Matthew 28:9, commentary and pictures

On resurrection morning as Mary Magdalene and the other Mary ran quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy to carry the angel's word to the disciples, Jesus Himself met them on the way and greeted them. They recognized Him, came to Him, held Him by the feet and worshiped Him, and He told them not to fear but to go tell His brethren to go into Galilee where they would see Him. Their holding His feet and worshiping Him shows He had truly risen in a body that could be approached and was worthy of worship. He accepted their worship because He had already ascended to His Father, received His approval, and been worshiped by the holy angels. By so appearing to the weeping women He made them His first messengers to carry and spread the good news that He was risen, and His greeting assured them that He had not cast them off.

Resurrection Morning Encounter

As Mary Magdalene and the other Mary ran quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy to bring the disciples the angel's word that Jesus was risen from the dead and would go before them into Galilee, Jesus Himself met them on the way and greeted them with All hail. They recognized Him, came to Him, held Him by the feet and worshiped Him, affirming that He had truly risen and could be physically approached. He told them not to be afraid but to go tell His brethren to go into Galilee where they would see Him, welcoming them and showing He had not cast them off.

This was His appearance to the women before He revealed Himself to the eleven, and the appointment in Galilee was for a public meeting with His brethren on resurrection day. The message to meet in Galilee repeated what He had told them before His death in the upper room and what was given at the tomb on the morning of the resurrection with Peter named by name. The disciples did not go at once because absence from Jerusalem during Passover week would have been taken as disaffection and heresy, so they stayed and gathered evenings in the upper room where Jesus appeared to them twice and told them to remain for a time in Jerusalem. As soon as the Passover ended they left Jerusalem for Galilee as directed, seven of them together in the humble dress of fishermen, poor in worldly goods but rich in knowledge and practice of the truth. The angel's specific direction to tell Peter shows that his remorse after denying Jesus was understood and met with compassion, his repentance was accepted and his sin forgiven.

What Worship and Greeting Mean

Their clasping of His feet and bowing before Him declares that He had indeed risen from death and deserved worship as the living Lord who could be truly neared and touched. That worship was received because He had already gone up to His Father, obtained His Father's endorsement, and been adored by the holy angels. His warm greeting and His assurance that the disciples would see Him in Galilee declare that He embraced them still and had not rejected them.

When He rose and showed Himself to His grieving followers, their hope came alive again, for the Saviour they had lost was found once more. The meeting displays the true worth of heartfelt trust in His personal reality even when unseen, apprehended by the eye of faith, and points to the Christian experience to be received through the ministry of the Holy Spirit promised in the twenty-eighth chapter of Matthew.

The verse belongs to the brighter chapter following His suffering and reveals the Lord of glory giving Himself in boundless sacrifice to open the way by which rescue is possible, a salvation that signifies a life commensurate with the life of God. None endures more than Christ endured or pays a greater cost for faith than Christ paid, and fitness to enter the city of God calls for readiness to make distinct sacrifices to rescue perishing souls, a vision that diligent study of the gospels imparts as blessing to the soul.

First Messengers and Mission

The risen Jesus met the women as they went to tell His disciples, appearing to the weeping women, greeting them, and being held by the feet and worshiped by them. In so appearing to them He made them His messengers. He made them His first messengers to carry and spread the good news, the glad news, that He was risen. This belongs to the distinct history of the appointed time and place to meet His disciples in Galilee just before He ascended. It is part of the resurrection events and of communion with Him that came before they went forth to serve on their mission.

He met His followers in resurrection glory, a glory entered only after resorting to the solitude of the mountains to spend the night in prayer to His Father. That meeting was one of the times of communion with the Saviour that prepared the disciples for going forth on their mission and for the power and glory of Pentecost. It shows that divine communion comes before acts of power. The Jewish denial of this resurrection was not for lack of evidence and not from ignorance of the truth, but from a deliberate desire to keep the people from knowing the truth. If the truth were known the leaders would stand forth as murderers, showing that 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.