Jesus Has Risen
28 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.”
The Guards’ Report
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.
The Great Commission
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.”
THE LESSON OF MATTHEW 24
In Matthew 24 1Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his
disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see
all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left
on another; everyone will be thrown down.”
The Disciples clearly was alarmed at what Jesus said because at that
time he was TALKING OF THE BUILDINGS IN JERUSALEM. That is why on the next
verses of Matthew, he recalled that when Jesus and the Disciples reached the
Mount of Olives they gathered around him and asked three question?
3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him
privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the
sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
Note that the disciples did not only ask question about when the
destruction of Jerusalem would happen but that they also asked two more
questions one of which shows that the Disciples already understand at that
point that one day Jesus will leave them and that he will return again. So
regarding his return and end of age, they asked him about the signs of his
coming and the end of age.
Matthew 16
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he
must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the
chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on
the third day be raised to life.
27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his
angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
28 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before
they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Matthew 23:37-39 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and
stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children
together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not
willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you
will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of
the Lord.’[c]”
NOTES:
28:1–20 Except for Mt 28:1–8 based on Mk 16:1–8, the
material of this final chapter is peculiar to Matthew. Even where he follows
Mark, Matthew has altered his source so greatly that a very different
impression is given from that of the Marcan account. The two points that are
common to the resurrection testimony of all the gospels are that the tomb of
Jesus had been found empty and that the risen Jesus had appeared to certain
persons, or, in the original form of Mark, that such an appearance was promised
as soon to take place (see Mk 16:7). On this central and all-important basis,
Matthew has constructed an account that interprets the resurrection as the
turning of the ages (Mt 28:2–4), shows the Jewish opposition to Jesus as
continuing to the present in the claim that the resurrection is a deception
perpetrated by the disciples who stole his body from the tomb (Mt 28:11–15),
and marks a new stage in the mission of the disciples once limited to Israel
(Mt 10:5–6); now they are to make disciples of all nations. In this work they
will be strengthened by the presence of the exalted Son of Man, who will be
with them until the kingdom comes in fullness at the end of the age (Mt
28:16–20).
28:1 After the sabbath…dawning: since the sabbath ended at
sunset, this could mean in the early evening, for dawning can refer to the
appearance of the evening star; cf. Lk 23:54. However, it is probable that
Matthew means the morning dawn of the day after the sabbath, as in the similar
though slightly different text of Mark, “when the sun had risen” (Mk 16:2).
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary: see notes on Mt 27:55–56; 57–61. To see the
tomb: cf. Mk 16:1–2 where the purpose of the women’s visit is to anoint Jesus’
body.
28:2–4 Peculiar to Matthew. A great earthquake: see note on
Mt 27:51–53. Descended from heaven: this trait is peculiar to Matthew, although
his interpretation of the “young man” of his Marcan source (Mk 16:5) as an
angel is probably true to Mark’s intention; cf. Lk 24:23 where the “two men” of
Mt 24:4 are said to be “angels.” Rolled back the stone…upon it: not to allow
the risen Jesus to leave the tomb but to make evident that the tomb is empty
(see Mt 24:6). Unlike the apocryphal Gospel of Peter (9:35—11:44), the New
Testament does not describe the resurrection of Jesus, nor is there anyone who
sees it. His appearance was like lightning…snow: see note on Mt 17:2.
28:6–7 Cf. Mk 16:6–7. Just as he said: a Matthean addition
referring to Jesus’ predictions of his resurrection, e.g., Mt 16:21; 17:23;
20:19. Tell his disciples: like the angel of the Lord of the infancy narrative,
the angel interprets a fact and gives a commandment about what is to be done;
cf. Mt 1:20–21. Matthew omits Mark’s “and Peter” (Mk 16:7); considering his
interest in Peter, this omission is curious. Perhaps the reason is that the
Marcan text may allude to a first appearance of Jesus to Peter alone (cf. 1 Cor
15:5; Lk 24:34) which Matthew has already incorporated into his account of
Peter’s confession at Caesarea Philippi; see note on Mt 16:16. He is
going…Galilee: like Mk 16:7, a reference to Jesus’ prediction at the Last
Supper (Mt 26:32; Mk 14:28). Matthew changes Mark’s “as he told you” to a
declaration of the angel.
28:8 Contrast Mk 16:8 where the women in their fear “said
nothing to anyone.”
28:9–10 Although these verses are peculiar to Matthew, there
are similarities between them and John’s account of the appearance of Jesus to
Mary Magdalene (Jn 20:17). In both there is a touching of Jesus’ body, and a
command of Jesus to bear a message to his disciples, designated as his
brothers. Matthew may have drawn upon a tradition that appears in a different
form in John. Jesus’ words to the women are mainly a repetition of those of the
angel (Mt 28:5a, 7b).
28:11–15 This account indicates that the dispute between
Christians and Jews about the empty tomb was not whether the tomb was empty but
why.
28:16–20 This climactic scene has been called a “proleptic
parousia,” for it gives a foretaste of the final glorious coming of the Son of
Man (Mt 26:64). Then his triumph will be manifest to all; now it is revealed
only to the disciples, who are commissioned to announce it to all nations and
bring them to belief in Jesus and obedience to his commandments.
28:16 The eleven: the number recalls the tragic defection of
Judas Iscariot. To the mountain…ordered them: since the message to the
disciples was simply that they were to go to Galilee (Mt 28:10), some think
that the mountain comes from a tradition of the message known to Matthew and
alluded to here. For the significance of the mountain, see note on Mt 17:1.
28:17 But they doubted: the Greek can also be translated,
“but some doubted.” The verb occurs elsewhere in the New Testament only in Mt
14:31 where it is associated with Peter’s being of “little faith.” For the
meaning of that designation, see note on Mt 6:30.
28:18 All power…me: the Greek word here translated power is
the same as that found in the LXX translation of Dn 7:13–14 where one “like a
son of man” is given power and an everlasting kingdom by God. The risen Jesus
here claims universal power, i.e., in heaven and on earth.
28:19 Therefore: since universal power belongs to the risen
Jesus (Mt 28:18), he gives the eleven a mission that is universal. They are to
make disciples of all nations. While all nations is understood by some scholars
as referring only to all Gentiles, it is probable that it included the Jews as
well. Baptizing them: baptism is the means of entrance into the community of
the risen one, the Church. In the name of the Father…holy Spirit: this is
perhaps the clearest expression in the New Testament of trinitarian belief. It
may have been the baptismal formula of Matthew’s church, but primarily it designates
the effect of baptism, the union of the one baptized with the Father, Son, and
holy Spirit.
28:20 All that I have commanded you: the moral teaching
found in this gospel, preeminently that of the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5–7).
The commandments of Jesus are the standard of Christian conduct, not the Mosaic
law as such, even though some of the Mosaic commandments have now been invested
with the authority of Jesus. Behold, I am with you always: the promise of
Jesus’ real though invisible presence echoes the name Emmanuel given to him in
the infancy narrative; see note on Mt 1:23. End of the age: see notes on Mt
13:39 and Mt 24:3.
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