There are Sherlock Holmes’ quotes and Sherlock Holmes’ QUOTES. Some prefer, “The game is afoot” (The Adventure of the Speckled Band). Others choose, “Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth” (The Sign of Four). Others enjoy citing these words when they, once again, know the correct answer, “It is my business to know what other people don’t know” (The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle). But for me, the greatest Sherlock Holmes quote comes from the story of “Silver Blaze.” Inspector Gregory can’t figure the case out, but he realizes Sherlock has seen something that he hasn’t. And so, he asks, “You consider that to be important?” Sherlock replies, “Exceedingly so.” Gregory is still at a loss: “Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?” Sherlock answers: “To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.” Gregory is exasperated, “But the dog did nothing in the night-time.” And Sherlock says, “That was the curious incident.” Here’s the application for us: Oftentimes, the important part is what does not happen in a particular gospel account!

During Holy Week, we encouraged everyone to read the four different accounts of Jesus’ last week (from the events of Palm Sunday to Jesus’ burial) and then on Easter Sunday to read the four resurrection texts back-to-back-to-back-to-back. I found the differences fascinating. Maybe you did, too. In any case, today I want to highlight some of the differences.

Scholars believe that the Gospel of Mark was the first written. As such, we will use it as our point of reference. Let’s start with the “when” and “who.”

  • Mark’s resurrection account begins (16:1-2): “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb.” (Note: three women just after sunrise)
  • Matthew’s report begins (28:1): “After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.” (Note: two women at dawn)
  • Luke’s account begins (24:1): “On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.” (Note: no names and very early in the morning)
  • John wants to get to the tomb as fast as possible (20:1): “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.” (Note: one woman, Mary, who goes while it was still dark)

My point here is these differences are not an issue of truthful reporting, but are rather evidence of the hand of a story-teller who is shaping his material to move his big idea(s) along. We see this in Mark where it is important for him to provide the names of three of the women who went to the tomb on that first Easter morning (Mary, Mary and Salome). Meanwhile, Matthew decides he only needs two women, Mary and Mary, not three. Luke feels it is unimportant at this stage to name names (but he will later; and when he does, he goes all out and names Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others) and John chooses to focus on one woman, Mary Magdalene. Were these stylistic differences, apologetic concerns, a concern about eyewitnesses, literary color or were there other issues that brought about these variances? The answers are seen in reading the whole book and discerning its major themes. A point can be made that the women in Mark were eyewitnesses of the crucifixion (15:40), the burial (15:47) and now the resurrection (16:4). These women are eyewitness of God’s salvation.

Let’s move on and talk about the stone that covered the tomb.

  • Mark says (16:4): “But when [the women] looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.”
  • Mathew says (28:2): “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.”
  • Lukesays (24:2): “They found the stone rolled away from the tomb.”
  • John says (20:2): “Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.”

What is interesting here is that Mark makes a rather big deal over a very big rock. We see this because Mark is the only account that says the women were anxious as they made their way to the tomb because they did not know who would roll the stone away so they could anoint Jesus’ body properly. Perhaps, this is an attempt to add color to the story and prepare the reader for the miracle that is announced in verse 6. The debate also draws us into the story in another way. The tattered emotional state of the women explains why “they rushed off to Jesus’ tomb without once taking into consideration such practical matters as removing the stone from its entrance” (Osborne, The Resurrection Narratives: A Redactional Study). One thing is for certain, Mark is a master story teller.

The location and timing of the angel is another interesting difference.

  • Mark (16:5): “As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side.”
  • Matthew (28:2): “[The angel] going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.”
  • Luke (24:3-5): “[The Women] entered [the tomb], they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.”
  • John (20:11-12): “Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomband saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.” (Note: this is her second visit to the tomb.)

One thing stands out: Matthew and John have no need to obscure the scene for even a second. Mark and Luke, however, don’t jump at the obvious conclusion: The women had come face-to-face with an angel. For Luke, it was two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning (let the reader—just like the women—come to realize who they were); and for Mark, it was a young man dressed in a white robe (but sitting on the right side). Mark, in particular wants to put us into the story to experience everything the women did. And the women just didn’t jump to the supernatural explanation. They were not expecting anything but a dead body. When we read the story through their eyes, that point becomes very clear.

And what does the angel say? The lines in italic are all parallel. The lines that are underlined are also parallel.

  • Mark (16:6-7): “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
  • Matthew (28:5-7):“Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
  • Luke (24:5-7): “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” 
  • John (20:13): “The angels asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’”

Apparently, Matthew and Luke like the order “He is not here; he has risen,” better than “He has risen. He is not here.” And what is up with John? Clearly, he has his own way to tell the story!

And how does these accounts end? They end very differently!

  • Mark has (16:8): “Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.”
  • Matthew has (28:8-10): “So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.Suddenly Jesus met them. ‘Greetings,’ he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’”
  • Luke has (24:9-12): When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.”
  • John has (20:13-18): “[The angels] asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she said, ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’ Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’). Jesus said, ‘Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”’ Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord!’ And she told them that he had said these things to her.”

 And with Mark 16:8, his gospel closes. But Matthew’s account goes on. As does Luke’s and John’s. To the account at the tomb, Matthew adds four more items (three of which are unique to Matthew):

  • The guard’s report to the chief priests
  • The bribe so that the guards would say the disciples stole the body.
  • The Great Commission
  • The ascension

Luke’s gospel adds the following to the tomb story:

  • Jesus’ encounters with two disciples on the road to Emmaus
  • Jesus’ appearance to the disciples in their hiding place
  • Jesus’ explanation of the passion and the resurrection to the disciples
  • Jesus’ commissioning of the disciples to be his witnesses
  • Jesus’ promise of the coming Holy Spirit to the disciples
  • Jesus’ ascension

And John’s gospel is different on a whole other scale.

  • Jesus comes to the disciples who were hiding behind locked doors
  • Jesus commissions the disciples (“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you!”)
  • Jesus gives the disciples the Holy Spirit and gives them the “power” to forgive sins
  • Jesus encounters “Doubting Thomas” (“My Lord and my God!”)
  • Jesus and the disciples’ miraculous catch of fish
  • Jesus reinstates Peter
  • A final word testifying to the truth of these accounts

There are lots of lessons for us here, but let me leave you with three.

First, we need to read the gospel accounts in context. Only when we read the whole book, beginning to end, do we see the author’s themes that are so important to discern his purpose in writing. If you don’t have time to read the whole book in one sitting, at least read obvious sections as one unit. Yes, a verse a day is better than nothing, and yes, a chapter a day is better than a verse a day, and a section a day is better than a mere chapter and yes, a book in one sitting is better than a mere chapter. To see how the differences illuminate the whole, you have to be cognizant of the whole book. Read the gospel accounts in context.

Second, when possible, read the parallel accounts. Read all four resurrection accounts together. Read Matthew’s and Luke’s Sermon on the Mount. Read the accounts of the miracles in different gospels. Whenever you can, read the parallels and take note of the similarities and the differences. It will be eye opening.

Third, read slowly. You can’t spot any of the differences or see their meaning if you are attempting to speed read the passage. Slow down and enjoy. You might be surprised at what jumps off the page.

Sherlock rebuked Watson by saying, “You see, but you do not observe.” Don’t let him rebuke you! Instead, chide him by citing him to his face, saying: “It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.” Because that is absolutely true!