1 The day after the Sabbath day was the first day of the week. At dawn on the first day, Mary Magdalene and another woman named Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 At that time there was a strong earthquake. An angel of the Lord came down from heaven, went to the tomb, and rolled the stone away from the entrance. Then he sat on the stone. 3 He was shining as bright as lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The soldiers guarding the tomb shook with fear because of the angel, and they became like dead men.
5 The angel said to the women, “Don’t be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus, who has been crucified. 6 He is not here. He has risen from the dead as he said he would. Come and see the place where his body was. 7 And go quickly and tell his followers, ‘Jesus has risen from the dead. He is going into Galilee ahead of you, and you will see him there.’” Then the angel said, “Now I have told you.”
8 The women left the tomb quickly. They were afraid, but they were also very happy. They ran to tell Jesus’ followers what had happened. 9 Suddenly, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings.” The women came up to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go and tell my followers to go on to Galilee, and they will see me there.”
Read Matthew 28:1-10 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
Of all the gospels to describe Jesus’ resurrection morning, Matthew is the only one who actually includes the guards’ perspective. Matthew is also the only one to include the religious leaders bribing the guards, and starting the lie that the disciples rolled the stone away while the soldiers slept at their post.
I wonder if Matthew, from his days as a tax collector, had a friend who was a guard that was posted at the tomb. Matthew would have known many Roman soldiers as a tax collector because they would work together when collecting taxes. I am curious if an earlier relationship with a roman soldier paid off in helping Matthew uncover the details of what happened at the tomb from the guards’ perspective. Maybe there was a bribe involved, or maybe Matthew called in a favor to help discover the truth.
In an interesting twist, the religious leaders’ fear of the disciples stealing Jesus’ body actually places a group of witnesses to be present at the exact moment the angel comes to roll the stone away. Had the religious leaders not cared, or if they hadn’t paid attention to Jesus’ predictions of resurrection, then no one would have been there for the event the universe celebrated.
Matthew describes the event like this: “At that time there was a strong earthquake. An angel of the Lord came down from heaven, went to the tomb, and rolled the stone away from the entrance. Then he sat on the stone. He was shining as bright as lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The soldiers guarding the tomb shook with fear because of the angel, and they became like dead men.” (v. 2-4)
It is interesting that the angel’s job is to simply roll the stone away. The earthquake happened before the angel came, and all the angel did was roll the stone away and sit on it. The angel was tasked with the responsibility of keeping the stone off of the tomb’s entrance – in case the guards wanted to quickly put the stone back after recovering from their shock.
However, an angel sitting on the stone terrifies and paralyzes the guards from fear. They all watch as Jesus walks out through the tomb’s entrance unassisted. Perhaps the angel briefly disappears, allowing them the time to run away to tell the priests and religious leaders. I wonder if the guards actually pass the women as they are coming to the tomb.
Jesus resurrection was witnessed by the least likely individuals: pagan Roman soldiers. Had the Jewish leaders not been so worried about a scandal, no one would have known exactly what had happened at the tomb when Jesus rose from the dead.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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