Problem: How many women were at the tomb of Jesus? The four different gospels mention different numbers. John 20:1 says one. Matt. 28:1 says two. Mark 16:1 says three. Luke also says three, but is a different three than Mark 16:1. So, which is it, one, two, three, four, or more? Does it mean there is a contradiction, or is it just different views from different perspectives? Let’s take a look.
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How long was Jesus’ body, dead in the tomb?
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Problem: Was the stone moved away before Mary arrived at Jesus’ tomb or not? Some critics of Christianity assert that there is a contradiction between the gospels of the New Testament regarding the chronology of the arrival of the women at Jesus’ tomb and when the stone was rolled away.
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Problem: One of the most commonly neglected rules of interpretation that Bible critics overlook when attacking Scripture is that extra information is not necessarily contradictory information. When one Bible writer offers more details than another on a particular subject, it is inappropriate to assume that one of the writers is mistaken. When a journalist in the 21st century writes about a man on the side of the road who has just escaped death following a particular catastrophe, while another journalist writes how this same man and his wife (standing next to him) are suffering survivors of the devastating disaster, it does not mean that the first journalist was dishonest in his representation of truth. Similarly, countless times throughout Scripture, and especially within the gospel accounts, extra information is given that critics cannot justifiably prove to be contradictory.
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Problem: On a regular basis, atheists, agnostics, skeptics, and Bible critics write our offices at Apologetics Press. Some of the feedback we receive is simply to inform us how naïve Christians are for believing in God, Jesus, and the Bible, or how ignorant creationists are for disbelieving in macro-evolution. We also receive numerous questions from these non-believers. (Unfortunately, due to the volume of inquiries we receive, we are unable to answer all of them.) Recently, one Bible critic sent the following note:
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Problem: Many good Bible preachers have taught that Jesus was separated from the Father on the cross. I have heard it said that for a short while God the Father turned his face from his beloved Son. However, in apparent contradiction, these same Bible preachers also say that Jesus is God and He exists in three persons, i.e. the Trinity. Thus, it would seem problematic for these Bible preachers to explain how Jesus (God the Son, incarnate) could be separated from God (the Father) since they are both integral to the Triune God. We need to remember that when anybody sees Jesus, they are seeing God incarnate, or the essence of God (John 14:7).
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Problem: David writes, “They also gave me gall for my food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Ps. 69:21). While the original passage refers to David, John cites this to refer to Jesus’ death by crucifixion (Jn. 19:28-30). Is John twisting the Scriptures to make up a prediction about Jesus?
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Problem: Were the women close or far from the cross? Matthew, Mark, and Luke all seem to say that the women at the cross watched from a distance. John, however, seems to place them close to the cross.
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Problem: Did Jesus first appear to the eleven disciples on a mountain in Galilee or in Jerusalem behind closed doors?
The Gospels seem to provide conflicting information concerning the location of the Lord’s first appearance to the eleven disciples following His Resurrection.
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Problem: Controversy has surrounded the death of Christ on the cross for almost two millennia. In the days of the apostle Paul, it served as a “stumbling block” to the Jews, and was “foolishness” to the Greeks (1 Corinthians 1:23). Throughout the past 2,000 years, men and women of all ethnicities have rejected the story of the crucified, resurrected Savior named Jesus for many objectionable reasons. Sadly, for some today, even the physical cross itself has become a stumbling block. Because of an alleged contradiction surrounding the actual words written on the cross of Christ, some have suggested that the message of the cross once preached by John, Paul, Peter, Philip, and others simply cannot be trusted. According to skeptics, the gospel writers disagree regarding what the title read that appeared on the cross above Jesus’ head.
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Problem: Why do the inscriptions on Jesus’s cross differ among the four gospels?
Problem: Did Jesus or Simon of Cyrene carry the cross?
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Problem: And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified. Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross. (Matthew 27:31–32)
Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led Him away. And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. (John 19:16–17)
Solution: Why Would the Gospel Writers Disagree?
Problem: At what hour was Jesus crucified? The answer is easy when you realize that two different time systems were being used.