As we go through the Easter season (Lent) Christians are looking forward to one of the major religious days of the year, which celebrates the death and resurrection of Jesus. Most Christian who read the title of this post would respond, “That’s absurd! Of course the Gospels depict the resurrection of Jesus!” Well, no, they do not. Recall the accounts in the four Gospels. In each case when the women arrive at the tomb Jesus has already been raised and gone off somewhere and the tomb is empty. Even in Matthew 28 although it describes an angel rolling back the stone covering the tomb the women find it already empty. It implies Jesus was already gone before the stone was rolled back. So, none of the Gospels actually depict the event of Jesus rising from the dead and leaving the tomb. None of the Gospels in the New Testament, that is. There is a gospel that depicts the event, but it is not one that made it into the Bible. The Gospel of Peter gives an interesting portrayal of the resurrection, and its back story is itself quite interesting.
Christ Coming Out Of The Tomb, Gustav Dore
But none of the accepted gospels describe this scene!
In the first few centuries of Christianity there are references to a Gospel of Peter, and some church fathers seem to quote from it. Apparently some churches were using it along with the other gospels. However, it was ultimately not accepted as Scripture, in contrast to the four Gospels in the New Testament. (I’ve always found it ironic that four gospels written anonymously were accepted as authentic, but others actually written in the names of some of Jesus’ disciples were not, like those claiming to be written by Peter, Thomas and even Judas and Mary Magdalene.) So, it seemed the Gospel of Peter fell out of favor, and no copies of it were passed along to the modern era.
Then in 1886 the French archaeologist Urbain Bouriant uncovered the tomb of a monk in Egypt. Lo and behold: the monk was holding a manuscript dating from the 8th or 9th Century and it contained a fragmentary copy of the Gospel of Peter! An amazing discovery: the first non-canonical gospel found in modern times. The part of the gospel contained in the manuscript starts during the trial of Jesus. Scholars can’t know if the original was a full story of Jesus or just a Passion narrative. But here is the resurrection scene depicted in the manuscript:
And in the night in which the Lord’s day was drawing on, as the soldiers kept guard two by two in a watch, there was a great voice in the heaven; and they saw the heavens opened, and two men descend with a great light and approach the tomb. And the stone that was put at the door rolled of itself and made way in part; and the tomb was opened, and both the young men entered in. When therefore those soldiers saw it, they awakened the centurion and the elders, for they too were close by keeping guard. And as they declared what things they had seen, again they saw three men come forth from the tomb, and two of them supporting one, and a cross following them. And the heads of the two reached to heaven, but the head of him who was led by them overpassed the heavens. And they heard a voice from the heavens, saying, “You have preached to them that sleep?” And a response was heard from the cross, “Yes.”
The gospel then finishes out like the original ending of Mark, verses 16:1-8, but also adds a scene of the disciples leaving Jerusalem, with no one seeing the resurrected Jesus. (Recall that in Matthew no one sees Jesus until they return to Galilee.)
So, what a remarkable scene: the angels enter the tomb and then exit apparently helping Jesus walk out, and the angels stretch out to enormous height and Jesus even taller. And even the cross walks out! And even more curious, a voice from heaven asks “You have preached to them that sleep?” and it is this cross that answers!
Three points about the voice and the question. This appears to be a reference to what is called the Harrowing of Hell. This is the idea that during the time Jesus was dead he went and preached to those who had previously died, as in 1 Peter 3:18-20 and 4:6 (“For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God.”) So, the Gospel of Peter seems to support this concept. Also, if the voice is God one wonders why He would be asking: Wouldn’t He know? And why would the cross answer instead of Jesus? Maybe it is just for dramatic effect. However, Mark Goodacre, a Bible scholar at Duke University, suggests an interesting idea. “From the cross” may be a misunderstanding or mistranslation. It may have originally said “From the crucified one,” as ‘cross’ and ‘crucified’ are closely related words in Greek and Latin, and as manuscripts are copied and translated over time such differences do creep in. So, perhaps it really meant that Jesus, “the crucified one” responded “yes.” This seems more logical to me, but I don’t know that there is any way to prove that idea.
Descent to Hell, by Duccio, 1311
So, we have an actual description of Jesus rising and exiting the tomb. How does it sound to you? Plausible? Fanciful? Another case of ‘fan fiction,’ filling in the details not found in the canonical Gospels? Apparently it was a little too far out to be accepted as Scripture as the church matured, although it was used in the early church. If you’d like to read the full text of the Gospel of Peter, it is available online at sites like gospels.net or earlychristianwritings.com. Then you can make your own decision about it.
(Be sure to leave your comments and questions below.)
Leave a Reply