Matthew 28:1-10 says that when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb that she was told by an angel that the Messiah had risen and would be seen in Galilee. Matthew then says that she ran "with great joy" to tell the disciples and while on the way that she met the Messiah (this occurred before she got to the disciples). However, John 20:1 and 2 say that when she came to the tomb and didn’t find the Messiah there, that she ran to the disciples and told them that He had been taken away and that she didn’t know where He was. In Matthew she knew where He was (or at least had been) and where He would be, but in John she didn’t. Also, Matthew has Mary encountering the Messiah before she gets to the disciples. But in John the encounter with the Messiah happens AFTER she talks to the disciples. How can this be reconciled?

It can't be reconciled. You just have to overlook that and believe the essence of the story - that the tomb was empty.

or:

it can't be reconciled and you have to accept that everything written in the bible has to be taken with a pinch of salt and cannot be treated as an absolute truth.

Or you can use it as the basis of another interesting discussion on here

Another option in considering the differences in the "accounts" is to remember that eyewitness accounts nowadays follow similar patterns (supposedly the same event seen in widely different ways).

I do understand that there is also the possibility that there were no eyewitnesses of either the empty tomb, nor of the risen messiah, and that the legend was created.

Hello Carl ~ Exactly!

I like to use analogies when conveying a message.

In Matthew 28, this is Matthew's account of the story. In John 20, this is John's account of the story.
Consider this:
Two guys stumble upon a pot of Gold in the forest. Excitedly they run back to their parents to tell them the good news, and each have a slightly different story. Does this make them liars? No. Does it automatically make these men untrustworthy? No. All this means is that during such an exciting event as these events were in the Bible, the accounts of each may vary slightly. each message is conveyed in the Bible as it should be, and the point is not to read a detailed description of these events. If one is reading the Bible (as a Christian) then that person is to use the Bible to live accordingly to what the word tells us. Knowing weather Mary talked with the disciples before or after the encounter with Jesus is irrelevant to following the Word of God and acting upon your beliefs as a Christian. In no way am I cutting the Bible down, but I am saying that in many places, the Bible does not add up entirely and this is expected. God intended for us to never fully understand it all and I accept that the way it is.

You could also do some research and find that the Bible has MANY stories that are directly taken from other Ancient religions then regurgitated with 'place Christian name here'. In Greek mythology, Zeus flooded the Earth ridding it of man for they did not fear the Gods and had stopped worshiping them. The Earth was then repopulated with a new, less sinful Human race. Norse mythology states that when Thor had his clash with evil in his attempt to defeat evil once and for-all, the outpouring of power was so great that it destroyed all mankind. EXCEPT for two people, a man and a woman, whom were hiding in the hollowed out trunk of the Tree of Life. Repopulating the Earth. Their End of Times sounds a lot like Christian Beginning of Times. Egyptian Horus was said to be born of a 'Virgin'. Same as Jesus. His foster Father was Seph. Jesus' Foster Father was Joseph. Horus' birth accompanied by three solar deities (star gazers) who followed by the morning star of Sirius bearing gifts. Jesus' birth accompanied by three wise men (Zoroastrian star gazers) who followed a star “in the east” bearing gifts. The birth of Horus announced by angels. The birth of Jesus announced by angels. 'Herut' tried to murder the infant Horus. 'Herod' slaughtered every first born in an attempt to kill Jesus the forthcoming Messiah. Horus is baptized at age 30 by Anup the Baptiser at a river. Jesus is baptized at age 30 by John the Baptist at a river. Horus performed miracles like healing the sick and walking on water. Jesus performed miracles like healing the sick and walking on water. The similarities are almost never ending. The ones I have included here are just a very minimal amount of all that are out there. These three(Greek, Norse,Egyptian) aren't the only Religions that were stolen from either. Take it for what you want. But to me, Christianity is nothing more than plagiarism of a variety of Ancient Religions/Myths.

XPR, not only accounts but the dates of celebration are just a redressing already existing pagan holidays.

Apparently the stories (myths if you will) are just the best out there and worthy of being plagiarized.

BLR- The similarities are endless. Names; Dates; Events. 2000 years ago it didn't matter that the stories were the same, save for changing the names, because mankind didn't have the ability to keep and retrieve databases of information on a global scale like we can now. The sad thing is, we now have the ability to do so and yet people still don't utilize all the resources at their disposal. Knowledge is power.