Jesus Has Risen [Easter Lesson]

Authorship of the book of Matthew is traditionally attributed to the Matthew, sometimes called Levi (Mk. 2:14; Lk. 5:27), who was one of The Twelve. Prior to Jesus’ call to follow Him, Matthew was a Jewish tax collector, a despised occupation by the Jewish population. As a tax collector, though, He likely had training in scribal techniques, which played a great role in his ability to write. As a Galilean Jew, Matthew was raised to understand and follow the Old Testament. He utilized these abilities to write his book somewhat as a defense of the Messianic identity of Jesus. With a Jewish audience in mind, Matthew set out to provide evidence that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah. Nevertheless, Matthew also opened wide the door of salvation through this Messiah to Gentiles.

In proving the identity of Jesus as the Messiah and the assurance of the salvation He offered, His resurrection was imperative. Without the resurrection, He was simply a dead man. Each of the four gospels records Jesus’ crucifixion and the immediate aftermath of His resurrection. Although each gospel writer chose to focus on different details of the resurrection, all tell the story that Jesus was crucified until death and was raised from the dead three days later. None of the gospel accounts record the events of the actual resurrection of Jesus—coming from death to life. Presumably, no human eye actually saw His dead body become alive again (Blomberg, p. 427). However, when the stone was rolled away, there were witnesses who saw the empty tomb and later saw the living Christ. He was and is Lord. Thus, Matthew wanted his readers to respond appropriately.

This passage teaches that Jesus is God and Savior. Throughout his book, Matthew attempted to convince his Jewish and Gentile readers that Jesus was the Messiah—not that He was a good teacher; not that He was a martyr; not that He was a misunderstood man—that He was the Messiah whom God had promised to bring salvation to His people. The resurrection is the ultimate climax for Matthew and the central event of Christian history. Concerning the resurrection, Blomberg stated that, “without this reversal of the ignominy of the cross, Jesus’ death would have atoned for nothing” (p. 426). Jesus died and was raised three days later. His substitutionary death provided the sacrificial payment for sins, and His resurrection conquered the effects of sin once and for all. He is the Messiah; He is the one who was promised. He is the Savior; He is the one with the means and the desire to bring salvation to the world. There is no other way to the Father, except by Him (Jn. 14:6).

This passage also supports another Essential Truth: God Is.

Matthew 28:1 Because of the Sabbath, the women had to wait until Sunday to travel to Jesus’ tomb. Mark and Luke both noted that the women’s visit was intended to anoint Jesus’ body in a more appropriate manner than the timing of His death allowed. His burial was quickly completed on Friday so as to bury the body prior to the impending Sabbath, which began at sundown the same day (ESV, 1887; Mk. 16:1; Lk. 23:56–24:1). Matthew also noted the involvement of these women with Jesus’ ministry and as witnesses to Jesus’ death and burial (Mt. 27:55-56, 60-61). They were neither strangers to following Jesus nor strangers to His message. That they had witnessed His death and burial made them opportune witnesses to the resurrected Jesus. They knew He had died; they had watched as He was buried behind a great stone.

That the gospel writers, and in this case Matthew, recorded the women as the first witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection was indicative of the true nature of the resurrection story. In their society, the testimony of a woman was not often considered credible. Had the writers wanted to fabricate a story, they would have developed the first witnesses as men, whose testimony was considered reliable and legally binding (France, p. 1098; Blomberg, p. 426). Although Luke and John’s accounts referenced Peter and another disciple coming to the empty tomb, all accounts note that these women were not only the first witnesses to see the empty tomb and the risen Savior, but were also the first to spread the news. In a male-dominated society, these events would have detracted from the esteem of the male disciples, which not only helped seal the reliability of the event but also helped note the equal value that people should experience in Christ, as later expressed by Paul (Gal. 3:28; France, p. 1098; Blomberg, p. 426).

Matthew 28:2-3 Scholars debate whether the earthquake was the means the angel used to dislodge the rock and seal of the tomb or whether the earthquake accompanied the coming of the angel and his removal of the stone. However, Matthew’s use of the word “for” seems to relate the earthquake directly with the coming of the angel (France, p. 1099). Either way, the earthquake signaled the great significance of the event, much like the earthquake at Jesus’ death (see Mt. 27:51). The removal of the stone was a miraculous event, accompanied by a great earthly movement and the coming of a heavenly being. This heavenly being was visible to the women who were arriving and to the guards. His appearance was pure and striking, reflecting the heavenly nature of his identity.

One must note that once the stone was removed and the seal broken, Jesus did not come forth from the tomb as Lazarus had done (Jn. 11:33-34). Jesus had already risen. The removal of the rock provided the opportunity for the world to see evidence of His resurrection, beginning with the women and the guards.

Matthew 28:4 The same root word used to describe the shaking caused by the earthquake in Matthew 27:51 is the same word used to describe the terrified position of the guards in this verse. They were not simply shaken by the earthquake; Matthew noted that they were trembling out of great fear at the sight of the angel. In fact, they were so terrified they became like dead men. Unable to move, they were simply spectators at the amazing scene. France notes the irony that the living men who have been assigned to guard Jesus’ corpse were now like a corpse, while the corpse they were guarding was now living (p. 1100).

Matthew 28:5-7 The angel seemed to pay no attention to the terrified guards, but he acknowledged the frightened women and their task to visit Jesus’ body. No doubt the women were in frightened awe at the scene before them. The angel’s admission that they sought Jesus, who had been crucified, as well as his encouragement to look where Jesus’ body had laid verified that they were at the correct tomb and that Jesus had, indeed, died. Jesus had predicted His own death, which they had witnessed. Now, they were to witness the fulfillment of His words that He would be brought to life again (Mt. 16:21, 17:22-23). The absence of Jesus’ body reveals the physical nature of the resurrection. He was not only alive spiritually but physically as well, as was evidenced by the empty tomb. The angel laid out evidence before the women so that they would believe the resurrection: Jesus’ true death, Jesus’ own teaching, and the empty tomb. Having seen all of the evidence, the angel instructed the women to be the messengers of the resurrection to the disciples, which describes the fulfillment of Jesus’ words in Matthew 26:32.

Although some translations read differently, the verb tense concerning the bodily resurrection is in passive voice, indicating that Jesus was raised by God. “No text of Scripture ever speaks of Jesus as raising himself but always as being raised by God” (Blomberg, p. 427). A dead man cannot raise himself. Although fully God, Jesus was also fully human. Jesus was truly dead as a man and brought to life again by the Father. This picture also illustrates the nature of salvation, in which a person is dead to sin but brought to new life by the power and grace of God.

Matthew 28:8-10 The angel told the women to leave quickly, and they followed his instructions precisely. As they left, they encountered the risen Jesus. He greeted them with quite a low-key salutation for the situation (France, p. 1102). In the modern-day context, Jesus, who had been crucified unto death three days prior and was recently raised to life, spoke a friendly “hello” to women who had just witnessed a heavenly being, terrified guards, an earthquake, and most unusually, an empty tomb. Their fear and joy turned into spontaneous worship. The women bowed down and took hold of their risen Lord’s feet. This act reflects an attitude of reverence and a posture of worship. It also underlines the physical nature of Jesus’ resurrection. He was not a ghost or a hallucination; He was real (France, p. 1102; Blomberg, p. 428). By allowing the women to worship Him, Jesus acknowledged His deity and identity as Lord (Robertson; ESV, p. 1888).

Matthew 28:11-15 Scholars debate on whether the guards were Jewish guards or Roman soldiers temporarily “loaned” to the Jewish leaders. Whether the guards were Jewish or Roman is of little concern, but one should note that their primary purpose was to make sure that no one, specifically Jesus’ disciples, robbed His body from the tomb (Mt. 27:64). The Jewish leaders used this small regiment and sealed the tomb. Sealing a tomb usually involved stretching a cord across the stone and sealing it to the rock with clay. The soldiers would have likely been present for the sealing and then continued to guard the tomb (Vincent, p. 147).

By the time the guards were able to move again, they had witnessed amazing things, including an empty tomb. The very thing that the Jewish leaders wanted to prevent became the very lie they convinced the guards to tell—that Jesus’ body was stolen while the guards slept. Admitting to sleeping while on guard could have been punishable by death at worst and caused great damage to their reputations at best. The chief priests and elders bribed the guards with enough money to offset any issues and guaranteed their safety with the governor, indicating another bribe if necessary. “ . . . It [was] better to pretend that their plan to thwart Jesus’ disciples had failed than to admit the reality of the resurrection they knew his disciples would now claim as fact” (France, p. 1105). The guards had seen the truth but cowered under the weight of greed. The religious leaders knew the truth but cowered under pride. That they would go to such lengths to lie expresses the truth of the empty tomb; the priests could not deny that the tomb was empty. 

When we are faced with truth of Jesus’ resurrection, we have options on what to do with that truth. We can acknowledge the truth intellectually but fail to accept it as part of our lives; we can ignore it completely; we can deny it totally; or we can accept it as meaningful and do something with it. No matter how we respond, the truth is still the truth. We daily face a decision about Jesus’ resurrection: How do we respond to the resurrection? Do we accept it intellectually but fail to let it make a difference in our lives? Do we ignore the authority of the Bible and disregard the Bible completely? Do we allow it to change us? Each moment we live out a response to the risen Jesus. What do your students see as your response?

Students today are faced with the same question that Pilate posed to Jesus before the crucifixion: “What is truth?” (Jn. 18:38) They need to be grounded in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The crux of Christianity is founded upon the truth of His resurrection. Yet many today claim that it is a lie. It is okay to help students who are seeking the truth or have newly made a profession of faith, and those who are digging into the Scripture as they begin to own their faith, wrestle through the reality of the resurrection. And when they come face-to-face with the resurrection, they come face-to-face with Jesus. Help them to understand that their response isn’t merely intellectual but one that changes the rest of their lives on earth and for eternity.