What the texts say
John clearly states that Jesus appears first to Mary Magdalene when she is alone near the tomb after Peter and John have left (John 20.11-18). Mary recognizes Jesus when he calls her by name.
Matthew reports for his part that Jesus appears to the women as they are leaving the tomb to announce the news to the disciples (Matthew 28.8-10).
At first sight, there thus seem to be two distinct appearances:
- A personal appearance to Mary Magdalene (John 20.14-18).
- An appearance to the group of women (Matthew 28.9-10).
This reading is moreover reinforced by the testimony of the Emmaus disciples, who state that some women saw angels but do not mention having seen Jesus (Luke 24.22-24). This suggests that Matthew's appearance was perhaps not yet known or that it concerned a smaller group.
The hypothesis of a joint encounter
One could imagine the following sequence:
- The women arrive at the tomb.
- Mary Magdalene leaves immediately to warn Peter and John (John 20.2).
- The other women stay on the spot and receive the message of the angels (Matthew 28.5-7 ; Luke 24.4-8).
- Peter and John go to the tomb and then leave again (John 20.3-10).
- Mary remains alone and meets Jesus (John 20.11-18).
- On leaving the garden to pass on the message, she joins the other women.
- Jesus then appears to the assembled group.
This reconstruction would make it possible to keep the priority of Mary Magdalene while explaining the collective appearance reported by Matthew.
The main difficulty
The problem is that Matthew seems to present the appearance to the women immediately after their departure from the tomb:
“And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them” (Matthew 28.9).
The natural reading of the text suggests that this appearance takes place before Mary has returned from her encounter with Peter and John.
However, Matthew often summarizes events without specifying all the chronological details. It is therefore possible that he condensed several episodes into a single continuous account, as he sometimes does elsewhere in his gospel.
Another solution often adopted
The most common harmonization consists in distinguishing two appearances:
- Jesus appears first to Mary Magdalene alone (Mark 16.9 ; John 20.14-18).
- Then he appears afterward to the other women (Matthew 28.9-10).
This solution has the advantage of respecting Mark's statement:
“Now when Jesus had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene” (Mark 16.9).
If Jesus had appeared simultaneously to Mary and to the other women, the expression “appeared first to Mary Magdalene” would lose some of its force.
Conclusion
The first hypothesis is entirely defensible if one admits that Matthew summarizes the events and that the appearance to the women took place after Mary's return. However, the text of Mark 16.9 and the most natural reading of John 20.14-18 lead rather to the conclusion that Mary Magdalene received a personal appearance before any collective appearance to the other women.
It is moreover this individual appearance that would explain why Mary became, in early Christian tradition, the first human witness of the Risen One. (John 20.16-18 ; Mark 16.9).
Proposed chronology
- Arrival of the group of women
A group of women, including Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome, Joanna and probably others, goes to the tomb before dawn (Matthew 28.1 ; Mark 16.1-2 ; Luke 24.1 ; John 20.1).
- Mary Magdalene leaves immediately
On seeing that the stone has been rolled away, Mary Magdalene concludes that the body has been taken away. Without waiting any longer, she runs to tell Peter and John (John 20.2).
Meanwhile, the other women continue their visit to the tomb.
- The other women see the angels
They enter the tomb and receive the angelic message announcing the resurrection (Matthew 28.5-7 ; Mark 16.5-7 ; Luke 24.4-8).
- Peter and John arrive at the tomb
Alerted by Mary, they run to the tomb, find that it is empty and then leave again (John 20.3-10).
- First appearance: Mary Magdalene
Mary, who has come back behind them, remains alone near the tomb. It is then that Jesus appears to her personally (John 20.11-18).
This appearance is the first appearance of the Risen One to a human being, which corresponds to Mark's statement (Mark 16.9).
- Mary goes to announce the news
Mary sets out to inform the disciples (John 20.18).
- Appearance to the other women
Meanwhile, the other women, who had left the tomb after the message of the angels, meet Jesus on the way (Matthew 28.9-10).
This appearance is a collective one, distinct from the one granted to Mary.
Why does this solution seem the best to us?
It makes it possible to respect simultaneously:
- the explicit statement that Jesus appears first to Mary Magdalene (Mark 16.9);
- John's detailed account in which Mary is alone with Jesus (John 20.11-18);
- the appearance to the women reported by Matthew (Matthew 28.9-10);
- the fact that Luke distinguishes the testimony of the women from that of Mary without trying to merge them (Luke 24.10).
A complementary possibility
It is not impossible that Mary afterward rejoined the other women and that they shared their testimonies together. However, we do not think that Matthew's appearance is the same as John's. The two accounts present too many differences of place, circumstances and content to be simply two descriptions of the same event.
Thus, the simplest reconstruction is:
Angels to the women → Mary warns Peter and John → Peter and John visit the tomb → Jesus appears to Mary alone → Jesus then appears to the other women.
This sequence preserves the priority of Mary Magdalene while integrating all the Gospel testimonies without having to suppose major omissions in the texts.