Mat 28:1-8 | PNT | STEP | The Resurrection SUMMARY OF MATTHEW 28: The Women at the Sepulcher. The Message of the Angel. The Risen Lord. The Report of the Guard. The Charge of the Priests. Christ Appears to the Eleven. The Meeting in Galilee. The Great Commission. In the end of the sabbath . After the Sabbath in which Jesus had lain in the tomb. As it began to dawn . All the gospels mark the precious moment when the great news first became known. Mark says they arrived at sunrise ( ). Compare . The first [day] of the week . The Lord's day, or Sunday. Came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary . Mary, the mother of James and Joses ( ). Also Salome ( ). Late on Friday evening they had watched the sepulcher ( ). Now, after the Sabbath, they came with spices in the hope that they could anoint the body ( ). These disciples would not break the Sabbath, even to preserve the body of their beloved Lord. The Sabbath ended at sunset, so that Jesus had been dead and buried Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday morning, beginning at the previous sunset, three days according to Jewish reckoning. See .

Matthew 28:1-8

The Resurrection SUMMARY OF MATTHEW 28: The Women at the Sepulcher. The Message of the Angel. The Risen Lord. The Report of the Guard. The Charge of the Priests. Christ Appears to the Eleven. The Meeting in Galilee. The Great Commission.

In the end of the sabbath. After the Sabbath in which Jesus had lain in the tomb.

As it began to dawn. All the gospels mark the precious moment when the great news first became known. Mark says they arrived at sunrise (Mr 16:2). Compare Mr 16:1-8 Lu 24:1-11 Joh 20:1-21 1Co 15:1-20.

The first [day] of the week. The Lord's day, or Sunday.

Came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. Mary, the mother of James and Joses (Mr 15:47). Also Salome (Mr 16:1). Late on Friday evening they had watched the sepulcher (Mt 27:56). Now, after the Sabbath, they came with spices in the hope that they could anoint the body (Mr 16:1). These disciples would not break the Sabbath, even to preserve the body of their beloved Lord. The Sabbath ended at sunset, so that Jesus had been dead and buried Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday morning, beginning at the previous sunset, three days according to Jewish reckoning. See 1Sa 30:12-13 2Ch 10:5,12. Behold, there was a great earthquake. The Greek word "seismos", rendered "earthquake", is rendered "tempest" in Mt 8:24. It means a "commotion". It is not needful to decide that there was more than a local disturbance.

For the angel of the Lord descended. An angel. There is no article. All the gospels speak of the angelic appearance at the tomb, though some give details omitted by others.

Rolled back the stone. The commotion, or earthquake, accompanied the rolling back of the stone. Alford says: ``It was not for him to whom (Joh 20:19,20) the stone was no hindrance, but for the women and disciples that it was rolled away.'' His countenance was like lightning. Was bright like lightning. Compare Ex 34:29 Mt 17:2 Re 1:14.

And his raiment white as snow. White is the emblem of purity. So was the Savior's raiment at the Transfiguration, and the robes of the saints as described in Revelation. The keepers. The Roman soldiers placed to guard the tomb with Pilate's consent (Mt 27:65,66). Ye seek Jesus, who was crucified. The angel does not forget that Jesus is the crucified one, nor do the redeemed in heaven (Re 5:6 Re 7:9). He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. The women had not seen him rise and had to be informed. They therefore came to the sepulcher after the resurrection. Christ had risen "as he said". For the prophecies of a resurrection see Mt 16:21 Lu 24:6.

See the place where the Lord lay. The angel does not say "your", but "the" Lord--the Lord of the angels as well as men. Tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead. To woman it was first announced that the birth of the child whose name should be Jesus, "because he should save his people from their sins" (Mt 1:21) was near; women were the last of his disciples to linger at the cross or to watch at the sepulcher; they were the first to see the empty tomb, to hear the glad news, or to be sent to tell the story of their risen Lord.

He goeth before you into Galilee. They are cited to Galilee to meet the Lord, not that his only appearance would be there, for that was the seventh, but because, in that country, where the largest number of his disciples lived, he proposed to reveal himself to the whole body of saints. There he was seen "by about five hundred brethren at once" (1Co 15:6).