Matthew 28 - Introduction

A Reason To Rejoice

Matthew Twenty-Eight

In the end of the Sabbath or after the Sabbath was over Mary Magdelene and the other Mary went to see the tomb where Jesus was buried. When they got near to the tomb there was a great earthquake "for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.” The angel's "countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow." He said that Jesus was not there; He had risen from the dead. The women were invited to, "Come, see the place where the Lord lay."

The angel told the women to "go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is raised from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee." As they went and told the disciples that Jesus was raised, He met with the disciples and told them to not be afraid and that it was Him. He had, in fact, risen from the dead. At the end of the Matthew Twenty-eight we have record of Jesus telling the disciples to go throughout the world and teach everyone about Him. His gospel is for all!

Matthew twenty-seven closed with a scene of sorrow and grief, Jesus dead and buried. In Matthew twenty-eight we see that humanity found reason to rejoice, Christ arose. The death, burial and resurrection of Christ are the heart of the gospel. "Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you - unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)