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among whom were also Peter and John, who had not yet believed. But when Mary, according to John, said, "They have taken my Lord from the tomb," the two disciples did not believe this very thing, that the Savior had been taken away, until they came to the place and witnessed it for themselves. When, therefore, they entered the tomb, and saw only the linen cloths, but the body nowhere, then they believed; and in what did they believe, but in the word of Mary who said, "They have taken my Lord?" Therefore he adds next: "For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead."

IV. As to how, when two disciples came to the tomb according to John,

Peter and John, Luke says that only one came, this might be resolved thus. Peter was always great in his eagerness, so as to be the only one among the apostles to say to the Savior: "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you;" and again, to be the only one to ask to walk on the waves; and the only one to answer and say to him: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God;" for which reason also he alone of the disciples hears: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah." For this reason he is also the first to dare to enter the tomb, having come with the other disciple whom Jesus loved, according to John; but then indeed, having learned from the Magdalene that the body of the Lord had been taken from the tomb, he went with the other disciple; then he departed with him, having seen the linen cloths inside the tomb and having believed. But according to Luke, when the other disciples disbelieved, he alone again believes the women who said they had seen the angels who appeared; for not disbelieving the testimonies of the women, he returns to the tomb alone; and again stooping down he sees the linen cloths alone as before; then he went away, wondering to himself at what had happened. And then he went away wondering at what had happened, but since he was great in his eagerness and showed more zeal than all, hurrying and running about, and in every way looking for the Savior with the eyes of his soul open, and everywhere seeking and looking around, he did not fail in his hope, but he himself is also deemed worthy of His divine appearance; a witness to this is the same evangelist Luke, proceeding next somewhere here and saying that the Lord was truly risen and appeared to Simon. And the holy Apostle also testifies with him, writing thus to the Corinthians, that "He appeared to Cephas, then to the eleven." Now Cephas was Simon, also called Peter, to whom alone the Savior appeared alone before the eleven, on account of his zeal surpassing all others.

V. One might further inquire how in Matthew 22.992 the Magdalene

Mary with her namesake is said to have seen one single angel outside the tomb sitting on the stone; but according to John she sees two angels sitting inside the tomb; and according to Luke two men met the women; and according to Mark a young man was seen by them. The accounts in John and Matthew might find such a resolution: For I think that the story in John precedes that in Matthew, and that the Magdalene, having come the first time, saw the two angels sitting inside the tomb; and after this, having come a second time to the same place with the other Mary, she saw the angel sitting upon the stone. Or perhaps the angel in Matthew is one, and the time and the place of the angel's appearance is another; and his angels to the women are also others; and likewise the two angels in John who were seen inside the tomb are different from the one outside before the tomb sitting on the stone in Matthew. For if Matthew, having said it was late on the Sabbath, and having related of one sitting before the door of the tomb upon the stone, John, having kept the same time and the same place, had said late on the Sabbath, before the door of the tomb upon

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οἷς ἦσαν καὶ ὁ· Πέτρος καὶ ὁ Ἰωάννης, μηδὲ αὐτοὶ πεπιστευκότες. Τῇ δὲ Μαρίᾳ κατὰ τὸν Ἰωάννην εἰπούσῃ ὅτι, «Ἦραν τὸν Κύριόν μου ἐκ τοῦ μνήματος,» οὐ πρότερον ἐπίστευσαν οἱ δύο μαθηταὶ τοῦτο αὐτὸ, τὸ ἦρθαι τὸν Σωτῆρα, πρὶν ἐλθεῖν εἰς τὸν τόπον καὶ ἔργῳ τοῦτο παραλαβεῖν. Ὅτε γοῦν εἰσῆλθον οὗτοι εἰς τὸ μνῆμα, καὶ τὰ ὀθόνια εἶδον μόνα, τὸ δὲ σῶμα οὐδαμοῦ, τότε ἐπίστευσαν· τίνι δὲ ἐπίστευσαν, ἀλλ' ἢ τῷ τῆς Μαρίας λόγῳ φήσαντι, «Ἦραν τὸν Κύριόν μου;» ∆ιὸ ἐπιλέγει ἑξῆς· «Οὔπω γὰρ ᾔδεισαν τὴν Γραφὴν, ὅτι δεῖ αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῆναι.»

∆ʹ. Τὸ δὲ πῶς δύο παρὰ τὸν Ἰωάννην μαθητῶν ἐλθόντων εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον,

Πέτρου καὶ Ἰωάννου, ὁ Λουκᾶς ἕνα μόνον φησὶν ἀπηντηκέναι, οὕτως ἂν λυθείη. Πολὺς ἦν ὁ Πέτρος ἀεὶ τῇ προθυμίᾳ, ὡς μόνον παρὰ τοὺς ἀποστόλους εἰπεῖν τῷ Σωτῆρι· «Κἂν δέῃ με σὺν σοὶ ἀποθανεῖν, οὐ μή σε ἀπαρνήσομαι·» καὶ μόνον πάλιν ἐπιβῆναι τοῖς κύμασιν ἀξιῶσαι· καὶ μόνον ἀποκρίνασθαι καὶ εἰπεῖν αὐτῷ· «Σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος·» διὸ καὶ μόνος τῶν μαθητῶν ἀκούει· «Μακάριος εἶ, Σίμων Βὰρ Ἰωνᾶ.» ∆ιὸ καὶ πρῶτος τολμᾷ εἰσιέναι εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον, σὺν τῷ ἑτέρῳ μαθητῇ ὃν ἐφίλει ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐλθὼν, κατὰ τὸν Ἰωάννην· ἀλλὰ τότε μὲν παρὰ τῆς Μαγδαληνῆς ἦρθαι τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Κυρίου ἀπὸ τοῦ μνημείου μεμαθηκὼς, ἀπήντα ἅμα τῷ ἑτέρῳ μαθητῇ· εἶτα ἀνεχώρει σὺν αὐτῷ, τὰ ὀθόνια εἴσω τοῦ μνήματος τεθεαμένος καὶ πιστεύσας. Κατὰ δὲ Λουκᾶν, τῶν ἄλλων ἀπιστούντων μαθητῶν, μόνος αὐτὸς πάλιν πιστεύει ταῖς λεγούσαις ταῖς γυναιξὶν ἑωρακέναι τοὺς ὀφθέντας ἀγγέλους· οὐ γὰρ ἀπιστήσας δὲ ταῖς τῶν γυναικῶν μαρτυρίαις, παλινδρομαῖος ἐπὶ τὸ μνημεῖον μόνος παραγίνεται· καὶ αὖθις παρακύψας βλέπει τὰ ὀθόνια μόνα ὡς καὶ τὸ πρότερον· εἶτα ἀπῄει, πρὸς ἑαυτὸν θαυμάζων τὸ γεγονός· καὶ νῦν μὲν ἀπῄει θαυμάζων τὸ γεγονὸς, ἐπεὶ δὲ πολὺς ἦν τῇ προθυμίᾳ καὶ πλείονα σπουδὴν παρὰ πάντας ἐπεδείκνυτο, σπεύδων καὶ περιτρέχων, καὶ πάντη τὸν Σωτῆρα περιαθρῶν ἀνεωγόσι τοῖς τῆς ψυχῆς ὄμμασι, πανταχοῦ δὲ ζητῶν καὶ περιβλεπόμενος, οὐκ ἠτύχησε τῆς ἐλπίδος, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς ἀξιοῦται τῆς αὐτοῦ θεοφανείας· τούτου μάρτυς ὁ αὐτὸς εὐαγγελιστὴς Λουκᾶς ὧδέ πη προϊὼν ἑξῆς καὶ λέγων ὅτι ὄντως ἠγέρθη ὁ Κύριος καὶ ὤφθη Σίμωνι. Συμμαρτυρεῖ δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ ὁ ἱερὸς Ἀπόστολος ὧδε Κορινθίοις γράφων, ὅτι «Ὤφθη Κεφᾷ, εἶτα τοῖς ἔνδεκα.» Κεφᾶς δὲ αὐτὸς ἦν Σίμων ὁ καὶ Πέτρος, ᾧ καὶ πρὸ τῶν ἕνδεκα μόνος μόνῳ ὤφθη ὁ Σωτὴρ, τῆς παρὰ πάντας ὑπερβαλλούσης αὐτοῦ χάριν σπουδῆς.

Εʹ. Ἔτι ζητήσειεν ἄν τις πῶς παρὰ μὲν τῷ Ματ 22.992 θαίῳ ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ

Μαρία μετὰ τῆς ὁμωνύμου ἑωρακέναι ἐκτὸς τοῦ μνήματος ἐπικαθήμενον τῷ λίθῳ ἕνα μόνον ἄγγελον εἴρηται· κατὰ δὲ τὸν Ἰωάννην εἴσω τοῦ μνήματος ἀγγέλους δύο θεωρεῖ καθημένους· κατὰ δὲ τὸν Λουκᾶν δύο ἄνδρες ἀπήντων ταῖς γυναιξί· κατὰ δὲ τὸν Μάρκον νεανίσκος ἦν αὐτοῖς ὁρώμενος. Τὰ μὲν παρὰ τῷ Ἰωάννῃ καὶ Ματθαίῳ λύσεως ἂν τύχοι τοιαύτης· ἡγοῦμαι γὰρ προηγεῖσθαι μὲν τὴν παρὰ τῷ Ἰωάννῃ ἱστορίαν, τῆς παρὰ τῷ Ματθαίῳ, καὶ τὴν Μαγδαληνὴν τὸ πρῶτον ἐλθοῦσαν τοὺς δύο ἀγγέλους εἴσω τοῦ μνήματος καθεζομένους ἰδεῖν· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα δεύτερον ἐπιστᾶσαν τῷ αὐτῷ τόπῳ μετὰ τῆς ἄλλης Μαρίας τὸν ἐπικαθήμενον τῷ λίθῳ ἄγγελον ἑωρακέναι. Ἢ τάχα ἕτερος μὲν ὁ παρὰ Ματθαίῳ ἄγγελος, ἕτερος δὲ καὶ ὁ χρόνος καὶ ὁ τόπος τῆς τοῦ ἀγγέλου θέας· ἕτεροι δὲ καὶ ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ οἱ πρὸς τὰς γυναῖκας· ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ οἱ παρὰ τῷ Ἰωάννῃ δύο ἄγγελοι οἱ εἴσω τοῦ μνήματος ὀφθέντες ἕτεροί εἰσι παρὰ τὸν ἔξω πρὸ μνήματος ἐπὶ τῷ λίθῳ καθεζόμενον παρὰ τῷ Ματθαίῳ. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ Ματθαίου ὀψὲ Σαββάτων εἰρηκότος, καὶ ἕνα πρὸ τῆς θύρας τοῦ μνημείου καθήμενον ἐπὶ τῷ λίθῳ ἱστορηκότος, φυλάξας ὁ Ἰωάννης τὸν αὐτὸν καιρὸν καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν τόπον εἰρήκει ὀψὲ Σαββάτων, πρὸ τῆς θύρας τοῦ μνήματος ἐπὶ