Resurrection Harmonization

Happy Good Friday 2022! Praise God that Jesus died on the cross for sinners like us. And, even more, raised from the dead to establish new life for all.

Along those lines, I wanted us to consider the full picture of Jesus’ resurrection. Here is my humble attempt at picturing the sequence of all the events of Jesus’ MIGHTY RESURRECTION (with my reasoning below).

The list of resurrection events (in sequence)

1. Weekly Sabbath (Fri Evening – Saturday) | Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:1; John 20:1
2. Women buy and prepare anointing spices (Saturday Evening, Jerusalem) | Mark 16:1; Luke 24:1
3. Women go to Jesus’ tomb (Sunday AM, before sunrise, Jerusalem) | Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1-2; Luke 24:1, 10; John 20:1
4. Angel moves stone and frightens guard away (Sunday AM, around sunrise, Jerusalem) | Matt. 28:2-4; Mark 16:3-4; Luke 24:2; John 20:1
5. Women arrive to tomb, see stone removed (Sunday AM, sunrise, Jerusalem) | John 20:2
6. Mary Magdalene notifies John and Peter (Sunday AM, Jerusalem) | Luke 24:12; John 20:3-4
7. Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John return to tomb (Sunday AM, Jerusalem) | Luke 24:12; John 20:5-10
8. Peter and John leave after finding tomb empty (Sunday AM, Jerusalem) | Luke 24:12; John 20:5-10
9. The women entered the tomb, but saw nothing (Sunday AM, Jerusalem) | Luke 24:3
10. Mary Magdalene discovers angels in tomb; departs to consult “gardener” (Sunday AM, Jerusalem) | John 20:11-12
11. Other women talk with angels (Sunday AM, Jerusalem) | Matt. 28:5-7; Mark 16:5-7; Luke 24:4-7, 23; John 20:11-13
12. Mary Magdalene realizes the “gardener” is Jesus (Sunday AM, Jerusalem) | Mark 16:9; John 20:14-17
13. Other women leave the angels to tell the disciples (Sunday AM, Jerusalem) | Matt. 28:8; Mark 16:8; Luke 24:8-9
14. Other women join Mary Magdalene and Jesus (Sunday AM, Jerusalem) | Matt. 28:9-10
15. Women leave to tell disciples (Sunday AM, Jerusalem) | Matt. 28:11; Mark 16:8; Luke 24:8-9; John 20:18
16. Guard conspires with Jewish leaders (Sunday AM, Jerusalem) | Matt. 28:11-15
17. Disciples doubt women’s report (Sunday AM, Jerusalem) | Mark 16:9-11; Luke 24:10-11; John 20:18
18. 2 to Emmaus encounter Jesus (Sunday Afternoon-Evening, Jerusalem-Emmaus) | Mark 16:12-13; Luke 24:13-33
19. Peter encounters Jesus (Sunday Afternoon-Evening, Jerusalem area) | Luke 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5
20. 2 to Emmaus report what they saw (Sunday Evening, Jerusalem) | Mark 16:13; Luke 24:33-38
21. Group of disciples (minus Thomas) encounter Jesus (Sunday Evening, Jerusalem) | Mark 16:14; Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-25
22. Disciples tell Thomas (Sunday Evening, Jerusalem) | John 20:25
23. Group of disciples (including Thomas) encounter Jesus (8 days after Resurrection Sunday, Jerusalem) | John 20:26-29; 1 Cor. 15:5
24. Disciples journey back to Galilee (between 8-35 days after Resurrection Sunday, Jerusalem-Galilee)
25. 7 apostles encounter Jesus while fishing in Galilee (between 8-35 days after Resurrection Sunday, Galilee) | John 21:1-23
26. Jesus appears to 500+ people at Galilean mountain (between 8-35 days after Resurrection Sunday, Galilee) | Matt. 28:16-20; 1 Cor. 15:6
27. Jesus appears to James, His brother (timing unknown, location unknown) | 1 Cor. 15:7
28. Disciples return to Jerusalem (for Pentecost) (35-40 days after Resurrection Sunday, Galilee-Jerusalem)
29. Jesus meets with disciples (40 days after Resurrection Sunday, Jerusalem) | Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:44-49; Acts 1:4-8; 1 Cor. 15:7
30. Jesus ascends to heaven (40 days after Resurrection Sunday, Jerusalem) | Mark 16:19-20; Luke 24:50-51; John 20:17; Acts 1:2, 9-11; 2:32-34; Rom. 8:34; Eph. 1:19-20; 1 Pet. 3:21-22
31. Apostles and disciples return to Jerusalem, worshipping Jesus (40 days after Resurrection Sunday, Jerusalem) | Luke 24:52-53; Acts 1:12-14
32. Apostles receive the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (50 days after Resurrection Sunday, Jerusalem) | Acts 2

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Here is a PDF of a fuller treatment of this: “Harmonizing the Resurrection”.

This is part of a broader gospel harmony I’ve created, and gives a plausible order and harmonization of resurrection events based on the 4 gospels (plus 1 Corinthians 15).