Matthew 28:2, commentary and pictures

At the dawn toward the first day after the Sabbath, on the third day of His burial, a great earthquake shook the earth as the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled back the stone and sat upon it. The angel came in God's power and glory with countenance like lightning and raiment white as snow, a mighty angel sent direct from the heavenly courts who holds the place from which Satan fell. With a voice he called the Son of God to life, and Christ came forth in majesty as triumphant conqueror over death, proclaiming Himself the resurrection and the life while the angels bowed in adoration. The brightness of that glory caused the Roman guards to tremble and fall as dead men, yet they were permitted to endure the sight so they could see the stone moved and Christ risen and flee to bear witness of it. The stone was moved not to let Jesus out but to reveal that He had risen, proving His victory over death and the grave and Satan's power and restoring the race to favor with God.

Hour And Guarded Tomb

The hour was the end of the Sabbath as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, the darkest hour before daybreak while it was yet dark. It was the third day of Christ's burial, when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the sepulchre. At their arrival early on the first day the earth trembled, the stone was found already removed, the Roman guard was gone, and the tomb lay open and empty. The shaking came as two angels came down together to the sepulchre, the earth trembling and quaking at their approach.

Jesus lay in Joseph's new tomb behind a great stone, with the crucified Saviour guarded in death by Roman soldiers. The stone placed at the mouth of the cave had been sealed with the Roman seal, and the soldiers kept their weary watch to keep the body from being stolen. All the precautions of guards and Roman arms to secure the tomb could not confine Him, but only made the truth of the resurrection more fully established and became strong evidence that He had risen.

Unseen evil angels were gathered around the tomb, and would have kept it sealed forever and held the Son of God shut there if it had been possible. Against them a heavenly host guarded the resting-place through the night, watching over it and waiting to welcome the Prince of Life. They had been told they would act in His release and had been assigned a part in His resurrection. These guarding angels had been unseen witnesses of all that took place in the mock trial in the judgment hall, where every action was noted and every taunt recorded, and one angel among them had power enough to strike down the entire Roman army.

Angel Descends With Earthquake

A great earthquake accompanied the descent of the angel of the Lord from heaven, and the earth trembled and shook at his approach. The quaking marked the moment Christ took up His life again in triumph, just as an earthquake had marked the moment He laid down His life at His death. It came in the resurrection morning while it was yet dark, and forms part of the evidence surrounding the resurrection which the leaders knowingly tried to conceal.

The angel came in God's power and glory, clothed in heaven's panoply, with bright beams of glory going before him and lighting his way and parting the darkness from his track. His countenance was like lightning and his raiment white as snow, and his heavenly light was so overwhelming that all who saw it fell as though dead. His speed and power made the earth tremble like a mighty earthquake, and even his feet made the ground quake as he approached the tomb. The brightness of God's glory in him caused the Roman guards to shake, quake, lose strength, and fall as dead men.

He was a mighty angel commissioned by the Father and sent direct from the heavenly courts to the grave. He is the angel who announced Christ's birth at Bethlehem and holds the position from which Satan fell. One such angel had power enough to strike down the entire Roman army, so the soldiers keeping their weary watch were powerless before him.

Two angels came down together to the sepulchre, one the mighty angel flying swiftly from heaven with face like lightning and garments white as snow, the other one of the host who had witnessed Christ's humiliation and watched His resting-place. The earth trembled and shook as they approached, causing the great earthquake, and the light dispersed the darkness and caused the evil angels who claimed the body to flee in terror. Other angels who had been guarding the resting-place then came to the grave, and the angel who moved the stone and seated himself upon it was accompanied afterward by another who had guarded the body and entered the tomb.

Stone Rolled Away Seated

The immense stone was rolled back from the door of the tomb and the angel sat upon it, opening the tomb with heavenly power that overcame every obstacle before it. The work was done with ease, as though the great sealing stone were only a pebble, and the seated angel displayed the might by which the tomb was opened. The rolling away was accompanied by a great earthquake, with countenance like lightning and raiment white as snow, so that the keepers shook for fear and became as dead men. The event belongs to the proof that Christ was risen, which the Jewish leaders knowingly tried to conceal by paying the guards to give false testimony.

The stone was moved as the resurrection took place, marking the moment Christ took up His life again. It was not moved to enable Jesus to leave the tomb, for He did not need the opening to come forth. It was moved so the angel could enter the tomb, and so the open tomb would reveal that Jesus had risen and was no longer there.

When the women came to see the sepulchre the stone had already been moved, the Roman guard was gone, and the tomb was found open and empty with Jesus' body gone. The earth shook as the angel descended and rolled the immense stone away, striking the guards powerless, and after the light faded and they recovered they found the tomb empty and His body gone, confirming that He had risen. The angel who had moved the stone was later seen at the tomb, and the discovery of the open sepulchre is joined to the angels' announcement that Jesus has risen and their instruction to tell the disciples that He will go before them into Galilee.

That same angel who rolled away the stone later appeared to the women in a gentler form, clothed in shining garments so as not to frighten them. Even so they were still terrified by the glory surrounding him.

Christ Rises Triumphant

The stone was rolled away and with a voice the Son of God was called to life, bidden to come forth because His Father called Him. The great earthquake accompanied that descent from heaven, and the angel came clothed in heaven's power and glory. He was the mightiest angel, commissioned by the Father and sent direct from heaven, his feet making the ground quake, his face shining like lightning and his garments white as snow. He rolled away the stone as easily as a pebble and sat upon it, and the brightness of God's glory caused the Roman guards to fall as dead men, yet they were permitted to endure the sight so they could bear witness to the resurrection. Satan's triumph at the burial ended because no power could keep Jesus in the grave.

Jesus then came forth from the grave in majesty and glory as a triumphant conqueror over death. Over the opened tomb He proclaimed that He is the resurrection and the life. The angels who had guarded His resting-place bowed in adoration before Him and praised Him when He came forth from His prison house. Inside the tomb He unbound and carefully folded the burial wrappings and placed them in order, so the empty tomb and the orderly clothes testified that He had risen. The stone had been sealed with the Roman seal, but it was removed with ease like a pebble, and the soldiers were powerless before that glory and overwhelmed by it.

Christ did not remain long under the power of the enemy after tasting death for every person. He came forth bringing a multitude of captives out of their graves with Him. The graves opened at the mighty earthquake, the same shaking that marked the moment He took up His life again in triumph just as an earthquake had marked His death. This company rising with Him went into the city and appeared to many, testifying that Christ is risen and that they were called from the grave by His power. Their raising gives evidence of the final resurrection of those who sleep in Jesus.

Guards Fall And Witness

The brightness of God's glory in the angel overwhelmed the Roman guards, causing them to shake with fear, quake and tremble, lose strength, and fall to the earth as dead men, powerless and unable to stand or resist His power. The angel came clothed in heaven's power and glory, with countenance like lightning and raiment white as snow, and his heavenly light shone around brighter than the sun. That light dispersed the darkness and caused the evil angels who had claimed the body of Jesus to flee in terror, while the armies of Satan fled. The earth trembled and shook at the angel's approach, for a great earthquake accompanied his descent from heaven to roll back the stone from the door and sit upon it.

The guards were nevertheless permitted to endure the sight so they could bear witness to the resurrection. They saw the angel roll back the rock and take his seat upon it, saw Jesus rise as a mighty conqueror and triumphant Conqueror, heard Him proclaim Himself the resurrection and the life, and recognized Him as the Son of God, the Majesty of heaven and King of glory. When they recovered and rose they fled in great fear and hastened from the garden to relate all that took place, testifying to Christ's resurrection and to the multitude He brought forth from their graves with Him. After the light and heavenly songs had faded they found the tomb empty and Jesus' body gone, confirming that He had risen.

The guards and Roman arms with all precautions to secure the tomb could not confine Him, but those very precautions became strong evidence that He had risen and made the truth of the resurrection more fully established. The Jewish leaders and priests knowingly tried to conceal the proof by having the soldiers brought first to them, giving large money, and paying them to say His disciples came by night and stole Him away while they slept, promising to persuade the governor and secure them. The priests thus spread a false account that the disciples had stolen the body to conceal God's power revealed in the angel's glory. Yet the evil work did not triumph, for the graves opened at the mighty earthquake gave up their captives when the Conqueror came forth, and this multitude went into the city and appeared to many, testifying that Christ is risen and that they were called from the grave by His power.

Truth Proved And Taught

Matthew 28:2 is proof that Christ was risen, recording the great earthquake at the sepulchre when the angel descended, rolled back the stone and sat upon it as Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb at the end of the Sabbath as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week. It belongs to the distinct history given in Matthew 28 of the resurrection and of the meeting Christ appointed with His disciples after His resurrection just before His ascension, to the promised ministration of the Holy Spirit and the earnest of the spirit of life through Christ that every soul needs now, and to the brighter chapter after His suffering and death. Together with Matthew 17, Matthew 26:26-75, and Matthew 27 it sets forth Christ as a risen Saviour, and faithful study of it blesses the soul. The precautions meant to secure the tomb could not confine Him but became strong evidence that He had risen, forming part of the evidence surrounding the resurrection which the Jewish leaders and priests knowingly tried to conceal by paying the guards to give false testimony that the disciples had stolen the body. The angel's heavenly light was so overwhelming that the Roman guards fell as though dead, revealing God's power in the opening of the tomb at the hour of His release.

The earthquake and the angel's descent accompany Christ's resurrection and mark the victory won for humanity through Him, the source of life. He did not remain long under the power of the enemy after tasting death for every person, but came forth as a triumphant conqueror over death when the stone was rolled back in triumph and the angel's call announced that death could no longer hold Him and that the Father summoned Him to come forth. He rose from the tomb in divine power and glory, accompanied by angels, in a union in which deity and humanity are united. In that rising He takes back the world Satan claimed as his territory and through giving His life restores the human race to favor with God.

The stone rolled away as He rose confirms that no sin had tainted His character. Had He sinned He would have remained in the grave and the guilty world would have perished, but death conquered Him only briefly and He emerged its triumphant conqueror.

The opening of the tomb by heaven shows the impotence of kings and rulers against Christ slain for the sins of the world. A heavenly host guarded the sepulchre after enemies had rolled a great stone before the door, sealed it and set a guard, and that opening overcame the prince of darkness with his apostate army who would have kept the tomb holding the Son of God shut forever if possible. Those angels had been unseen witnesses of the mock trial in the judgment hall where every action was noted and every taunt recorded. Satan's triumph at the burial ended because no power could keep Jesus in the grave, as the Roman guards watched a mighty angel come down enshrouded in streams of God's glory, move the stone as easily as a pebble, and call the Son of God to come forth because His Father called Him, until Jesus came out and declared over the opened tomb that He is the resurrection and the life. The tremendous demonstration was made before the guard who saw and understood it all yet had no power against it and fell prostrate, proving that against Satan's apparent victory and all temptation there is armed might and power from God to resist.

The glory falling upon the Roman guards struck them down as dead men because they beheld it but could not endure it. That proves that no angel could do the work of bringing man into close connection with God by taking human nature, and that had Christ come with even the glory of angels He would have extinguished humanity. Therefore He laid aside the royal crown and royal robe and clothed His divinity with humanity so that humanity might touch humanity, dispute Satan's claim as prince of the world, and rescue the race from his oppressive power.

Prophecy Promise And Practice

The quake at the tomb marks the moment Christ took up His life again in triumph, just as a quake had marked the moment He laid down His life in death. The earth trembled and shook as He rose in triumph over death and the grave. That shaking points forward to His return, when earth and heaven will be shaken, and amid that upheaval the Lord will be the hope and strength of His people.

The raising of many from the dead at that time gives evidence of the final resurrection of those who sleep in Jesus. When Christ came forth He proclaimed over the opened tomb, I am the resurrection and the life, which means that those who live in obedience reflecting honor to the Creator and die in Christ He will faithfully raise to immortality at the last day when He comes to call His own to Himself. His resurrection and His appearances to His sorrowing disciples revived their hopes after His death and burial.

The resurrection glory with the angel descending, rolling away the stone, and sitting upon it followed a night of prayer. When preparing for some great trial or some important work He would resort to the solitude of the mountains and spend the night in prayer to His Father, and that glory was prepared for by prayer.

The Roman guards could not endure the heavenly light but fell to the earth as though dead, showing that sinful, unprepared people cannot endure the glory of God. Moral fitness must therefore be gained before the judgment and not after probation closes. Saints must share largely in the glory of God through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit before the second advent, to prepare them to stand before the Son of God when He comes with all the holy angels with Him and to endure the brightness that destroys the man of sin. The glory of even one angel at the tomb was so overwhelming that the same display would have made royal pomp and pride pale and brought a king and his courtiers to the ground.

The angel rolling away the stone is an example of holy angels actively helping and delivering God's people, coming clothed with heaven's power and taking an active part in deliverance. The verse belongs to the promised ministration of the Holy Spirit from which Christian experience is to be gained, the earnest of the spirit of life through Christ that every soul needs now. By partaking of His nature people may receive the impress of Jehovah and stand as witnesses before men and angels and before the whole army of the powers of darkness to the efficacy of a crucified Saviour.

The salvation thus opened after suffering and death means a life that measures with the life of God. Faithful study of it corrects the thought of suffering more than Christ suffered or paying a higher price for faith than Christ paid, and no sacrifice for that salvation is too high a price. Those who receive it must be willing to make special sacrifices to save souls that are ready to perish if they would be counted worthy to enter into the city of God.