"Now after the [weekly] Sabbath”— which also had coincided with the day of the wave-sheaf offering that year, after Jesus' three days and nights in the heart of the earth, according to the established sign of Jonah (Matt. 12:38-40)—“ as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb." "The women disciples had to wait until the Sabbath was over, because by Jewish Law they could not anoint the body of Jesus on the Sabbath." (Peter Pett)—"And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men." (1-4) It did not happen in secret, nor will the coming of the Son of God in power and great glory.
RETURN TO MAIN PAGE FOR MATTHEW https://www.mymorningmanna.com/matthew
"But the angel answered and said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.' (5-7) They received the angel’s commands —Fear not ye. — These words may most aptly be improved to encourage and comfort penitent souls who seek the crucified Redeemer. The law appears with a terrific aspect, and menaces the guilty with death. But justice, losing her sternness in the smiles of mercy, addresses the sincerely penitent in all the promises of grace.." (Joseph Sutcliffe)
They believed the only sign that would be given to an evil and adulterous generation. "So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. 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. Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.' (8-10 ) In John’s account, Mary found the empty tomb and wept. Jesus caught her unaware and asked: "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" She thought He was the gardener and replied, "Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away." He replied: "Mary!" She turned and said, "Teacher!" He said: "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.'" (John 20:17) "The ascension to which He referred was not His ascension on the fortieth day from the Mount of Olives, which is recorded in Acts 1:3-9. We know this, because Jesus allowed His disciples to touch Him later that same day (John 20:19, 20; Luke 24:39) So, Jesus must have ascended to His Father some time AFTER He talked with Mary and BEFORE that same evening when He appeared to the disciples." (Dr. Jones)- after the wave sheaf offering “accepted on our behalf.”
“Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying: Tell them, 'His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.' And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure. So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him— but some doubted” (11-17)
"As, for example, Thomas, John 20:25. The disciples had not expected His resurrection; they were therefore slow to believe. The mention of their doubting shows that they were honest men that they were not easily imposed on that they had not previously agreed to affirm that he had risen - that they were convinced only by the strength of the evidence. Their caution in examining the evidence; their slowness to believe; their firm conviction after all their doubts; and their willingness to show their conviction even by their ‘death,’ is most conclusive proof that they were ‘not’ deceived in regard to the fact of his resurrection.” (Albert Barnes)
"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.' As Mediator, all judgment was committed to the Son. Therefore he spake like himself, and sent forth his servants as the plenipotentiaries of heaven." (Joseph Sutcliffe) "'Go therefore” because of My authority and my command—“and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them- "Many people teach that baptism is only symbolic, and that it has no other purpose. However, if baptism is only symbolic, then why did Yeshua command that all new believers become baptized? ... He placed it on equal ground with making disciples and teaching them to obey all of His commandments.” (Immortal: The Truth about Heaven, Hell, and the Resurrection by Lex Meyer)—"'in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.' The OT promised that there would come a time when Jehovah would have one name and that this one name would be made known (Zechariah 14:9; Isaiah 52:6). We know that the one name of Matthew 28:19 is Jesus, for Jesus is the name of the Father (John 5:43; Hebrews 1:4), the Son (Matthew 1:21), and the Holy Ghost (John 14:26). The New Testament church understood this to be so, for they baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5; I Corinthians 1:13). Matthew himself endorsed this interpretation by standing with Peter and the other apostles during the sermon in which Peter commanded the people to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:14-38)... Matthew 28:19 does not teach three persons in one God, but rather it gives three titles of God, all of which properly apply to Jesus Christ.” (David K. Bernard)—“'teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.’— the verb “being from the same root as the noun for ‘commandments’ in 5:19; 15:3; etc. (and cf. the same verb in 15:4; 19:7). There is thus a strongly ethical emphasis in this summary of Christian mission and discipleship, as there has been in Jesus’ teaching throughout this Gospel. To ‘make disciples’ is not complete unless it leads them to a life of observing Jesus’ commandments.— “And lo, I am with you— those who both hear and do His Word— always, even to the end of the age. Amen.”
Comments