ACC ~ Matthew 28 v1 - 10

OVERVIEW:

The two women precede the apostles in their ministry to the Lord in his death and resurrection. It is significant that this occurred on the first day of the week (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS). The angel came to roll back the stone, to bear witness to the women of the resurrection. The angel delivers the women from fear and announces to them the resurrection of the one who was crucified, pointing to the evidence of the empty tomb (CHRYSOSTOM). The Lord rises in his same body, his wounds bearing witness to the resurrection (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS). The women were first to see and gladly declare not only what had been said to them but also what they had seen (CHRYSOSTOM). When Jesus meets the women, he binds them by the covenant of the bridegroom, not by the right of the ruler (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS). As they take hold of his feet, they thereby received by his touch an irrefutable proof of his resurrection. Just as the women embraced him then, so we too can embrace the risen Lord (CHRYSOSTOM).

28:1 | The Dawn of the First Day

RESOLVING THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE WOMEN’S VISIT

AUGUSTINE: One must not dismiss lightly the question concerning the exact hour at which the women came to the tomb. For if Matthew says, “In the evening of the sabbath, at the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Madgalene and other Mary came to see the tomb,” what then does it mean that Mark says, “And early in the morning on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb at the rising of the sun”? [1] The other two Gospels, Luke and John, do not disagree with Mark; Luke says “early in the morning,” [2] and John says “in the morning when it was still dark.” [3] Both statements are consistent with Mark’s declaration that it was “early in the morning at the rising of the sun,” that is, when the heavens in the east were brightening. But this doesn’t occur except when the sun is very close to rising, a phenomenon which customarily is called the dawn. Therefore Mark does not oppose John, who says “when it was still dark,” for as day is breaking the remaining shadows of darkness diminish only in proportion to the sun’s rising. And Luke’s phrase, “early in the morning,” need not be understood to imply that the sun had already appeared above the horizon but rather is the kind of expression we normally use when we want to signify that something must be done earlier. For when we say “in the morning,” lest we are understood to mean that the sun is already visible, we usually add “very early,” so that we will be understood to refer to the dawn.

Thus it is said “in the evening of the sabbath,” as if he had said “in the night of the sabbath,” that is, in the night which follows the day of the sabbath. Matthew’s words themselves, however, are sufficient, for he says, “In the evening of the sabbath, at the dawn on the first day of the week.” This would be impossible if we understood “in the evening” to signify only the first part of the night. For it is not the beginning of the night which “dawns on the first day of the week” but the night which begins to be terminated by the coming of the light. Now the end of the first part of the night is the beginning of the second part, but the end of the whole night is the light. Thus we cannot say that the evening is “at the dawn of the first day of the week” unless by “evening” we intend “night,” which the light brings to an end. In addition, it is divine Scripture’s customary way of distinguishing the whole from the part. [4] Therefore by saying “evening” it signifies the whole night, the end of which is the dawn. Thus the women came to the tomb at dawn, and therefore they came at night, which is signified in Scripture by the designation of evening. For, as I have said, the whole night is included under that name. Therefore, in whatever part of the night they may have come, they came at night; even if they came at the very end of the night, the fact remains without a doubt that they came at night. HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 3.65. [5]

[1] Mk 16:2.

[2] Lk 24:1.

[3] Jn 20:1.

[4] Augustine applies the trope of synecdoche: at times the Scriptures name a part instead of the whole, and at other times the whole instead of a part.

[5] PL 34:1197-98; NPNF 1 6:210-11.

TOWARD THE DAWN

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: “In the evening toward the dawn.” Behold, with the Lord’s resurrection the evening does not grow dark, it becomes light. What was normally the beginning of night now becomes the break of day. “In the evening of the sabbath toward the dawn of the first day of the week.” Even as mortality is transformed into immortality, corruption into incorruption and flesh into the Word of God, the darkness is transformed into light, so that the night itself rejoices that it did not die but is transmuted… .

“In the evening of the sabbath toward the dawn of the first day of the week.” The sabbath rejoices that it now has a subservient effect. Under the yoke of the law the sabbath had become smugly apathetic and alienated from life-giving power. Through the primacy of the Lord’s Day the sabbath is now wonderfully awakened to works of divine power. To paraphrase the Lord: Is it not permitted to heal the sick on the sabbath, to give aid to the afflicted, sight to the blind and life to the dead? SERMONS 77.2-3. [1]

[1] CCL 24a:470.

AFTER THE SABBATH

SEVERUS: The sacred authors of the Gospels did not say whether the Savior was raised “after the sabbath,” or when most of the night had passed, or at the dawn or when the sun had already begun to shine. Indeed, it would be contradictory for the authors to say that the same event transpired at different times. However, they did write that some of the women arrived at the tomb at one time and some of the women at another time, but not all at the same time—how could that be possible, since they came separately?—and that each of the women heard the angels say similar things regarding the Savior: “He is risen, he is not here,” without adding when his resurrection occurred. It follows that if the resurrection had taken place on that divine night, as all of the Evangelists aver and agree, no one has specified the hour. [That hour] is unknown to the entire world except for the God who was raised and for the Father—who alone knows the Son as he is known by the Son—and except for the Spirit, who “searches everything, even the depths of God.” [1] …

As for the expression “after the sabbath,” it does not refer to the evening which follows the setting of the sun at the end of the sabbath, for Matthew did not use the singular opse sabbatou but the plural opse sabbatōn. The Jews were accustomed to call the entire week sabbata. Thus the Evangelists call the first day opse sabbatōn when they mean the first day of the week. We also use a colloquial expression when we call the second and third days of the week the second and third of the sabbata. Matthew then did not say opse sabbatou, that is, the evening of the sabbath, because he did not intend to denote the evening of that very day. Rather, he used opse sabbatōn so as to indicate that it was very late and well after the end of the week. Similarly, I think, we are in the habit of saying “you came opse tou kairou [well after the time], opse tēs hōras [well after the hour], opse tēs chreias [well after the need]” not in order to indicate the evening or the time after the setting of the sun but in order to suggest that the person arrived too late for the event. In a similar fashion, opse sabbatōn means that the women arrived very late and well after the end of the week. Now each week ends at the setting of the sun after the sabbath. CATHEDRAL SERMONS, HOMILY 77. [2]

[1] 1 Cor 2:10.

[2] PO 16:796-98, 802-4.

THE WOMEN WANT TO SEE

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: The apostles are preceded in ministry by women, who follow the men by gender and the disciples by order. [1] The apostles are not thereby made masters by these women. These women are bringing to the sepulcher the form and appearance of women, but they together symbolize the wholeness of the Lord’s churches. Mary and Mary: one as herself, and herself as the other. Mary, the single maternal name of Christ, is duplicated in two women. [2] Here is symbolized the church coming from two peoples yet made into one from two peoples—that is, from the Gentiles and the Jews. For “the first shall be last and the last shall be first.” [3] SERMONS 75.3. [4]

[1] That is, the two women were first to become attentive to the Lord in his death and resurrection, followed by the apostles later. They did not seek to usurp the leadership roles assigned to the apostles. They followed the disciples in their ordering of their lives toward service.

[2] In a single name, Mary, both the Jewish and Gentile streams are symbolically brought into the oneness of the church. The Jewish stream is “herself,” and the Gentile stream is “the other.” The otherness of the Gentiles is poetically and typologically symbolized in the “other Mary.”

[3] Mt 19:30; Mk 10:31.

[4] CCL 24a:459-60.

28:2-3 | An Angel Rolls Back the Stone

WHY THE ANGEL ROLLED AWAY THE STONE

CHRYSOSTOM: After the resurrection the angel appeared. But for what purpose did he come? To roll back the stone. Why? To attest to the women of the resurrection so that they might believe. The women themselves had earlier witnessed him in the sepulcher. Now they behold an empty tomb. This is why the angel rolled the stone away and why an earthquake took place: that they might be thoroughly aroused and awakened to the resurrection. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 89.2. [1]

[1] PG 58:783; NPNF 1 10:527.

WHY WAS THE STONE ROLLED BACK?

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: An angel descended and rolled back the stone. He did not roll back the stone to provide a way of escape for the Lord but to show the world that the Lord had already risen. He rolled back the stone to help his fellow servants believe, not to help the Lord rise from the dead. He rolled back the stone for the sake of faith, because it had been rolled over the tomb for the sake of unbelief. He rolled back the stone so that he who took death captive might hold the title of Life. Pray, brothers, that the angel would descend now and roll away all the hardness of our hearts and open up our closed senses and declare to our minds that Christ has risen, for just as the heart in which Christ lives and reigns is heaven, so also the heart in which Christ remains dead and buried is a grave. May it be believed that just as he died, so was he transformed. Christ the man suffered, died and was buried; as God, he lives, reigns, is and will be forever. SERMONS 75.4. [1]

[1] CCL 24a:460-61.

RESOLVING DISCREPANCIES

AUGUSTINE: According to Matthew, the angel sat upon the stone which had been rolled from the tomb, whereas Mark says that upon entering the tomb the women were astounded to see a young man sitting on the right, dressed in a white robe. [1] This discrepancy would be troubling unless we understand that Matthew remained silent concerning that angel whom they saw when they entered the tomb and Mark remained silent concerning that angel whom they saw sitting on the stone outside the tomb. If this be the case, the women saw two angels and heard from them about Jesus progressively; first from the one who sat on the stone outside the tomb and then from the one whom they saw sitting on the right when they entered the tomb. They went into the tomb then because they had been exhorted to do so by the angel sitting outside, when he said, “Come and see where the Lord was placed.” [2] Upon entering, as it is written, they saw and heard similar things from the angel sitting on the right side of the tomb, who is mentioned by Mark but ignored by Matthew.

If this explanation fails to satisfy, we certainly ought to understand that when they entered the tomb they were in some sort of walled enclosure which, it is reasonable to believe, had been established as a secured location in front of the rock from which the tomb was cut. According to this scenario, the angel whom they saw sitting on the right side of the tomb would have been in the same space as the angel who Matthew says was sitting on the stone which, at the time of the earthquake, had been rolled back from the entrance to the tomb, that is, from the sepulcher cut from the rock. HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 3.63. [3]

[1] Mk 16:5.

[2] Mt 28:6.

[3] PL 34:1197; NPNF 1 6:209-10.

HIS FACE AND HIS CLOTHING

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: “His appearance,” says the Evangelist, “was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow.” The brightness of his countenance is distinguished from the brilliance of his clothing. His face is compared with lightning from heaven and his garment to snow falling upon the earth. Listen to the prophet as he says, “Praise the Lord from the earth, you fire, hail and snow!” [1] In the angel’s face, then, heaven’s brilliance adapts to nature. His clothing symbolizes the grace of human fellowship, and the appearance of this angel as he speaks is so tempered that physical eyes can withstand the peaceful brilliance of his raiment. As they look upon the lightning of his appearance, they tremble and revere the messenger of their Maker. SERMONS 75.6. [2]

[1] Ps 148:7-8.

[2] CCL 24a:461-62.

28:4-5 | Do Not Be Afraid

THE ANGEL’S PURPOSE

CHRYSOSTOM: For what intent and purpose does the angel say to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus”? First to deliver them from dread and then to announce to them the resurrection. He addresses them personally: “I know you seek Jesus who was crucified.” By this he treated them with great honor. To be afraid is not for you but for those that crucified Jesus. The contrast here is between the extreme punishment that awaits those who dared to crucify Jesus and the freedom from fear for those who, having repented, sought after him. It was both by his words and by his appearance that the angel brought them deliverance from fear. The brightness of his appearance was such as to bring good news. He went on to say, “I know that you seek Jesus the crucified.” Note that he is not ashamed to call him “the crucified.” For it is chiefly by his crucifixion that he blesses. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 89.2. [1]

[1] PG 58:784; NPNF 1 10:527.

YOU SEEK JESUS WHO WAS CRUCIFIED

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: The angel mentions the name of Jesus, alludes to his cross, speaks about his Passion and refers to his death. He then proclaims his resurrection and confesses his lordship. After all the punishment and after the sepulcher, the angel heralds the Lord, speaks of his subjection and sees that the full offense of the Passion has been transmuted into the glory of the resurrection. How could anyone judge that God was lessened by becoming human? Or believe that his power was demeaned by the Passion? Or think that his sovereignty was diminished by his servanthood? The angel speaks worthily of the crucified one. He shows the very place where the Lord’s body was laid, lest someone else and not he is believed to have risen from the dead. SERMONS 76.1. [1]

[1] CCL 24a:464-65.

28:6 | He Has Risen, As He Said

HE HAS RISEN

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: The Lord rises in the same flesh. He brings back the wounds, takes on again the holes from the nails and bears witness by his very body with the signs of his resurrection, which were the ravages of his suffering. If so, how could anyone imagine that he might return in some other body? How could anyone fail to believe that he will return in his own flesh? It is fanciful to think that the servant would by chance disdain his own flesh. Rest assured, my friend, when you arise from the dead it will be you in your own body. Otherwise it would not be you if you should rise in the flesh of another. SERMONS 76.1. [1]

[1] CCL 24a:465.

HE IS NOT IN THE TOMB

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: So the angel became an evangelist and herald of the resurrection to the women. “Do not seek,” he says, “the one who” always “lives,” who in his own nature is life, “among the dead. He is not here,” that is, dead and in the tomb, “but he has been raised.” He has become a way of ascent to immortality not only for himself but also for us. For this reason he made himself nothing and put on our likeness, that “by the grace of God,” just as the blessed Paul says, “he might taste death on behalf of all.” [1] And so he has become the death of death. FRAGMENT 317. [2]

[1] Heb 2:9.

[2] MKGK 268.

OBSERVE THE PLACE OF HIS BURIAL

CHRYSOSTOM: What evidence demonstrates that he has risen? “As he said”—that is, the event is known on the testimony of the angelic visitor. And if you refuse to believe the angel, then remember Jesus’ own words, and you will not hesitate to believe me. The evidence, however, is further presented: “Come and see the place where he lay.” For this purpose the angel had rolled away the stone: that they might see the evidence of his resurrection. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 89.2. [1]

[1] PG 58:784; NPNF 1 10:527.

28:7-8 | Tell His Disciples

TELL HIS DISCIPLES HE HAS RISEN

CHRYSOSTOM: He calls upon them not only to behold the evidence but to attest it further to others: “Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.” The angel here is preparing the women to take the good news to the other disciples. They are to tell of the evidence that made them believe—the empty tomb. Furthermore, “he is going before you to Galilee.” He says this to relieve them from anxieties and the fear of danger, that their faith not be hindered. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 89.2. [1]

[1] PG 58:784; NPNF 1 10:527.

BEFORE YOU INTO GALILEE

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: The angel goes on to say, “Go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen; and behold, he goes before you into Galilee; you will see him there.” The angel here sends not merely the women but the church in the two women. He sends the one so that by sending her he may spread the news far and wide. Here the angel is sending the bride to the bridegroom. SERMONS 76.2. [1]

[1] CCL 24a:465-66.

THEY RAN TO TELL THE DISCIPLES

CHRYSOSTOM: Why “with fear and great joy”? They had seen an amazing event. It was beyond all their expectations. The tomb had been empty where they had just before seen him laid. The angel led them to the tomb that they might become witnesses both of his tomb and his resurrection. It is evident that no one could have stolen his body, when so many soldiers were sitting nearby him. Hence he raised up himself. For this reason they rejoiced and stood in awe. The women received the reward of continuing with him. They were first to see and gladly declare not only what had been said to them but also what they themselves had seen. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 89.2. [1]

[1] PG 58:784; NPNF 1 10:527.

BOTH FEAR AND JOY

AUGUSTINE: It may be asked how Mark could say, “And going out, they fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid,” [1] whereas Matthew says, “They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, running to tell his disciples.” The apparent discrepancy between the two accounts is resolved if we understand that the women dared to say nothing either to the angels (that is, to respond to what they had heard from them) or to the guards whom they had seen lying on the ground. For the joy of which Matthew speaks is not opposed to the fear which Mark recounts. We ought to understand that both fear and joy were at once awakened in their minds, even if Matthew had failed to speak of fear. But the question is settled when he says, “They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy.” HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 3.64. [2]

[1] Mk 16:8.

[2] PL 34:1197; NPNF 1 6:210.

28:9-10 | Jesus Met Them

FIRST TO RECEIVE THE WORD OF LIFE

HILARY OF POITIERS: The events during which the small band of women first saw the Lord, were greeted by him, fell to their knees and were commanded to announce the good news to the apostles reverse the order present at the beginning of the world. The gender through which death entered the world would also be the first to receive the glory, vision, fruit and news of the resurrection. The guards, who had seen everything, spurned the glory of the resurrection when they accepted a bribe to lie about the theft of Christ’s body. [1] They sold their silence regarding the resurrection in exchange for the honor and pleasure of this world, for its honor is in money. ON MATTHEW 33.9. [2]

[1] Mt 28:12-13.

[2] SC 258:260.

EVE’S CURSE UNDONE

JEROME: Two different feelings occupied the minds of the women: fear and joy. Fear came from the magnitude of the miracle they had witnessed and joy from their desire for the resurrection. Nevertheless both feelings impelled their steps. They continued on to the apostles so that through them the seed of faith would be scattered.

“And behold, Jesus met them, saying ‘Hail!’ ” They who sought him out and ran to him deserved to be the first to meet the risen Lord and to hear him say, “Hail.” Thus it happened that Eve’s curse was undone by these women. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.28.8-9. [1]

[1] CCL 77:280-81.

JESUS MET THEM

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: While they were going, the Lord “met them” and said, “Hail!” When he meets them, he does not frighten them with his power but comes before them with the ardor of his love. He does not startle them with his authority but greets them warmly. He binds them by the covenant of the bridegroom, not by the right of the ruler. He honors them with the love of a brother. He greets them with a gracious salutation. At one time he had said to his disciples, “Salute no one on the road.” [1] So why is it that here along the way this visitor is so quick to salute them? He does not wait to be recognized. He does not demand to be understood. He does not allow himself to be questioned. Rather, he extends this greeting immediately, enthusiastically. He did this because the force of his love overcomes and surpasses all. Furthermore, by doing so Christ himself greets the church. He makes its very heart to be his own and thus receives its body into his own, as the apostle says, “And he is the head of the body, the church.” [2] This greeting itself evidently shows that the full figure of the church abides in these women. They are contrasted with those disciples whom Christ scolds who were wavering over the resurrection. He quells their fears by showing his side and the deep holes from the nails. [3] By taking food, [4] he now restores their faith. SERMONS 75.2. [5]

[1] Lk 10:4.

[2] Col 1:18.

[3] Lk 24:39; Jn 20:27.

[4] Lk 24:42-43.

[5] CCL 24a:465-66.

THEY WORSHIP HIM

CHRYSOSTOM: After they had departed with fear and joy, Jesus met them, saying, “Hail!” They ran to him with great joy and gladness. They “took hold of his feet.” Thus they received by his touch an irrefutable proof of his resurrection, with full personal assurance of it. And they “worshiped him.”

What does he then say? “Do not be afraid.” Again, Jesus himself casts out their fear, making room for faith: “Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” Note well how he himself sends good tidings to his disciples by these women. He thereby brings honor to women, as I have so often said, honor to that sex which is most prone to be dishonored. Through these women he brings good hope and the healing of that which was diseased.

Some among you may desire to be like these faithful women. You too may wish to take hold of the feet of Jesus. You can, even now. You can embrace not only his feet but also his hands and even his sacred head. You too can today receive these awesome mysteries with a pure conscience. You can embrace him not only in this life but also even more fully on that day when you shall see him coming with unspeakable glory, with a multitude of the angels. If you are so disposed, along with him, to be compassionate, you shall hear not only these words, “All hail!” but also those others: “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world.” [1] THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 89.3. [2]

[1] Mt 25:34.

[2] PG 58:784; NPNF 1 10:527.