Matthew 28

1. The day after the Sabbath day was the first day of the week. At dawn on the first day, Mary Magdalene and another woman named Mary went to look at the tomb.

The men are too afraid to go to the tomb but the women decide they have nothing to lose!

2 – 4

At that time there was a strong earthquake. An angel of the Lord came down from heaven. The angel went to the tomb and rolled the stone away from the entrance. Then he sat on the stone.

He was shining as bright as lightning. His clothes were white as snow. The soldiers guarding the tomb were very frightened of the angel. They shook with fear and then became like dead men.

They could move the stone without help. The original language says that the stone was “thrown away” from the tomb. The soldiers lied about this later so we see that even seeing angel does change a hard heart.

5 – 7

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus, the one who was killed on the cross. But he is not here. He has risen from death as he said he would. Come and see the place where his body was.
And go quickly and tell his followers. Say to them: ‘Jesus has risen from death. He is going into Galilee. He will be there before you. You will see him there.’” Then the angel said, “Now I have told you.”

For You will not leave My soul among the dead or allow Your Holy One to decay in the grave. Psalm 16:10

As Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. Matthew 12:40

After two days will He revive us: in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight. Hosea 6:2

8. The women left the tomb quickly. They were afraid, but they were also very happy. They ran to tell Jesus’ followers what had happened.

They were happy and afraid at the same time!

9 – 10

Suddenly, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings.” The women came up to Jesus, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go on to Galilee. They will see me there.”

Pay attention to how the Lord tells us something we must do. First all of, the men have to trust what the words that the women told them. Next, they have to go to Galilee. Obey first and understand later.

11 – 15

The women went to tell Jesus’ followers. At the same time, some of the soldiers who had been guarding the tomb went into the city. They went to tell the leading priests everything that had happened. Then the priests met with the Jewish elders and made a plan. They paid the soldiers a large amount of money.

They said to the soldiers, “Tell the people that Jesus’ followers came during the night and stole the body while you were asleep. If the governor hears about this, we will satisfy him and save you from trouble.” So the soldiers kept the money and obeyed the priests. And that story is still spread among the Jews even today.

There is no way that the soldiers would have gone to sleep because they knew that the Pharisees were afraid that the disciples would come and take the body. They also knew that they would be killed by their captain if this happened. Also, how can they say that the disciples took the body? If they were sleeping then they would not be able to see who took the body.

A meeting with the leaders was called, and they decided to give the soldiers a lot of money. They told the soldiers, “You must say, ‘Jesus’ disciples came during the night while we were sleeping, and they took His body.’

16 – 17

The 11 followers went to Galilee. They went to the mountain where Jesus told them to go. On the mountain they saw Jesus and worshiped him. But some of them did not believe that it was really Jesus.

The devil brings doubts to all Christians. The devil suggests that maybe God has not meant the things we read in the Bible. God lets you make up your mind about the things you do not understand. Go back to what you know God has done and the devil will leave you!

18 – 20

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All power in heaven and on earth is given to me. So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey everything that I have told you. You can be sure that I will be with you always. I will continue with you until the end of the world.”

The original language gives the idea “as you are going!” This means that we bring the Gospel everywhere that we are going! We see that Jesus told us not only to bring the Gospel but teach people His Words. We need to walk through life with people if we are going to show people how and why God’s Words are important in their daily lives.