Thoughts Story 89
1: It would appear that there are two separate groups of disciples gathered in two separate locations after the death of Jesus.
The group gathered at Bethany, Judea at the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha, includes Peter, James and John, Mary Magdalene, Salome (wife of Zebedee and mother of James and John), Joanna and Nathaniel. They did not know of the preparation that Joseph and Nicodemus had made or that the stone had been rolled into place. They prepared spices and went to the tomb. They followed The Christ’s instruction to go to Galilee. Thomas is a member of the Jerusalem group but travels to Galilee with the Bethany group.
The group gathered in Jerusalem at the home of Mary the mother of John-Mark includes Mary the wife of Clopas (Alphaeus) the mother of James (the lesser), Joses and Levi (Matthew), and Thomas. This group knew that the stone had been rolled in place and were coming to the tomb to pay respects. The women forgot to pass on The Christ’s instruction to go to Galilee, and stayed in Jerusalem.
The gospel of Matthew tells the account of the Jerusalem group without any preparation of spices, and mentions that Mary the wife of Clopas met Mary Magdalene on Sunday morning to go to the tomb, but mentions that she did not go into the tomb. And when she met Jesus she did not report his instruction for the disciples to go to Galilee.
The gospel of Luke concentrates on the Bethany group and their preparation of spices.
The gospel of Mark tells primarily the story of the Jerusalem group but mixes the two groups by including the spices of the Bethany group and the specific instruction to tell Peter to go to Galilee.
The gospel of John reports the preparations by Joseph and Nicodemus, but then tells the story of the Bethany group on Sunday morning. The gospel then goes on to report the two visits by the risen Lord to the Jerusalem group and the final visit by The Christ to Galilee.
DAB