So why the differing lists? While it may become repetitive, it may as well be: ma besay-il. It doesn't matter. Each writer chose women representative of the party, based perhaps on their own knowledge or on that of their audience. Bauckham, in Jesus and the Eyewitnesses [50], concludes that the names were chosen based upon their value as eyewitnesses to those to whom the Gospels were addressed. Mary Mag appears in all four accounts; this suggests her prominence in the tradition and makes it difficult for any rez account to leave her out. It is likely that she had the strongest, most detailed testimony of all the women, which corresponds with her being the only one to have a cameo like the one in John. Mark's readers would therefore have known Salome in some way, while Matthew's readers did not.

And why not more detailed stories about these women? Matthew has little room to spare; he obviously needed to devote time to the "stolen body" claim and also wanted to close with the great commission. That left him almost no room for detailed rez appearances or for special cameos like the one John gave Mary Mag. His report is by necessity short and to the point and he has no space for a detailed listing of who was where, and when. It is therefore absurd to demand that he meet the precision-demands of Western literature which has no such constraints.

Matt. 28:2-4 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.

Matthew's insertion here is clearly dischronologized, a matter of topical arrangement, as was know to be used in ancient literature and is even used to some extent today. This could have happened at any time prior to the womens' visit. Since he has this, Matthew obviously does not need these statements:

Mark 16:3-4 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.

Luke 24:2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.

The main issue of difference is why only Matthew reports the angel -- as well as the other miracles recorded later -- and that matter we have answered with the principles found here.

Matthew 28:5-7 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.

Mark 16:5-7 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.

Luke 28:3-7 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

John is supplementing Mark and skips this section. Mark's "young man" is one of the angels; the phrase was used elsewhere (as in Josephus) to describe angels, so that there is no contradiction of identity. The point of "one angel or two" is answered by the principles here. The differences in the message reported and in the variably described reactions of the women are readily attributable to the sort of oral tradition variations we refer to here.

Matthew 28:8 And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.

Mark 16:8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.

Luke 24:8-9a And they remembered his words, And returned from the sepulchre...

The major issue here is Mark's "they told no one" -- obviously not permanent (for the story is here being told) and if anything a rhetorical device meant to encourage the reader to NOT remain silent and instead spread the word. Other than this we now have a situation in which we have numerous ways for history to split off into different events. Every woman could take a different path and could leave at a different time and pursue a different destination. Only so many destinations are of course likely; at the same time, no Gospel would have the space to report every differing destination. By this reckoning Mary Mag and perhaps others left the tomb before the angelic messengers arrived, since it is obvious in John that she hadn't gotten the message yet.

Matthew 28:9-10 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.

Luke 24:9b-11 and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.

John 20:2 Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

Most harmonizers would say here, and I could easily agree, that Mary Mag, Joanna, and Mary of James left the party first, before the angels popped in (and hence, Mark's report for example is telescoped, due to stylistic and/or space constraints) and went directly to Peter and Co. (the "we" of John's party), while other unnamed women like Salome went to other disciples and received a visitation. This is plausible, as it would make sense for a multi-member party to split up, so that if one party could not find their target, another might. In any event, as noted, Matt has saved most of his space for the "stolen body" apologetic and hasn't the room to recount anything more detailed.

Matthew's interlude of 28:11-15 could take place anytime between the unspecified range of these verses. Chronologically as far as events with the believers were concerned, we leave Matthew for the duration. His space constraints lead him directly to the Great Commission which could take place anytime after the events of v. 10. Thus we need not fit it into any chronology. It is able to be reckoned anytime within the 40 days between Passover and Pentecost; it is a stylized account and not meant to be squared into a narrative sequences. This indeed is one great mistake of both critics and harmonizers, who often put too much pressure on themselves to fit events into a chronology. It simply isn't necessary to assume that these writers were trying to give an all she wrote, "it happened in this order without time passing" chronology. Indeed we aver that Luke in his Gospel telescoped his 40 days between two verses. Matthew in 28:16-20 does the same sort of thing. The immediate skip to the Great Commission is a narrative device, not pure chronology.

Luke 24:12 Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.

John 20:3-10 Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.

The big deal here is of course that Luke has reported Peter alone; John reports someone else -- himself, perhaps, but some say Lazarus. That is of little matter; what is of import is that Luke severely compresses the story -- obviously. Why? So that he may include the enormous Emmaus narrative (13-33), which will take up what space he has and constrain him from getting into more details. Telling what Peter saw closely is more important than telling of who went with him (and by John's reckoning, didn't see anything different).

It is after Peter leaves the tomb that we have John's Mary Mag cameo, chronologically (20:11-18). We would once again suggest that the event is compressed for space reasons; the encounter and conversation was almost surely not that simple. This of course leaves a modern reader with an impression, when combined with the other Gospels, that Jesus is randomly popping back and forth to people giving them different messages. They would ask, why not tell them all the same message? In Mary Mag's case, it would likely because she had a different question than had been asked by any other: "Are you staying on earth now?"

Luke 24:33-4 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.

This appearance to Simon, otherwise undescribed, would take place sometime during the first day of the week -- as did all of the appearances so far outside of Matthew's chronologically displaced Commission scene. None of this is chronologically impossible, other than to those who wish to offer the vague complaint that the resurrected Jesus sure got around. But of course.

Luke 24:35-44 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread. And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

John 20:19-23 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

I would regard these as reporting the same meeting. Luke has no room now to report a dual meeting with Thomas first excluded, and each writer has their own focus: Luke on the tangible nature of Jesus' body; John on a more theological and "commissional" issue, as well as wanting to highlight Thomas' actions. If Luke is reporting to a Roman judge on behalf of Paul (as Mauck argues) then it isn't hard to see why he would report what he did. Meanwhile John will emphasize the tangible nature of Jesus in his second report.

It is here where we come to an end of a close examination. The events of John 20:24-21:23 would chronologically occur in the 40 day period which Luke telescopes and brings to an end at his 24:45. Did it seem rather simple? It is, much more so than we might think. The ancient processes of literary reportage go a long way towards explaining allegations of discrepancy in the rez narratives. Anyone who doubts this will need to explain why -- and do it in the context of those processes and explaining why they cannot apply.

See Skeptic X hit himself repeatedly on the head with this article here.