Therefore… Go!
Matthew Chapter 28
Many Accounts
As far as the world is concerned, Christmas is much more important than Easter. The commercialization of Christmas is such that it seems as though the push for the next Christmas begins before we have cleared away the boxes and bows from the last. As far as the world is concerned, Easter is not so important. Easter sells no more candy than Halloween; it sells no more cards than Valentines Day, and the After Easter Sales are no bigger than the After President's Day Sales. Easter always comes on Sunday, so we do not even get a day off out of the deal.
But, as commonly occurs, the emphasis of the Bible is much different than the emphasis of the world.
The Easter story as we know it is pieced together from separate accounts. Unlike the Christmas story, which we know almost entirely from Luke (Luke 1:26-2:20) with some events from Matthew (Matthew 1:18-24), each of the Gospels contains the Easter story and each contributes to the story in a unique way. Even Paul tells the story. His account is very brief (1 Corinthians 15:1-8) but, since his letters were written before the Gospels, this is probably the first written record of the death and resurrection of our Lord.
In this lesson we will consider the Gospel origins of each of the familiar elements of the Easter story: the women, the stone, the guards, the tomb, the angels, the messengers, the disciples, Jesus himself, and the commission Jesus gave to his disciples. With each element, we will find that each Gospel presents differences in detail, but that they are in agreement in the truth and significance of the death and resurrection of Christ.
The Women
All of the accounts begin with women coming to the tomb immediately when the sabbath had ended. In the Jewish reckoning, a day begins at sunrise and continues to the next sunrise. As soon as they legally could, the women came with their spices for the grim task they expected, the preparation of the body they believed they would find, which would have lain dead for three days.
Who were these women? They are identified differently in the different gospels. According to Matthew (Matthew 28:1) they included Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary”, the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus (John 19:25) not the sister of Martha (John 11:1) Mark identifies this “Mary” as “Mary the mother of James” and also includes Salome (Mark 16:1, 9). Luke (Luke 24:10) includes These two “Marys” and also Joanna (Luke 8:1-3) and “others”. The Gospel of John focuses only on Mary Magdalene (John 20:1).
The Stone
There are also some differences in detail that each gospel to the stone that closed the tomb. As we understand it, the stone would have been too heavy for the women to move, and in addition it was sealed and guarded (Matthew 27:65-66). Matthew gives us the detail of the angel who moved the stone with a violent earthquake (Matthew 28:2-3). From his account, it sounds as though the women witnessed this event, but it does not say so definitively. Mark tells us that as they approached the tomb, the women wondered how they would gain access, but when they arrived they found the stone mysteriously moved away (Mark 16:3-4). Luke and John (Luke 24:2; John 20:1) simply mention that the stone had been removed.
The Tomb
Matthew does not mention any particular encounter with the empty tomb. Mark tells us that “the women” entered the tomb and encountered an angel (Mark 16:5). Luke tells us that the women entered the tomb and found it empty. Immediately, perhaps while they were in the tomb, they were joined by two angels (Luke 24:3). John gives us the wonderful account of the footrace between Peter and the other disciple who came to the tomb first, but did not enter, then entered and believed.
The Guards
Only Matthew mentions the guards (Matthew 28:5; 11-15). As we have mentioned earlier, Pilot instructed that the guard be placed at the tomb, and that the tomb be sealed. It is unclear whether these were Jewish guards, as indicated by their immediate report the the chief priests, or whether they were of the Roman guard, as indicated by their concern for how “the governor” would view their failure to adequately guard the tomb. In any event, the priests responded to their report by “throwing money at the problem” – an approach that worked as well then as it does today.
The Angles
We have already mentioned the record in Matthew of the angel the women encountered at the tomb (Matthew 28:2-7). Mark tells us of a “young man” who is seen inside the tomb (Mark 16:5-7). In Luke, we are told that the women encounter two “men” (Luke 24:4-7). John tells us of two “angels” but as we have already noted, John's account is focused entirely on Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-13).
The Messengers
In the unbelievable excitement which follows the encounter with the empty tomb, the Gospel accounts fragment even further in the people and events they choose to report. The basic story is that some of the women rush back to the disciples to tell them what they have found. In Matthew, these women are on their way back to the disciples when they encounter Jesus on the road (Matthew 28:8-10). Mark, perhaps providing two separate accounts, first tells us that the women went away afraid and told no one, then tells us that Mary Magdalene encountered Christ and went and told those who were mourning his death (Mark 16:6-10). In Luke, it appears the the entire group of women, the list of which have already seen, return from the tomb to tell the disciples (Luke 24:9-10). As we have mentioned John only identifies Mary Magdalene as the one who initially tells at least some of the disciples of the empty tomb, then later tells them of her encounter with the Lord.
The Disciples
For the most part, the disciples represent themselves very poorly in this story. Matthew tells us that even when they encountered the risen Lord, some doubted (Matthew 28:16-17). Mark simply tells us that they did not believe (Mark 16:11). Luke, the doctor, tells us that the disciples did not believe the women because they sounded “delirious” as if they were in the throws of illness (Luke 24:11-12). John tells us that the disciples were overjoyed, but only after Jesus appeared to them and showed them his wounds (John 20:19-20).
Jesus
Neither Matthew nor Luke give us any record of the actions of Jesus on the Day of Resurrection itself. Mark, as we have already seen, tells us that the Lord appeared to Mary Magdalene on that day, but does not provide any detail of the encounter (Mark 16:9). We have already mentioned that John records an encounter with the disciples that occurred on the Day of Resurrection. Before that, he also gives us a moving, personal account of Jesus and Mary Magdalene outside the tomb (John 20:14-18).
Commissions
Each of the Gospels gives us a unique account of the way in which Jesus commissioned his disciples (which include ourselves). In Mark, the commission includes mysterious references to snakes and poisons (Mark 16:15-18). Luke tells us that Jesus opened the minds of the disciples and simply declared them to be witnesses (Luke 24:45-49). John gives us an account of the very personal commission “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21-23).
What we now know as The Great Commission is found in Matthew (Matthew 28:16-20). In it Jesus tells us that we have the authority to do the will of God (Matthew 16:17-19, John 17:1-10). Further, we have the assurance that, as Jesus says “I am with you” – a reminder that Jesus is both the Great I Am and “God with us” (Exodus 3:14; Matthew 1:22-23).
The authority and assurance are given to us. It remains to us to go.
