March 31, 2024

Easter Sunday

There is something unusual about the selection of the Gospel to be read on Easter Sunday. On every other Sunday throughout the Liturgical Year, the Gospel readings are based on the three-year cycle of the Lectionary. In Year A, we read from Matthew, in Year B, we read from Mark, and in Year C, we read from Luke. However, the Gospel reading for Easter Sunday for all three years – A, B, and C – comes from John.

This means that unless the presider uses the option to read from one of the other Gospels on Easter Sunday, the same reading is heard every year. And unless a person attends the Easter Vigil regularly or is in the habit of reading from scripture at home, they rarely get to hear the story of Easter Sunday as it is told in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It might be interesting then to make note of the subtle differences in the various Easter narratives to get a more complete picture.

It is best to start with Mark since this was the earliest Gospel written and used as a source by both Matthew and Luke. Mark contains the shortest resurrection scene of the four (Mk. 16:1-8). He describes how Mary Magdalene and the other women go to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. On the way they discuss who will roll back the heavy stone, but when they arrive, they find that it has already been done. They encounter a young man clothed in a white robe and they are utterly amazed. The young man tells them not to fear, that Jesus of Nazareth has been raised. He instructs them to tell his disciples that Jesus is going before them to Galilee. The passage then ends strangely, “They went out and fled from the tomb, seized with trembling and bewilderment. They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” (Mk. 16:8).

Oddly enough, this is believed to be the original ending of Mark’s Gospel – the women fleeing from the tomb with bewilderment and fear. The subsequence verses which tell of the appearance to Mary Magdalene and two other disciples (Mk. 16:9-13), the commissioning of the eleven (Mk. 16:14-18), and the Ascension of Jesus (Mk. 16:19-20) are believed to have been added by a later editor. It seems that finishing the story with only the empty tomb might not have been enough to convince followers in Mark’s day to believe in the Resurrection, so the rest was added later. One wonders what might have happened to Christianity if this was the only account.

Matthew (Mt. 28:1-10) follows Mark closely, but there are some key differences as Matthew adds fanfare and increases the excitement of the scene at the tomb.  Mary Magdalene and the “other Mary” come to the tomb and encounter the same man, but this time there has been a great earthquake and the angel of the Lord has rolled back the stone. His appearance is like lightening and his clothing as white as snow. In fact, the guards at the tomb (found only in Matthew) are so fear struck that they fall to the ground like dead men. The angel again tells the women “Do not be afraid!” (Mt. 28:5), Jesus has been raised and is going to Galilee. In this account the women leave the tomb, still fearful, but also overjoyed as they run to the disciples. Here the women even meet Jesus and embrace him. Matthew ends with the later edition of Mark, and the commissioning of the disciples (Mt. 28:16-20).

The Gospel of Luke (Lk 24:1–12) has significant additions mainly based on the appearances to the disciples. This time when the women encounter the dazzling angels, in response to their puzzlement, they are reminded that the Son of Man had predicted his death and resurrection. So, there is more incentive for the women to believe the message. However, when they report back to the disciples they are met with disbelief. Only Peter comes away amazed after running to the tomb.

After the initial scene, Luke adds the unique passage known as the Appearance on the Road to Emmaus (Lk. 24:13-35). Two disciples pondering the events of the past three days encounter Jesus on the way to Emmaus. They fail to recognize him as he feigns ignorance of what has occurred. It is only after he interprets the Hebrew scriptures and in the breaking of the bread that they come to recognize him. This prompts them to rush back to Jerusalem to report to the others.

Luke then follows with another appearance of Jesus to the disciples in Jerusalem (Lk. 24:26-53). Here we are given a description of some of the features of the risen Christ. He is not a ghost. He physically displays the wounds of the crucifixion and eats a piece of fish. He opens their minds to the scriptures and commissions them to spread the Gospel. He then takes them to Bethany, blesses them, and ascends to heaven. Interestingly, all of Luke’s account takes place in Jerusalem, which functions to place the disciples in the city for the opening of his second volume, the book of Acts.

We might end with Luke and think we have the entire story. Yet all that Jesus was sent to accomplish does not become apparent until we look at John (Jn 20:1–10), which reads differently from the others. Mary Magdalene arrives at the empty tomb alone and hastens to the disciples. The Beloved Disciple, believed to be the author of John, outruns Peter to the tomb. Then we read, “He saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead.” (Jn. 20:9-10). Thus, the Beloved Disciple becomes a prime witness for those seeking to believe in the Resurrection.

Like Luke, John follows this account with more appearances of Jesus. He appears to Mary Magdalene, who mistakes him for the gardener, but when he speaks her name, she recognizes him (Jn. 20:11-18). He then appears to the disciples hiding behind locked doors. He offers them peace and then he breathes on them saying, “Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” (Jn. 20:22b-23).

The giving of the Spirit by Jesus is something he promised to do earlier in John’s Gospel. Jesus said to his disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth. He will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” (Jn. 14:15-17a,26b).

One can see how the Gospel accounts of the resurrection build on one another. Mark is quite blunt with his incomplete ending, leaving the reader a lot to ponder. While Matthew enhances Mark by including the eye-witness accounts and the complete ending, adding more concrete proof for followers to believe in the Resurrection.

Luke’s special additions have significant ramifications. The description of the risen Jesus would have helped early Christians gain an understanding of what “Resurrection of the Body” means. The story of the Road to Emmaus with Jesus breaking open the word and then breaking the bread would have served as a precursor to the Church’s celebration of the Liturgies of the Word and the Eucharist. While placing the disciples in Jerusalem for the subsequent Feast of Pentecost set the scene for the spread of the news of the Resurrection to the ends of the earth.

Finally, in John, Jesus makes a gesture crucial to his mission by breathing his Spirit on the disciples. This is the Holy Spirit first breathed by God into Adam and the final act of Jesus in God’s plan of salvation to reverse the events of the Garden of Eden. This gracious gift of Jesus enabled them to establish a momentous movement which has grown and thrived for over two-thousand years since the Resurrection.

All four evangelists, each in their own unique presentation of the Resurrection, give us a reason to venerate Easter Sunday. But more so, they give us a reason to begin a new fifty-day observance as we await Pentecost to celebrate the birth of the Church.