seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Matthew 28: 1 After 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.”
11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Well.... He did it. He survived being nailed to a cross. He brought the antidote to death and the human body could survive it. Good job, Jesus.This is from the easy English site.
The Sabbath ended at six o’clock on Saturday evening. Very early on Sunday morning, the two women called Mary came to the grave. They had seen the men bury Jesus in the cave. Mark 16:1-2 and Luke 24:1 say that the women brought ‘spices’. They had prepared these ‘spices’ from plants that have a beautiful smell. And they were going to put them on Jesus’ body. The reports about this day have different details in each of the four gospels. But they all agree that women received the news first. Nobody saw Jesus at the moment when he became alive again. But the stone had rolled away and the grave was empty. It is only Matthew who records that an angel rolled the stone away.
The priests were desperate. They did not want anyone to know the true story. They wanted the soldiers to tell lies about Jesus’ body. So they had to pay a lot of money to the soldiers. This was a very serious matter. A Roman soldier should never have slept while he was on duty. The priests promised that they would deal with the ruler. There would be no trouble for the soldiers.
The story was a weak story because it was a lie. But people still heard it at the time when Matthew was writing this gospel. Nobody could deny that the grave was empty. It is strange that the priests did not search for the disciples. The priests probably knew that they would not find Jesus’ body. And some priests later believed that Jesus was alive again (Acts 6:7).
Jesus had called his first disciples in Galilee district. Now it was the place where he gave his last instructions to them. He had promised to go to Galilee ahead of his disciples (Matthew 26:32). The angel and Jesus had both repeated this message (Matthew 28:7, 10).
It is not clear who doubted him. There may have been more than the 11 disciples present. Some people could not believe that Jesus was really alive again after his death.
Matthew records how Jesus had shown his authority. He showed it by all that he did. And he showed it by all that he taught. Jesus has universal authority. So therefore he can order his disciples to obey him. Jesus’ authority is more powerful than that of any ruler or official in this world. So his disciples serve a powerful master. His instructions were clear.
1. His disciples had to go to ‘the people in all nations’. Jesus meant that both Jews and other people should hear the gospel. Jesus had trained his disciples. He had told them that all of the people in the world would hear the gospel message (Matthew 24:14).
2. The book called Acts tells us about the first Christians. From the very beginning, Christians baptised people. And Peter declared that baptism was a sign. It showed that people trusted Jesus (Acts 2:38). It showed that God had forgiven people. Water washes people’s bodies clean. In a similar way, baptism shows other people that new disciples are ‘clean’ from their sins. Jesus said that they should use God’s complete name during the baptism. Believers trust that God is their Father. They believe that Jesus has saved them. They know that the Holy Spirit will give them power. With the Holy Spirit they can live a new life.
3. ‘Teach them to obey everything that I have told you’, Jesus said. The disciples needed to teach new Christians how to behave as believers. They had to think about new things. Jews may have learned from the Old Testament. But they needed to understand completely what the Law meant. Gentiles used to behave badly. So they had to learn how to behave in a different way. Matthew wrote in five sections what Jesus had taught. And new disciples would be able to learn from this. Many of them came from places where nobody knew the truth about God. Later Paul wrote his letters because it was necessary to teach these people.
4. Jesus had given his disciples an enormous task. He had warned them that people would hate them. People would oppose them. But he did not want them to be afraid. So he promised that he would be with them always. Then they could obey his commands. He will be with his disciples every single day. When the ‘end of the world’ comes, they will have finished their work for him.
I feel like there should be a swell of some kind of powerful inspirational music and the last couple of words of Matthew should be coming from a beam of sunlight.... inspirational.Matthew was a tax collector. He wasn't an author. He could tell a story.... he was a tax collector telling the truth about what happened. Matthew left his job.... I can imagine him saying "take this job and shove it"..... and then I can imagine him saying "wait, he's gone? What now?"
Now.... a word about the earthquake..... they had an earthquake when Jesus passed....it said the rocks broke when the curtain ripped and now this is the next day. Was this an earthquake or an aftershock? The earth quaked when the angel rolled the stone away. A stone had been rolled in front of the tomb to keep the body secure. They even secured the stone with a wax seal. The seal had the emblem of Rome seared into it. No one would dare break the seal that had a Roman emblem seared into it. That would mean a lot of trouble for whoever did that..... well except God.... if God caused the earthquake.... what's Rome going to do about God breaking that seal?
Matthew said it was an angel who rolled back the stone.... and then, according to Matthew, the angel took a seat on the rock and talked to the two ladies named Mary. Why did the angel talk to the two women first? Why wasn't it a man? IMHO.... It has to do with the stature of women in history. Those women were there to finish the embalming of the body. It was their job.... like being in the kitchen, birthing and raising babies.... and standing by their man... it was a woman's job to get the body ready.... fill it with herbs so it wouldn't explode and stink.
If the disciples [the eleven men Jesus chose] had gone to the tomb.... well who would have believed them? Two women though.... they are innocent... women wouldn't benefit from the missing body. Women didn't count back then. Women didn't vote.... women didn't go to war.... women didn't hold office.... the only way a woman could make any difference was whispering in the ear of the man she was with.... if you get my drift. So the innocence.... the lack of any gain.... that's why the women were the first to see the empty tomb.
Go teach.... that's what He told us to do.... those of us who Believe are supposed to tell people. Jesus did it.... I like to think that when the angel rolled that stone away.... and Jesus stepped out into the sunlight again.... He looked up and said "Mission Accomplished Dad!". I wonder... did he wink too?
