Bible Verse Lookup
Mt 28,20
Chapter 28
Resurrection of Jesus
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to visit the tomb.
Suddenly, there was a violent earthquake: an angel of the Lord descending from heaven, came to the stone, rolled it away from the entrance of the tomb, and sat on it.
His appearance was like lightning, and his garment was white as snow.
When they saw the angel, the guards were filled with terror.
The angel said to the women:
“Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.
He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where they laid him;
then go immediately and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. This is my message to you.
In fear yet with great joy, the women left the tomb and ran to tell the news to his disciples.
He Appears to the Women
Suddenly, Jesus met them on the road and said:
Rejoice!”
The women approached him, bowed down at his feet, and worshiped him.
Then Jesus said to them:
Do not be afraid! Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Report of the Guards
As the women continued on their way, some of the guards entered the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had taken place.
The chief priests gathered with the elders and decided to pay the soldiers a large sum of money
with this instruction:
“Say that his disciples came by night while you were asleep and stole the body of Jesus.
If Pilate finds out about this, we will explain the situation and keep you out of trouble.”
The soldiers took the money and did as they were told. This story has circulated among the Jews to this day.
Appearance to the Eleven
The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus instructed them to meet.
When they saw Jesus, they bowed before him, although some doubted.
Mission of the Disciples
Then Jesus approached and said to them:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, until the end of the age.
Commentaries
Resurrection of Jesus – He Appears to the Women – Report of the Guards.
While the three synoptic gospels follow similar paths in the passion story, they differ noticeably in their resurrection accounts. None of them attempts to describe the exact moment or manner of the resurrection, as it goes beyond sensory experience. Instead, they affirm the event confidently and support it with various accounts. The main elements of these stories include identifying the apparition with the historical Jesus, His physicality, His specific appearance, His interaction with the disciples, and the personalities of the witnesses. For Christians, the resurrection is the cornerstone of faith. Paul states that if Christ has not been raised, then our faith is meaningless (1 Cor 15:14,17).
Appearance to the Eleven – Mission of the Disciples.
To conclude, Matthew creates a powerful scene. In just five verses, he summarizes the core of his Christology and ecclesiology. The Gospel ends as it began. At the start, we are told the name Immanuel—God with us—in the history of the chosen people (Is 7:14). Now, we are assured that Isaiah’s prophecy has become a lasting reality: “I will be with you always” (20). The mission of the disciples is as broad as the world and as enduring as the passage of time until the end of history. From this point on, the Christian community is the memory of the crucified and risen Lord, despite the scandal his infamous death on the cross caused for the Jewish people. It is also a community called to witness: they must testify to the crucified and risen Lord. Only through this concrete following can the community understand the meaning of the mission and the person of Jesus.
The Church of Jesus is fundamentally a missionary community. The words of the risen Lord, “go” (19), “set out on your journey,” encourage it to continually reach beyond itself, beyond its internal problems and concerns, to open up to a new horizon: that of every person who does not know the joy of feeling like a son or daughter of God and brothers and sisters to one another. In this mission, they can rely on the constant presence of Jesus, who will always be with them: “I am with you always, until the end of the age” (20).