THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW
PART VII: THE PASSION AND THE RESURRECTION
Lesson 27, Chapter 28
The Resurrection of Jesus the Messiah
Holy Lord and Savior,
You have told us that You are the God of the living and not the God of the dead. The truth of Your words are revealed to us in the mystery of Your physical resurrection. We pray that our faith in the truth of Your glorious Resurrection may elicit from us the words of faith spoken by St. Thomas when he placed his hands in Your wounds and cried out "My Lord and my God!" It is our prayer that we may receive Your promise: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." Please send Your Holy Spirit to guide us, Lord, in our last on Your victory over sin and death and the mission You have given all who call themselves Your disciples. We pray in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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He will revive us
after two days; on the third day he will raise us up, to live in his presence.
Let us know, let us strive to know the LORD; as certain as the dawn is his
coming, and his judgment shine forth like the light of day! He will come to us
like the fain, like spring rain that waters the earth.
Hosea 6:2 (8th century BC)
Behold, we are
going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief
priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over
to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised
on the third day.
Jesus's third prophecy
of His Passion ~ Mathew 20:18-19
Chapter 28 ~ The Resurrection
Sunday, Nisan the
17th ~ the Feast of Firstfruits ~ the offering of the first fruits
of the barley harvest
The LORD said to
Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you come into the land
which I am giving you, and reap your harvest, you shall bring a sheaf of the
first fruits of your harvest to the priest, who shall wave the sheaf before the
LORD that it maybe acceptable for you. On the day after the Sabbath the priest
shall do this. On this day when your sheaf is waved, you shall offer to the
LORD for a holocaust an unblemished yearling lamb. Its cereal offering shall
be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, as a sweet-smelling
oblation to the LORD; and its libation shall be a fourth of a hin of wine ...
This shall be a perpetual statue for you and your descendants wherever you
dwell.
Lev 23:10-14
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
1 Corinthians 15:20
Matthew 28:1-10 ~ The Empty Tomb
28:1 After the
Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other
Mary came to see the tomb. 2 And
behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from
heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. 3 His appearance was like lightning and his
clothing was white as snow. 4 The
guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men. 5 Then the angel said to the women in reply, "Do
not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has been raised just as
he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, He has been raised
from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.'
8 Behold, I have told you." They
went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce
this to his disciples. 9 And
behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached,
embraced his feet, and did him homage. 10
Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go
to Galilee, and there they will see me."
After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was
dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
Question: What day of the week is it according to our
names for the days of the week?
Answer: It is Sunday, the first day of the week.
The Jews only gave a name to one day of the week, and that was the Sabbath (the other days were numbered day one, day two, etc.). The day of Jesus's Resurrection was on the Jewish feast of Firstfruits which, according to the Law was to fall in the day after the Sabbath of the holy week of Unleavened Bread (Lev 23:9-13) and was designated a "perpetual" feast to be observed for all generations (Lev 23:14). The communal sacrifice for this feast day, in addition to each of the single Tamid lambs of the morning and afternoon worship service, was a single unblemished male lamb that was to be offered with unleavened bread and red wine. The morning and afternoon Tamid worship services and the feast of Firstfruits were the only communal sacrifices that required a single yearling male lamb offered with unleavened bread and red wine. The date of the Jewish Feast of Weeks/Pentecost was determined by counting fifty days from the Feast of Fruitsfruits. As the ancients counted, this feast also always fell on a Sunday. Today the Church celebrates the feast of Firstfruits as Easter Sunday and the date of the feast of Pentecost is determined in the same way by counting fifty days, as the ancients counted, always falling on a Sunday.(1)
Question: What other significant event occurred on
the first day of the week, which we call Sunday, in the Creation event, and
what is the connection to Resurrection Sunday? See Gen 1:1-2:3. Hint: what
was the seventh day of the Creation event?
Answer: Sunday, the first day of the week, was the
first day of the Creation event and it is now the first day of the new creation
in the resurrected Christ Jesus.
The second Mary who went with Mary Magdalene is probably the mother of James (as in Mt 27:56); Mark records that Salome also came to the tomb Sunday morning with these two other women (Mk 16:1). St. Luke records that those present at the tomb were Mary Magdalene, Joanna (the wife of Cuza), Mary the mother of James, and others (Lk 24:10).
Matthew 28:2-2 ~ And
behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from
heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. 3 His appearance was like lightning and his
clothing was white as snow.
The description of the angel is similar to other
descriptions of heavenly beings in Scripture (i.e., Dan 8:15; 10:5). This is
the fourth time Matthew has used the Greek word seismos, "earthquake."
This fourth time signifies the resurrection of Jesus as an apocalyptic event.(2)
Question: How did Jesus reward the women for their
faithfulness by staying with Him as He hung on the Cross?
Answer: Before He appeared to the men, He first
appeared to His women disciples.
Matthew 28:10 ~ Then
Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me."
The Jesus's consoling words, "Don't be afraid" are typical of a heavenly being (i.e.,
Gen 21:17; 26:24;
Tobit 12:17;
Lk 1:30; 2:10). Jesus
will eventually meet with the Apostles in the Galilee where their adventure started, as He promised them in
26:32,
but first He will visit with them in Jerusalem
(Lk 24:36-49 and
John 20:19-29).
Matthew 28:11-15 ~ The Suppression of the Testimony of
the Roman Guard
11 While they were
going, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that
had happened. 12 They assembled
with the elders and took counsel; then they gave a large sum of money to the
soldiers, 13 telling them, "You are
to say, His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.' 14 And if this gets to the ears of the governor,
we will satisfy [him] and keep you out of trouble." 15 The soldiers took the money and did as they
were instructed. And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present
[day].
Instead of recognizing the "sign" of resurrection that Jesus
promised them (Mt 13:39-40), the religious leaders conspire with the guards to
deceive the people.
Question: Why do they tell the guards that they will
protect them from Pilate?
Answer: The penalty for a Roman soldier who was
caught sleeping on guard duty was death.
Matthew 28:16-20 ~ The Resurrected Christ gives the Great
Commission
16 The eleven
disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped, but they
doubted. 18 Then Jesus approached
and said to them, "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
holy Sprit, 20 teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until
the end of the age."
In Matthew 28:7 when the women disciples discovered the empty tomb, the angel of God told them to go and tell the disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead and "now he is going ahead of you to the Galilee; that is where you will see him." They meet Him at the Galilee by the sea (Jn 21:1-23) where Jesus begins His instructions to them that will last for forty days as He appears and disappears to His faithful. It is at the meeting at the Sea of Galilee/Sea of Tiberius that He gives Peter and the disciples their "marching orders" in establishing His Kingdom of the Church.
17 When they saw
him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
What is meant by "they doubted"? Our English word "doubt" is perhaps too strong. The Greek word for
"doubted" is edistasan, which also means "to hesitate." Understood this
way, it means the disciples were not completely sure of what was happening or
what would happen next. They could see that Jesus had resurrected from the
dead, but they were understandably nervous and trying to remember everything
Jesus had told them.
Matthew 28:19-20 is called "The Great Commission."
Question: What is the scope of the mission Jesus has
given His disciples in every generation? See Dan 7:13-14; Jn 20:21-23 and
CCC 730.
Answer: The mission is universal for the emissaries
of the One who has universal power over all the earth. From the time of Jesus'
Resurrection, the mission of God the Son and God the Holy Spirit becomes the
mission of the Church, as Jesus told the Apostles in John 20:19b ~ As the
Father has sent me, so I send you.
Question: What is the significance of the command to
baptize with the formula: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the holy Spirit"?
See Jn 3:3-5 and
CCC 1257, 1272-3.
Answer: Rebirth through water and the spirit in
Christian baptism is the means Jesus has given for entrance into the community
of the New Covenant. In the Sacrament of Baptism, the baptized person is
configured to the risen Savior and incorporated into the Body of Christ which
is His Church. The formula Jesus gives for the Sacrament of Baptism defines
the Trinity and designates baptism as the union of the one baptized with the
life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The union of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the central mystery of Christian faith. Indeed, the faith of all who call themselves Christians rests on belief in the union of the Most Holy Trinity (CCC 232-34, 237).
Do not miss that baptism is linked to teaching the newly baptized to observe "all that I have commanded you." Simply acknowledging Christ is not enough and the old Law now longer defines righteousness "it is the Gospel of salvation preached in the New Law that defines the path of salvation for Christians.
Question: How is Jesus's promise And behold, I am
with you always, until the end of the age a fulfillment of Matthew 1:23 and
Isaiah 7:14? Also see CCC 1374-77.
Answer: The name Emmanuel means "God with us," which
is what Jesus promises His faithful. It is also the promise of His real but
invisible presence in the Eucharist from the time of His Ascension until His
return at the end of the Age of Man.
Jesus will teach the Church for forty days prior to His Ascension to the Father (Acts 1:3), appearing and disappearing at will. During the time between His Resurrection and Ascension, He continually visited with His Apostles and disciples:
In His death and resurrection, Jesus has ushered in a new and everlasting covenant that fulfills and surpasses all previous covenants (see the chart "Yahweh's Eight Covenants"):
| Old Covenants | Fulfilled in Christ |
| 1. The covenant with Adam | Jesus is the "new Adam" who has atoned for the sin of the first Adam, conquering sin and death and bringing forth His Bride, the Church, from His pierced side as Eve was born from the side of Adam (Rom 5:14-21; 1 Cor 15:20-45; CCC 359, 411, 504, 766). |
| 2. The covenant with Noah | Jesus's gift of the Sacrament of baptism has restored man, through water and the Spirit to renewed life (Jn 3:3, 5; 1 Pt 3:21, CCC 628, 1094). |
3. The three-fold Abrahamic covenant:
|
Jesus has fulfilled the three promises made to Abraham
(CCC 59, 706, 762-66):
|
| 4. The Covenant at Sinai | Jesus has fulfilled all the blood rituals and purification rituals of the old Law in His one perfect sacrifice on the altar of the Cross, having made atonement for the sins of man and offering continual purification through the Eucharist and the other Sacraments of His Church (Heb 9:15-28; CCC 577-582). In His self-sacrifice and fulfillment of the Sinai Covenant, Jesus has freed God's people from the curse of failing to keep the old Law (Dt 28:15; Rom 3:21-26; Gal 3:13-14). |
| 5. The Aaronic Covenant of a ministerial priesthood | Jesus has established the New Covenant priesthood: A universal priesthood of all believers and a ministerial priesthood that is no longer based on heredity but on the call of the Holy Spirit (Mt 28:19-20; CCC 1141-43). |
| 6. The Perpetual Priesthood of Phinehas | Jesus Christ is the eternal High Priest of the New and Everlasting Covenant (Heb 4:14-15; 8:1-3; CCC 1137). |
| 7. The Davidic Covenant | God's promise to David that his throne would endure forever is fulfilled in Christ who is the heir of David and the King of the Universal Church (Lk 1:32-33; Heb 1:1-4; CCC 786, 2105). |
| Michal E. Hunt ©copyright 2012 | |
Questions for group discussion:
Question: What is your place in Christ's Kingdom?
How are you using your spiritual "talents" (Mt 25:14-30) to advance the Kingdom
and fulfill the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20?
Question: Throughout Jesus's teaching He has stressed the link between faith in Him "belief in everything He has taught "and the good works He has called us to perform as evidence of our living, active faith (i.e., see the Parable of the Talents in Mt 25:14-30, Jesus's teaching on the Last Judgment in Mt 25:31-46, and the description of the wedding garment of the Bride of the Lamb in Rev 19:8). How would you answer someone who told you that eternal salvation was impossible?
Endnotes:
1.Today most Jews no longer celebrate Firstfruits on the day
after the Sabbath of the holy week of Passover. Instead they have moved
the day to Nisan the 16th which means the day of the week
changes with every year. Only the Kararite Jews and the Samaritans keep
the traditional day on the Sunday of the holy week of Passover/Unleavened
Bread and celebrate Weeks/Pentecost fifty days later on a Sunday. The feast
was known by its Greek name "Pentecost" (50th day) in the 1st
century AD. Josephus records that the days of the feasts were changed
sometime in the 1st century AD (Antiquities of the Jews, 13.8.4
[252]).
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2.The first time was in the great storm that Jesus stilled
(Mt 8:24); the next time was in His apocalyptic discourse (Mt 24:7); the
third time was in the resurrection of the holy ones (Mt 27:54); and His
resurrection is the fourth earthquake.
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Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2012 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.
Primary resources used in this lesson:
Catechism references for this lesson (*indicates that Scripture is quoted or paraphrased in the citation).
| Mt 28:1 | 500, 2174* | Mt 28:16-17 | 645* |
| Mt 28:6 | 652* | Mt 28:17 | 644 |
| Mt 28:9-10 | 641* | Mt 28:18-20 | 1120* |
| Mt 28:9 | 645* | Mt 28:19-20 | 2, 767*, 849, 1223, 1257*, 1276 |
| Mt 28:10 | 654 | Mt 28:19 | 189, 232-37, 543*, 691*, 730*, 831*, 1122, 2156 |
| Mt 28:11-15 | 640* | Mt 28:20 | 80, 788*, 860*, 2743 |
| Mt 28:16-20 | 857*, 1444* |