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JESUS APPEARS FIRST TO MARY, THEN TO THE OTHER WOMEN

Comments	Matthew	Mark	John
Mary again looks into the tomb and sees the angels. [At this point, both angels are seated.]			[20:11] But Mary was standing without at the tomb weeping: so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; [12] and she beholdeth two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. [13] And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.
Tearful Mary talks to a man, but does not look directly at him. See Note 1.	[28:9a] And behold, Jesus met them,	[16:9b] he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.	[14] When she had thus said, she turned herself back, and beholdeth Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. [15] Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
Mary recognizes it is Jesus and looks directly at him. See Note 2.			[16] Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turneth herself, and saith unto him in Hebrew, Rabboni; which is to say, Teacher.
[The other women hear this, and come.] All are greeted.	[9b] saying, All hail.
In their joy, they all hold on to Jesus.	[9c] And they came and took hold of his feet, and worshipped him.
Jesus cannot stay at this time; the women must take a message to the apostles.			[17] Jesus saith to her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father: but go unto my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.
Jesus' message for the disciples (continued). See Notes 3 & 4.	[10] Then saith Jesus unto them, Fear not: go tell my brethren that they depart into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
Mary and the others go to tell the disciples.	[11a] Now while they were going,	[10a] She went ...	[18a] Mary Magdalene cometh and telleth the disciples,
The guards report to the chief priests; the chief priests devise a cover-up. See Note 5.	[11b] behold, some of the guard came into the city, and told unto the chief priests all the things that were come to pass. [12] And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave much money unto the soldiers, [13] saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. [14] And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and rid you of care. [15] So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying was spread abroad among the Jews, and continueth until this day.
The disciples are told the good news. See Note 6.		[10b] ...and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.	[18b] I have seen the Lord; and that he had said these things unto her.
Their initial response to the fact that Jesus was physically alive: unbelief. See Note 7.		[11] And they, when they heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, disbelieved.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

1) "Jesus met them" - first Mary, then a moment later, the rest of the women. At the time Mary first sees Jesus, the other women were elsewhere, perhaps scattered about in the garden (see John 19:41, compare with 20:15). Once they heard the talking (perhaps when Mary cried out "Rabboni!"), they would have quickly returned to the scene.

2) In many cultures, it is a common practice for people to not look directly into the face of strangers (especially a woman to a man). At this point, Mary still thought Jesus was someone else, and would not have looked directly at him. (In addition, she also could have been looking down toward the ground, or had blurred vision from her tears.)

3) Jesus tells them to not be afraid. When they went to the disciples the previous time (after the angel gave them instructions - Matthew 28:8), they were quite fearful.

4) This will be the second time the disciples are told to go to Galilee. Here, it is Jesus (rather than the angel) who gives them the message.

5) The guards probably left the tomb before the women arrived. This event (reporting to the chief priests) would have occurred about the same time as the above events. [This statement is like a parentheses in the account, contrasting the truth with the lie.]

6) It was customary to weep for many days after a person's death. In this case, however, their sorrow may have been intensified, since they had been previously told that Jesus' body was missing (and they did not yet understand why).

7) There seems to be different stages in their belief (acceptance) of what happened. These may be some of the stages: a) acceptance that Jesus' body was gone; b) acceptance that something (perhaps miraculous) has happened; c) acceptance that Jesus was alive - but thinking that he was a spirit; and d) acceptance that Jesus' resurrection included the resurrection of his physical body.

[ALTERNATE INTERPRETATION, BASED ON THE KJV TRANSLATION]

The KJV adds the phrase, "as they went to tell his disciples," at the beginning of verse 9. This is a textual variation that many of the later manuscripts contain, but which is not present in many of the more ancient ones. If one would accept this phrase as part of the account, it would require a slight variation in the above section of the outline: It would indicate that Jesus first appeared to Mary (same as above), but that the other women did not see Jesus until he re-appeared, while they were on their way to the disciples. A possible sequence of events is given below, with only the differences given in detail. (This arrangement with the KJV variant requires a few additional details to be assumed, which are not directly stated. These are given either in brackets, or labeled as "implied.")

Comments	Matthew	Mark	John
Mary sees the angels; talks to a man; recognizes him as Jesus, etc.	[see the above outline]
Mary holds on to Jesus (implied) and is told to not do so; she is given a message for the apostles.			[17] Jesus saith to her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father: but go unto my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.
[Jesus is no longer there (implied). Either Mary gets the other women, or the other women return to Mary (implied).] They start to go to the disciples. See Note 1.	[28:9a] And [KJV: as they went to tell his disciples,]
Jesus appears to them all and greets them.	[9b] And behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail.
In their joy, they hold on to Jesus. See Note 2.	[9c] And they came and took hold of his feet, and worshipped him
An additional message for the disciples.	[10] Then saith Jesus unto them, Fear not: go tell my brethren that they depart into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
They continue on their way, to tell the disciples.	[11a] Now while they were going, ...	[10a] She went ...	[18a] Mary Magdalene cometh and telleth the disciples,
The chief priest's cover-up, the disciples hear and don't believe the good news, etc.	[see the above outline]

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

1) In this scenario, the women would not have joined Mary as quickly as in the other scenario. (They could have been further away and not heard the conversation, or Jesus' appearance may have been too brief.)

2) Most likely, one of the following events occurred: 1) they are also told they cannot continue to hold on to him, as Mary originally was. Or, as an alternate possibility, 2) Jesus may have ascended to the Father, after seeing Mary, and then returned. (There is no indication as to why he needed to go to the Father. He was not necessarily referring to his final departure, recorded in other accounts.) At this point (if he ascended - temporarily - to the Father), it might not be necessary for him to tell the women to let go of him. At any rate, he does permit people to touch him, at later appearances (example: John 20:27).

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Translation: The Holy Bible, 1901 American Standard Version, public domain.
(Also, some additional comments regarding a specific variation in the KJV, which would require a slight modification in the timing of events.)