The Risen Jesus (2)

[Matthew 28:1-15]

Last Wednesday’s worship service focused on John 20:1-10 under the title “The Risen Jesus (1).” It seems that not a single person actually believed that Jesus Christ had risen. Mary Magdalene did not come to Jesus’ tomb because she believed He had risen. Neither did the apostles Peter and John come to the empty tomb because they believed in Jesus’ resurrection. They did not believe in His resurrection because they remembered the Scripture saying “He must rise from the dead” (v. 9), but rather, they believed when they saw the linen cloths and the face cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head inside the empty tomb (vv. 6-7). No one believed in Jesus’ resurrection based solely on the Scripture (v. 9).

Today, I want to share grace under the title “The Risen Jesus (2),” focusing on Matthew 28:1-15.

Our text for today is 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.” The “Sabbath” (Saturday) had ended, and on the “first day of the week” (Sunday, the Lord’s day), “at dawn” [“at daybreak”] (which, in our time, would be just before sunrise, around 5 a.m.), Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, the mother of James, who did not believe in Jesus’ resurrection, went to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body with spices.

Matthew 28:2-3 says: “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. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.” The “violent earthquake” and the “angel of the Lord” whose appearance was like lightning and whose clothes were white as snow, who rolled back the stone that was blocking Jesus’ tomb and sat on it, were not witnessed directly by Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. The two women arrived after this had happened.

Matthew 28:4-5 says: “The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.’” The “guards” were the soldiers assigned to watch the tomb (27:65-66), and they were so terrified of the angel that they shook and became like dead men (28:4). An interesting point is that although there was a violent earthquake (v. 2) that shook the earth, the guards guarding Jesus’ tomb were also shaken deeply in their hearts, trembling as if the earthquake had affected them internally. According to Pastor Hendrickson’s commentary, the words for the earth shaking and the shaking of a person come from the same root. In Daniel 5:5-6, a similar shaking occurred when King Belshazzar saw fingers writing on the wall opposite the palace lampstand. When the king saw the fingers writing, his face changed, his thigh joints melted, and his knees knocked together in fear. The apostle John also had a similar experience. Revelation 1:17 says, “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.’” Just as John fell down like a dead man at Jesus’ feet and was comforted, those who tried to stop Jesus’ resurrection saw the angel’s actions and became like dead men (Matthew 28:4). At that moment, Mary Magdalene and the mother of James arrived at the tomb (v. 1). The angel said to the two women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified” (v. 5).

Today’s passage is from Matthew 28:6-7: “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 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.’” This is what I have told you.”  According to the angel’s words, Jesus was not in the tomb because He had risen, just as He had said (v. 6). The angel told Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to “come and see the place where He lay,” and when they looked, Jesus’ body was not there. So the two women, hearing the angel’s message, left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, running to tell Jesus’ disciples (v. 8).  Matthew 28:9-10 says: “Suddenly Jesus met them. ‘Greetings,’ he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’”  As Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were running to tell the disciples about Jesus’ resurrection, the risen Jesus appeared to them, showed them His resurrected body, and said, “Do not be afraid…” (v. 10).  Interestingly, the angel told the two women “Do not be afraid” (v. 5), and Jesus also told the same to the two women (v. 10).  Matthew 28:11-15 says: “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. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, ‘You are to say, “His disciples came during the night and stole him while we were asleep.” If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.’ 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.”  While Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were running to tell the disciples about Jesus’ resurrection, some of the guards (not all had fled or scattered) went into the city and reported “everything that had happened” to the chief priests (v. 11). This included that Jesus had risen, that they could no longer guard the tomb, and that an angel had appeared. The chief priests met with the elders, gave the soldiers a large bribe (v. 12), and instructed them to spread the rumor to the Roman governor Pilate that the disciples came during the night and stole Jesus’ body while the guards were asleep (v. 13). The chief priests knew that if Pilate heard the body was missing, the guards would be punished for failing to protect the tomb, so they promised to protect them (v. 14). As a result, the Roman soldier guards accepted the money and spread the story that the disciples stole the body at night, and this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this day (v. 15).  Even some theologians who deny Jesus’ resurrection claim that the disciples stole His body.

Do we truly believe that Jesus has risen? We must live with the faith and assurance that we believe in Jesus’ resurrection and that we too will be resurrected.  In today’s passage, Matthew 28:7, it says that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary quickly went to Jesus’ disciples to tell them that Jesus had risen “from among the dead,” according to the Korean Bible. However, in the Chinese Bible, it says that Jesus rose “from death.” While the expressions “from among the dead” and “from death” seem similar, there is actually a subtle difference.  The difference is that the translation “rose from death” only testifies to Jesus’ resurrection, whereas the translation “rose from among the dead” refers not only to Jesus’ resurrection but also to the resurrection of the dead in Him.  1 Corinthians 15:20 says: “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”  This verse indicates that those who have “fallen asleep” (the dead) will also be resurrected in Christ. Because Jesus Christ is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, we too will follow Him and the dead in the Lord will be resurrected.  1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 says: “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”  When God returns in glory with Jesus Christ, those who have died in Christ will be resurrected and live forever with the Lord.  Therefore, we must be confident that because Jesus was resurrected, we too will be resurrected; and with the hope of the resurrection, we should never forget that we will always be with the Lord.  So, if the Lord’s good, pleasing, and perfect will is that a beloved brother or sister has been called and has “fallen asleep” in the Lord, we should not fear their death. Instead, we should send them off with faith in the resurrection, and look forward eagerly with hope in the resurrection to be reunited in heaven to live together forever.