Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:
(Matthew 28:1) In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the sepulchre.
At the end of the last chapter, Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Joseph, had witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and His burial in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea. They came back to see the sepulchre at dawn "in the end of the sabbath." The Jews numbered their days from sunset to sunset, so this must be the Roman calculation of time to be early in the morning. However, according to the Jewish counting of days, Jesus would have then been in the tomb three days, or parts of three days, the evening of the first, the following day, and at this time, the first part of the third day.
(2) And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.
There was a great earthquake at that time as the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled back the stone from the entrance of Jesus's tomb. The angel then sat on the stone as the women came.
(3) His countenance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow, (4) And for fear of him, the keepers did shake and became as dead.
The appearance of the angel was as lightning radiating from him, and his clothing was pure white. The guards at the tomb were so frightened at the sight that they trembled with fear and may have even fainted, as they "became as dead."
(5) And the angel answered and said to the women, "Fear not, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified."
The angel who had been such a terror to the guards spoke reassuringly to the women, and told them not to be afraid; he knew they came seeking Jesus in the tomb.
(6) "He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay."
The angel told the women, after saying he knew they had come to see Jesus, that Jesus was not there. He had risen just as He had said He would. The angel then encouraged the women to go inside the tomb and see where Jesus had lain.
(7) "And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and behold, He goes before you into Galilee; there you shall see Him; lo, I have told you."
The angel then told the women to go quickly and tell Jesus's disciples that He had risen from the dead. Not only that, but He was going before them into Galilee and He would meet them there, as He had promised in Matthew 26:32. The angel added a confirmation that he, the angel of the Lord, told them this. They could depend on it as truth.
(8) And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.
The women departed quickly from the sepulchre as the angel had told them. They had fear because of the awesome miraculous sight they had seen, but they had great joy because of what it all meant. They ran to bring His disciples the news.
(9) And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "All hail!" And they came and held Him by the feet and worshipped Him.
As the women ran to tell the disciples the news, Jesus met them and greeted them verbally. They apparently recognized Him right away and fell on His feet and worshipped Him. Once again, isn't it amazing that Jesus made His first appearance after His resurrection to women, and not His disciples? The women had shown more love and devotion by staying by the cross while Jesus was crucified, then being across from the tomb witnessing Jesus's burial, and now at this time, coming back to see Him in His tomb. They were rewarded for their faith and devotion by being the first to know Jesus had risen!
(10) Then Jesus said to them, "Don't be afraid; go tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me."
The women were surely afraid as they saw this divine Being risen from the dead, and realizing His deity and their unworthiness to be in His presence. He spoke to them as the same Jesus He had always been to them, and told them not to be afraid, but to go tell His disciples to go to Galilee, and He would meet them there. It was just as the angel had told them.
(11) Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that were done.
While the women were on their way to tell the disciples the news and to give them the message from Jesus, some of the guards who had been guarding the tomb of Jesus went into the city to tell the chief priests what had happened.
(12) And when they were assembled with the elders and had consulted together, they gave large money to the soldiers, (13) Saying, "You say, 'His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we slept.'"
The chief priests then assembled together with the elders to discuss what should be done. They decided to give the soldiers hush money, telling them to say that Jesus's disciples had come in the night and stolen Jesus's body away while the guards slept.
(14) "And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will persuade him and secure you."
They promised the soldiers that if the news reached Pontius Pilate, they would persuade him that it was true and they would protect them from any guilt or punishment.
(15) So they took the money and did as they were instructed, and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
The soldiers agreed to the terms and took the money and did as the chief priests and elders had instructed them to do. At the time that Matthew was writing, he reported that some of the Jews still reported that that was the way it happened.
(16) Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
All eleven disciples, one less because of the dead betrayer Judas Iscariot, went to Galilee and to a mountain to which Jesus had instructed they go. This was not the first time they would see Jesus after His resurrection. The account in John tells us He saw them later in the same day He had greeted the women. At some point, Jesus had directed them to meet at a particular mountain.
(17) And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him; but some doubted.
When the disciples saw Jesus, they worshipped Him. I don't believe any doubted at this point. Matthew, the tax collector, the numbers guy, in his manner of brevity and just the facts, added that some had doubted. Doubting Thomas had surely doubted (John 20:24-25), and the disciples didn't believe the women's "idle tales" (Luke 24:11) when they had told them Jesus had risen. But after so many appearances that will be revealed in the other gospel accounts, we can be sure they all believed now as they all agreed to meet Jesus and they worshipped Him.
(18) And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All power is given to Me in heaven and on earth."
Of course, as God, the Word from the beginning with God, He had always had all power, but as Jesus in the human form before them, He asserted He as mediator between God and man had been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
(19) "Go therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
With the power given to Him on earth, Jesus commissioned His disciples to go forth into the world, teaching all nations. The primary definition of the original word "matheteuo" that was translated as "teach" was actually "to disciple." Not only were they to teach the nations about the wonderful news of Jesus, but they were to baptize them and make them disciples of Jesus and His Gospel.
(20) "Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world." Amen.
Jesus further directed His disciples to teach the nations all things that He had taught and commanded them. He promised He would be with them always, and that would mean in the form of the Holy Spirit, always, even to the end of the world. The disciples wouldn't live to see the end of the world, so that promise was extended to us Christians now and throughout the ages; we can always depend on the Holy Spirit being with us. Some Biblical scholars have suggested that the word "aion" rather than "world" meant "age;" perhaps because of the similarity to our word "eon." They believe Jesus and the Holy Spirit would just be there for a particular age as needed. For those of us who have witnessed the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, there can be no doubt Jesus is with us always! In astronomy an eon is a billion years! Considering Jesus gave this commission not quite 2000 years ago, I think we can assume a billion years will be enough time to have Him with us on earth.
The word "Amen" is not in the oldest manuscripts. The meaning of "amen" is "firm" or "so be it." Jesus would have no need to ask that a thing be made true; it was true when He spoke it. Neither would Matthew have to pray that it be so, especially since we know the word "Amen" was not found in the earliest manuscripts. It was undoubtedly added by a later transcriber, who probably meant it more emphatically, "So it is." Additionally, it meant the end of the Gospel according to Matthew. Other such subscriptions added to the end of the book of Matthew include some varying details about the writing of the Gospel, but most generally tend to say, "The end of the copy of the Gospel of Matthew the Apostle. He wrote it in the land of Palestine, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in the Hebrew tongue, eight years after the bodily ascension of Jesus the Messiah into heaven."
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