Written by: Peter Hallsworth – Church Army

Matthew 27 v 62-66
The next day, the day after Preparation Day, the leading priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. They said, “Sir, we remember that while that liar was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’ So give the order for the tomb to be guarded closely till the third day. Otherwise, his followers might come and steal the body and tell people that he has risen from the dead. That lie would be even worse than the first one.”
Pilate said, “Take some soldiers and go and guard the tomb the best way you know.” So they all went to the tomb and made it safe from thieves by sealing the stone in the entrance and putting soldiers there to guard it.

Notes
Today we see something unusual, but not unique, in the Bible: leading religious figures meeting on the Sabbath (the day after preparation day). The Sabbath was reserved for prayer, reading of the scriptures and teaching. They must have had a good reason for visiting Pilate! They were anxious about the potential for Jesus to be to be true to His words and rise from the dead after three days. Jesus had been guarded during his time on the cross and now the priests were keen to see that Jesus stayed in the tomb. Pilate obliged by ordering that a stone be placed to seal the tomb and placed guards, presumably to prevent the stone from being rolled away!

Pilate had something in common with the priests: they both held positions of power and responsibility and had positions to lose. The “threat” that was posed by the possibility of Jesus’ resurrection was different in each case. For the priests, the risen Jesus would validate His claims of being the “Son of Man” (ie, human and divine) and this could lead to some stirring among the Jews against the ruling religious authorities. Pilate too was concerned about the possibility of difficult relationships with the Jewish authorities and was most likely anxious about maintaining his reputation as a leader and a “friend of Caesar”. 

Jesus poses a “threat” today to those who wish to exercise oppressive power over others. For those who pursue leadership which encourages humility and justice, the resurrected Jesus holds no fear. However, those who would like to keep the stone over the tomb, they need to hear that the resurrected Jesus has a strange way of walking through walls! How do we use our influence – to rule over people, or to release them as Jesus encouraged? 

Matthew 28 v 1-4
The day after the Sabbath day was the first day of the week. At dawn on the first day, Mary Magdalene and another woman named Mary went to look at the tomb.
At that time there was a strong earthquake. An angel of the Lord came down from heaven, went to the tomb, and rolled the stone away from the entrance. Then he sat on the stone. He was shining as bright as lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The soldiers guarding the tomb shook with fear because of the angel, and they became like dead men.

Notes
The stone had been rolled away, death had proved to have no grip on Jesus; He was alive and the great truth of the Christian faith had burst free: Jesus is the Son of God and this is shown through his promised resurrection after three days. The empty tomb is symbolic of Jesus who is alive and active in the lives of those who turn to Him. There are two parts here that speak to us today. 

Firstly, it was an angel from heaven who released Jesus from the tomb, and similarly today angels are with us to help us in this life. Jesus had angels to minister to Him when He was tempted in the desert after His baptism. Guardian angels are not perhaps taken as seriously today as they should be. When we call upon God for strength to face the difficulties of life, we might consider that His response is through the work of our guardian angel! Sometimes angels even take on human form in order to meet with and help individuals through difficult times. 

The soldiers shook with fear because they had seen the angel - hardly surprising I suppose. So, secondly, the presence of God can produce fear. This fear is a natural response to encountering God. God, simply put, is awesome. Perhaps we can take it as a “blessing” when we are awestruck since God has revealed something of Himself to us. These meetings leave us as changed people since it is impossible to meet with God in this way and remain unchanged. So let’s pray that God will meet with us today, possibly through an angelic presence, and reveal His awesome self so that we will be transformed to be more like Jesus.

Matthew 28 v 5-7
The angel said to the women, “Don’t be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus, who has been crucified. He is not here. He has risen from the dead as he said he would. Come and see the place where his body was. And then go quickly and tell his followers, ‘Jesus has risen from the dead. He is going into Galilee ahead of you, and you will see him there.’” Then the angel said, “Now I have told you.”

Notes
There are two parts to this account that are important for us to understand: the message of the angel, and the choice of person spoken to. The message “Don’t be afraid” is considered to be the most repeated phrase in the Bible. God, it seems, desires that we put our trust in Him through all that life might throw at us. Whether we be ill, in debt, in conflict or depressed, God wants us to know that He is able to deal with it. The response that God desires is that we have faith in His ability to meet our needs. This response can seem a “cop-out” in our technological society, yet the same old problems still appear.

That God chose a woman to speak to first about the resurrection of Jesus ought not to be overlooked. The role of women in Jesus’ time was mainly domestic, and the position of men was superior – even prompting some to thank God in prayer that they were not born a woman. Many consider that Jesus’ life demonstrated a radically positive attitude towards women. The news that Jesus is risen was not given to the high priest, not to any leading Pharisee, not even to a man - this news was given to a woman. In our day this might be the equivalent of God speaking through the lips of a homeless person.

Our lives are shaped by the culture we live in. God encourages us to find security in Him alone; this security can give us the confidence we need to challenge some of the stereotyping that we see around us. Do you want to be fully in the world, or will you follow Jesus who called us to be in the world but not of it?

Matthew 28 v 8-10
The women left the tomb quickly. They were afraid, but they were also very happy. They ran to tell Jesus’ followers what had happened. Suddenly, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings.” The women came up to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go and tell my followers to go on to Galilee, and they will see me there.”

Notes
This portion of the Bible records the joy of the first evangelists rushing out to bring the news that the risen Jesus was Lord. They worshipped Jesus - a practice only reserved for YAHWEH, aka The Lord. Jesus affirmed the women with the words: “Don’t be afraid.” This account highlights two further aspects of the Christian life: His presence with us, and the journey.

Jesus tells us that He will be with us throughout our lives. Many feel He is not regularly a strong presence for them, but that at certain times Jesus makes Himself powerfully present. Just like the women who met up with Jesus himself on the return journey, so He makes himself powerfully present - perhaps when we least expect it. Personally, I find there is a connection between the presence of Jesus and how desperately I pray! The more I want (really want!) Jesus to be present through prayer, the more He seems to be just that.

Jesus says that He will meet up again with his followers in the future. This speaks to me of the Christian life being like a set of directions that take you only part of the way before further instruction are required. The Christian life seems to unfold like a map, with each set of instructions helping us to understand each new section. Jesus meets with us, tells us not to be afraid and helps us further along the journey.

The journey with Jesus that we call the Christian life does presuppose that we are asking Jesus in prayer to take us on in discipleship. The Christian walk implies movement, so today why not call upon Jesus to show you the next step? Then ask Him for the courage to follow!

Matthew 28 v 11-13
While the women went to tell Jesus’ followers, some of the soldiers who had been guarding the tomb went into the city to tell the leading priests everything that had happened. Then the priests met with the Jewish elders and made a plan. They paid the soldiers a large amount of money and said to them, “Tell the people that Jesus’ followers came during the night and stole the body while you were asleep.”

Notes
Today’s reading demonstrates the difficulties that the priests were facing. Their worst case scenario was here: Jesus had done what He said and rose after three days. Their reaction was to construct a lie. This fabrication was their best chance to explain the facts since there was a rumour that the disciples would attempt to take the body. The guards were placed at the tomb to make sure that this event did not happen! So why would the priests want to give this story such a “spin”?


In his three years of ministry, Jesus reserved His harshest criticism for the religious leaders of the day. Generally speaking, He felt they were more interested in building their own positions than serving God. Although the leaders were devout in their observance of Jewish ritual, somehow the Law had been added to over the years. Jesus was clear that He wished to fully uphold the original Law underpinning the Jewish religion, but this meant that some of the additional laws needed amending; a message that struck at the hearts of those who valued these new laws - the leading priests. Now that Jesus was alive, as predicted, the people might believe Him rather than them!

Jesus was motivated by love, and it was for love of the world that He was sent. Although His teaching certainly did upset one section of society, it gave hope to others who perhaps felt trapped by the multitude of laws they had to keep. It is important here that we do not consider ourselves immune from being trapped in these types of “laws” today. Perhaps now would be a good time to re-evaluate the “laws” that govern our lives. Which ones further God’s kingdom, and which ones further our own personal kingdoms?

Matthew 28 v 14-15
“If the governor hears about this, we will satisfy him and save you from trouble.” So the soldiers kept the money and did as they were told. And that story is still spread among the Jewish people even today.

Notes
The leading priests choose to take the difficult route of fabricating a potentially complex series of lies. This was brought home to them as they imagined that they may have to take some sort of action to satisfy the governor if he discovered the truth. Trying to manipulate people in order to protect ourselves presents many problems. Let us look at two examples: fantasy and stress.

Many of us do not manipulate people, but we do like to think the best of them. It is easy to turn a “blind eye” to aspects of people’s personalities that we find uncomfortable. Rather than causing any fuss, it is easier to just not see it. This choice is, in a sense, a manipulation of the ways things are – it is a choice to live in fantasy rather than face reality. Fantasy of course can be much more attractive than fact, but our calling is to be in the real world. We are not alone in this since Jesus assures us of His presence.

The priests chose to protect themselves by constructing a tissue of lies. This led to a very stressful existence as “liars” need to remember what story they have given to which person. Telling the truth means that we don’t have to remember what was said since there is only one story. (Bear in mind, though, that tact will always have a place in how we tell the truth!)

Perhaps today you might reflect on how squarely you are facing the world. Take some time to recognise unhelpful fantasising and ask God to help you face the issues of the real world. This may not be easy, but remember that Jesus calls us to be watchful and this means that we should try to see things as they really are.

Matthew 28 v 16-20
The eleven followers went to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. On the mountain they saw Jesus and worshipped him, but some of them did not believe it was really Jesus. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All power in heaven and on earth is given to me. So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptise them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey everything that I have taught you, and I will be with you always, even until the end of this age.”

Notes
These are very famous words of Jesus. The words “go and make followers of all people in the world” have probably echoed around missionary meetings for hundreds of years. Perhaps the words from the previous sentence have not been given the same sort of emphasis that they deserve.

Why should we as followers go and make more followers of Jesus? Because we have security in knowing that “all power in heaven and on earth” is ahead of us. It is a scary thought that some might want to make followers without recognition of that power, that somehow it might be unaided work. There are still those who fail to recognise the significance of the role of Christ Himself in evangelism.

Although it sounds strange to hear, Christ is His own primary evangelist. Many have the strange idea that Christians bring an unbeliever to Christ. In many cases the individual has met with Christ long before the Christian arrives on the scene. The work of a Christian can be described as a midwife bringing to birth the new Christian.

So, in your dealings with not-yet-Christians, remember that you are not only required to be a midwife but also a mentor! Jesus calls us to make followers or disciples. This means that new believers should be grounded in the Christian faith and helped to find their part in making new followers. Church, after all, is a community of disciples who disciple others. 

Peter Pan was a story about a boy who never grew up to be an adult. There seems to be no place in the Christian faith for a Peter Pan character. The call is to grow up in the faith!


word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes