Are there discrepancies between Matt. 28 and John 20?

[rstrats]

Matthew 28:1-10 says that when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb that she was told by an angel that the Messiah had risen and would be seen in Galilee. Matthew then says that she ran "with great joy" to tell the disciples and while on the way that she met the Messiah (this occurred before she got to the disciples).



However, John 20:1 and 2 say that when she came to the tomb and didn’t find the Messiah there, that she ran to the disciples and told them that He had been taken away and that she didn’t know where He was. In Matthew she knew where He was (or at least had been) and where He would be, but in John she didn’t.



How can this be reconciled?

Admin edit to clarify title. Original: Matthew 28:1-10 versus John 20:1and 2

[PrisonerOfHope]

rstrats has been banned, but I'll answer his question anyway in case anyone else is wondering about this. (Admittedly, it's a good question, although not well worded.) 

The Gospels refer to different times and name different women who arrived at the tomb. Matthew states that “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary” came to the tomb as it “began to dawn” (Matthew 28:1). Mark adds Salome to the group and claims that they came “very early in the morning” (Mark 16:1–2). Luke agrees that it was “very early in the morning” and names “Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women” as those who came to the tomb (Luke 24:1, 24:10). John wrote that “Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark” (John 20:1).


At least five women set out for the tomb in the early morning. John may have described when the women initially left for the tomb, while the other Gospels described when the women arrived. If they lodged in Bethany, as they had done earlier in the week, then the women would need to travel about two miles to reach the burial site (John 11:18), plenty of time for the sun to rise. As they got near the tomb they noticed that the stone had been removed. Apparently, Mary Magdalene left the other women to alert Peter and John, because based upon her comment about not knowing the location of the Lord’s body, it seems that she was not among the women who encountered the angels at the tomb.



Meanwhile, the other women entered the tomb and encountered the angels. One of the angels proclaimed that the Lord had risen, and then “the women went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word” (Matthew 28:8–9).



So how could Jesus first appear to Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9) and then to the other women? As they headed for the tomb, why didn’t Mary, Peter, and John cross paths with the other women who were going to tell the disciples?



The key to resolving these dilemmas is to understand that Peter and John were probably not staying in the same place as the other disciples. Remember, although all the disciples “forsook Him and fled” at His arrest (Matthew 26:56), Peter and John were brave enough to enter Jerusalem to find out what would happen to Jesus (John 18:15). Of course, Peter fled in shame at the rooster’s crow (Matthew 26:75), but John was present at the Cross (John 19:26). At some point, John and Peter met up, and they were likely staying together in Jerusalem when Mary Magdalene came to the door on Sunday morning.



Where were the other disciples, then? We cannot be certain, but they may well have stayed in Bethany. After all, this is where Jesus often stayed on trips to Jerusalem, and Bethany was on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives (Mark 11:1), the location of his arrest.



If these suppositions are correct, then all of the difficulties are resolved nicely. Mary Magdalene first left the tomb and entered nearby Jerusalem to get Peter and John. During that time, the other women encountered the angels and then left the tomb to set out on the two-mile trip to Bethany to tell the other disciples. They may have stopped along the way to tell Cleopas and an unnamed disciple about the morning’s events (Luke 24:22–24), or they may have split up so that a couple of them could inform these men. In all likelihood, “the wife of Cleopas” was among these women (John 19:25).



Meanwhile, Peter, John, and Mary raced to the tomb. The men entered the tomb, saw the grave clothes, and then left. Mary stayed behind, weeping outside the tomb. When she looked into the tomb, she saw two angels (John 20:12), and after explaining her grief to them, she turned around and saw Jesus (John 20:16). After Mary departed to tell Peter and John about seeing the risen Lord, Jesus appeared to the other women who were on their way to Bethany (Matthew 28:9).

So, Matt. 28 and John 20 are telling the same story, but Matthew condenses the story and doesn't talk about the first trip to the tomb. As proof of this, Matthew says they went at dawn, whereas John says they first went when it was still dark and then again a short while later (at dawn).

While we're on the topic, let me take this a step further. Some claim there are contradictions in the Bible account of the Resurrection, because Matthew and Mark wrote that Jesus first appeared to the women, and then to His disciples, but Paul lists Peter (Cephas) as the first to see Jesus (1 Cor. 15:5). Paul didn't give a complete list; he only mentioned the one person who was important for his purpose. Since only the testimony of men was considered to be legal/official in the first century, it's understandable that Paul didn't list the women in his defense of the Resurrection.