “untruthful” by any means, it does – at least for most of us — open its pages up to insightful introspection & individual interpretation … That having been said, there are a handful of folks – both Christian & non-Christian alike – for whom the apparent contradictions in the Bible pose a serious problem.
For some human secularists, these discrepancies are used to justify their summary dismissal of the entire contents of the Bible’s texts; casually (and sometimes a bit arrogantly) noting that the contradictions and fallacies therein prove that the entire Bible is nothing more than a collection of fables and fictions and fantasies. …

 

And this is too bad, for the Bible is also literally filled with intellectual intrigue and practical principles that could make the lives of even those “non-believers” far more interesting and indeed far more pleasant & Purpose-full – were they to read them and comprehend them by applying them in their daily interactions with others, of course.

 

On the other side of the spectrum – namely, the Christians who consider themselves to be “conservative” or “evangelical” or “fundamentalist” – such Biblical discrepancies are often dismissed just as casually; with said “devout believers” often noting that the Bible is flawless; that it is “the inerrant Word of God”; that everything within its pages is “the absolute Truth”; and that therefore all of its apparent contradictions are due solely to our own lack of understanding, not to the Bible’s inaccuracy – that the Bible’s contradictions are actually not contradictions at all …

 

And this is too bad as well, for – while admittedly possibly accurate – this close-minded approach to reading the Bible prevents these same folks from noticing and comprehending many of the more subtle and far deeper Truths contained therein … Ironically, in the Bible’s own words, such a “hard-hearted” mentality keeps those very believers from ever having “the eyes to see and the ears to hear” the Bible’s more magnificent wisdoms!

 

And hence, we have the sharing of this particular treatise.

 

For indeed, if any of us are to ever uncover the deeper Truths of the Bible’s resurrection story (many of which I will be sharing in Part 2 of this work), then we need to understand – from a Biblical perspective – both what happened to Jesus & his disciples, and the actual order in which those events might very well have occurred … In other words, if we are ever going to accurately rediscover the underlying WHY within the tale of Jesus’ death & apparent rebirth, we must first know WHAT the Bible actually says about the same.

 

Now, to take this challenge a bit further — and to thereby make it a bit more valuable for each of you — I have decided to reconcile the Bible’s entire Easter Story – telling not only the tale of Easter morning, but also including the story’s preamble and its epilogue as well; starting just before the Last Supper and concluding with the last of Jesus’ three “ascensions”.

 

In doing so, please NOTE that there are several things that I am NOT trying to establish or prove with this article – namely:

*… that I am not trying to establish that the Resurrection of Jesus as presented in the Bible is historically accurate (or even that it happened at all – though any truly humble person must admit it certainly might have);

*… that I am not trying to state that the Christian dogma surrounding this story is in any way correct — or support that dogma in any way — or validate any of its spiritual claims — or even hint that the beliefs espoused by the Christian church are actually affirmed by God or Jesus Christ (thought they as well very well might be);

*… & that I am not trying to say that these six stories – written by at least six different authors several decades after Jesus’ death – do not, in fact, contradict one another (they very well might).

 

That having been clarified, what I am trying to do here is help us ALL get past debating about &/or arguing over such silliness … What I am trying to do is to present the Gospels in a fashion that allows us ALL (Christians & non-Christian alike) to set our petty conflicts aside and get to the true Heart of a truly great story – something I intend to do in the second part of this two-part series … And what I am trying to do, ironically enough, is to get us ALL to remember the pure & perfect unconditional Love which the Jesus Christ in the Gospels embodied & spoke of during his life – and then to go forth and empower that same pure Compassion in our everyday lives as well.
So, to that end, please accept the following Gift:  a reconciliatory retelling of the Easter Story in a way that eradicates all apparent Biblical contradictions; giving us in its place a single, consistent, lucid tale of humble service & brave self-sacrifice.
As allWays … enJOY!

Scaughdt

“The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes — and be killed — and on the third day be raised again.” ~ Jesus Christ (Luke 9:22)

“Up to now I have spoken to you in figures of speech.
And yet the hour is coming when I will no longer speak
to you in metaphors.” ~ Jesus Christ (John 16:25)

 

 

“What is unsought will go undetected.” ~ Sophocles

“Seek, and you will find; knock,
and the door will be opened.”
~ Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:7)

Filed under: Exhuming Easter by Scaughdt