I am working toward self-publishing Explanatory Notes on the Resurrection by the week of Easter this year. Here is an excerpt from Matthew 28.
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At the Tomb
1. And when on the dawn of [the] week toward the first [day] of the week, Mary the Magdalene and the other Mary came to behold the tomb.
It is generally agreed that Matthew used the Gospel of Mark as its primary source. We can thus see how Matthew has edited Mark, which potentially gives us insight into Matthew’s emphases and perspectives. Interestingly, Matthew often prunes down some of Mark’s concrete details. In this case, Matthew removes mention of Salome and does not repeat that Mary was the mother of James. Matthew adds that they are planning to anoint Jesus’ body with spices.
2. And behold, a great earthquake came, for an angel of the Lord, having descended from heaven and having approached, rolled away the stone and sat on it. 3. And his appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow.
Matthew uniquely mentions an earthquake on Easter morning. This is not the only earthquake Matthew has mentioned. Matthew 27:51-53 also uniquely mentioned an earthquake resulting in resurrection after Jesus dies on the cross. The earthquake indicates the momentousness of the event that is happening, indicating that the creation is in tune with the magnitude of the spiritual event.
If we infer that the young man in Mark 16 is an angel, Matthew is explicit about it. This is an angel of the Lord. This is an angel who has descended from the sky, from heaven. This angel rolls the stone away from in front of the tomb. Mark perhaps implies that the angel rolled it away, but Matthew again is explicit.
Mark tells us that the young man is wearing a white robe. Matthew’s description is more spectacular. The white clothing is white as snow. It is white like lightning.
4. And from fear of him, the ones guarding shook and became as dead.
The sight of the angel is so awesome that the guards become paralyzed with fear. Like possum, they seem to appear dead. They seem to observe the interaction between the angel and the women at the tomb, but they are unable to participate.
5. And, answering, the angel said to the women, “You, do not fear! For I know that you seek Jesus, the one having been crucified. 6. He is not here, for he was raised just as he said. Come see the place where he was laying.”
The two Marys are also afraid. It is typical when an angel appears to someone in the Bible for the angel to tell them not to fear. We can imagine that seeing and angel is a fearsome sight! Such is also the case here.
Matthew removes Mark’s added description of Jesus as “the Nazarene,” another typical removal of a detail. The angel knows why the women are there. He also wants them to witness that Jesus is not there. The tomb is empty. They will be a major witness to the resurrection, beginning with their witness of the empty tomb.
If an ancient were to invent the resurrection story, it is doubtful that one would begin with women finding the empty tomb. Women were not considered as reliable a testimony. We have every reason to believe that the women were the ones first to discover that Jesus’ body was missing from the tomb. And we have every reason to believe that they were terrified.
7. “And, quickly, going, tell his disciples that he was raised from the dead and, behold, he goes before you into the Galilee. There you (pl) will see him. Behold, I have told you.”
As in Mark, the angel tells the women to go announce to the disciples that Jesus was raised from the dead. Note that God the Father is the one implied to have raised Jesus. Matthew removes the added detail, “and Peter.” Also, if all we had were Matthew and Mark, we would assume that Jesus’ resurrection appearances to the disciples all appeared in Galilee.
8. And, having gone away quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, they ran to tell his disciples.
At this point Matthew diverges from Mark. Mark as we have it ends with the women telling no one because they are afraid (16:8). Of course, they must eventually have told someone or else we would not have the account of Mark 16:1-8. We do not know the time gap between their silence and their report, but there presumably was one.
Matthew does not report the gap in time. Matthew only tells us that the women do indeed go to tell the disciples. Matthew also adds a sense that they have joy in addition to Mark’s fear and amazement. We remember that Mark emphasizes the disciples’ lack of understanding, and the women here are also followers of Jesus. Matthew is not nearly as hard on the disciples as Mark is.
9. And, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Greetings!” And having approached, they took hold of his feet and they worshiped him.
This is the first resurrection appearance that has survived in a Gospel. I have a hunch that there was an original ending of Mark and that it did in fact narrate a resurrection appearance. But among the evidence that has survived, this is the first Gospel resurrection appearance.
Note that the first appearance is to women, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. In the next verse, Jesus will send them as witnesses of his resurrection. That fact makes these women the very first apostles. An apostle was someone to whom the risen Christ had appeared and whom Christ had sent as a witness to the resurrection. There are no more apostles of this sort today. Paul was the last (1 Cor. 15:8).
Jesus says, “Hello.” “Greetings” here is the standard word that one would use to begin a letter (chairein) or, apparently, to say “Hello” when encountering someone. It is as if he is simply meeting a friend like any other day.
They have faith. In Matthew 28, these women do not hesitate about who Jesus is. They immediately know. They immediately believe. They immediately worship. They grab hold of his feet, a sign of submission to his authority.
The word worship is proskyneō. It can refer to the kind of worship we give God, but it also can be used of the reverence given to a king. It has a sense of bowing before someone, as the women do. Scholars debate how soon the earliest Christians recognized Jesus as fully divine. Certainly, we would not be too surprised if it took some time for God to lead them to see Jesus full divine nature. On the other hand, many scholars believe they came to this recognition very quickly.
Either way, they bow before Jesus, like the wise men had in Matthew 2:11. At the very least, this is the appropriate response in front of your king, the Son of God. You bow before his majesty. You “bent the knee” to him.
10. Then Jesus says to them, “Do not be afraid. Depart. Announce to my brothers that they might go away to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
As the angel told them not to fear, Jesus also tells them not to fear. In his glorified body, perhaps his visage is also fearsome. He commissions them to take the good news to the other disciples. The two Marys are “apostles to the disciples.”
Like Mark, Matthew not only implies but will soon narrate the first resurrection appearance as an event that took place in Galilee. Matthew, the second oldest Gospel, does not narrate any resurrection appearances to the disciples in Jerusalem. Ironically, Luke 24 will do the exact opposite. It narrates no appearances in Galilee, only appearances in Jerusalem and Judea.
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