The Resurrection of Jesus | Matthew 28:1-10

Matthew 28:1-10

Jesus rose at dawn. The long dark night of sin’s reign, that began with Adam’s sin in the Garden, had ended. The Light of Life rose with the morning sun. As the first rays of morning hope spilled over the Judean countryside, the cosmic rays of eternal joy spilled out of the once empty tomb. Sin and death were officially conquered. Jesus was resurrected from the dead.

The first persons to hear of Jesus’ coming heard through angelic voices. Nearby shepherds were astonished by a host of them while watching over their sheep in the countryside the night of his birth. Mary and Joseph were each told of Jesus’ coming by angels well before he was born. The Incarnation was announced by the Supernatural. Jesus’ arrival was the fulfillment of the long promised Hope and the beginning of the Kingdom of God.

And now at the end of his earthly life, the angels were back again. And this time they announced yet another miracle.  Sin’s reign had ended.  The beginning of freedom for Jesus’ people, anyone who would put their trust and hope in him, had come.  Jesus was alive.  God was vindicated.  Death was mastered.  The devil had been defeated.

That Jesus would appear to the women first, as they were running back to the disciples, tells us of how ordinary they were.  It also tells us how merciful Jesus is. The women doubted.   The emotional trauma they endured while with the angels had overwhelmed their senses and ability to calmly reason what they had witnessed.  They had to wonder: Did they really just see what they saw?  Were they dreaming? Could it really be true? Could Jesus really be alive?

Jesus was alive, and knowing how slow the human heart and mind would be to grasp such a fantastic event, Jesus appeared again and again to his followers. He appeared to chase away the deep skepticism that is inherent to fallen human nature.

The Son of God had risen with the morning sun and in his triumph over death he turned what seemed to be the end of a tragic story into the first line of the first page of the first chapter of the greatest Story that will be forever told.

Tagged as: angels, faith, Gospel, Jesus