The life & killing of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:1-10)

The Killing of Jesus

Questions to be answered in this study

1. What are the three things most significant to the Christian faith, the capstone without which there would be no faith or hope?
2. What proof do we have that Jesus rose from the grave?
3. In what way was Mary the mother of Jesus like everyone else?
4. What is true faith?
5. What is the Biblical reason for not being afraid?
6. When John entered the tomb, what convinced him that Jesus had arisen?
7. Why did Jesus want the disciples to meet Him in Galilee rather than Jerusalem?
8. Who was first to see Jesus alive after the resurrection?
9. What finally convinced the disciples that Jesus had arisen from the grave?
10. What is the difference in our promised resurrection and the resurrection of Jesus?

Introduction

It has been a long time since we started the study of Matthew nearly two and a half years ago, but out of 1,071 verses, we have only 20 verses to go. I said at the beginning of this study that Matthew was the most important book of the Bible. According to the apostle Paul, the death, burial, and resection of Jesus are the three things most significant to the Christian faith; they are, in fact, the capstone without which there would be no hope. Of those three essential things, we have now studied two, and today we embark upon the third, the resurrection of Christ, which is the central truth of Scripture without which everything would be in vain. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:14, “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” Our hope rests on the resurrection of Jesus; if there was no resurrection, nothing else in this world would matter; that would mean that death was the end, and there would be nothing more, but thanks be to God there is hope because Christ did rise from the grave, and there is more than enough proof. Besides the women and the disciples who saw Jesus after His resurrection, according to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 500 others also saw Him at one time.

           In the previous lesson, we looked at verse 1 of chapter 28 to prove that Jesus died on Thursday and not Friday, the date held traditionally, but that is by no means the main thrust of this final chapter of Matthew nor the main point of verse 1. The main point of the entire chapter is Christ came forth from the dead, alive.

           We now look at how that happened:

Matthew 28:1-4, “In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 3His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: 4And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.”

As during the crucifixion of Jesus, His resurrection is also marked by lighting and an earthquake. In verse 1, the two Mary’s, Mary Magdalene, and Mary, mother of Jesus, came to the tomb at daybreak, the first day of the week. Mary Magdalene is mainly the crucial part of this story. Mathew calls one of the Mary’s the other Mary, but we know from the other gospels she was the mother of Jesus. She had the honor of being the earthly mother of Jesus, but the honor stopped there. She was like everyone else, a lost sinner who needed to be saved by the grace of God. To elevate Mary theologically is Idolatry; on this occasion, Matthew avoids that by simply saying the other Mary.

The reason these women came to the tomb early on Sunday morning was not to discover that Jesus rose but to finish the burial preparations for Jesus; although, it seems that Joseph and Nicodemus had done a thorough job preparing for the burial of Jesus as according to John 19:39-40: “And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred-pound weight. 40Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.”

The women purchased spices Saturday night after the Sabbath. They might not have known that the Romans had sealed the tomb on Saturday and placed a guard there. But even if the tomb had not been sealed and guarded, it would have been impossible for the women to have rolled the stone away, which sealed the tomb’s entrance. Mark says the women had this in mind as they went to the tomb; they wondered who would roll the stone away for them. They went knowing there was an obstacle, but they had just overcome a significant obstacle three days before getting the body of Jesus buried before the 6:00 PM deadline on Thursday. So, perhaps they expected another miracle. By coming to the tomb on this early Sunday morning, these women witnessed the greatest miracle of all time, the resurrection of Jesus. It is already established that these women had great faith. God’s definition of faith is based on the hope of God’s revealed word, which is the evidence of things not seen. True faith continues even though the destination is not seen; it is believed and based on substance; the substance in this case is the Word of God, its fulfilled promises; God can always be depended on to keep His promises. It is the greatest motivation for us to continue even in dire circumstances when we cannot see the future.

We may think that we are essential to the work of God when we are not needed at all. The truth is that God allows us to be involved with Him in His kingdom work. All that happened to Jesus would have taken place without the help of anyone, but God allowed others to be part of His great work of redemption. God has given us an excellent opportunity to serve Him, but we must walk by faith, ignoring the critics and even what seems to be the valid reasons at times to do nothing. The direction God calls us to take might seem impossible, but when we take it anyway, a miracle could occur.  

These women did not know how they would find access to the tomb, but they went anyway, expecting God to provide the way, which He did in a way not expected. He sent an Angel to remove the stone, not so Jesus could come out of the tomb, but so the women could go in and see that Jesus had arisen. The Angel remained to explain to the women concerning the resurrection.

           When the women arrive at the tomb, they find the guards on the ground unconscious and the tomb open. The other gospels give us some additional information that Matthew leaves out. Mary Magdalene was the first to the grave, but she did not enter but instead ran to tell the other disciples. Her first thought was that the body of Jesus had been stolen. A little later, the other Mary and Salome arrived and were the first to enter the tomb; this is where Mathew takes up the narative:

Matthew 28:5-8, “But the Angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7And go quickly and tell His disciples that He rises from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” 8So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.”

The Angel greets the women with, “Do not be afraid.” There are 213 Bible verses about not being afraid; yet, we are often afraid for no good reason when considering that God is with us, the most incredible power in the universe. On this occasion, the Angel informs the women that Jesus has risen from the dead as He had promised. The Angel invites them to go in and look for themselves; they see the empty stone bench in the cave and the linen wrappings lying in place with the facial napkin folded and laying aside. What they see is more than impressive. The Linen wrappings lay on the bench where the body of Jesus lay in the shape of a body. We see this born out when Peter and John came into the tomb; the Bible says in John 20:8, “Then went in also that other disciple, [John] which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw and believed.”So, when John saw the arrangement of the grave clothes, his mind had no doubt that Jesus rose. It was the order of the linen strips that caused him to believe. The Bible says John saw “the linen strips lying,” which means they were just as they appeared when the body had lain in them. In other words, the grave clothes have precisely the positioned the body occupied. Preparing a body for burial was like that of the Egyptians. In the case of Jesus, Joseph and Nicodemus used a hundred pounds of spices as they layered the body of Jesus with strips of Linen, which formed a sort of a cocoon. 

Another unique thing was the napkin that covered the face of Jesus, which was folded and lain to the side; this had a message also. It was a custom when someone was dining at the table, if they needed to leave the table for any reason, to leave a message for the servants by using the napkin in a certain way. If they intended to return, the napkin lay wadded, but if they were not planning to return, the napkin was neatly folded. In the case of Jesus, the napkin was neatly folded and laid aside, indicating He would never again return to the grave.

The last thing the Angel tells the women is to go to the disciples and ask them to meet Jesus in Galilee. Jesus wanted the disciples to escape Jerusalem and the Romans and Pharisees; this would give them a safe place for Jesus to provide them with final instructions. The disciples have been told by Jesus several times that He would resurrect from the grave, but they still need convincing that He has; so, while Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Salome are still talking to the Angel, Mary Magdalene is with the disciples trying to convince them that she saw the tomb of Jesus open. The men won’t believe her, nor will they go see for themselves. For no good reason, women were not considered trustworthy at that time in history.

After a while, Mary and Salome also come to the disciples and tell them about their encounter with the Angel at the tomb. With this additional information, Peter and John decide to go to the tomb and see for themselves what is happening. As the women told them, when they arrived at the tomb they find it empty but no angel; they see the grave clothes lying in place in the shape of the body of Jesus and the napkin folded and lying aside. As I said earlier, this convinced John that Jesus had risen. Then Peter and John return to the disciples and confirm what the women had reported. Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene returns to the tomb to find not one Angel but two, and then suddenly, Mary turns to see Jesus alive. She is overwhelmed with joy and attempts to embrace Jesus, but He commands her not touch Him but return to the disciples and inform them once again to meet Him in Galilee. Why did Jesus ask Mary not to touch Him at this time when He allowed others to touch Him later?  The reason is found in the High Priest’s duty in the earthly tabernacle, He would only enter the Holy of Holies once a year to cleanse it. On that day, no one was allowed to touch him until he had completed that work. So, Jesus being our High Priest tells Mary she is not permitted to touch Him – as He is at that moment– because He had not yet  ascended to the Father to complete His atoning work, which He had done by the time others were allowed to touch Him.

When you consider the culture of that day of how women received no honor and were not even regarded as trustworthy, it is interesting that Mary Magdalene was the first to see Jesus. If the resurrection were fabricated, it would be ironic to have a woman be the first witness to it. Although, it was unnecessary because many would witness the reality that Jesus was alive before He ascended into heaven. As I said earlier, God chose to have these faithful women to be a chain of custody as proof of the authenticity of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. These women had stood with Jesus through His trial while the disciples were in hiding. They were at the cross when He was crucified, responsible for taking care of the details of His burial, then the first to the tomb at dawn on Sunday to see the empty tomb and to talk with the angels. Mary Magdalene had the honor of being the first to see the resurrected Lord. 

Twice, the women reported to the disciples that they saw the empty tomb of Jesus and talked with the angels at the tomb. They also received a report from Mary Magdaline, who saw Jesus and spoke to Him alive. Even though they had eyewitnesses, who even saw Jesus alive, they still could not believe except for John. Finally, they went and saw the empty tomb for themselves and still could not believe that Jesus was resurrected, and they refused Jesus’ instructions to meet Him in Galilee. It was not until Jesus appeared before them that they finally believed as recorded in John 20:19-23.

Jesus was alive again, and that is our assurance as believers that when we die, it will not be the end because, like Jesus, we shall be resurrected from the grave. That is the message Paul recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:16-22: “For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18Then they also which are fallen as in Christ are perished. 19If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 20But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

And in Luke 16, Jesus says our spirit will be escorted by angels into the presence of God when we die. Unlike the resurrection of Jesus, whose spirit returned to the same body, when we die and are resurrected to life, we will receive a new glorified body designed to last all eternity, a body that is never sick and never ages, is sinless, and will never die.

Those who do not believe in Jesus will one day be resurrected, receive a new body, stand before the Great White Throne of God to be judged for their sin, and then cast alive into the lake of fire, a place of torment where they will remain for all eternity. The greatest tragedy in all the world is to reject Christ; it has eternal consequences that can never be rescinded. If you have never placed your faith in Jesus, don’t put it off another minute; thrust Him now while you still have life.