Bible Synapse
Did the risen Jesus send his disciples word to meet him in Galilee, or word that he was ascending to the Father?
Hard question · The death and resurrection of Jesus · raised by 1 of the lists sceptics circulate
See the passages joined in the interactive mapThe passages
Jesus told the women, “go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me”.
Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
He told Mary, “go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father”.
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
The objection
In Matthew the risen Jesus tells the women to tell his brethren to go to Galilee, where they will see him. In John he tells Mary Magdalene to tell his brethren that he is ascending to his Father. Shabir Ally asks which message Jesus actually sent.
The answer
On the harmony followed in these answers, these are two messages given at two meetings. Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene, alone at the tomb, and sent her to his brethren with the news of his coming ascension (John 20:17). Afterwards he met the other women and sent them to tell his brethren to go to Galilee (Matthew 28:9–10). The Galilee message repeats what the angel had just told the women (28:7) and what Jesus himself had promised before his death (Matthew 26:32). Different messengers carried different messages, and both were delivered.
Even if both sayings belonged to one meeting, they would not clash. ‘I ascend unto my Father’ did not mean that he was leaving that day: he stayed for forty days (Acts 1:3), and in that time the disciples were to meet him in Galilee (see ‘Were the disciples told to go to Galilee or to stay in Jerusalem?’). One message tells them where they will see him, the other where he is going. The two accounts also share a striking detail: in both, the risen Jesus calls the disciples who had just deserted him “my brethren”. As Ellicott notes, the word shows that the risen Lord still shares their human nature.
From the classic commentators
There is a special force in the word “brethren” as spoken by the risen Lord, in that it declares the continuance of His human nature.C. J. Ellicott (ed.), Commentary for English Readers, on John 20:17 (1878)
Sources
- Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible: Matthew 28, with his harmony of the resurrection accounts (1832), at Bible Hub
- C. J. Ellicott (ed.), Commentary for English Readers: John 20, at Bible Hub
- Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary: John 20 (1871), at Bible Hub