Matthew 28

Matthew 28:1-10 begins "after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week," when Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" visit the tomb. Matthew uniquely describes a great earthquake and an angel descending from heaven, rolling away the stone, and sitting upon it. The stone is not presented as being moved to enable Jesus to escape; the resurrection has already occurred, and the opened tomb enables the women to see that he is absent. The guards' becoming "like dead men" creates deliberate irony beside the announcement that the crucified Jesus is alive.

The angel announces, "He is not here, for he has been raised, just as he said." The passive ēgerthē, "has been raised," is commonly understood as a divine passive, implying God's action. The women are instructed to inspect the place and tell the disciples that Jesus is going ahead of them into Galilee, fulfilling 26:32. Their response combines "fear and great joy," a characteristic reaction to overwhelming divine revelation rather than simple emotional confidence.

Jesus then meets them, and they grasp his feet and worship him, emphasizing bodily continuity as well as reverence. His greeting chairete can mean ordinary "greetings" while also carrying the sense "rejoice." He repeats the command that his "brothers" go to Galilee, striking language after their abandonment of him. Some later manuscripts expand verse 9 with wording about the women going to report to the disciples, but the shorter text is strongly supported.

Matthew 28 concludes the Gospel with three connected scenes: the discovery of the empty tomb and appearances to the women, the authorities' attempt to explain the empty tomb through a bribed guard, and Jesus' commissioning of the eleven disciples in Galilee. The narrative deliberately recalls earlier promises: Jesus has been raised as he predicted, the disciples are directed back to Galilee, and the opposition surrounding the guarded tomb continues even after the resurrection.

The chapter resolves major Matthean themes while opening the story outward. Jesus receives worship, claims universal authority, and sends his disciples to make disciples of all nations by baptizing and teaching. The contrast between the women's testimony and the guards' counter-story highlights competing interpretations of the empty tomb. The Gospel closes not with an ascension scene but with Jesus' promise of continuing presence, forming an inclusio with the Emmanuel declaration of 1:23: the risen Jesus remains "with" his disciples as their mission extends to the completion of the age.