ContradictionsReading order 311Bible context 2 min read
When did the women discover that Jesus's body was missing?
Luke and John make missing-body discovery precede explanation, while Matthew and Mark give a messenger the central announcement.
- Textual conflict
- Weak tension
- The alleged conflict needs substantial assumptions, such as treating an omission as a denial or figurative language as literal.
- Importance
- Foundational
- A central claim about origins, salvation, divine justice, or religious authority.
The messenger accounts do not expressly deny that the women already noticed the absence before hearing its explanation.
An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.
The missing body is discovered before an angelic explanation
And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
Luke 24:2-4
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Luke 24
The 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. Then 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.