Untitled Sermon (15)
Form/Structure/Setting
A. The resurrection narrative begins with the empty tomb account. This pericope gains forcefulness by following immediately upon the story concerning the precautions taken by the Jewish authorities to guard against any intrusion into the tomb. The narrative presupposes the resurrection of Jesus rather than giving an account of how or when it happened. It is fundamentally an announcement of the fact of the resurrection without an actual resurrection appearance. The startling announcement is made with appropriately spectacular accompaniments: an earthquake, an open tomb, the appearance of an angel, and the revelation of instructions for the disciples.
B. Matthew remains dependent upon Mark for this pericope, although he does not follow very closely (Mark 16:1–7; cf. Luke 24:1–8; John 20:1). Is it possible that for vv 9–10 and even vv 16–20 Matthew is dependent upon the original, now lost, ending of Mark (thus Gundry)? See esp. Neirynck (NTS 15 [1968–69] 168–90) for Matthew’s redaction of Mark. Matthew omits Mark 16:1 with its reference to the three women coming to embalm the body of Jesus, instead referring in v. 1 to the two Marys, who come only to look at the tomb (cf. the anointing in 26:6–13). Matthew also omits Mark 16:3–4, where the women wonder how they will gain access to the inside of the tomb only to discover that the stone had been rolled back, replacing this with the account of a σεισμὸς μέγας, “great earthquake,” and the descent of an ἄγγελος κυρίου, “angel of the Lord,” who rolls back the stone and sits upon it (v. 2, corresponding to Mark’s νεανίσκον, “young man,” sitting inside the tomb ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς, “on the right side”). In this way Matthew tightens up the sequence of events so as not to have an open tomb without witnesses before the arrival of the women. In Matthew the women do not enter the tomb as they do in Mark (Mark 10:5). While both evangelists talk of the white raiment of the angel/man, Matthew adds ἦν δὲ ἡ εἰδέα αὐτοῦ ὡς ἀστραπή, “and his appearance was like lightning” (cf. Luke 24:4). Mark’s reference to the alarm of the women (ἐξεθαμβήθησαν, “they were alarmed”) becomes in Matthew a reference to the fear of the guards who ἐγενήθησαν ὡς νεκροί, “became like dead men” (v. 4; cf. Mark 16:5). The message from the angel/man remains essentially the same. Matthew, however, adds in v. 5 the emphatic ὑμεῖς, “you” (in contrast to the guards), and οἶδα ὅτι, “I know that” (supernatural knowledge may be expected in an angel from heaven), and in v. 6 καθὼς εἶπεν, “even as he said,” pointing to the resurrection predictions (cf. Mark 16:6). Only at this point is there an invitation to enter the tomb in Matthew’s added δεῦτε, “come.” Also in v. 6 ὅπου ἔκειτο, “where he lay,” replaces Mark’s ὅπου ἔθηκαν αὐτόν, “where they laid him” (cf. Mark 16:6). In v. 7 Matthew adds ταχύ, “quickly,” and supplies the specific message of the resurrection ὅτι ἠγέρθη ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν, “that he has been raised from the dead,” to the message that “he goes before you to Galilee” (cf. Mark 16:7), thereby emphasizing the message about the resurrection of Jesus. Given the prominence of Peter in Matthew, it is very surprising that Matthew omits καὶ τῷ Πέτρῳ, “and to Peter,” but the evangelist apparently did not think it important to single out Peter at this point (cf. Mark 16:7). Peter’s forgiveness is taken for granted (he is among the eleven in 28:16). Finally note Matthew’s alteration of Mark’s καθὼς εἶπεν ὑμῖν, “just as he said to you,” to ἰδοὺ εἶπον ὑμῖν, “behold, I have told you,” perhaps because of the insertion of καθὼς εἶπεν, “just as he said,” in the preceding verse but more probably because of Matthew’s addition in v. 10 (v. 7; cf. Mark 16:7).
C. The pericope consists essentially of the coming of the angel and the message of the angel; thus the first half consists of narrative, the second of speech. As an outline the following may be suggested: (1) the women’s arrival at the tomb (v. 1); (2) the earthquake and the appearance of the angel (vv 2–3); (3) the fear of the guards (v. 4); and of central importance (4) the message of the angel (vv 5–7), subdivided into (a) exhortation not to fear (v. 5), (b) statement that Jesus is risen (v. 6), and (c) command to go and tell the disciples (v. 7). Note the structural device of the five parallel imperatives spoken by the angelic messenger: do not fear, come, see, go (an imperatival participle), and tell.
D. The problem of reconciling the resurrection narratives in the four Gospels is notorious. There is, however, no need to harmonize the details of these discrete accounts. We do well to allow each Gospel to present its own account with its own distinctives. As L. Morris points out, “Each of the Evangelists tells the story as best he knows without trying to harmonize it with what somebody else says” (733). It is enough (with Morris) to stress that all the Gospels have in common an empty tomb, the announcement of the resurrection of Jesus to the women, and the appearance of the risen Jesus to the disciples. On the historicity of the empty tomb, see Stein, Nauck, and especially Craig.
S. THE EMPTY TOMB (28:1–7)
1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
Although the Gospel narratives differ in their depiction of the details surrounding Jesus’ resurrection,1 they are all agreed that early Sunday morning a group of women came to Jesus’ tomb and discovered that it was empty. The explanation given them is that Jesus has been raised from the dead. Indeed, they become the first witnesses of the risen Jesus when he appears to them and shows himself alive. It is highly doubtful that Christians would have fabricated a story that depended on the initial testimony of women, since the testimony of women would not be considered highly credible in a first century Jewish culture (see Josephus, Ant 4.219; m. Yebamot 15:1, 8–10; 16:7; Ketubot 1:6–9; Luke 24:10–11). Although no human actually observed Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, circumstantial evidence weighs heavily in favor of its historicity.
The details of Matthew’s resurrection narrative underscore the role of women as foils, contrasting with both the soldiers (28:2–5, 11), and the disciples (28:7–10, 17). The story of the women at the tomb is interlocked with that of the soldiers by the common motif of “fear” (see vv. 4, 5, 10). Although both the women and the guards when confronted with the same events involving an earthquake, the removal of the stone, and the appearance of the “angel of the Lord” are both gripped with “fear” (vv. 4–5), the women are addressed directly and told not to be afraid (v. 5), while the soldiers’ “fear” leaves them as “dead men” (v. 4).2 Instead of being incapacitated like the solders, the events, coupled with their divine interpretation, move the women to action. Clearly, the women followers of Jesus function as models of discipleship. Exemplary devotion enables them to be present as witnesses of both the crucifixion and resurrection. Discipleship as defined by the action of these women, consists of both recognizing and worshiping Jesus as the crucified and risen Christ, and being obedient to a commission to bear witness to others (see vv. 7, 10). In fact, it is the commission of Jesus given the women to announce his resurrection to the disciples that precipitates the reassembling of the male disciples so they might be commissioned to a worldwide mission (28:16–20).
28:1. Although the expression ὀψὲ σαββάτων (opse sabbatōn) can be translated “late on the sabbath,” it is difficult to reconcile such a translation with the accompanying line, on the first day of the week. It appears that the NIV translation after the sabbath provides “the simplest way of dealing with Matthew’s double expression.…”3 Therefore, early on Sunday morning Mary Magdalene and presumably Mary the “mother of James and Joses” (cf. 27:56) came “to look at the tomb.”4 Unlike Mark, Matthew does not specify their reason for visiting the tomb (cf. Mark 16:1).
28:2–4. Matthew calls attention (ἰδού, idou) to an unusual series of events that signal once again (cf. 27:51–54) the Divine presence. A violent earthquake is directly related to the angel of the Lord coming down from heaven (note gar). The appearance of the “angel of the Lord” recalls the infancy narratives (cf. 1:20; 2:4, 13, 19) where the angel also divulges “privileged information about divine activity that is otherwise inaccessible to the characters in the story.”5 The large stone earlier sealed by human authorities (27:66) is now rolled back and the angel sat on it, thus symbolizing the triumph of God’s power over the futile efforts of the Jewish leaders.6 The description of the angel’s appearance recalls the traditional motifs associated with biblical theophanies (cf. Dan 7:9; 10:5–6; Rev 15:6). Ironically, as noted by Hagner, “the ones assigned to guard the dead themselves appear dead while the dead one has been made alive.”7
28:5–7. The angel speaks only to the women emphasizing that they have no need to fear (note emphatic ὑμει̂ς, hymeis). Although they seek the crucified Jesus, the angel informs them that he is no longer dead but has risen, just as he said. The words function as a refutation to the earlier charge that Jesus is a “deceiver” (27:63), and thus validate the credibility of his earlier predictions (cf. 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; 26:32). Not only does the angel interpret events for the women, he also demands of them certain actions: i.e., Come and see … then go quickly and tell his disciples.… The women who had come to look at the tomb are now invited to behold the empty tomb. The angel’s explanation of the absence of the body is intended as good news that must be shared with the disciples. The women thus serve as “reliable intermediaries who are to link the disciples with the reality of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection”8 (cf. 26:12; 27:55–56; 28:7).
T. THE APPEARANCE OF JESUS TO THE WOMEN (28:8–10)
8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
28:8. Like Joseph who explicitly obeys the words of the “angel of the Lord” (cf. 1:24–25; 2:14, 21), so these women hurried (ταχύ, tachy) from the tomb, exactly as the angel commanded (“go quickly,” ταχύ πορευθει̂σαι, tachy poreutheisai, v. 7). Their emotional state is described as afraid yet filled with joy (cf. v. 17). Although their emotions are understandably mixed, they are nevertheless obedient to the angel’s instructions. Unlike the guards who in fear “become like dead men” (v. 4), the addition of joy to fear produced in these women reverential awe that must comply with divine instruction.
28:9. While on their way, Jesus suddenly appears to them and thus confirms the reality of his resurrection. Jesus’ salutation, Greetings (χαίρετε, chairete), is met with an act of reverence (clasped his feet), resulting in “worship” (προσεκύνησαν, prosekynēsan; cf. 2:11; 14:33; 28:9, 17). Certainly, with all that has happened, their worship is intended as much more than a gesture of respect. They have come to see Jesus as deserving adoration usually reserved for God.
28:10. Jesus reiterates the commission given by the angel, with one significant addition, i.e., my brothers, indicating the disciples’ restored fellowship. The command for them to go to Galilee as “brothers” re-establishes a core relationship that will result in a worldwide commission to disciple the nations (28:18–20). However, if the Great Commission is to become a reality, it will depend upon the disciples believing the testimony of these two women. As noted by Weaver:
Mary Magdalene and ‘the other Mary’ have now become the crucial link between the Risen Jesus and his fearful and faltering ‘brothers’ (28:10). No less is at stake here than the ongoing and worldwide mission to ‘make disciples of all the nations’ (28:19–20). This mission is the climax toward which Matthew’s entire narrative drives forward. And this mission—‘to all the nations’ and ‘until the very consummation of the age’ (28:19–20)—rest on the faithfulness of two women once invisible within Matthew’s story and once powerless to influence events.9
Form/Structure/Setting
A. The resurrection narrative begins with the empty tomb account. This pericope gains forcefulness by following immediately upon the story concerning the precautions taken by the Jewish authorities to guard against any intrusion into the tomb. The narrative presupposes the resurrection of Jesus rather than giving an account of how or when it happened. It is fundamentally an announcement of the fact of the resurrection without an actual resurrection appearance. The startling announcement is made with appropriately spectacular accompaniments: an earthquake, an open tomb, the appearance of an angel, and the revelation of instructions for the disciples.
B. Matthew remains dependent upon Mark for this pericope, although he does not follow very closely (Mark 16:1–7; cf. Luke 24:1–8; John 20:1). Is it possible that for vv 9–10 and even vv 16–20 Matthew is dependent upon the original, now lost, ending of Mark (thus Gundry)? See esp. Neirynck (NTS 15 [1968–69] 168–90) for Matthew’s redaction of Mark. Matthew omits Mark 16:1 with its reference to the three women coming to embalm the body of Jesus, instead referring in v. 1 to the two Marys, who come only to look at the tomb (cf. the anointing in 26:6–13). Matthew also omits Mark 16:3–4, where the women wonder how they will gain access to the inside of the tomb only to discover that the stone had been rolled back, replacing this with the account of a σεισμὸς μέγας, “great earthquake,” and the descent of an ἄγγελος κυρίου, “angel of the Lord,” who rolls back the stone and sits upon it (v. 2, corresponding to Mark’s νεανίσκον, “young man,” sitting inside the tomb ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς, “on the right side”). In this way Matthew tightens up the sequence of events so as not to have an open tomb without witnesses before the arrival of the women. In Matthew the women do not enter the tomb as they do in Mark (Mark 10:5). While both evangelists talk of the white raiment of the angel/man, Matthew adds ἦν δὲ ἡ εἰδέα αὐτοῦ ὡς ἀστραπή, “and his appearance was like lightning” (cf. Luke 24:4). Mark’s reference to the alarm of the women (ἐξεθαμβήθησαν, “they were alarmed”) becomes in Matthew a reference to the fear of the guards who ἐγενήθησαν ὡς νεκροί, “became like dead men” (v. 4; cf. Mark 16:5). The message from the angel/man remains essentially the same. Matthew, however, adds in v. 5 the emphatic ὑμεῖς, “you” (in contrast to the guards), and οἶδα ὅτι, “I know that” (supernatural knowledge may be expected in an angel from heaven), and in v. 6 καθὼς εἶπεν, “even as he said,” pointing to the resurrection predictions (cf. Mark 16:6). Only at this point is there an invitation to enter the tomb in Matthew’s added δεῦτε, “come.” Also in v. 6 ὅπου ἔκειτο, “where he lay,” replaces Mark’s ὅπου ἔθηκαν αὐτόν, “where they laid him” (cf. Mark 16:6). In v. 7 Matthew adds ταχύ, “quickly,” and supplies the specific message of the resurrection ὅτι ἠγέρθη ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν, “that he has been raised from the dead,” to the message that “he goes before you to Galilee” (cf. Mark 16:7), thereby emphasizing the message about the resurrection of Jesus. Given the prominence of Peter in Matthew, it is very surprising that Matthew omits καὶ τῷ Πέτρῳ, “and to Peter,” but the evangelist apparently did not think it important to single out Peter at this point (cf. Mark 16:7). Peter’s forgiveness is taken for granted (he is among the eleven in 28:16). Finally note Matthew’s alteration of Mark’s καθὼς εἶπεν ὑμῖν, “just as he said to you,” to ἰδοὺ εἶπον ὑμῖν, “behold, I have told you,” perhaps because of the insertion of καθὼς εἶπεν, “just as he said,” in the preceding verse but more probably because of Matthew’s addition in v. 10 (v. 7; cf. Mark 16:7).
C. The pericope consists essentially of the coming of the angel and the message of the angel; thus the first half consists of narrative, the second of speech. As an outline the following may be suggested: (1) the women’s arrival at the tomb (v. 1); (2) the earthquake and the appearance of the angel (vv 2–3); (3) the fear of the guards (v. 4); and of central importance (4) the message of the angel (vv 5–7), subdivided into (a) exhortation not to fear (v. 5), (b) statement that Jesus is risen (v. 6), and (c) command to go and tell the disciples (v. 7). Note the structural device of the five parallel imperatives spoken by the angelic messenger: do not fear, come, see, go (an imperatival participle), and tell.
D. The problem of reconciling the resurrection narratives in the four Gospels is notorious. There is, however, no need to harmonize the details of these discrete accounts. We do well to allow each Gospel to present its own account with its own distinctives. As L. Morris points out, “Each of the Evangelists tells the story as best he knows without trying to harmonize it with what somebody else says” (733). It is enough (with Morris) to stress that all the Gospels have in common an empty tomb, the announcement of the resurrection of Jesus to the women, and the appearance of the risen Jesus to the disciples. On the historicity of the empty tomb, see Stein, Nauck, and especially Craig.