24
The Resurrection of Christ
(28:1–10)
Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the
first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look
at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an
angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the
stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his
garment as white as snow; and the guards shook for fear of him, and
became like dead men. And the angel answered and said to the women,
“Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who
has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He
said. Come, see the place where He was lying. And go quickly and tell
His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is
going before you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have
told you.” And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and
great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. And behold, Jesus
met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet
and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go
and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they
shall see Me.” (28:1–10)
Like every piece of good literature, Matthew’s gospel
is not a random collection of facts or ideas or stories but has a
specific plan and purpose. Chapter 28 is not simply a closing group
of anecdotes about the life of Christ but is the powerful climax of
everything else he has written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The central event of that climax, the resurrection of
Jesus Christ, is also the central event of God’s redemptive
history. The resurrection is the cornerstone of the Christian faith,
and everything that we are and have and hope to be is predicated on
its reality. There would be no Christianity if there were no
resurrection.
The message of Scripture has always been a message of
resurrection hope, a message that death is not the end for those who
belong to God. For the believer, death has never been an end but
rather a doorway that leads to eternity with God. Abraham willingly
obeyed God’s command to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, because, in
faith, “he considered that God is able to raise men even from the
dead” (Heb. 11:19). The psalmists declared, “God will redeem my
soul from the power of Sheol; for He will receive me” (Ps. 49:15)
and that “with Thy counsel Thou wilt guide me, and afterward
receive me to glory” (Ps. 73:24). Isaiah proclaimed, “Your dead
will live; their corpses will rise” (Isa. 26:19). Through Daniel
the Lord assures His people that, although they die, one day they
“will awake … to everlasting life” (Dan. 12:2). Hosea assures
believers that the Lord will raise up all believers to live before
Him (Hos. 6:2). Job asked rhetorically, “If a man dies, will he
live again?” and then declared, “All the days of my struggle I
will wait, until my change comes” (Job 14:14). That ancient man of
God even foresaw the reality of resurrection, proclaiming to his
three friends, Bildad in particular: “I know that my Redeemer
lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even
after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God” (Job
19:25–26).
Such has been the promised hope of God’s people
throughout history, a hope predicated on the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. It is His resurrection that guarantees ours. “Now Christ
has been raised from the dead,” Paul declares, “the first fruits
of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also
came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in
Christ all shall be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:20–22).
It is also tragically true, however, that throughout
history many have denied, despised, and mocked the truth of
resurrection, especially Christ’s. But only a fool tries to explain
away resurrection, because the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
are man’s only hope of salvation and eternal life.
An early Protestant missionary to the Ryukyu Islands in
the western Pacific discovered a strange mass grave. The grave marker
revealed that more than 11,000 heads taken from bodies of Christians
were buried there. On further investigation he learned that in 1637
the Japanese government, which then controlled the Ryukyus, ordered
all Christians in the empire exterminated. Because they knew
Christians believed in the resurrection, the heads of martyred
believers were buried a great distance from the bodies, in the belief
that their resurrection would thereby be prevented.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the single greatest
event in the history of the world. It is so foundational to
Christianity that no one who denies it can be a true Christian.
Without resurrection there is no Christian faith, no salvation, and
no hope. “If there is no resurrection of the dead,” Paul
explains, “not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not
been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain”
(1 Cor. 15:13–14). A person who believes in a Christ who was not
raised believes in a powerless Christ, a dead Christ. If Christ did
not rise from the dead, then no redemption was accomplished at the
cross and “your faith is worthless,” Paul goes on to say; “you
are still in your sins” (v. 17).
It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the first
sermon on the day the church was born focused on the resurrection of
Christ. After charging his hearers with Jesus’ death, Peter
declared, “And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony
of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power”
(Acts 2:23–24). Peter continued to preach the resurrection to his
fellow Jews (Acts 4:10) as well as to Gentiles (10:40).
Paul preached the resurrection continually. In the
synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia he declared that “God raised
[Jesus] from the dead” and “He whom God raised did not undergo
decay” (Acts 13:30, 37). He proclaimed the resurrection before the
Sanhedrin in Jerusalem (23:6), before the governor, Felix (24:15,
21), and before King Agrippa (26:8). The resurrection is a central
and strongly emphasized theme of Paul’s epistles. He declared that
Christ “was buried, and that He was raised on the third day
according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:4), that “He who raised
the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with
you” (2 Cor. 4:14; cf. Gal. 1:1), and that the Father “raised Him
from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly
places” (Eph. 1:20; Col. 2:12). Paul longed to know Christ “and
the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings”
(Phil. 3:10).
Peter spoke of our “living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance
which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved
in heaven” (1 Pet. 1:3–4). In his vision on Patmos, John beheld
the Lord Jesus Christ, who declared, “I am the first and the last,
and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive
forevermore” (Rev. 1:17–18).
The foundation of all our hope is expressed in Jesus’
own words: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in
Me shall live even if he dies” (John 11:25), and, “Because I
live, you shall live also” (14:19).
Even the most irreligious person who knows anything
about Christian history and doctrine knows that Christians believe
Jesus Christ rose from the dead. But the unbelieving world has many
reactions to that belief, most of them negative and all of them
wrong.
One of the most common modern reactions is that of
rationalism, which rejects the idea of resurrection and all other
supernatural elements of Scripture because such things cannot be
explained by scientific observation and human reason. This humanistic
philosophy considers man’s mind to be the ultimate reality, and
only that which his own mind can perceive and comprehend is
recognized as true or significant.
Many people are simply indifferent to the resurrection,
not caring whether it is true or not. Religion in general, and
Christianity in particular, are of no concern to them. Other people
do not believe in resurrection because of ignorance about its nature
and meaning. They may never have heard of such a thing or never have
heard it explained accurately and clearly.
Some people are intentionally hostile. They do not
reject the resurrection because it seems unprovable to human reason
or because they have honest doubt or lack proof. They denounce it
simply because they hate the things of God. Some people even seem to
consider it their role in life and history to try to discredit the
resurrection.
The gospel writers, however, and every other leader in
the early church realized that their supreme role in life and history
was to proclaim the reality of the resurrection and the many other
truths about Jesus Christ. Although the disciples, and most of Jesus’
other followers, were slow to believe their Lord actually rose from
the dead, they soon became so overwhelmed by its reality that they
could think or talk of little else.
Although they reveal the same divine truths in perfect
harmony with one another, each of the gospel writers presents the
resurrection from a distinctive perspective. Matthew does not
approach the resurrection from a scholarly, historical, analytical,
or evidential perspective but focuses rather on the emotional
reaction of a group of women who loved Jesus deeply.
Compassion
Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the
first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look
at the grave. (28:1)
After the Sabbath translates an unusual
construction in the Greek, opse de sabbatōn. The phrase could
also be rendered, “well after the Sabbath,” indicating that a
considerable amount of time had elapsed since the Sabbath ended. The
actual time was from sundown the previous evening, when the
Sabbath had ended, until it began to dawn the following
day, which was Sunday, the first day of the week, totaling
perhaps ten hours. John states specifically that when the women came
“it was still dark” (20:1).
The first day of the week also translates an
interesting Greek phrase, which literally means, “day one with
reference to the Sabbath.” The Jews did not have names for days of
the week, such as Monday, Tuesday, and so on, but simply numbered
them in relation to the Sabbath. Sabbath means “seventh,”
and, although it was at the end of the week, because it was the
central and holy day, all other days were reckoned by it-as the
first, second, third, and so forth, day after the Sabbath.
As explained in the previous chapter of this volume,
because Jews considered reference to “a day” as meaning any part
of that day, Sunday was the third day of Jesus’ interment, the day
which He had repeatedly predicted would be the day of His
resurrection (see Matt. 16:21; 17:23; 27:64; Mark 10:34; Luke 18:33).
The phrase “after the Sabbath” could also refer
figuratively to the new day of rest for God’s people. As a
commemoration of God’s resting after creation, the Sabbath was to
be a day of rest and worship for Israel (Ex. 20:8–11). But the day
before Jesus arose from the grave was the last divinely ordained
Sabbath for His people, because on the following day the New Covenant
in Jesus Christ was ushered in. That Sunday was the dawning not only
of a new day but of a new era in redemptive history.
It is because of the resurrection that Christians
worship on Sunday rather than on the Sabbath.
At that predawn hour on Sunday morning Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary came to look at the grave. Although they had
witnessed Joseph’s and Nicodemus’s wrapping Jesus’ body in the
linen cloths and spices (Matt. 27:61), the women had secured and
prepared their own spices (probably a small amount in comparison to
that brought by Nicodemus) with which they would personally anoint
the Lord (Luke 24:1). Although Salome, the mother of James and John
and the wife of Zebedee (Mark 16:1; cf. Matt. 27:56), and Joanna
(Luke 24:10) were also there, Matthew focuses only on the two Marys.
The other Mary was the mother of James and Joseph
and the wife of Clopas (see Matt. 27:56; John 19:25). The women
obviously thought Jesus would still be in the grave and would remain
there, or else they would not have brought the anointing spices. They
had not come to see Jesus risen but to look at the grave where
they expected His body to still be lying. They had been among the
women who ministered to Jesus in Galilee and who had stood with Him
at the cross (Matt. 27:55–56). Now they came to the garden hoping
that somehow the great stone could be removed so they could minister
to Him one last time (Mark 16:3). But despite their lack of faith in
Jesus’ promises to rise on the third day, they came to the tomb out
of deep affection for their Lord.
Jewish tradition wrongly held that the spirit of a dead
person left the body four days after death because by that time the
body had become so disfigured by decay that the spirit could no
longer recognize it. That tradition may be reflected in Martha’s
comment to Jesus about her brother, Lazarus: “Lord, by this time
there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days” (John
11:39). Perhaps the two Marys and the other women came to Jesus’
grave with the intent of anointing His body one more time before His
spirit departed from it.
The women did not have confidence in Jesus’
resurrection, but they had great love and great devotion for Him.
What they lacked in faith they compensated for in loving compassion,
and what they lacked in understanding they made up for in courageous
devotion.
Terror
And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an
angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the
stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his
garment as white as snow; and the guards shook for fear of him, and
became like dead men. And the angel answered and said to the women,
“Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who
has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He
said. Come, see the place where He was lying. And go quickly and tell
His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is
going before you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have
told you.” (28:2–7)
No sooner had the women reached the tomb than they found
the stone had been moved aside by a severe earthquake. This
was the second supernaturally caused earthquake in connection with
Jesus’ death and burial, the first one having occurred at the
moment of His death (Matt. 27:51).
God caused an earthquake on Mount Sinai just before He
revealed the law to Moses (Ex. 19:18) and on Mount Horeb when He
revealed Himself to Elijah (1 Kings 19:11). In the end times He will
also send numerous earthquakes (Joel 2:10; Matt. 24:7; Rev. 6:12;
8:5; 11:13–19). Now, within three days, He caused two earthquakes
just outside Jerusalem.
This earthquake had occurred when an angel of
the Lord descended from heaven, causing the earth around the
grave to tremble violently. The angel had come to open the secured
and sealed grave, and when he arrived he rolled away the stone and
sat upon it. Although it had probably taken several strong men
some time to put the stone in place, the angel removed it in an
instant.
The angel did not move the stone in order to let Jesus
out of the tomb, as many Easter stories and paintings suggest. If
Jesus had the power to raise Himself from the dead, which He did
(John 10:18), He certainly had the relatively minor power required to
escape a sealed grave. As He demonstrated during several
postresurrection appearances, just as He was no longer bound by
death, He was no longer bound by the limitations of the physical
world or of time (see Luke 24:31; John 20:26). In His glorified form
He could escape a closed grave just as easily as He could enter a
closed room. In comparing the gospel accounts, it becomes clear that
Jesus had already left the tomb when the stone was rolled away. The
angel moved the stone not to let Jesus out but to let the women and
the apostles in.
From John’s gospel it seems that Mary Magdalene
apparently left the garden as soon as she “saw the stone already
taken away from the tomb” (20:1). Before the angel appeared, “she
ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus
loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken away the Lord out of the
tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him’ ” (v. 2).
Obviously she had missed the angel’s announcement of Jesus’
resurrection. She was so overwrought at discovering the tomb empty
that she ran frantically to the two most prominent disciples, Peter
and John, to tell them what she thought was terrible news. It did not
occur to her that Jesus might be risen as He had predicted, and she
assumed that someone had stolen the body and hidden it. It is obvious
that Peter and John did not consider the possibility of resurrection
either, and they immediately ran to the tomb to find out what they
could (John 20:3–4).
Meanwhile the angel had manifested himself to those who
were near the tomb, and his appearance was like lightning. The
description suggests that God transmitted some of His own Shekinah
glory to the angel, just as He had transmitted a measure of it to
Moses on Sinai when the covenant was renewed (Ex. 34:29). In a
similar way, the angel’s glistening garment that was as
white as snow suggests God’s purity and holiness. The angel
bore the very imprimatur of the character of God in order to make
clear to the observers not only that he was a supernatural messenger
but that he was an agent of God and not Satan.
The guards were so awestruck that at first they
shook for fear of him. Shook translates a Greek term that has
the same root as “earthquake” in verse 2, indicating that the
soldiers experienced personal earthquakes of both mind and body. But
after a brief moment of shaking, they then became like dead men,
paralyzed with fear. The idea seems to be that they not only became
rigid but unconscious, completely traumatized by what they saw.
The women were also frightened, but, unlike the
soldiers, they received comfort from God’s messenger. Aware of
their fright, the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not
be afraid.” Perhaps a better translation than answered
would be “explained,” because the women, too terrified to
speak, had not asked a question.
The soldiers had good reason to be afraid. Not only was
the angel’s appearance terrifying in itself but, because they had
been charged with protecting the grave, an empty tomb could spell
their death. The women, however, had no reason to fear, and the
angel’s first words were meant to give them comfort and assurance.
They had not come expecting to find Jesus raised, but in
His gracious mercy God overlooked their weak faith and their lack of
understanding. Acknowledging their great love, God responded with
great love. “I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been
crucified,” the angel said to them; “He is not here, for
He has risen, just as He said.”
Has risen translates a Greek aorist passive and
can also be rendered, “has been raised.” Jesus Himself had power
to give up His life and to take it up again (John 10:18). But
Scripture makes clear that He also was raised by the power of the
Father (Rom. 6:4; Gal. 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:3) and of the Holy Spirit (Rom.
8:11). The entire Trinity participated in the resurrection of Jesus.
The angel gently reminded the women that Jesus’
resurrection should not surprise them, because it happened just as
He said. Luke reports that they then “remembered His words”
(24:8).
Next the angel invited the women to come, see the
place where He was lying. At this point the women went into the
tomb and observed that it was indeed empty. The angel joined them in
the tomb and reiterated the same basic message, saying, “Do not be
amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been
crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place
where they laid Him” (Mark 16:6). Perhaps the message was repeated
because the women found it so hard to believe, despite the fact that
they now remembered Jesus’ predictions that He would rise on the
third day.
When Peter and John entered the tomb a short while
later, they “beheld the linen wrappings lying there, and the
face-cloth, which had been on His head, not lying with the linen
wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself” (John 20:6–7). The
burial clothes were just as they were when Joseph and Nicodemus laid
the body to rest, except for the face-cloth, which was set to one
side. Jesus did not have to be unwrapped any more than He had to have
the stone removed. At one moment He was encased in the linen, and the
next He was free, leaving the wrappings unchanged.
While the women were in the tomb, another angel joined
the first, “one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of
Jesus had been lying” (John 20:12). Their positions are reminiscent
of the two golden cherubim who were on either side of the Mercy Seat
on the Ark of the Covenant (Ex. 25:18). The two angels in the garden
were posted at either end of the tomb of Jesus, who, by the sacrifice
He had just made of His own life, became the true and eternal Mercy
Seat for sinful mankind.
The two angels gave still another reminder to the women.
“Why do you seek the living One among the dead?” they asked. “He
is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He
was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered
into the hands of the sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day
rise again” (Luke 24:5–7). For a third time the women were told
the glorious truth of Jesus’ resurrection, a truth whose
fulfillment they should have been eagerly expecting.
One of the angels then said, “Go quickly and tell
His disciples that He has risen from the dead.” The women’s
fascination must quickly turn to proclamation. They did not have time
to revel in the marvelous reality of the good news but were to go
immediately and announce it to the cowering disciples, who were still
hiding in Jerusalem.
It would seem more than justified for the Lord to have
allowed the disciples to suffer in fear, despair, and agony for a
week or so before telling them the good news. They had stubbornly
refused to believe that Jesus would die and be raised, although He
had told them of His death and resurrection many times. But in His
gracious mercy God sent the women to tell the disciples as soon as
possible, so they would not have to experience another moment of
misery and grief. He did not rebuke them for their lack of faith and
for their cowardice but rather sent them messengers with a gracious
word of hope and comfort.
One wonders why God chose to reveal the truth of the
resurrection first to those women rather than to the disciples. One
commentator suggests that it was because God chooses the weak to
confound the strong. Another suggests the women were rewarded for
their faithful service to the Lord in Galilee. Another holds that,
because death came by a woman in a garden, so new life was first
announced to a woman in a garden. Others propose that it was because
the deepest sorrow deserves the deepest joy or that supreme love
deserves supreme privilege.
But Scripture offers no such explanations. It seems
obvious that the women were the first to hear the angelic
announcement of the resurrection simply because they were there. Had
the disciples been there, they, too, would have heard the good news
directly from the angel rather than indirectly from the women.
This is analogous to the reality that the closer a
believer stays to the Lord and to His work, the more he is going to
witness and experience the Lord’s power. Those who are there when
the Lord’s people gather for worship and prayer, who are there when
His Word is being taught, who are there when the lost are being won
to Christ, who are there when others are being served in His name,
who are regular in their times of private prayer-those are the ones
who will most often experience first-hand the work of God.
The angel’s further instruction to the women was to
tell Jesus’ disciples that “He is going before you into
Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”
Earlier in the week Jesus had told the eleven remaining disciples,
“After I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee”
(Matt. 26:32). Being both Jewish and Gentile, Galilee represented the
world at large. It was there that Jesus began His ministry, in
“Galilee of the Gentiles,” where “the people who were sitting
in darkness saw a great light” (Matt. 4:15–16). It would also be
in Galilee that the disciples would receive the Great Commission from
the Lord to “go therefore and make disciples of all the nations”
(Matt. 28:19).
It was not that Jesus would first appear to the
disciples in Galilee, because He manifested Himself to them several
times before that. He appeared to Peter (Luke 24:34), to the two
disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:15; cf. Mark 16:12), to ten
of the disciples as they were assembled on resurrection evening (John
20:19), to all eleven disciples eight days later (John 20:26), and to
seven of the disciples as they were fishing in the Sea of Galilee
(John 21:1).
But Jesus’ supreme appearance to the disciples was to
be in Galilee, where He “appeared to more than five hundred
brethren at one time” (1 Cor. 15:6) and where He would commission
the eleven to apostolic ministry.
Joy
And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and
great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. (28:8)
Obediently responding to the angel’s command, the
women departed quickly from the tomb. And although they had
the angel’s comforting assurance, the women understandably had a
remnant of fear. But their fear was now tempered by great
joy at learning the good news of Jesus’ resurrection.
Mary Magdalene had left the tomb before the angels
appeared and on her own initiative reported her findings to Peter and
John, saying, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and
we do not know where they have laid Him” (John 20:2). She then
followed those two disciples back to the tomb, where they, too, found
only the linen wrappings. The other women and the angels had left the
garden, and, disappointed and confused, the two men “went away
again to their own homes” (vv. 5–10). While Mary remained outside
the tomb weeping, the two angels appeared to her and then the Lord
Himself. It was not until Jesus called her by name, however, that she
recognized Him and shouted, “Rabboni!” (vv. 11–16). She then
reported her wonderful experience to the disciples in Jerusalem (v.
18).
When she told the other apostles about her encounter
with the resurrected Christ, they did not believe her (Mark 16:11).
Their disbelief (see also Mark 16:13; Luke 24:10–11) clearly proves
that they had no intention of stealing Jesus’ body in order to
propagate a counterfeit resurrection, as the chief priests and
Pharisees feared they would do (Matt. 27:62–64; 28:13).
Worship
And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they
came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. (28:9)
Meanwhile, as the other women were on their way to
report the angel’s message to the disciples, Jesus met them and
greeted them. Greeted translates chairete, a common
greeting that loosely rendered means something like “hello” or
“good morning.” It was the ordinary salutation of the marketplace
and of travelers who passed each other on the road. In other words
the greeting was casual and ordinary, seemingly too mundane to be
appropriate for such a momentous occasion. Yet the glorified Christ,
who had just finished conquering sin and death, deigned to greet
those faithful women with warm, informal tenderness. As the writer of
Hebrews assures us, “We do not have a high priest who cannot
sympathize with our weaknesses” (Heb. 4:15).
Immediately recognizing their Lord, the women came up
and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. They now knew with
certainty that He was the risen Messiah, the divine Son of God, and
that adoration and praise were the only proper responses to His
presence. They did what every person, unbeliever as well as believer,
will do one day. When He comes again, “every knee [will] bow …
and … every tongue [will] confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10–11).
At last the full reality of the resurrection was
solidifying in the minds and hearts of those women. They had heard
the angel’s proclamation of the resurrection, had seen the empty
tomb, had beheld the risen Lord, and had even touched His glorified
body. They could now do nothing but adore and worship Him.
Sir Edward Clarke wrote:
As a lawyer I have made a
prolonged study of the evidences for the events of the first Easter
Day. To me the evidence is conclusive, and over and over again in the
High Court I have secured the verdict on evidence not nearly so
compelling. Inference follows on evidence, and a truthful witness is
always artless and disdains effect. The Gospel evidence for the
resurrection is of this class, and as a lawyer I accept it
unreservedly as the testimony of truthful men to facts they were able
to substantiate. (Cited in J. R. W. Stott, Basic Christianity
[Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1971], p. 47)
In a similar statement, the noted historian and Oxford
professor Thomas Arnold wrote:
The evidence for our Lord’s
life and death and resurrection may be, and often has been, shown to
be satisfactory; it is good according to the common rules for
distinguishing good evidence from bad. Thousands and tens of
thousands of persons have gone through it piece by piece as carefully
as every judge summing upon a most important case. I have myself done
it many times over, not to persuade others but to satisfy myself. I
have been used for many years to study the histories of other times
and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about
them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is
proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the
understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God hath
given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead. (Wilbur M.
Smith, Therefore Stand: Christian Apologetics [Grand Rapids:
Baker, 1965], pp. 425–26)
Hope
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and
take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they shall
see Me.” (28:10)
Jesus repeated the angel’s message, saying, “Do
not be afraid; go take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee.”
Despite the disciples’ lack of faith, their cowardice, and their
defection, the Lord graciously spoke of them as His brethren.
When they arrived in Galilee, they would see Him again,
and there they would experience a great convocation and commissioning
by the Lord.
Matthew’s brief glimpse of the resurrection is artless
and unadorned, completely lacking pretense or exaggeration. He does
not argue or beg the issues but simply places the truths before the
reader to be accepted for what they are.
The basic truth of the resurrection undergirds a number
of other truths. First, it gives evidence that the Word of God is
totally true and reliable. Jesus rose from the dead precisely when
and in the way He had predicted (see Matt. 12:40; 16:21; 17:9, 23).
Second, the resurrection means that Jesus Christ is the
Son of God, as He claimed to be, and that He has power over life and
death. Third, the resurrection proves that salvation is complete,
that on the cross Christ conquered sin, death, and hell and rose
victorious. Fourth, the resurrection proves that the church has been
established. Jesus had declared, “I will build My church; and the
gates of Hades shall not overpower it” (Matt. 16:18). “The gates
of Hades” was a Jewish colloquialism that represented death. His
resurrection proved that death itself could not prevent Christ from
establishing His church.
Fifth, the resurrection proves that judgment is coming.
Jesus declared that the heavenly Father “has given all judgment to
the Son” (John 5:22), and since the Son was now risen and alive,
His judgment is certain. Sixth, the resurrection of Christ proves
that heaven is waiting. Jesus promised, “In My house are many
dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go
to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). Because Christ is alive by
the resurrection, believers have the assurance that He is now
preparing a heavenly dwelling for them.1
The
Appearance of Jesus to the Women
9 And
as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying,
“Rejoice!” So they came and held Him
by the feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to
them, “Do not be afraid. Go and
tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
Jesus
Appears to the Women
9 And as they went to tell His disciples,
behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held
Him by the feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to
them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee,
and there they will see Me.”
—Matthew 28:9–10
The
first appearances of the risen Jesus were to the women who were among
His disciples. John tells us that He appeared first to Mary (John
20:11–18), but Matthew tells of His confronting the women as a
group as they hurried from the garden. Jesus’ greeting was,
“Rejoice!” or simply, “Hail,” a greeting to which they
had long been accustomed. The act of the women in holding Him by the
feet was an expression of respect to a sovereign; it was their
expression of submission to the risen Lord. His words were similar to
the message from the angel: “Do not be afraid,” and “Go and
tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.” It
is significant that Jesus here used the expression “My
brethren,” identifying a relationship with them similar to what
He had expressed in the washing of their feet, and possibly
identifying a larger circle than the immediate disciples. This
expression could have included all persons attached to Him who were
then in the environs of Jerusalem. Such a group, gathering to meet
the risen Lord, could well have comprised the five hundred brethren
to whom Paul refers (1 Cor. 15:6). Such varied appearances with
varieties of witnesses provide evidence of the historicity of the
Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.
This brief section speaks of Presence, of place, and of
promise. To live in a world in which Jesus is risen means that (1) He
is Lord, (2) He is contemporary, (3) He is inescapable!
While we can’t prove the Resurrection any more than we
can prove God, this belief is central to the Christian faith. We
stand before the Thou of the Universe, the One who is wholly Other,
but Who has come to us in Jesus. As Schweizer says, “If God had
first to prove Himself in man’s eyes He would no longer be God.”
The fact is that a group of people were convinced that they had seen
the risen Lord. It resulted in a terrified band of fugitives becoming
messengers, with total disregard for danger to themselves as they
spread the gospel of the risen Jesus throughout the world. The
significance of the empty tomb to the whole event is that it is not
immortality without a body that we affirm, but the bodily
Resurrection of Jesus (Luke 24:39). As Calvin reminds us in
emphasizing the Ascension, “Jesus Christ took humanity to heaven as
the guarantee that you and I can be there some day.”
In the past one hundred years the evidence for the
bodily Resurrection of Christ has been subjected to historical
criticism: (1) from Strauss, the appearances of Christ were recorded
as visions of intense emotional ecstasy; (2) similarly, Dr. Streeter
proposed a vision theory of God acting to communicate by “a
telegram from heaven” that Jesus is alive and well; and (3) other
interpretations represent the meaning of Jesus’ continued life
without the need for His resurrected body. As Bultmann has said, that
historical criticism can establish is the fact that the first
disciples came to believe in the resurrection.”
Our belief in His Resurrection is based on the evidence
that the first disciples had: (1) the words of Jesus that He would
rise, (2) the witness of angels at the tomb, (3) the empty tomb
itself, (4) the appearances of Jesus to believers, (5) the
transformation of the disciples, (6) the reaction of the opposition,
(7) the commission to mission, (8) the existence of the gospel
itself, (9) the fact that it was unexpected by the disciples and they
became convinced, and (10) the existence of the church in spite of
Jesus’ death on Good Friday.2
Regarding the order of events connected with the
resurrection of Christ, I would like to share with you a very fine
note found in The Scofield Reference Bible on page 1043:
The order of events, combining the four
narratives, is as follows: Three women, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the
mother of James, and Salome, start for the sepulchre, followed by
other women bearing spices. The three find the stone rolled away, and
Mary Magdalene goes to tell the disciples (Lk. 23:55–24:9; John
20:1, 2). Mary, the mother of James and Joses, draws nearer the tomb
and sees the angel of the Lord (Mt. 28:2). She goes back to meet the
other women following with the spices. Meanwhile Peter and John,
warned by Mary Magdalene, arrive, look in, and go away (John
20:3–10). Mary Magdalene returns weeping, sees the two angels and
then Jesus (John 20:11–18), and goes as He bade her to tell the
disciples. Mary (mother of James and Joses), meanwhile, has met the
women with the spices and, returning with them, they see the two
angels (Lk. 24:4, 5; Mk. 16:5). They also receive the angelic
message, and, going to seek the disciples, are met by Jesus (Mt.
28:8–10).
The order of our Lord’s appearances would seem to be:
On the day of His resurrection: (1) To Mary Magdalene (John
20:14–18). (2) To the women returning from the tomb with the
angelic message (Mt. 28:8–10). (3) To Peter, probably in the
afternoon (Lk. 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5). (4) To the Emmaus disciples
toward evening (Lk. 24:13–31). (5) To the apostles, except Thomas
(Lk. 24:36–43; John 20:19–24). Eight days afterward: (1) To the
apostles, Thomas being present (John 20:24–29). In Galilee: (1) To
the seven by the Lake of Tiberias (John 21:1–23). (2) On a
mountain, to the apostles and five hundred brethren (1 Cor. 15:6). At
Jerusalem and Bethany again: (1) To James (1 Cor. 15:7). (2) To the
eleven (Mt. 28:16–20; Mk. 16:14–20; Lk. 24:33–53; Acts 1:3–12).
To Paul: (1) Near Damascus (Acts 9:3–6; 1 Cor. 15:8). (2) In the
temple (Acts 22:17–21; 23:11). To Stephen, outside Jerusalem (Acts
7:55). To John on Patmos (Rev. 1:10–19).3
The women who had lingered at the cross came early to
the tomb, bringing spices that they might anoint His body. They
thought He was dead. In fact, they wondered how they would move the
huge stone that blocked the entrance to the tomb (Mark 16:3). It is
remarkable that they did not believe in His resurrection when He had
taught this truth repeatedly (Matt. 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; 26:32).
We must never underestimate the importance of the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. The world believes that Jesus died, but
the world does not believe that He arose from the dead. Peter’s
message at Pentecost emphasized the Resurrection. In fact, it is
emphasized throughout the Book of Acts. What is the significance of
the Resurrection?
It proves that Jesus is God’s Son.
Jesus stated that He had authority to lay down His life and to take
it up again (John 10:17–18).
It verifies the truth of Scripture.
Both in the Old Testament and in the teaching of Jesus, His
resurrection is clearly taught (see Pss. 16:10; 110:1). If Jesus had
not come out of the tomb, then these Scriptures would not be true.
It assures our own future resurrection.
Because Jesus died and rose again, we shall one day be raised to be
like Him (1 Thes. 4:13–18). In fact, the entire structure of the
Christian faith rests on the foundation of the Resurrection. If we do
away with His resurrection, we have no hope.
It is the proof of a future judgment.
“Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the
world in righteousness by that man who He hath ordained; whereof He
hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from
the dead” (Acts 17:31).
It is the basis for Christ’s heavenly
priesthood. Because He lives by the power of an
endless life, He is able to save us “to the uttermost” (Heb.
7:23–28). He lives to intercede for us.
It gives power for Christian living.
We cannot live for God by our own strength. It is only as His
resurrection power works in and through us that we can do His will
and glorify His name (see Rom. 6:4).
It assures our future inheritance.
Because we have a living hope, we can experience hopeful living. A
dead hope grows weaker and weaker before it eventually dies. But
because Jesus Christ is alive, we have a glorious future (see 1 Peter
1:3–5).
Whenever God’s people gather on the Lord’s Day they
bear witness that Jesus is alive and that the church has received
spiritual blessings. When the followers of the Lord gathered that
first Lord’s Day, they were discouraged and defeated.4
Why is the Resurrection so important?
• Because of the Resurrection,
we know that the Kingdom of Heaven has broken into earth’s history.
• Because of the Resurrection,
we know that death has been conquered and that we, too, will be
raised from the dead to live forever with Christ.
• The Resurrection gives
authority to the church’s witness in the world. The apostles’
most important message was the proclamation that Jesus Christ had
been raised from the dead!
• The Resurrection gives
meaning to the church’s regular feast, the Lord’s Supper. Like
the disciples on the road to Emmaus, we break bread with our risen
Lord.
• The Resurrection helps us
find meaning even in great tragedy. No matter what happens to us as
we walk with the Lord, the Resurrection gives us hope for the future.
• The Resurrection assures us
that Christ is alive and ruling his Kingdom.5
How
do we know that Jesus rose from the dead?
Did Jesus actually rise from the dead? Does it really
matter whether He did or didn’t?
Ronald Gregor Smith gives a typical reply, “So far as
historicity is concerned… it is necessary to explain: We may
freely say that the bones of Jesus lie somewhere in Palestine.
Christian faith is not destroyed by this admission.
“On the contrary, only now, when this has been said,
are we in a position to ask about the meaning of the resurrection as
an integral part of the message concerning Jesus” (Secular
Christianity, London, Collins, 1966, p. 103).
Contrary to this point of view, it does matter to
Christianity whether or not it is true that Christ came back from the
dead, because Christianity stands or falls on the resurrection of
Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 15:12–19). If Jesus did not come back
from the dead, then the Christian faith crumbles.
Fortunately, one of the most well-attested events in
the ancient world is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
When confronted by the religious leaders of His day, Jesus was asked
for a sign to demonstrate that He was the promised Messiah.
He answered, “An evil and adulterous generation
craves for a sign; and yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign
of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three
nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be
three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew
12:39, 40, NASB).
The sign of the resurrection was meant to set Jesus
apart from anyone else who ever lived, and it would designate Him the
Son of God (Romans 1:4).
The accounts of His appearances are recorded for us by
eyewitnesses to whom Jesus appeared alive over a forty-day period
after His public crucifixion. As the scriptural account sets forth,
to these “he shewed himself alive after his passion by many
infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the
things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3, KJV).
Writing about a.d. 56, the apostle Paul mentions the
fact that more than 500 people had witnessed the resurrected Christ
at one time and most of them were still living when he wrote (I
Corinthians 15:6). This statement is somewhat of a challenge to those
who might not have believed, since Paul is saying that there are many
people yet living who could be interviewed to find out if Christ had
indeed risen.
The historical evidence is more than sufficient to
satisfy the curiosity of the honest inquirer. This can be seen not
only by the positive defense that can be made for the case for the
resurrection, but also by the lack of any evidence for an alternative
explanation. The theories attempting to give an alternative
explanation to the resurrection take more faith to believe than the
resurrection itself.
Frank Morrison, who was an agnostic journalist,
attempted to write a book refuting the resurrection of Christ. After
much investigation, his opinion changed and he became a believer in
Jesus Christ. This is how Morrison described what happened to him:
“This study is in some ways so unusual and
provocative that the writer thinks it desirable to state here very
briefly how the book came to take its present form. In one sense it
could have taken no other, for it is essentially a confession, the
inner story of a man who originally set out to write one kind of book
and found himself compelled by the sheer force of circumstances to
write another.
“It is not that the facts altered, for they are
recorded imperishably in the monuments and in the pages of human
history. But the interpretation to be put on the facts underwent a
change” (Who Moved the Stone? Preface, Zondervan, 1971).
Morrison discovered that Christ was publicly put in the
tomb on Friday, but on Sunday morning the body was missing. If He did
not rise from the dead, then someone took the body. There are three
interest groups that could possibly have taken the body: the Romans,
the Jews, or the disciples.
The Romans would have had no reason to steal the body,
since they wanted to keep the peace in Palestine. The idea was to
keep the provinces as quiet as possible, and stealing the body of
Christ would not accomplish this objective.
The Jews would not have taken the body, because the
last thing they wanted was a proclamation of the resurrection. They
are the ones who asked for the guard, according to Matthew 27.
The disciples of Jesus had no reason to steal the body,
and if they did, they later died for something they knew to be
untrue. Moreover, the religion which they proclaimed emphasized
telling the truth and not lying. Their actions would have been
inconsistent with that which they knew to be true and commanded
others to follow.
The other reasonable explanation is that Christ has
risen, and the eyewitnesses make it plain this is the case. The
disciples of Jesus may not have been as sophisticated as twentieth
century man in the realm of scientific knowledge, but they surely
knew the difference between someone who was dead and someone who
wasn’t.
As Simon Peter said, “For we did not follow cleverly
devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (II
Peter 1:16, NASB).
ADDITIONAL
REFERENCE SOURCES
Frank Morrison, Who Moved the Stone?, Zondervan,
1971
George Ladd, I Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus,
Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1975
Josh McDowell, “The Great Resurrection Hoax” (tape),
Liberation Tapes, P.O. Box 6044, Lubbock, Texas 79413
Don Stewart, “The Resurrection: The Cornerstone of
Christianity” (tape), The Word for Today, P.O. Box 8000, Costa
Mesa, Calif. 92626
Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict,
Vol. 1, rev. ed., 1979 p. 179–263
How
could Jesus have remained in the tomb three days and three nights if
He was crucified on Friday and rose on Sunday?
Jesus prophesied in Matthew 12:40 (NASB) that “just
as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea
monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in
the heart of the earth.”
The accounts of His death and resurrection as given in
the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John indicate that Jesus was
crucified and buried on Friday, before sundown, which is the
beginning of the next day for the Jews, and resurrected on the first
day of the week, which is our Sunday, before sunrise.
This puts Jesus in the grave for part of Friday, the
entire Sabbath, and part of Sunday. In other words, two full nights,
one full day and part of two days, He was in the tomb. Since this is
clearly not three full, twenty-four-hour days, do we have a problem
of conflict with the prophecy of Jesus in Matthew 12:40?
In Mark 8:31 and Matthew 16:21, Jesus is recorded as
saying, “The Son of man will rise again after three days,” and
“He will be raised again on the third day”—expressions that are
used interchangeably. This can be seen from the fact that the most
references to the resurrection state that it occurred on the
third day.
Also, Jesus, in addition to the Matthew 12:40 passage,
spoke of His resurrection in John 2:19–22, stating that He would be
raised up in three days (not the fourth day).
Matthew 27:63 (KJV) gives weight to this idiomatic
usage. After the Pharisees tell Pilate of the prediction of Jesus,
“After three days I will rise again,” they ask for a guard to
secure the tomb until the third day.
If the phrase, “after three days,” was not
interchangeable with the “third day,” the Pharisees would have
asked for a guard for the fourth day.
That the expression “one day and one night” was an
idiom employed by the Jews for indicating a day, even when only a
part of a day was indicated, can be seen also in the Old Testament.
For example, I Samuel 30:12, 13 (KJV), “For he had
not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights,”
and in the next verse, “My master left me behind… three days
ago.”
Just as clearly, Genesis 42:17 shows this idiomatic
usage. Joseph imprisoned his brothers for three days; in verse 18, he
speaks to them and releases them, all on the third day.
The phrases, “after three days” and “on the third
day,” are not contradictory, either to each other or with Matthew
12:40, but simply idiomatic, interchangeable terms, clearly a common
mode of Jewish expression.
ADDITIONAL
REFERENCE SOURCES
Harold Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of
Christ, Zondervan, 1977
W.F. Arndt, Does the Bible Contradict Itself?,
5th rev. ed., Concordia Press, 1955
How
do you explain the contradictions in theresurrection story?
The New Testament makes the assertion that the truth of
Christianity stands or falls on the resurrection of Jesus.
The apostle Paul stated, “If Christ be not risen,
then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we
are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God
that he raised up Christ.… And if Christ be not raised, your faith
is vain; ye are yet in your sins… . If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (I Corinthians
15:14, 15, 17, 19, KJV).
A common objection to the fact of the resurrection is
that the four Gospel narratives contain hopeless contradictions. If
the four accounts were placed in parallel columns, a number of
apparent differences would be highlighted. However, these apparent
differences ultimately confirm the truthfulness of these accounts,
rather than refute them.
If all four Gospels gave exactly the same story, in
exactly the same order, with exactly the same details, we would
immediately become suspicious. We could also wonder why all four
writers did not simply attach their names as co-authors of one
account. Obviously, this is not the case. None of the four Gospels
gives all the details of what transpired.
Matthew is the only writer who records the first
appearance to the women, while only in Luke do we find the account of
the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. The appearance of Mary
Magdalene is omitted by both Matthew and Luke. Only John records the
appearance of our Lord in the upper room, when Thomas was absent and
the appearance on the sea of Galilee.
It is quite clear that all of the Gospels relate their
portraits of Jesus differently. This is what we should expect. No
four witnesses (or news reporters), all of whom witness a series of
events, will write them up in exactly the same way, detail for
detail. If they did, there would be obvious collusion.
If the differences concerned the main points of the
story, then there would be justification for doubt, but when the
salient points are agreed upon by every witness, insignificant
differences add to, rather than subtract from, the validity.
It should be noted, too, that none of the details
necessarily flatly contradicts any others, but in some plausible way
they correlate together to supply the larger picture. The variations
in detail the different writers chose to include in the resurrection
narratives consist of incidental things which in no way jeopardize
the main plot of the story.
One of the seeming contradictions that bothers people
concerns the time the women came to the tomb, related differently by
John and Mark. Mark’s account has the women coming to the tomb at
the rising of the sun, while John states that Mary Magdalene came to
the tomb when it was dark.
This difficulty is solved when it is realized that the
women had to walk quite some distance to reach the grave, since they
stayed in Jerusalem or Bethany. It was dark when they left the place
in which they were staying, but when they arrived at the tomb the sun
was beginning to shine. Therefore, Mark is speaking of their arrival,
while John refers to their departure.
The area which has generated the most discussion
concerns the angels who were at the tomb of Jesus. Matthew and Mark
relate that one angel addressed the women, while Luke and John say
that two angels were at the tomb.
This seems to be a discrepancy, with Matthew and Mark
knowing of only one angel while Luke and John speak of two. However,
Matthew and Mark do not say that there was only one angel at
the tomb, but that one angel spoke to the women.
This does not contradict Luke and John, for Matthew and
Mark specify that one angel spoke, but they do not say there was only
one angel present or only one angel spoke. Quite possibly one of the
angels served as the spokesman for the two, thus he was emphasized.
There is no need to assume a discrepancy.
Though they report some of the details differently, the
Gospels agree in all important points. The accounts are in harmony on
the fact that Jesus was dead and buried; that the disciples were not
prepared for His death, but were totally confused; that the tomb was
empty on Easter morning; that the empty tomb did not convince them
that Jesus had risen; that Mary thought the body had been stolen.
The Gospel writers also concur that the disciples had
certain experiences which they believed to be appearances of the
resurrected Christ. That normative first century Judaism had no
concept of a dying and rising Messiah is a historical fact.
The disciples proclaimed the resurrection story in
Jerusalem, in the place where Jesus had been killed and buried. All
these facts considered together constitute a powerful argument for
the validity of the resurrection story.
The venerable scholar, Wilbur Smith, had this to say
about the differences in the resurrection accounts and the areas in
which the Gospels agree:
“In these fundamental truths, there are absolutely no
contradictions. The so-called variations in the narratives are only
the details which were mostly vividly impressed on one mind or
another of the witnesses of our Lord’s resurrection, or on the mind
of the writers of these four respective Gospels.
“The closest, most critical, examination of these
narratives throughout the ages never has destroyed and can never
destroy their powerful testimony to the truth that Christ did rise
from the dead on the third day, and was seen of many” (The
Supernaturalness of Christ, W.A. Wilde Company, 1954, p. 205).
ADDITIONAL
REFERENCE SOURCES
George Ladd, I Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus,
Eerdmans, 1975
Wilbur Smith, The Supernaturalness of Christ,
W.A. Wilde Company, 1954
W.J. Sparrow-Simpson, The Resurrection and the
Christian Faith, Zondervan, 1968
Merrill Tenney, The Reality of the Resurrection,
Harper and Row, 1963
MYTH:
There Is No Evidence That Jesus Rose from the Dead
All four Gospels give
an account of Jesus’ resurrection (Matt. 28:1–10; Mark 16:1–18;
Luke 24:1–12; John 20:1–29). Moreover, the rest of the New
Testament speaks with a tremendous sense of confidence about an empty
tomb and the triumph of Christ over death.
And no wonder. If true,
the Resurrection is the most amazing news the world has ever heard.
It means that there is a God after all. It means that Jesus really is
God’s Son. It means that Christ is alive—today—and we can know
Him and be touched by His life and power. It means that we need not
fear death the way we once did; we are not destined to oblivion but
to spend eternity with God. It also means that knowing God is of the
utmost importance right now, while we can.
These are important
implicaions, so the question of whether Jesus actually rose from the
dead is crucial. At least four lines of evidence indicate that He
did:
(1) Jesus really was
dead. Every source we have indicates that Jesus was publicly
executed before large crowds. He was certified as dead by both a
centurion in charge of the execution—a professional whose job it
was to determine that death had taken place—and by the regional
governor, Pilate, who sent to have the matter checked. This is an
important point because some skeptics claim that Jesus was not really
dead, that He was only near death but revived in the cool of the
tomb.
(2) The tomb was found
empty. Jesus was buried in a new tomb, one that had never before
been used (John 19:41). That means it was in perfect condition and
would have been easy to locate. But when Jesus’ friends arrived on
the second morning after His death, His body was gone. All the
accounts agree on this.
The empty tomb was no less
astonishing to Jesus’ enemies than it was to His friends. His
enemies had been working for years to see Him dead and buried. Having
accomplished their goal, they took pains to post a guard and seal the
tomb with an enormous boulder. Nevertheless, on Easter morning the
tomb was found empty.
Who emptied it? Either men
or God. If men, which ones? Jesus’ enemies would have been the
least likely to have stolen the body. Even if they had, they would
certainly have produced it later to refute the claims of the
disciples that Jesus was alive. What about Jesus’ friends?
Unlikely, since the accounts show them to have been very demoralized
after the Crucifixion. Nor would they have willingly suffered
persecution and death for what they knew to be a lie.
(3) Jesus appeared
after His death to many witnesses. In a garden, on a road, in an
upstairs room, by the lake—each of the Gospels recounts Jesus’
post-resurrection appearances to His fearful, doubting followers over
a period of forty days. Were these hallucinations? That seems
implausible, since they happened to too many people, among them
hardheaded fishermen, steadfast women, civil servants, and the
ultimate skeptic, Thomas.
(4) Countless people
have encountered the living Jesus and been changed by Him. The
Resurrection is not simply a matter of intelleectual curiosity or
theological argument, but of personal experience. From the first
century to today there have been innumerale people who have turned
from being totally opposed or indifferent to Christianity to being
utterly convinced that it is true. What changed them? They met the
living Jesus. He has invited them to respond to Him in faith and
challenged them to live according to His way. Jesus is as alive now
as He was that first Easter morning. He still invites people to know
Him today.6
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3
McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru
the Bible commentary: The Gospels (Matthew 14-28)
(electronic ed., Vol. 35, pp. 194–195). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
4
Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The
Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, pp.
104–105). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
5
Barton, B., Comfort, P., Osborne, G., Taylor, L. K., & Veerman,
D. (2001). Life
Application New Testament Commentary (pp.
125–126). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale.
6
Word
in life study Bible. (1996). (electronic ed.).
Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.
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