By Rev. Ron Purkey
Guest Columnist

Read Matthew 28:1-15

By Rev. Ron Purkey

“And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” (Matthew 28:5-6)

Early on the first Easter Sunday, the first day of the week, some of the women who followed Jesus went to the tomb so they could anoint his body with spices (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:1). But there they encountered more than they were expecting. An angel in snowy white clothes, whose appearance was like lightning, came down, rolled back the stone, and perched on top of it (Matthew 28:2-3). This was no cute little cherub. He was so astonishing and fearsome that the guards who saw him were terrified and passed out (Matthew 28:4).

The angel announced to the women shocking news. Jesus who was crucified was not in the tomb. He had risen as promised. (see Matthew 12:40; 16:21; 17:9, 22; 20:19). Even Jesus’s enemies knew he would claimed he would rise again from the dead. That is why they wanted a guard posted at his grave (Matthew 27:62-66), but Jesus’s disciples — and apparently these women visitors — had been slow to understand and believe. The angel invited them to see the empty tomb, a glorious sight.

Then the angel commissioned the women to proclaim Jesus’s resurrection to the disciples (Matthew 28:7). So they left quickly with fear and great joy to tell them, trying to make sense of all that had happened (Matthew 28:8). On their way, they met Jesus, their risen Lord. The only proper response to that miraculous sight was to fall down and worship him (Matthew 28:9). He calmed their fears and sent them to tell the disciples they would soon see him, too.

The soldiers who had been guarding the tomb reported to the chief priests what had happened (Matthew 28:11). Knowing they had to come up with an explanation, the chief priests gave the soldiers a large sum of money to spread a lie (Matthew 28:12-13). They were to claim that Jesus’s disciples stole his body in the night as they slept (Matthew 28:13). Not only did the Jewish priests promise the guards cash, but also protection from Pilate when he heard the news (Matthew 28:14).

Notice the fatal flaw in the story the soldiers were to spread. How could they know what had happened if they had been sound asleep? And, even if they had been awake, how could a small band of civilians overpower armed and trained Roman soldiers?

Here we see an attempt to deny a supernatural event by replacing it with a natural explanation. Jesus Christ really rose from the dead. The resurrection is the greatest event of human history and is proof that Christianity is true. Without it, we have nothing. With it, we have hope in history and for eternity (see 1 Corinthians 15:12-19).

Read Ron Purkey’s Bible study outlines at www.rcpbibleoutlines.com free on the website. Purkey has been an ordained Baptist minister for 50 years.