Matthew 28:1-15 - The Resurrection of Christ

The Power Five of Human History

If you have your Bibles, open to Matthew 28. Yes, I know—chapter 28. This has been the longest series in the history of our church, and we are wrapping it up with just two weeks left. Today, we come to the resurrection of Jesus Christ in verses 1 through 15. This is, honestly, one of the most critical events in human history. In fact, I would call it part of what I refer to as the “Power Five.”

When you look at the entire history of the world, what are the five most important events that have ever occurred? Chronologically, I would list them as: the incarnation of Jesus, the death of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, the ascension of Jesus, and the return of Jesus. You will notice a theme here. All of world history pivots on the person and the work of Jesus Christ.

As we look at the resurrection today, we are dealing with an event recorded not just in Matthew, not just in Mark, not just in Luke, and not just in John, but in all four Gospels. The Scriptures tell us that by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every fact may be confirmed. God gave us four distinct Gospel accounts affirming the resurrected Christ.

The First Easter Morning

Matthew begins this account by giving us the setting:

Matthew 28:1 (NASB)

Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first [day] of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.

Notice the timestamp: “after the Sabbath.” Remember, the Jewish Sabbath began Friday evening at sundown. Contextually, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had to hustle on Friday afternoon to get the body of Jesus off the cross and into the tomb before the Sabbath began. Jesus rested in the tomb Friday evening, all day Saturday, and then rose from the dead early Sunday morning.

Early that Sunday morning, on that first Easter, the women arrive at the tomb. Mary Magdalene comes with the woman affectionately called “the other Mary.” I have always wondered if she felt slighted by that title, but it was likely Matthew’s way of distinguishing her from Mary the mother of Jesus. As they arrive, a supernatural event occurs.

Matthew 28:2-4 (NASB)

And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.

This is Matthew’s best attempt to describe angelic holiness. How do you describe an angel? “His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow.”

This was such an overwhelming scene, accompanied by a massive earthquake, that the Roman guards shook with fear and became like dead men. When the text mentions guards, do not picture a modern mall security guard standing at a booth. These were Roman soldiers—battle-hardened, disciplined men who had seen the brutal realities of war. Yet in this moment, confronted by divine power, they are scared to death.

Then the angel speaks to the women:

Matthew 28:5-8 (NASB)

The angel said to the women, ’Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. ’He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. ‘Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.’ And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.

These women had shown up to complete the burial anointing spices that had been rushed on Friday evening. Instead, they find the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. The angel tells them, “He is not here, for He is risen,” and instructs them to go tell the disciples. Verse 8 says they left quickly with fear and great joy. What they witnessed had shattered every category they possessed. They were filled with awe and reverence, but also a surging joy as Jesus’ promises began to make sense.

In Mark’s account, the angel adds a wonderful phrase: “Go tell His disciples and Peter.” That detail is remarkable because just hours earlier, Peter had denied Jesus three times. Mark, writing down Peter’s testimony, makes sure to include that grace-filled detail. Jesus was already making a way to restore Peter.

Encountering the Risen King

As the women run to tell the disciples, Jesus meets them on the road.

Matthew 28:9-10 (NASB)

And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.’

When they see Him, they fall down, take hold of His feet, and worship Him. When you are in the presence of the resurrected King of Kings, what else can you do?

People often ask what heaven will be like. Will we see our pets? Will we see our relatives? Will our mansion be bigger than someone else’s? I honestly believe the Bible says relatively little about the physical details of heaven because if we knew how glorious it is, we would all want to leave right now. More than that, we will be so completely captivated by the presence of Jesus Christ that we will not be looking at anything else. We will spend eternity worshiping Him, just as these women did on the road.

Jesus tells them, “Do not be afraid. Go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.” Later, when we see the disciples back in Galilee fishing, it is easy to assume they had given up and returned to their old careers. But Jesus had explicitly directed them to go to Galilee to meet Him.

John chapter 20 gives us a memorable picture of what happened when the women delivered the news. A footrace breaks out between John, the young whippersnapper, and Peter, the old diesel truck. John outruns Peter to the tomb, but he hesitates outside. Peter arrives, probably elbows John out of the way, and barges straight into the tomb. John follows, and they see the linen wrappings lying there.

John 20:9 (NASB)

For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.

They were still struggling to comprehend what was happening. A physical resurrection was completely outside their everyday logic, and they were still piecing together the scriptures.

Eleven Appearances of the Risen Christ

Matthew 28:9 marks the beginning of forty days of post-resurrection appearances. When you synthesize all four Gospels and the rest of the New Testament, you find eleven distinct recorded appearances before His ascension, along with special later appearances to the Apostle Paul.

First, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene alone at the tomb, as recorded in John 20.

Second, He appeared to the other women, including the other Mary, as they returned from the tomb in Matthew 28.

Third, He appeared privately to Simon Peter.

Luke 24:34 (NASB)

saying, ‘The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.’

We do not have details of that private conversation, but we know Jesus met with Peter to comfort and restore him before their public interaction in John 21.

Fourth, He appeared to the two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus, opening the scriptures to show how all of God’s Word pointed to Him.

Fifth, He appeared to ten disciples gathered in a locked room, with Thomas absent.

Sixth, eight days later, He appeared to the disciples again, this time with Thomas present. He invited Thomas to touch the scars in His hands and side. Caravaggio painted a masterpiece depicting that scene called The Incredulity of Saint Thomas.

Seventh, He appeared to seven disciples fishing on the Sea of Galilee in John 21, where He lovingly asked Peter three times, “Do you love Me?”—matching Peter’s three denials with a three-fold restoration.

Eighth, He appeared to more than 500 believers at one time.

1 Corinthians 15:6 (NASB)

After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;

We often assume the appearances were small, private moments. But over 500 people saw Him simultaneously after the grave.

Ninth, He appeared to His half-brother James. John’s Gospel notes that Jesus’ brothers did not believe in Him during His earthly ministry. Imagine the moment the resurrected Christ appeared to James: “Remember Me?” James was radically transformed and became a central leader in the Jerusalem church.

Tenth, He appeared to the apostles on the Mount of Olives immediately before His ascension, commissioning them to be His witnesses from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.

Eleventh, years later, He appeared to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus in Acts 9, and again to Paul in Corinth in Acts 18 to encourage him during intense ministry.

Jesus did not merely show up in a corner to a couple of people. Over forty days, across multiple locations, to hundreds of individuals, He provided undeniable proofs that He had conquered the grave.

The Spin and False Theories

While the disciples were rejoicing, the religious leaders faced an absolute crisis. The only thing more dangerous to their authority than a claimed Messiah was a resurrected Messiah.

Matthew 28:11-15 (NASB)

Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, ’You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ ‘And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.’ And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, [and is] to this day.

The religious leaders resorted to bribery and spin. They instructed the soldiers to claim that the disciples came by night and stole the body while the guards slept.

Think about how absurd that claim is. These were Roman soldiers. Falling asleep on watch was a capital offense punishable by death under Roman military law. To say that rustic fishermen quietly snuck past an armed guard unit, rolled away a multi-ton stone without waking anyone, stole the body, and left the linen wrappings folded neatly in the tomb is laughable. Furthermore, John notes that the face cloth was rolled up by itself. Grave robbers do not break in like a military strike team, meticulously unwrap a body coated in a hundred pounds of sticky burial spices, fold the laundry, and carry out a naked corpse.

Over the centuries, critics have proposed various alternative theories to explain away the empty tomb:

• The Swoon Theory: This suggests Jesus did not actually die, but merely passed out from shock and exhaustion, revived in the cool tomb, unwrapped Himself, moved the massive stone, fought off Roman guards, and walked miles on pierced feet to meet His disciples. This completely ignores the reality of Roman flogging, crucifixion, and the spear thrust into His side confirmed by professional executioners.
• The Hallucination Theory: This claims the disciples were so grief-stricken that they imagined seeing Jesus. But hallucinations are individual psychological occurrences. They do not happen simultaneously to groups of 10, 11, and over 500 people who touched Him, spoke with Him, and watched Him eat physical food.
• The Wrong Tomb Theory: This suggests the women got turned around and went to the wrong burial plot. But Joseph of Arimathea owned the private tomb, and the women had watched Him be placed there on Friday. If it were the wrong tomb, the authorities would have simply directed everyone to the right tomb and produced the body.
• The Unburied Body Theory: This claims Jesus was tossed into a common criminal grave. Yet both Jewish and Roman records acknowledge that Joseph requested the body and placed Him in a secure, guarded tomb.

Every alternative explanation collapses under historical scrutiny. The only conclusion that fits the historical evidence is that Jesus actually rose from the dead, just as He predicted.

The Evidence of Transformed Lives

The historical evidence for the resurrection is overwhelming. It is attested by four distinct Gospels. It was proclaimed openly in Jerusalem—a compact city where everyone knew everyone’s business. If the body were still in the tomb, Jesus’ enemies would have silenced the entire Christian movement on day one simply by wheeling His corpse through the streets. They could not do it, because the tomb was empty.

Furthermore, the early church would never have invented a story where women were the primary eyewitnesses if they were fabricating a myth. In ancient first-century culture, a woman’s legal testimony was not accepted in court. If you were inventing a hoax, you would place Peter or prominent men at the front of the story. The Gospels record women as the first witnesses because that is precisely what happened.

Matthew also honestly records that when the disciples saw Him, some still wrestled with doubt.

Matthew 28:17 (NASB)

When they saw Him, they worshiped [Him]; but some were doubtful.

Fabricated legends smooth over those embarrassing details. The Bible records historical reality.

Perhaps the greatest human evidence is the transformation of the disciples. Before the resurrection, they were cowards hiding behind locked doors. Afterward, they boldly proclaimed Christ before kings and magistrates, ultimately sealing their testimony with their blood.

Stephen was stoned in Jerusalem. Matthew was martyred with a sword in Ethiopia. Mark was dragged through the streets of Alexandria. Luke was hung on an olive tree in Greece. James the Greater was beheaded in Jerusalem. James the Less was thrown from the temple pinnacle and beaten to death. Bartholomew was flayed alive. Andrew was crucified. Thomas was speared in India. Jude was shot through with arrows. Matthias was stoned and beheaded. Barnabas was killed in Thessalonica. Paul was beheaded in Rome. Peter was crucified upside down. John was boiled in oil and exiled to Patmos.

People may die for what they mistakenly believe to be true, but no group of people willingly endures torture and martyrdom for something they know to be a deliberate lie. These men and women saw the resurrected Christ with their own eyes.

Why the Resurrection Changes Everything

Why is the resurrection so essential to our faith? The Apostle Paul answers directly:

1 Corinthians 15:14-17 (NASB)

and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found [to be] false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

If Christ is not raised, our preaching is useless, our faith is worthless, and we are still trapped in our sins. If Jesus is still in a grave, we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.

The resurrection confirms the deity of Jesus Christ, declaring Him to be the Son of God in power. It validates that His sacrifice on the cross was fully accepted by the Father to satisfy the penalty for our sins.

Romans 4:25 (NASB)

[He] who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.

The resurrection also provides the power for our daily transformation.

Romans 6:4 (NASB)

Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

Romans 8:11 (NASB)

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Because Jesus walked out of the grave, the power of sin has been broken in our lives. The same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in every believer, giving us the power to walk in victory and newness of life. Our eternal salvation rests entirely upon this truth.

Romans 10:9 (NASB)

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus [as] Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

He Is Risen

In Luke 24, when the women arrive at the empty tomb, the angels ask them a profound question:

Luke 24:5-6 (NASB)

and as [the women] were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, [the men] said to them, ’Why do you seek the living One among the dead? ’He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee,

When you visit Jerusalem today, people often debate between the two traditional locations for the burial of Christ: the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Garden Tomb. People constantly ask, “Which one is the exact spot where it happened?”

My answer is simple: it does not matter where it happened; what matters is what happened. Whichever tomb it was, the answer remains the same: He is not there! He is risen!

The cross was not the end of the story. The grave was not the final chapter. Jesus has conquered death, sin, and Satan. He has risen from the dead, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and one day He will return in glory.

Let us pray.

Father, we thank You for Your Word and for the assurance that the tomb is empty. Because Jesus lives, we have a living hope. Death has no ultimate claim on us, and we are no longer slaves to sin. Thank You that the shackles have been broken and that we have been united with Christ in His resurrection. In a world full of confusion and brokenness, anchor our hearts to the reality of our risen King. May our lives bring glory and honor to His name every day. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray, Amen.