“Now after the
Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the
other Mary went to see the tomb. And
behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from
heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his
clothing white as snow. And for fear of
him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be
afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus Who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He
said. ‘Come, see the place where He lay.’ Then go quickly and tell His disciples that
He has risen from the dead, and behold, He is going before you to Galilee;
there you will see Him. See, I have told
you. So they departed quickly from the
tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said,
‘Greetings!” and they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid;
go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.’” –Matthew 28:1-10 (ESV).
It was not yet good light; the dawn was
just breaking and shadows of darkness played about the garden tomb. Sorrow and fear walked with the two women,
Mary Magdalene ‘and the other Mary,’ female disciples of Jesus, last at the
tomb on Friday, first at the tomb on Sunday.
They were afraid. I would have
been too, going early before good day, and then being shaken by a reverberating
earthquake! How strange to be greeted by
such shaking and clattering of the earth.
And fear overtook them again, for seated there upon the great gravestone
was an extraterrestrial being whose garments glowed in the half-light like
lightning. Even the strong, burly Roman
guards lay on the ground, out cold, like dead men!
But when the angel spoke, for by now
the women realized the person meant them only good and not harm, they listened,
for his message reechoed what Jesus Himself had told them before He died: “Fear
not!...He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. ‘Come, see the place where He lay.’” And with that I can imagine that the
angel stepped aside, inviting Mary Magdalene and Mary to step up to the tomb
and look in.
Matthew does not give these details,
but accounts of the resurrection in other gospels tell us that the grave
clothes lay there on the rock ledge where the body had been—as though the
corpse of Jesus, now alive, had just escaped from them and left the clothes
lying in the tomb. And folded, the
napkin, or handkerchief, that had covered Jesus’ face was placed neatly to the
side. With all the excitement of the
angel’s message, the women would not have had time to give more than a cursory
glance into the tomb. But later, they
would remember an important aspect of the neatly-folded napkin: It lay folded in readiness, a sign that the
Master would be back again; He had not gone far away.
Listen, Mary Magdalene and Mary, the angel has
directions for you, an important errand for you to run: “”Go quickly and tell His disciples He has risen from the dead! Tell
them to go to Galilee; there He will meet them!” What joy, what
delight! The Marys did not need their
urns of burial ointment and spices they had so lovingly brought to embalm the
body. No dead body was there to receive
the embalming.
They left the garden grave, excited and
exulting that they had such a message to give to the disciples! And as they rushed through the garden,
behold, Jesus Himself met them and said, “Greetings!” There was no mistaking that voice! No one ever spoke like Jesus speaks. They fell to His feet, worshiping Him! But
He, like the angel, had a message for them to bear, “Go! Tell My disciples that I am
alive. I will meet them in Galilee! Do not be afraid!”
Each of the Gospel accounts of the
Resurrection is slightly different. We
are not to wonder at the different approaches four different writers took to
recount this most marvelous of occasions—Jesus rising from the dead! It is a major truth of the gospel story, the
Word, the Lord, alive and victorious, as He had said. For my edification and
amazement, I am reading each account today, allowing the Holy Spirit to teach
me all facets and views of the great truths of the resurrection as recorded in
Matthew 28:1-10: in Mark 16:1-11; in
Luke 24:1-12; and in John 20:1-18. I pray that you, dear reader, will take the
time to do the same. Because Christ is
victorious over death, we, too, know assuredly that death is not the end. The soul will be quickened to new life. “O
grave, where is thy victory? O death,
where is they sting?” (I Corinthians 15:55, KJV).
Matthew has Mary Magdalene and the
other Mary meeting the angel and being greeted by the living Lord. Mark records three women, Mary Magdalene,
Mary the mother of James, and Salome bringing spices and hearing the news from
‘a young man dressed in a white robe.” Mark
later records His appearance to Mary Magdalene.
In Luke’s account, they (meaning the women mentioned being last at the
tomb on Friday) came with prepared spices to find the stone rolled away and a
man in dazzling apparel giving them the news of the risen Christ. Luke identifies these women as Mary
Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and “the other women” (Luke 24:10).
But when the women told the disciples, they didn’t believe. Peter himself went and saw the grave clothes
as the women had said. He had to see for
himself. Then he marveled at what had happened.
In John’s account, Mary Magdalene went first, saw the tomb empty, and
ran to tell Peter and ‘the other
disciple’ (John). They rushed to the
tomb, saw the grave clothes, the napkin folded neatly, and John “saw and believed” (v. 8). Peter and John returned to their homes, but
Mary remained in the garden, and Christ appeared to her, calling her by name
and asking her to go and tell His disciples that He was alive.
So many poems, songs and hymns, essays
and books have been written about the resurrection. Myriad are the accounts of Jesus conquering
death, not only that of the gospel writers, but many throughout the ages since.
On Easter around the world Christians celebrate anew the glory of the cross
where Jesus died and the majesty of the empty tomb where Jesus shed the bonds
of death and rose victoriously. Millions
of voices on Easter proclaim the words of the gospel hymn written by Alfred H.
Ackley (1887-1960):
“I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the
world today;
I know that He is living, whatever men
may say;
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His
voice of cheer,
And just the time I need Him, He’s
always near.
He lives! He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me
along life’s narrow way;
He lives! He lives!
Salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives:
He lives within my heart!”
-Ethelene
Dyer Jones 04.20.2014
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