Matthew 28:1-16

The soldiers: Matthew is the only Gospel writer that records the implementation and assignment of the guard to protect the tomb of Yeshua. He is the only writer that tells the story of the reaction of the guard to the resurrection. Matthew is the only writer that writes of this incredible witness. He also exposes the plot of the religious leaders to cover up the resurrection.

The other writers show the disciples reaching the tomb after the resurrection. It is only in Matthew’s account that we see eye witnesses to the fact of the resurrection. The eye witnesses that were in place were the Roman soldiers. No one else witnessed His resurrection. The guards shook with fear at the sight of the angels, not at the sight of the Messiah.  These soldiers were eyewitnesses and evidence that the resurrection had not been tampered with or falsified in any way.

We see them breaking out of their terror to run to the religious leaders with their story. What greater story could be told? They saw a dead man come back to life. They saw an angelic being sitting as a witness to the resurrection. They were credible witnesses. They had nothing to gain from telling their story. They also had everything to lose. They lost their prisoner. Their sentence was death by crucifixion.

The resurrection caused an immediate conference with the Jewish leaders. The chief priests and elders assembled to consider the problem. The soldiers were worth far more alive than dead. As dead men their witness was solid. The body was gone. In order to live, they were instructed to say that the disciples stole the body. They were to also claim that they were asleep. Both of these claims should have brought about their death. The religious leaders paid off the soldiers and convinced the governor to ignore the loss. I am quite certain that the governor was glad to wash his hands of the situation.

The time: Those of us who are Gentiles can easily misunderstand the timing of the resurrection. Matthew makes it clear that it took place on the first day of the week (Matt 28:1). This took place after the Sabbath. Remember, the Sabbath is over at sundown on Saturday night. I have heard it declared that Jesus rose from the dead sometime between sundown Saturday and daybreak Sunday. This preaches well, but is based on poor observation of the scriptures. The women went to the grave at or just before daybreak. Four accounts in the Gospels give the accounts of the women visiting the grave: two voting for just prior to daybreak and two voting for just after daybreak (Matt 28:1; Jn 20:1; Lk 24:1; Mk 16:2). None of the accounts have the women witnessing the resurrection. They witness the immediate effects of the resurrection. The angels were present testifying that Jesus had risen from the dead.

The women: Three women are mentioned in the scriptures, Mary Magdalene, the “other” Mary, and Salome (Matt 28:1; Mk 16:1; Jn 20:1). These were brave women in my estimation. First, they knew that they would face a guard of Roman soldiers. Second, they had to convince the soldiers to roll away the stone. Third, Jesus had been dead three days, decomposition would have started and the stench would have been pretty bad.

The women had an early start for the above reasons. They also may have had the early start since the day was a holy day. That day was not an ordinary first day of the week. It was the Feast of First Fruits. This is the day following the Sabbath after the Passover where the first fruit is offered to the Lord (Lev 23:11). This day was also designated as a Sabbath (Num 28:26). Although it was a Sabbath, it was a lesser Sabbath than the previous day. The women probably felt that prudence outweighed resting on the Feast of First Fruits. They knew that the body would start to decompose…

The Feast of First Fruits: Yeshua was the literal first fruit of living from the dead (1 Cor 15:20-23). He came to life from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits. Remember the way that the Jewish calendar works. Sundown Saturday to sundown Sunday is the first day of the week. Jesus rose from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits. He was the First Fruit to fulfill this holiday.

The message that the Angels give testify to this. “He has risen, look where he was lying, Jesus has gone ahead of you, go tell the disciples.”

There are two “Feasts of First Fruits” in the scriptures. The first one lands on the first day of the week following the Passover. This one is celebrated by the priest waving a sheaf before the Lord. The second one is celebrated fifty days later. At this one two loaves are waved before the Lord.

Yeshua was presented to the Chief Priests and Elders as having risen from the dead. The soldiers brought in the “sheaf” by bringing the news of the resurrection. The religious leaders were concerned that He might have his resurrection faked. They found out that it was a historical fact. Instead of embracing the truth, they covered it up.

Meeting the Risen Jesus: The women responded to Jesus with an act of worship. The Greek language uses the word “prosekyneo”, where we get the word “prostrate” from. The idea is that they fell on their faces before Jesus in worship. His message was simple. It reflected the same message that had been given centuries earlier to Joshua. “Do not be afraid any longer” (Josh 1:6-9; Rev 1:17). Yeshua reminded them to tell the disciples to meet Him in Galilee as he had previously told them (Matt 26:32).

The disciple’s worship: Matthew 28:16-17 The disciples responded in the same way that the women responded. They prostrated before Jesus in worship. Prior to the resurrection, the disciples did not prostrate before Jesus in worship. His resurrection proved to them that He was the Messiah. Jesus received the worship clarifying that He was worthy of worship. This is significant. Through the scriptures when angels were worshipped, they quickly stopped men from worshipping them. When God took on a human fleshly form, worship was given and received.

The Great Commission: Matt 28:18-20 Think back over the study of the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus taught Torah. He taught how to put Torah into action in everyday life.

His message was simple, go and make learners of all nations. Teach people to learn about the scriptures. This was followed with a command to baptize. Immersion was and is a common practice among the Jewish people. They immerse regularly in recognition of cleansing their souls from the effects of sin.

Yeshua’s baptism was different. It circled back to the same baptism that John preached. This immersion was one that drew people to return to Torah. It was a call to return to learning what God commanded. There was one difference. Yeshua promised to empower those who committed to learn His commands. This carried with it the awesome truth that “all authority” would dwell with His followers.

Matthew did not cover the rest of the incidents that we see in the other Gospels. His focus has been on teaching that Yeshua fulfilled and taught Torah. He didn’t just teach Torah to the Jews, He taught the Gentiles as well. The ending of his Gospel focuses upon this very fact. The way to follow Yeshua is to learn about Him, follow His commandments, and to be baptized with a baptism of repentance. In other words, turn from life as normal and turn to Torah. Yeshua’s teachings were all focused upon putting Torah into action.