THE STORY OF THE RESURRECTION
Matt. 28:1-10
Morning Meditation 2/3/17
Verse 1-10 says, “In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.”
This is the resurrection story as Matthew tells it. There are differences in the other three gospels concerning the resurrection. They are not contradictory differences but complimentary differences. The Bible is God’s Word and one passage never contradicts another even though because of our limited understanding it may at times seem to. There is always an explanation.
Matthew begins this resurrection chapter by saying, “In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week . . .” The sabbath ended at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. There was no work on the sabbath. This means that they could only walk so far from home on the sabbath. I believe it was a mile. We often run into the phrase in the New Testament, “A sabbath days journey.” So as soon as they could walk to the tomb without breaking the law of the Sabbath, the women made their way to the tomb for the purpose of treating the body of Jesus with spices. This was the normal procedure for what we call embalming. The words “as it began to dawn” translate “epiphosko” and means, “to grow light, to dawn.” This fixes the time of the women’s approach to the tomb on Sunday morning. Jesus resurrection was sometime after 6:00 p.m. on our Saturday and the disciples first learned of it before or about dawn on Sunday. I will limit this meditation to a few points in the story of His resurrection..
THE LORD’S FORETELLING
Matthew 16:21-22 says, “From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.”
The words, “From that time began Jesus to shew unto his disciples . . .” suggest two things. First, there is a particular time in which Jesus began to emphasize that He was going to die, be buried and raised again the third day. Second, it suggests that this was just the first of many times Jesus emphasized to His disciples that he would die and be raised again after three days..
The disciples superimposed their preconceived ideas upon most if not all of what Jesus said. This is a problem that all of us have to deal with. Peter could not receive this teaching at the time. He argued with Jesus about it. Jesus looked at Peter and said, “ . . . Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” Was Jesus talking to Peter when He said this? Was He calling Peter the Devil? Or, was He addressing the invisible presence of Satan who had put these arguments into Peter’s mind? Jesus came to die on the cross for the sins of mankind. He did not come to establish an earthly kingdom. The Old Testament Jewish concept of the Messiah did not allow for the death of the Messiah but a conquering leader who would free Israel from the domination of all foreign powers and establish a world wide kingdom ruled from David’s throne in Jerusalem. When Jesus began to talk about dying, it shot passed them like a bullet. It was only after the fact that they began to remember what He had said about His resurrection. You see His death forced them into taking another look at what He had taught them. These men and women were just like us. Sometime we hold on to our beliefs to the point that just reading it in the Word of God won’t change us. We have to be forced into a situation that will make us take another look at a passage to see if we are understanding it correctly. Jesus foretold His death and resurrection. Next lets look at,
THE WOMEN’S DISCOVERY
First, we see what they came to do. We are told this in Mark 16:1, “ . . . had brought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.” Second, we see what they saw. There was an earthquake accompanied with the appearance of an angel. One of the other gospels says two. Remember this does not contradict but compliments this passage. Their was two but only one is mentioned here. The countenance of the angel is described: “His countenance was like lightening, and his raiment white as snow.” The word “was” is an imperfect tense and means it kept on being that way. The word “lightening” translates “astrape” and means, “lightening or the gleam of a lamp.” This is what happened to Jesus when He was transfigured before the disciples. It is a reflection of God’s glory emanating from the body. That is enough to scare the average citizen our of his skin!
The angel’s message to the women began with the words, “Fear not . . .” We are on holy ground, who wouldn’t be afraid? However, the Lord’s people do not have to be afraid of Him or His messengers. The angel informed them that he knew why they had come. He said, “He is not here: for he is risen, as he said . . .” This is the first resurrection message. God chose an angel to make this announcement to the women and chose the women to announce it to the disciples. The gospel is not complete without this truth. Jesus didn’t just die. That would not have been enough. He was raised again for our justification. Romans 1:4 says, “And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” The resurrection authenticates His death and assures the believer that God accepted the payment of ransom that Jesus made on the cross. Then the angel offered proof by inviting the women to see that Jesus was no longer in the tomb. The angel’s message was “for He is risen, as he said.” The angel reminded them that what was happening was only what Jesus had already told them. It just did not register until now.
Not only do we see the angel’s message but also,
THE LORD’S APPEARANCE
The women departed on their journey with that greatest message that has ever been given. The disciples of Buddha cannot say this. Mohammed is in the grave. No other religion can say this. This is the message of Christianity. He is risen! Our text tells us, “And they departed quickly form the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.” They were quick to obey. They experienced both fear and joy at the same time. You could call this mixed emotions.
As the women made their way to where the disciples were, Jesus met them and said, “All hail.” Just two words. And the effect? “And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.” Have you ever worshipped the Lord? The proud arrogant world sits or stands to do what they call worship. And they order Christ around “by faith” to serve them. If you were to fall on your face in the average church, they would call the doctor. If that didn’t help they would put you out! Yet scenes like this are found throughout the Bible.
Jesus spoke to them as they held His feet and said, “. . . Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.” Now the women have the commission of the angels and the commission of the Lord to tell the disciples of the resurrection. Next we see,
THE UNBELIEF
Mark 16:11 gives us the disciples initial response to the resurrection: “And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.” Now as we look back it is easy to criticize those who were slow to believe. The fact is that they had a problem with walking by faith. I do not believe it is easy to believe without seeing. But it is required. Thomas was one of the doubters and Jesus dealt with him personally about his doubt. After Thomas believed and worshipped the Lord, John 20:29 says, “. . . Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
We like the women of the early church have the task of announcing, “He is not here, He is risen.” To deny His resurrection is to deny the gospel. There is no gospel without the resurrection. Can you imagine the frustration of having the task to informing the disciples that Jesus had risen and they refused to believe? I continue to be frustrated with those who refuse to believe that He is alive and died for their sins. This is lot of the disciples of the Lord. We must continue to tell the story and trust the Lord to back up the message through the conviction of the Holy Spirit. While there are unbelievers and doubters, there are also believers and shouters! I’m in this last group. Amen and amen!
May God bless these words to your hearts.
