The Dilemma of Different Reports - GraceLife Church of Pineville

Scripture Focuses: 1 Timothy 2:4–7; Matthew 28:1–10; Mark 16:1–9; Luke 24:1–31; John 20:1–18

Intro: The Trustworthiness of Testimony

What you will witness and participate in over the next few sermons has everything to do with testimony. You will have to judge for yourself the trustworthiness of testimony on several levels:

The trustworthiness of the original testimony
The trustworthiness of those who recorded the testimony
The trustworthiness of our (my) interpretation of the testimony
Ultimately, the trustworthiness of all of these things put together as the story being told about God—the story being told about the story being told by God.

We begin in 1 Timothy 2 to help ourselves understand how to view testimony. In the previous sermon, we read/heard the combined testimony (from all four Gospels) about the crucifixion of Jesus. Regarding Jesus, the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy saying something about Christ’s crucifixion and the nature of that testimony and how it relates to Paul’s individual charge to give further testimony about Jesus:

[God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. (1 Timothy 2:4–7)

We glean the following principles from this passage:

God desires for all people to be saved and to know truth (v. 4).
God’s actions in history and God’s revelation of His actions are designed for you to weigh the facts and to come to the truth (v. 4).
The truth God wants you to know is based on the testimony of Christ’s death and resurrection (vv. 5–6). In other words, God has gone into the slave market and purchased those who were slaves to sin. He has paid your ransom and set you free.
God has appointed certain people to proclaim this testimony about Christ in specific ways (v. 7).

That specific testimony of Christ’s crucifixion is recorded for us in four Gospels. But many view the testimony as suspect because they claim that the testimony contradicts. In this sermon, we review the testimony and must wrestle with the degree to which we place our faith in it as the truth.

Basic Questions

We’re going to ask some very basic questions of the text about the crucifixion and resurrection. They’re not theological in nature—like the questions, “Is Jesus God?” and “Did He rise from the dead?” or “Is His sacrifice a satisfactory payment for sin?” Rather, these are the questions that a neutral investigator might ask upon hearing the claim that Jesus’s body was not in the tomb and that His followers were claiming a resurrection from the dead. Here are the basic questions we’re going to ask:

Who went to the tomb?
When did you go?
Why did you go?
Who did you see there?
Who went into the tomb?¹
When did you first see Jesus?

If you’re going to claim that all of human history rests on this fact of a crucified and resurrected Christ—if you’re going to ask people to weigh all of eternity on this fact—then certainly these basic facts we can get right. We’re going to go Gospel by Gospel to explore these things and answer these questions.

Here, I recommend you download a blank version of the table that we filled out together during the original delivery of this sermon. Then print and, as an exercise, fill it out individually as you read the four Gospel accounts of the resurrection.

DOWNLOAD AS A WORD DOCUMENT
DOWNLOAD AS A PDF

The Resurrection Accounts in the Gospels

In the previous sermon, we read all four Gospel accounts of the crucifixion, and we compiled them to get as full a story as possible. As you’ll soon see, the four accounts of the resurrection don’t line up quite as easily at first.

We’ll read through each account, and as we do we’ll fill in the chart—downloadable at either of the links above and also found with all information filled in below John’s account.

Matthew’s Account

Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him 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 has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”

And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.” (Matthew 28:1–10)

Mark’s Account

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large. 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. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’” They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. (Mark 16:1–8, 9)

Luke’s Account

On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.

And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. (Luke 24:1–31)

John’s Account

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes.

But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And 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.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her. (John 20:1–18)

To recap from the table above:

How many tomb visitors were there? The accounts give 2, 3, 6, and 3, respectively. Mary Magdalene makes all the lists, and another Mary makes three of the four lists. Peter makes two of the lists. John makes the list only in the Gospel he wrote.
When did they go to the tomb? As it began to dawn, when the sun had risen, early dawn, and while it was still dark.
Why did they visit the tomb? To look at the grave, to anoint the body, or it just wasn’t reported.
How many angels were at the tomb? One angel sitting on the stone, one young man sitting inside the tomb to the right, two men standing inside the tomb, and two angels sitting inside the tomb (at the head and foot of the slab).
Did anyone enter the tomb? One Gospel is unclear (doesn’t say they did but doesn’t say they didn’t); Mark says they definitely did; Luke says some women did and it was unclear whether Peter did; John clarified that, yes, Peter actually went into the tomb, while Mary Magdalene apparently did not.
To whom did Jesus first appear? To women on the way back from the tomb; to Mary Magdalene (Mark says); to Cleopas and another disciple on the way to Emmaus (according to Luke); Mary Magdalene, singular, alone at the tomb (John says).

How to Respond

We have several options when we see something like this in Scripture—things that seem to contradict one another.

Option 1: Be apathetic.
Option 2: Consider these accounts about the resurrection to be contradictions. Picking this option demands that you alter your view of the inerrancy and/or inspiration of Scripture—if you indeed hold to one of these views. If you don’t hold to one of these views, then this option will make sense to you. But let me warn you against this position: I don’t know how you will then begin to adjudicate what is inerrant and what isn’t. This position will demand that one (or more) of the testimonies be discarded.
Option 3: Adjust your view of what constitutes on error and consider these accounts to be “close enough” in the general sense to be called “true.”
Option 4: Turn a blind eye to difficult things. This is slightly different than option 1 (apathy), because there is a difference between the apathetic and the avoidant. One person doesn’t care, while the other person cares but not enough to explore it further.
Option 5: Live in angst.
Option 6: Exhaust all investigative capabilities.

Can you guess which option we’ll choose? It’s no. 6—we’re going to exhaust all investigative capabilities.

The Investigation Process

The following quote is from an attorney and judge (Herbert Casteel) who wrote a book about evidence:

False testimony appears on the surface to be in harmony. … True accounts may appear on the surface to be contradictory.²

If you’re presenting on the resurrection or the historicity of the Bible, throwing up a quote like the one above has some value, but anyone can just claim that. When I first encountered this quote and was wrestling with this topic, I ran an experiment. I first began teaching on the resurrection in the early 2000s, and I decided to gather some testimony about an event. Here are the criteria I set:

The event had to be large enough to have garnered wide attention.
It had to be memorable enough that people would give testimony to it.
The event had to be recent enough that challenges to testimony couldn’t be based on faded or otherwise corrupted recollections.

For the event, I picked September 11, 2001 (a.k.a. 9/11).

9/11 as an Example

I asked groups to give me short, written testimony of this day. The accounts you’re about to see come from five sources: two known eyewitnesses, two known witnesses who were not eyewitnesses (we can call these contemporary reports), and one anonymous non-eyewitness (a contemporary report that I collected, but the person’s name wasn’t on it, so I couldn’t tell whose it was).

Let’s read the five reports, and then we’ll put to test this idea that false testimony appears on the surface to be in harmony, and true accounts appear to be contradictory. Keep in mind, none of those asked to give a report were given any indication of why they were giving a report, and they didn’t know what others were writing. In their reports, I’ve let grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors remain.

Eyewitness Report 1:
“On September 11, 2001 terrorists hijacked 4 planes. One of them was brought down in Pennsylvania by an insurrection of the passengers. One flew into one of the sections of the Pentagon. And two flew into the Twin tower buildings in New York City. This happened around 9 in the morning. Both of the towers fell. I saw the second one fall. I saw the clouds of smoke and debris fill the sky of downtown.”

Contemporary Report 1 (Unknown Witness):
“Al quaida organized and successfully enacted an attack on the world trade center twin towers. The attack consisted of using two passenger planes and flying them each into both towers. A third plane directed towards the pentagon.”

Eyewitness Report 2 (Was with Eyewitness 1):
“9/11—Joy was supposed to be at Cosi … I remember I had class in another hour. We lived on 33rd/Lexington at the time, a couple blocks from the Empire State Building—Joy shook my bed and for whatever completely absurd reason, we all decided to hit the roof. I remember someone in back of us yell that a tower was leaning—I think it must have actually been imploding.”

Contemporary Report 2 (Non-Eyewitness, Brother of Eyewitness 2):
“Phone calls came in asking how liz was
Jeannie told me to turn on the news
Two towers were on fire
Liz reported the towers had fallen a few days later.”

Contemporary Report 3 (Non-Eyewitness):
“On September 11, 2001, two jets crashed into the World Trade Center towers. The first crash was around 9 in the morning followed by the second tower being hit a few minutes later. A third plane was flown into the Pentagon the same morning, and a fourth plane was crashed in a field in PA. All four jets were highjacked by terrorists.”

Imagine that, 2,000 years later, you have no contemporary knowledge of 9/11, but you have these five reports. We who have memories close enough to the event know that there aren’t any errors in these reports. There may be some confusion, some misplaced modifiers, but the reports aren’t false; the story told is simply affected by things like vantage point, time, and emphasis. But if you’re far enough removed from the event, the less careful thinker might say things like:

They couldn’t agree on the location of where the planes traveled.
They couldn’t agree on how many planes there were.
Some wanted to blame terrorists, but one eyewitness who was there didn’t mention that at all.
There were conflicting reports about towers burning or leaning or falling.

Let’s look now at the when, where, who, how, and other questions based on the accounts from these five sources.

When did 9/11 take place?

Two of five witnesses corroborate the date and time.
One uses the phrase “a few days later,” but we’re not sure what it modifies. (Did the towers fall a few days later, or did the news get reported a few days later? The latter makes sense given what we now know—that cellphone service out of New York wasn’t working right when the event happened.)
One states that the event was an hour before her class.

Where did 9/11 take place?

One report says Pennsylvania, the Pentagon, and the Twin Tower buildings in New York City.
One eyewitness doesn’t name a place; neither does her brother (who wasn’t there).
Another reported the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon.
The final report says the World Trade Center towers and a field in PA.

Who were the perpetrators of 9/11?

One eyewitness and one contemporary report mention terrorists.
One contemporary mentions “Al quaida.”
One eyewitness and one contemporary report do not mention terrorists

How many planes were there in 9/11?

4 planes
3 passenger planes
None reported (two reports)
2 jets and 2 planes

What damage was done to the towers?

Not reported
1 tower was leaning or imploding
2 towers fell (according to two reports)
2 towers were on fire and possibly fell a few days later

What was the vantage point of each reporter?

Four reports did not record this information.
One report said he/she was at 33rd and Lexington, a couple of blocks from the Empire State Building.

Who else was mentioned as present?

No others reported (three of the five reports)
One eyewitness: “Joy” and “someone in back of us”
One contemporary report: “Liz” and “Jeannie”

Making Sense of Differences in Testimonies

Why did differences in these 9/11 testimonies appear?

For one, there’s a difference in vantage point—whether the person reporting was an eyewitness (“I saw this thing”) or only learned about the event secondhand (“someone told me about this thing”).

Secondly, there’s a difference in purpose or goal. Someone might be aiming to give a broad report about all aspects of the event, while another is giving a narrow report about something of a specific nature.

Terminology differs as well—some report with more general language, others with more technical terms. We can see interchangeable terms: planes vs. jets (all jets are planes, but not all planes are jets) and angels vs. “men” (one person is reporting what the thing is—it’s an angel—while another is reporting what it looks like—it looks like a man).

Some are reporting the most memorable moment while the event is happening (e.g., “The tower is on fire right now, it’s leaning, and now it’s imploding”) while another (especially non-eyewitnesses) will be more interested in reporting the end result.

Some reports will emphasize the tragedy itself, while others emphasize the perpetrators of the tragedy.

Some reports emphasize specific, lesser-known locations with idiosyncratic symbols (like “a field in PA” vs. a larger area). Some use nicknames (“Twin Towers”) while others use proper names (“World Trade Center”).

Some are going to report on the greatest emotional concern: was a relative or friend involved? If so, would you report more specific knowledge involving them or just general information?

In general, then, here’s an answer to the differences in not only the 9/11 story but in any story—including that of the resurrection: We tell stories for different reasons. We tell true stories for different reasons. We tell them to inform, to entertain, to inspire, to provoke, to prove, to expose, to excite.

We tell true stories for different reasons. We tell them to inform, to entertain, to inspire, to provoke, to prove, to expose, to excite.

Principles for Interpretation

Here are two principles for interpreting stories:

Principle 1: Intent drives content. (That is, the author’s intent drives content.)

Important subprinciple: We don’t have access to intent. We only have access to content.

Principle 2: Differences among stories are different than contradictions among stories.

Here’s the perspective of Judge Herbert Casteel again; this quote provides the larger context of the quote I mentioned earlier:

Does [the difference in the accounts] mean that these are false reports, made-up by dishonest men to deceive us? On the contrary, this is good evidence that these are truthful accounts, because people who conspire to testify to a falsehood rehearse carefully to avoid contradictions. False testimony appears on the surface to be in harmony, but discrepancies appear when you dig deeper. True accounts appear on the surface to be contradictory, but are found to be in harmony when you dig deeper.³

In his large book on the resurrection, theologian and author N.T. Wright says this about the Gospel stories of the resurrection of Jesus:

The stories exhibit … exactly that surface tension which we associate, not with tales artfully told by people eager to sustain a fiction and therefore anxious to make everything look right, but with the hurried, puzzled accounts of those who have seen with their own eyes something which took them horribly by surprise and with which they have not yet fully come to terms.⁴

In my previous sermon, I stopped short of the resurrection events. Some asked me, “Why did you stop after the crucifixion?” Well, first, it’s harder to put the picture together of what occurred afterward.

But secondly, it gave a semblance of the feeling people who witnessed the crucifixion would have had. People normally stay dead. Jesus had raised people from the dead while on earth—and they had witnessed those miracles—but now (before the resurrection) it’s Jesus who is dead. Imagine how shocked and horrified the people were. So, what we have in the Gospels are the “hurried, puzzled accounts of those who have seen with their own eyes something which took them horribly by surprise and with which they have not yet fully come to terms,” as Wright puts it.

My promise to you is that, in this sermon series on the resurrection from the dead, I can help you fully come to terms with how these accounts weave together to form a beautiful whole that really does make sense, and that really is accurate, true, and without error. I won’t be able to do this today, but we have laid the necessary foundation.

… these accounts weave together to form a beautiful whole that really does make sense, and that really is accurate, true, and without error.

And now, I will help guide in taking in this information and tell you how you can apply it right now.

Applications

Ponder

First, I want you to ponder something. (We don’t ponder enough. Instead, most of us tend to worry, then lie to ourselves or give up.) Ponder this: I began this sermon with a verse that reveals a secret about God. It tells you about something God desires: He desires for everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). This is important insider information. How does it affect the way you think about God? How does it affect the way you pursue God? (We should be thinking about Him, and we should be pursuing Him—that’s where all the happiness in life is found.)

In your pursuing and pondering, let me encourage you with this: He has arranged this world in such a way that He reveals some truth, but He gives you the grace to pursue Him. Yes, it takes grace to pursue God, and He gives that grace freely.

He gives you the grace to pursue Him.

Imagine

Secondly, I want you to imagine something. Imagine that you have seen the risen Christ. What details would you emphasize?

Would you emphasize the facts?
Would you emphasize your feelings (“Here’s how I felt”/“Here’s how He made me feel in that moment”/“Here’s how I felt before I met Him, and here’s how I feel now”)?
Would you emphasize how it affected you?
Would you emphasize how it affected your friends?

If you’ve believed in Christ, you do have some testimony about Christ—you’ve encountered Him. So it is worthy to consider what you, uniquely, should focus on, because we’re supposed to be sharing that testimony with others. Your testimony might seem to others to be false at first glance, but the God who desires all to come to the knowledge of the truth will enter into that testifying process, just like He entered into yours.

If you’ve believed in Christ, you do have some testimony about Christ … So it is worthy to consider what you, uniquely, should focus on … [when] sharing that testimony with others.

I pray that He enters into this process as we continue to explore in detail the evidence for the most important testimony ever given: the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I pray that your eagerness to discover and delight in such things increases as we pursue God in His Word.

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