This resurrection dilemma has been a large deposit of fodder for gainsayers, who function from unbelief and welcome such a treasure trove for their arsenals of denial and debate. However, it can cause grounds for doubt in others who are looking for uniform statements of facts from the authors of the Scriptures, especially when they were dealing with such a monumental subject as the resurrection of Jesus. Looking for sameness and consistency in the record is noble and is expected! When people see contradictions, proper criticism is also expected. Anything else is below the gravitas demanded of the issue at hand.
However, leaving behind the gainsayers and unbelievers, this subject has not been handled competently by people who confess to be Christians. On the positive side, while much been written in trying to explain the problems, no truly satisfactory answer has been given because much is left unexplained. There are also still too many real contradictions regarding salient points and/or groundless assumptions in the proposed remedies. Things of magnitude cannot be established at the expense of other like weighty things. For example, Jesus first meeting His disciples in Jerusalem after His resurrection cannot be established at the expense of Jesus first meeting them in Galilee. It cannot be both ways! One cannot be upheld while the other one is denied, dismissed, or held as less important. That is flat self-contradiction! Finally, some find satisfaction in rearranging the facts to create a sort of harmony or one-unified story among the four writers. Just as in general “Gospel” harmonies certain things are not truly worked out, here many things are left truly unexplained by trying to harmonize the many discrepancies involved.
On the negative side, the grievous state of affairs is that many people do not know about these differences. Ignorance of these issues is unacceptable. Among people who are aware of the discrepancies, some dismiss as being too complicated to solve. Others take an additional step and believe that they are unknowable and/or unsolvable issues – which is very unbecoming in people who otherwise properly understand that testimonial faith is knowledgeable faith. Some don’t give them the importance they inherently possess. They treat them as minor issues which may or may not be worked out (in understanding) later. Some people maintain that all of the conflicting details really don’t matter, because, they say, the actual resurrection is what matters and the details are simply unimportant “filler material”. Away with such thinking! Three of the four narrative writers were of the 12 apostles of Jesus. The fourth writer was a competent and reliable companion of Paul and was the first historian of the last days of the Law and the dawning of the Kingdom of God. The details – the witnesses and the events – of the resurrection were written as factual and unassailable proofs of the resurrection of Jesus!