“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).
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. Even this had
significance. Scholars tell us that if a napkin were folded instead
of being “wadded” up, it indicated that the person would be back
again. This did not mean for Jesus to come back into the tomb and to
death, but to the earth again! 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 spake 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 the central 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 accounts 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, that the soul is
quickened to new life. “O
grave, where is thy victory? O death, where is they sting?” (I
Corinthians 15:55, KJV).
Matthew
records 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.
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 victorious. 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 04.05.2015
