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Matthew 28:1-10
The Resurrection
1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
The account of the resurrection in Matthew’s gospel is like the other gospel accounts in several important respects, but it also has some details that set it apart from the others.
Like the other accounts, Matthew’s tells us that it was Mary Magdalene – in this case, along with “the other Mary” – who first discovers that Jesus has risen from the dead. And like the others, Matthew tells us that an angel appears to the women to confirm the resurrection and to remind them that Jesus had foretold that it would happen. Jesus also tells the women not to fear, and to tell to others to meet him in Galilee.
Distinctive touches in Matthew include the information that the guards at the tomb are so terrified that they become “like dead men,” apparently in shock from the angelic appearance. That’s significant because these guards seem to have been Roman soldiers, sent by Pilate at the request of the Jewish leadership. So they were probably highly disciplined and battle-hardened troops, not the kind of guys to go into shock easily. (And by the way, if you’ve ever been around a person who’s gone into shock from emotional or cognitive overload, you might find that being ‘like dead men’ is a fairly accurate description.)
The women follow the instructions of the angel and hurry off to tell the other disciples what they’ve seen and heard. And on the way, the risen Jesus appears to them. It’s interesting that both the angel and Jesus start by saying the same thing to the women: “Do not be afraid.” You might remember that’s also what the angels said to Mary and Joseph and the shepherds when they were announcing the birth of Jesus. It seems that even when they’re announcing good news, the appearance of an angel of the Lord tends to freak people out. But it also seems that Jesus and the angel were taking pains to prevent the women from going into shock as the guards had.
The resurrection of Jesus is obviously a central element of the Christian faith. It’s the most powerful sign of the truth of the promises Jesus made during his earthly ministry. If Jesus rose from the dead as he foretold, it certainly makes it hard to question anything else he said in his preaching and teaching. And Paul reports that when the disciples went into the world announcing that Jesus had risen, there were more than 500 people who had seen him after the resurrection, so their testimony had great power and credibility.
As the Acts of the Apostles makes clear, there had been a number of other self-proclaimed “messiahs” before Jesus. Most of them had gathered a band of followers and then tried to drive out the Romans. That’s what the Messiah was expected to do. But in every other case, these “messiahs” would be killed and their movement would disappear. But unlike all of those short-lived revolts, the Jesus movement actually had greater momentum after his death than before, and it was the resurrection that provided that momentum.
The New Testament scholars point out that there are several aspects of Matthew’s account of the resurrection that are especially worth noting.
First of all, Matthew reports that the resurrection was accompanied by unsettling events – like mysterious darkness and an earthquake. These things had been foretold as signs of the end of the age. Some scholars suggest that we’re meant to see these events as signs that the resurrection was an important change in the order of the universe.
Second, in his death and rising from the dead, Jesus becomes both the fulfillment and an illustration of his own teaching. Jesus had been persecuted like many of the other prophets before him, because he faithfully proclaimed God’s truth in a sinful world. Jesus had willingly laid down his own life. But unlike the other prophets, he had been resurrected – and he had promised that if his followers are willing to lay down our lives, we’ll share in his resurrection.
Finally, Matthew points out the interesting parallels between the events that marked the beginning and the end of Jesus’ earthly life. As we said in our Reflection yesterday, it was gentiles who first seemed to understand the significance of what was happening. The Magi were gentiles, and they showed up declaring the birth of Jesus before any of the Jewish religious leaders knew about it. And a Gentile centurion watched his death and then declared him to be the Son of God. At both his birth and his death, the gentiles were the ones who understood what the Jewish leadership failed to see – that world-changing events had taken place.
In each case, the leaders of the Hebrew people, who were supposed to be advancing God’s plan in the world, had become so corrupt that they try to stop what is happening: Herod tries to stop Jesus by murdering children, and later the chief priests and others by insisting on his crucifixion. And both events ended with surprising witnesses – pagan Magi and peasant women – going away joyful at what God was doing in and through Jesus.
As we’ve said in the past, the fact that the resurrection was first discovered by a group of women is one of the facts that supports its historical reality. In the ancient Near East, the testimony of women was usually dismissed. So nobody would make up a story saying that the first witnesses to the resurrection were women. That’s the kind of story that people would tell only if they absolutely believed it was true.
As today’s reading closes, the tomb stands empty, the enemies of Jesus have turned out to be powerless to stop him, and God has won a great victory over the forces of sin and death.
Let’s pray. Lord, we rejoice at the news given to the women at the tomb, and given through them to us: that we no longer need to live in fear, because our master has given us new life through his resurrection as he said! We give thanks for this powerful event which has changed the course of history forever. Amen.
Have a great weekend,
and may you worship God joyfully on Sunday!
Henry
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