Yes, she recognized him.
And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
Matthew 28:9 NASB
No, she didn’t recognize him.
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.
John 20:14 NASB
Jesus didn’t appear to her; she had a vision of angels who told her that he was alive.
… and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive.
Luke 24:23 NASB
Three reports are given about Mary Magdalene after Jesus’ resurrection. Are these really conflicting as the critic supposes?
We have to reckon with several pecularities in order to evaluate the messages. So let’s have a look at the three reports separately.
Matthew 28:9
“And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshipped Him.”
Yes, Mary recognized Jesus when he first appeared to her. After Jesus’ greeting three times the word ‘and’ appears. The evangelists often used the word ‘and’ to step over a part of the occurrence (compare with John 20:14-17), which means that three activities have been omitted by Matthew.
1. Jesus seeing that Mary didn’t recognize him immediately (probably through her tears she couldn’t see well) spoke her name and Mary understood it was Jesus.
2. She turned to Jesus, fell on her knees and touched Jesus’ feet.
3. Jesus said her to not keep his feet as he was on the way to his Father.
John 20:14
“When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.”
Mary Magdalene did not immediately recognize Jesus. But as soon as she heard Jesus saying her name the recognition was there. So it is misleading of the critic to state that Mary didn’t recognize Jesus when he first appeared to her. When he first appeared to her she indeed recognized him. It is childish of the critic to try making a point in that manner.
Luke 24:23
“… and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive.”
Two men on the road to Emmaus. A well known story. Why didn’t these men speak about Jesus’ resurrection as the women had testified? Why couldn’t they pass this message their lips?
1. Resurrection was no option for them as it was supernatural. They could not accept that without convincing evidence.
2. The testimonies of the women had the value of one testimony as the women were not independant. These women had spoken together about what they had experienced.
3. A case was not fixed unless there were two or three independant testimonies.
4. It was really perplexing for the disciples that the women had worshipped Jesus. That made their testimoy only more suspicious, as Jews only bow down for God who can’t be seen and these women had seen Jesus, as they said. This was so confusing for them that they could only react with disbelief.
These points make it very clear that the two men on the road to Emmaus didnt even dare to take on their lips the words about Jesus’ resurrection. And so they only referred to angels that the women said they had seen. That was the limit.
No Bible Contradiction at all