Matthew 28:1, commentary and pictures

In the end of the Sabbath as dawn began toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb, with other women at times approaching from another direction. They came to look upon the burial place and to finish anointing the body with spices prepared before the Sabbath, without expecting Him to rise, and found the great stone rolled away, the guard gone, and the tomb empty in shining light. A great earthquake attended the descent of an angel bright as lightning who declared that the crucified Jesus was risen as He said and sent them to tell the disciples He would go before them into Galilee, and Jesus Himself then met the women and directed them to send His brethren to Galilee. That morning turns grief to revived hope by proving Christ's victory over death and the hope of life through Him. The verse calls the resurrection day only the first day of the week while calling the day before it the Sabbath, and gives no ground for making Sunday sacred in its honor, since rising on that day did not alter God's law or change the Sabbath, whose fitting memorials are new life in believers shown in the Lord's supper and in baptism.

Visit at Dawn

Matthew 28:1 places the visit at the end of the Sabbath as dawn began toward the first day of the week, early in the morning after the Sabbath was past and before it was fully light. It was the close of the Sabbath with the first day beginning to dawn when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. Their coming opens the brighter chapter after suffering and burial and leads into the announcement that Jesus had risen.

The visitors named are Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, accompanied at times by other women approaching from another direction. Mary found the body gone and hurried to tell Peter and the beloved disciple, while the other women arriving from another direction also found the tomb empty. They came to see the tomb and to continue preparing the body for burial with spices prepared before the Sabbath and prepared the day before the Sabbath. They came very early with spices to anoint His body, without expecting Him to rise from the dead.

As they approached they saw that the great stone was rolled away from the entrance and that a light was shining about the tomb. The earth was trembling, the Roman guard was gone, and the tomb was empty with the body of Jesus not there. A great earthquake attended the descent of the angel of the Lord from heaven, who rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it, with countenance like lightning and raiment white as snow. For fear of him the keepers shook and became as dead men.

The angel told the women not to fear, that Jesus which was crucified was not there but was risen as He said, invited them to see the place where the Lord lay, and sent them quickly to tell His disciples He was risen from the dead and would go before them into Galilee where they would see Him. They departed quickly with fear and great joy to bring word, Jesus met them saying All hail, they held Him by the feet and worshiped Him, and He told them not to be afraid but to tell His brethren to go into Galilee. Angels told them Jesus had risen and directed them to report this to His disciples, the disciples initially did not believe the report, but went to the tomb and found that Jesus was gone.

The sealed tomb and Roman guard had been set to prevent the disciples from removing the body, and the strict discipline of the guard made a secret removal harder to explain. The precautions intended to prevent deception instead more fully established the truth and magnified the triumph of the resurrection. Meanwhile some of the watch told the chief priests all that was done, and the priests with the elders bribed the soldiers with large money to say His disciples came by night and stole Him away while they slept, promising to persuade the governor and secure them, and that saying was commonly reported among the Jews. The denial of Christ's resurrection was not for lack of evidence and not because the Jews were ignorant of the truth, but because they desired to keep the people from knowing the truth, for if the truth were known they would stand forth as murderers; false teachers are ever afraid to trust the people with knowledge and ever seek to hide the facts that would show the error of their position.

Resurrection Triumph Revealed

Matthew 28:1 gives proof that Christ was risen, part of the wondrous things opened out of the Word even in this life. It places Mary Magdalene and the other Mary coming to see the tomb at the end of the Sabbath as dawn approached toward the first day of the week. It opens the brighter chapter following suffering and burial, leading into the announcement of resurrection.

That visit turns grief after death and burial into revived hope, as the sorrowing disciples found their Saviour again. The announcement establishes victory over death and the hope of life given through Him. Christ had rested in the tomb on the Sabbath day and rose on the morning of the first day of the week to renew His work of teaching His disciples. That resurrection morning was the brightest morning ever dawned upon a fallen world, yet it was of no greater importance to man than the day of His trial and crucifixion.

It was no marvel to the heavenly host that He who controlled the power of death and had life in Himself should awaken from the sleep of the grave, but it was a marvel to them that their loved Commander should die for rebellious men. The verse begins the distinct history of the meeting appointed with the disciples after the resurrection just before the ascension. It belongs to the chapter holding the promised ministration of the Holy Spirit from which Christian experience is gained, the earnest of the spirit of life through Christ needed now. That provision leaves no excuse for departing from the faith to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, with Jesus close beside those who view His unseen personality by the eye of faith.

The resurrection glory set forth from the verse came after a night of prayer. He prepared for every great trial and important work by going alone into the solitude of the mountains and spending the night in prayer to His Father, and the resurrection morning was no exception. After the resurrection Jesus appeared to the weeping women and made them His messengers.

First Day Not Sabbath

The day on which Christ rose is called only the first day of the week, the same title given to that day in five other New Testament texts, while the day before it is called the Sabbath. Though written years after the resurrection, it says nothing about Sunday being the Sabbath or the Lord's day, and nothing about its being a sacred day or a replacement for the Sabbath.

It gives no ground for Sunday sacredness in honor of the resurrection, because the disciples did not believe He had risen and did not meet to celebrate Him. Two disciples spent that day traveling to Emmaus, and the rest were gathered in their own lodging with doors shut for fear of the Jews. The resurrection on the first day did not alter God's law or change the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first. There is no scriptural command or apostolic example for treating the resurrection day as the Christian Sabbath, and the claim rests on tradition, while the resurrection itself gives strong evidence that the law remains unchanged.

Rising on the first day does not consecrate that day or make it a Sabbath. The fitting memorial of the resurrection is the power of new life in believing children, not a weekly holy day. Its appointed memorials are the Lord's supper, showing the Lord's death till He come, and baptism, in which the repentant believer goes down into the water in the likeness of Christ's death and burial and is raised in the likeness of His resurrection to live a new life apart from the old life of sin. Christ did not use a whole day in rising as He did in resting at creation.