Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 28:2
And, behold, 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.
2. there was a great earthquake ] Peculiar to St Matthew.
the angel of the Lord ] “Two men stood by them in shining garments” (Luke). “Two angels in white sitting” (John).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
There was a great earthquake – Rather there had been. It does not mean that this was while they were there, or while they were going, but that there had been so violent a commotion as to remove the stone. The word rendered here as earthquake does not of necessity mean that the convulsion extended to the earth, but only that there had been such a concussion as to remove the stone.
And sat upon it – Sat upon it when the keepers saw him, Mat 28:4. It is not said that he was sitting when he appeared to the women. From Luke it would rather appear that he was standing.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 28:2-4
And behold, there was a great earthquake.
The earthquake trumpet
An earthquake was a royal trumpet to proclaim this victory, the greatest that ever was obtained against an enemy. The deep murmur and hollow sound which came from beneath the earth gave notice at one blast to heaven, and hell, and to all Judea, that the Son of God about that instant (as I do verily believe) did break the gates of brass, and smite the bars of death in sunder. (Bishop Hacket.)
Six reasons for the earthquake
I. It makes us conceit that there was a great struggling, and a combat between Christ and death.
II. It betokens what noise and tumult there shall be in all the elements at the last and great resurrection.
III. It signifies that the majesty of the Lord was upon the earth to defend His people.
IV. The anger of the Lord did roar out of the earth against those Jews who thought to prevail that death should devour him, against Pilate that allowed his seal to this conspiracy, and against the soldiers that watched the sepulchre.
V. Because the consciences of these evil men were only wounded, and no other harm done by the earthquake, therefore, some say, the place round about did rather dance for joy than quake for trembling.
VI. Is allegorical, and thus in brief, that our hearts must be shaken and inwardly troubled with compunction and repentance before we believe steadfastly in the resurrection of Jesus. (Bishop Hacket.)
Keepers like dead men
The sentinels were not as dead men long; and when they woke, they found the tomb empty, and the tenant gone. Thoughts of the spirit-land and impressions of reverence were not in their world; the shock they had received woke no thought or question, but sheer physical terror only. As horses are frightened in the flashes of the tempest, and the wild things of the woods are suddenly tame in the blow of any tremendous flood or fire; so these strong human animals were cowed by the lightning from an angels face. They would have been dauntless amidst the shock of battle and the din of arms, but they were dumb before a being who was not of flesh and blood. White as the dead, they at once burst into the presence of their masters and told all. (Charles Stanford, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 2. A great earthquake] , a shaking or commotion of any kind: probably the word means no more than the confusion caused among the guards by the angel’s appearance. All this had taken place before the women reached the sepulchre.
The angel of the Lord descended from heaven] Matthew is very particular in this, to show that the word angel is not to be taken in the sense of an ordinary messenger, who might have come from Joseph of Arimathea, or from any other; but in the sense of an extraordinary messenger, who descended from GOD, out of heaven, for this very purpose. It is likely that the angel had descended, rolled away the stone, and was sitting on it, before the women reached the tomb.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Matthew alone telleth us this; all the other evangelists agree that when the women came they found the stone rolled away, which eased them of the solicitude they had as they came, saying amongst themselves,
Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? Matthew saith, an angel descended and rolled away the stone, and came and sat upon it. This angel had assumed a shape, for he appeared to those that saw him, as to
his countenance, like lightning; as to his garment, as one clothed in exceeding white linen, white as snow. What doth the watch all this while? Matthew saith, they were afraid, shook, and became like dead men. Luke and John make mention of two angels. Indeed there needed not any angel at all to remove the stone, if this had been all he had come down for; He that was quickened by the Spirit, could by the same power have rolled away the stone; but as it was fit that the angels, who had been witnesses of his passion, should also be witnesses of his resurrection, that he who was justified in the Spirit, should be seen of angels, 1Ti 3:16; so it was necessary, that the keepers might give a just account to Pilate, the chief priests, and scribes. And no wonder that they were afraid, and as dead men, whereas all apparitions of this nature naturally affright us, and they had such a conscience of guilt upon them, and might justly fear what their masters should say to them, when they found the body was missing; especially also seeing, or being sensible of, the earthquake, or great concussion of the air (for though we translate it earthquake, yet the Greek saith no more than ). Besides that the presence of the angels seemed reasonable to prevent a cheat, by putting some other dead body into the sepulchre, and to direct the women who were now coming towards the sepulchre, for they were not yet come: when they were come, they found the stone rolled away; and Matthews relation, how the stone came removed, was doubtless not from them, but from the keepers, or some to whom they had related it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And behold there was a great earthquake,…. Or “there had been one”; which, how far it reached, and whether further than the spot of ground in which the sepulchre was, is not certain: it was an emblem of the shaking of the earth by the preaching of the Gospel, the sound of which was now to go after Christ’s resurrection to the ends of the world; and a prelude of the general resurrection, when the earth shall be shaken, and the graves opened, and the dead come forth; and was a symbol and token of the presence and majesty of Christ, at whose rising, as at his death, the earth shook and trembled. Think whether the watch could now be asleep, as they afterwards gave out, Mt 28:13. The Persic version renders it very wrongly; “and there was great consternation and fear”; which was the consequence of the earthquake, and the descent of the angel, and was so great that it was not possible for the keepers to sleep, if ever so much inclined:
for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven; perhaps Gabriel, who brought the news of the conception of Christ to the virgin, and of his incarnation to the shepherds, and might be the same angel that strengthened him in the garden: nor is this any contradiction to the other evangelists, which speak of two angels, Lu 24:4, for Matthew does not say there were no more than one, though he makes mention but of one.
And came and rolled back the stone from the door; of the sepulchre, which by Joseph, or his orders, was put there, and was sealed by the Jews. This might be done, that way might be made for the risen body of Christ to pass out of the sepulchre; for to suppose, as some do, that he penetrated through this stone with his risen body, is not to be credited: it is true, he could have caused the stone to have given way, or removed it himself, and put it in the place again; as he caused the doors of the house in which the disciples were, to open and shut so quick, that they could not discern it when he appeared in the midst of them, Joh 20:19; see Ac 12:10, but he might choose to do it by the ministry of an angel, which is no ways derogatory to his power and majesty, but rather agreeable. Moreover, this might be done, that the women might have access to the sepulchre, and enter into it, which was the thing they were concerned about by the way, who should roll away the stone for them. Besides, this the angel did, as a token that Christ was risen, and to let the guard know as much, who, if they thought fit, might come and see what was done; but chiefly the stone was rolled away by the angel, as an emblem of the acquittance and discharge of Christ, as the surety of his people. He had taken upon him their sins; he had bore them in his body on the tree; he had suffered and died for them, and was laid as a prisoner in the grave; and now full satisfaction being made, an angel is sent from heaven to roll away the stone; thereby signifying, that the debt was fully paid, and he was now legally discharged. It is added,
and sat upon it; thereby showing who it was that rolled it away; that it was done by him, not by the earthquake, nor by any human power: he sat there defying the guard of soldiers to come nigh; and waiting for the coming of the women, to tell them the good news, that their Lord was risen; and as the keeper of the sepulchre, that no corpse might be brought and laid in the room of Christ, and it be said that he was not risen. This posture of the angel does not contradict what other evangelists say of this, and the other angel, that they stood by the women, and also were sitting in the sepulchre, Mr 16:5, for each was true: when the women first came, the angel sat upon the stone; after that, with the other, stood by them; when having invited them to the grave, placed themselves, sitting the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Christ had lain.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
There was a great earthquake ( ). Clearly not the earthquake of 27:51. The precise time of this earthquake is not given. It was before sunrise on the first day of the week when the women made the next visit. Matthew alone relates the coming of the angel of the Lord who rolled away the stone and was sitting upon it ( ). If one is querulous about these supernatural phenomena, he should reflect that the Resurrection of Jesus is one of the great supernatural events of all time. Cornelius Lapide dares to say: “The earth, which trembled with sorrow at the Death of Christ as it were leaped for joy at His Resurrection.” The Angel of the Lord announced the Incarnation of the Son of God and also His Resurrection from the grave. There are apparent inconsistencies in the various narratives of the Resurrection and the appearances of the Risen Christ. We do not know enough of the details to be able to reconcile them. But the very variations strengthen the independent witness to the essential fact that Jesus rose from the grave. Let each writer give his own account in his own way. The stone was rolled away not to let the Lord out, but to let the women in to prove the fact of the empty tomb (McNeile).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Mat 28:2
. And, lo, a great earthquake. By many signs the Lord showed the presence of his glory, that he might more fully prepare the hearts of the holy women to reverence the mystery. (304) For since it was not a matter of little consequence to know that the Son of God had obtained a victory over death, (on which the principal point of our salvation is founded,) it was necessary to remove all doubts, that the divine majesty might be openly and manifestly presented to the eyes of the women. Matthew says, therefore, that there was an earthquake, by which the divine power which I have mentioned might be perceived. And by this prodigy, it was proper that the women should be allowed to expect nothing human or earthly, but to raise their minds to a work of God which was new, and surpassed the expectations of men.
The raiment and the countenance of the angel, too, might be said to be rays by which the splendor of Godhead was diffused, so as to enable them to perceive that it was not a mortal man that stood near them, having the face of a man. For though dazzling light, or the whiteness of snow, is nothing in comparison of the boundless glory of God, but rather, if we wish to know him aright, we ought not to imagine to ourselves any color; yet when he makes known by outward signs that he is present, he invites us to him, as far as our weakness can endure. Still we ought to know that the visible signs of his presence are exhibited to us, that our minds may conceive of him as invisible; and that, under bodily forms, we obtain a taste of his spiritual essence, that we may seek him spiritually. Yet it cannot be doubted that, together with outward signs, there was an inward power, which engraved on the hearts of the women an impression of Deity. For though at first they were struck with amazement, yet it will appear, from what follows, that they gathered courage, and were gradually instructed in such a manner, that they perceived the hand of God to be present.
Our three Evangelists, from a desire of brevity, leave out what is more fully related by John, (Joh 20:1) which, we know, is not unusual with them. There is also this difference, that Matthew and Mark mention but one angel, while John and Luke speak of two. But this apparent contradiction also is easily removed; for we know how frequently in Scripture instances occur of that figure of speech by which a part is taken for the whole. There were two angels, therefore, who appeared first to Mary, and afterwards to her other companions; but as the attention of the women was chiefly directed to the angel who spoke, Matthew and Mark have satisfied themselves with relating his message. Besides, when Matthew says that the angel sat on a stone, there is in his words ( ὕστερον πρότερον), an inversion of the order of events; or, at least, that order was disregarded by him; for the angel did not immediately appear, but while the women were held in suspense and anxiety by an event so strange and astonishing.
(304) “ A Une reverence du mystere.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) There was a great earthquake.The words imply, not that they witnessed the earthquake, but that they inferred it from what they saw. The form of the angel is described in Mar. 16:5 as that of a young man in white or bright (Luk. 24:4) raiment. This was the answer to the question they had been asking as they came, Who shall roll away the stone for us? (Mar. 16:3). That would have been beyond their strength.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
TRANSACTIONS ON THE DAY OF RESURRECTION, BEFORE THE FIRST VISIT AT THE SEPULCHRE, Mat 28:2-4.
2. Earthquake As there was darkness and earthquake at the death, so there is now earthquake and light at the resurrection. Both were given for the same purpose; namely, to manifest to the senses of men the mighty operations that were going on beyond the reach of sense. Death, and life, and power are secret and unseen principles; their manifestations are shown forth to mankind through the senses. The earthquake and the resurrection of course took place previous to the arrival of the women. Angels The angel came not to awaken the corpse. That was done by the return of Jesus from his visitation to the spirit-world. No eye beheld his reviving body, warmed and loosened by the embraces of the soul. Rolled back the stone Not that Jesus could not have burst the barrier; but the ministry of angels was necessary to give form to the transaction to human conception.
Sat upon it Upon the conquered thing as upon a triumphal throne.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat on it.
They were probably somewhat apprehensive. There had been a great earthquake, following closely on the earthquake that had caused such damage on the day of crucifixion (Palestine was a land of earthquakes. Josephus and others refer to a number of earthquakes connected with Jerusalem, compare Amo 1:1; Zec 14:4-5), so that they may well have wondered what they were going to find. But nothing had prepared them for what they did find. For they discovered that the earthquake had opened up the tomb, and that an angel of the Lord had descended from Heaven and was seated on the stone. There had been ‘an angel of the Lord’ connected with His birth in Mat 1:20. Now we find one connected with His ‘rebirth’. His resurrection. In both cases this angel explains what God is doing. He has sent Jesus to save us from our sins, He has vindicated Him by raising Him from the dead.
The rolling away of the stone was like the rising of the curtain in a theatre. It was in order to reveal the scene that lay behind it.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 28:2-4. And behold, there was a great earthquake While the women were going to the sepulchre, there was a great earthquake, namely, that which preceded the most memorable event that ever happened among men,the resurrection of the Son of God from the dead. This earthquake probably frightened the women to such a degree, that they immediately returned back;or their return might have been rendered necessary by a storm, if this earthquake was attended with a storm; or we may espouse the opinion of Hammond and Le Clerc, who interpret the words in this passage, of a tempest only. The word properly signifies any shaking, whether in earth, air, or sea. As the tempest therefore, or earthquake, which preceded our Lord’s resurrection, was a great one, it could hardly fail to lay the women under a necessity of returning. The guards, it is true, remained at the sepulchre all the while; but there was a great difference between the tempers of the persons; not to mention that the men being soldiers, duty obliged them to keep their post as long aspossible.Thewholeofthisaccount is further strengthened by the following remark; that, on a supposition that our Lord’s resurrection was preceded by a tempest, or earthquake, or both, which frightened the two Marys as they went to the sepulchre, and made them turn back, we can see the reason why the women did not go out with the spices till the morning, notwithstanding, according to St. Luke, they had bought and prepared at least the greatest part of them the evening on which Jesus was buried; and notwithstanding the nature of embalming required that they should make as much dispatch as possible. After the two Marys returned, they went with their companions to get ready such spices as were necessary to complete their preparation; (see Mar 16:1.) and while they were making these preparations forembalming Jesus, he arose from the dead; this resurrection being preceded, as we observe, by the descent of an angel, who assumed a very aweful and majestic form, insomuch that the keepers shook, and became as dead men, for fear of him: probably they fainted away. It is not said at what particular instant Jesus arose, whether it was before the guards fell into the swoon, or after they recovered themselves and fled. St. Mark indeed, by observing that Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene, maybe thought to insinuate, that the guards did not see him when he arose; yet the Evangelist’s words do not necessarily imply this; for his meaning may be, that he appeared to Mary Magdalene first of all in respect to the disciples only. Besides, though the guards saw him arise, it was, properly speaking, no appearance of Christ to them: however, be this as it may, it is certain that Jesus was arisen and gone, before any of the women arrived at the sepulchre. Probably also the angel had left the stone on which he sat at first, and had entered into the sepulchre; for as we shall see immediately, when he shewed himself to the women, he invited them not to go away, but to come, and see the place where the Lord lay. Besides, when the women observed the stone rolled from the door of the sepulchre, they saw no angel sitting on the stone, as is evident from their going forward so briskly. See Mar 16:5. The purpose of this angel’s descending from heaven, says Mr. West, seems to have been, not only to roll away the stone from the mouth of the sepulchre, that the women who were on their way thither might have freeentrance to it, but also to fright away the soldiers who were set to guard it; and who, had they continued there, wouldcertainly not have permitted the disciples of Jesus to have made the necessary inquiries for their conviction. Could it be supposed that either they or the women would have attempted to enter into the sepulchre, while it was surrounded by a Roman guard? For this end it is not unreasonable to suppose, that he might not only raise a tempestuous earthquake, but assume a countenance of terror, flashing with dreadful light amid the darkness of the night; which were circumstances so full of amazement, that they could not fail of producing, even in the hearts of Roman soldiers, the consternation mentioned by the Evangelists, and driving them from a post, of which the Divinity (for so, according to their way of speaking and acting, they might have stiled the angel) had now taken the possession. The reasonableness of these two purposes every body must acknowledge, and that this is a very material point towards establishing the fact: especially, ifweconsider,thatwithouttheinterpositionofheaventhesepulchre would not have beenopened, nor the guard removed, till after the expiration of the third day, the day prefixed by Christ for his resurrection from the dead: in which case, though no earthly power could have hindered Christ from coming out of the sepulchre, yet the door remaining closed, and the guard continuing there, must effectually have prevented that examination into the state of the sepulchre, which convinced St. John that Christ was risen; and which, if it did not of itself amount to a clear proof of the resurrection, was at least admirably calculated to prepare the minds, not of the Apostles only, but of all the Jews who were at that time in Jerusalem, to admit such other proofs as were afterwards offered to their consideration; for it is not to be imagined that none but the disciples of Jesus visited the sepulchre that day, See West and Macknight.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 28:2 . It is wrong to take the aorists in a pluperfect sense (Castalio, Kuinoel, Kern, Ebrard), or to conceive of the action of the as not yet completed (de Wette). Matthew represents what is here recorded as taking place in presence of the women ( ), whose attention, however, had been so much occupied with the accompanying phenomena, that they did not observe (Mat 28:5-6 ) the circumstance itself of our Lord’s emerging from the grave (which, besides, must have been invisible to the outward eye owing to the nature of the body He had now assumed, comp. on Mat 28:17 ). The other evangelists make no mention of this (legendary) supernatural and visible rolling away of the stone; and, though differing as to the number of the angels, they agree in representing them as having appeared inside the grave. Here , if anywhere, however, amid so much that is supernatural, must we be prepared to expect divergent accounts of what took place, above all in regard to the angelic manifestations, which are matters depending on individual observation and experience (comp. on Joh 20:12 ), and not the objective perceptions of impartial and disinterested spectators.
] assigning the reason for the violent earthquake which, as a divine , formed an appropriate accompaniment to this miraculous angelic manifestation.
. , . . .] as the heaven-sent guardian and interpreter of the empty tomb.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
2 And, behold, 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.
Ver. 2. And behold, &c. ] The Holy Ghost here calls for as great attention as if we had been present and seen it. Remember (saith St Paul) “that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead, according to my gospel,” 2Ti 2:8 . All the four evangelists have therefore punctually recorded it, that we may remember and ruminate it, as amain remarkable.
There was a great earthquake ] Pythagoras said the reason of earthquakes was, the meeting of the dead: an odd conceit, a But the true reason of this earthquake was our Saviour’s rising from the dead, in despite of infernal spirits, who therefore quaked as much as the earth did, as Hilary hath it. b The earth shook both at Christ’s passion and at his resurrection; Then, to show that it could not bear his suffering; now, to show that it could not hinder his rising.
Rolled back the stone ] As an officer sent to let Christ out of prison, without the keeper’s consent.
And sat upon it ] In contempt of all their weapons, which fell out of their hands for woe, at the sight of the angel. And as a mighty man when he sits down shakes the bench under him, so do these the earth.
a Nullam aliam causam dicebat terrae motus quam conventum mortuorum. Aelian.
b Resurgente virtutum coelestium domino infernorum trepi. datio commovetur.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2. ] This must not be taken as pluperfect, which would be altogether inconsistent with the text.
must mean that the women were witnesses of the earthquake , and that which happened .
was not properly an earthquake, but was the sudden opening of the tomb by the descending Angel, as the shews. The rolling away was not done naturally, but by a shock, which = .
It must not be supposed that the Resurrection of our Lord took place at this time , as sometimes imagined, and represented in paintings. It had taken place before ; . . . are the words of the Angel. It was not for Him , to whom (see Joh 20:19 ; Joh 20:26 ) the stone was no hindrance , but for the women and His disciples , that it was rolled away.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 28:2 . he particulars in this and the following two verses are peculiar to Mt.: first, an earthquake ( ), as in Mat 27:51 ; second, an angel descending from heaven; third, the angel rolling away the stone; fourth, the angel sitting on the stone as guard.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
behold. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6.
was = happened.
the LORD = Jehovah (App-4). See App-98.
from = out of. Greek. ek.
heaven. Singular. See note on Mat 6:9, Mat 6:10.
rolled back = had rolled back.
from = away from. Greek. apo. Compare Mat 27:37.
sat upon it. See note on Mat 27:60. Sat that it might he known by what power it was rolled back.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
2.] This must not be taken as pluperfect, which would be altogether inconsistent with the text.
must mean that the women were witnesses of the earthquake, and that which happened.
was not properly an earthquake, but was the sudden opening of the tomb by the descending Angel, as the shews. The rolling away was not done naturally, but by a shock, which = .
It must not be supposed that the Resurrection of our Lord took place at this time, as sometimes imagined, and represented in paintings. It had taken place before;- … are the words of the Angel. It was not for Him, to whom (see Joh 20:19; Joh 20:26) the stone was no hindrance, but for the women and His disciples, that it was rolled away.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 28:2. , from the door) sc. of the sepulchre. It did not behove that the sepulchre should remain closed.-, sat) Afterwards the angel arose with his companion. See Luk 24:4 [where it is said, Behold two men stood by them in shining garments.]- , upon it) sc. the stone: so that no one could roll it back again to the sepulchre.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
the angel
an angel etc. (See Scofield “Heb 1:4”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
there: Mat 27:51-53, Act 16:26, Rev 11:19
was: or, had been
for: Mar 16:3-5, Luk 24:2-5, Joh 20:1, Joh 20:12, Joh 20:13, 1Ti 3:16, 1Pe 1:12
Reciprocal: 2Sa 22:8 – the earth 1Ki 19:11 – an earthquake Job 37:1 – General Psa 18:7 – earth Psa 21:11 – are not Psa 57:3 – send Psa 77:18 – earth Psa 97:4 – the earth Isa 8:12 – fear ye Nah 1:5 – mountains Mat 4:11 – behold Mat 27:60 – a great Mar 15:46 – and rolled Mar 16:4 – they saw Luk 24:4 – two men Act 3:15 – whom Act 10:40 – General Rom 6:4 – by the Rev 6:12 – there
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
28:2
There was a great earthquake. The marginal renders it “had been,” which is correct, for Mar 16:4 says that when the women arrived at the tomb they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. The angel was not afraid to break the seal that the Jews had caused to be placed upon the tomb, for he did not flee but rather remained and sat upon the stone.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 28:2. A great earthquake. Probably witnessed by the women. They first questioned how the stone should be rolled away, so that they could embalm the body (Mar 16:3). The earthquake is connected with the sudden rolling away of the great stone by the angel.
For an angel of the Lord. The resurrection itself was not a matter of actual bodily vision, and seems to have taken place before the stone was rolled away (Mat 28:6). The tomb was opened for the sake of the women and the disciples, not to allow the Lord to pass out. The stone could not have been a hindrance to Him (comp. Joh 20:19; Joh 20:26).
And sat upon it. This is to be distinguished from all the other angelic appearances. Mary Magdalene probably started back about this time, and left the other Mary and Salome to see and hear the angel. Some think the occurrences of this verse preceded the coming of the women and were witnessed by the soldiers only, and that the message of Mat 28:5-7 was spoken by the angel inside the tomb, but this is grammatically less probable.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. With what pomp and triumph doth our Lord arise. The earth that quaked before at his crucifixion, quakes now again at his resurrection: it quaked then at the dissolution, now at the reunion of his human nature, to tell the world that the God of nature then suffered, and now conquered.
Observe, 2. How an angel is emplowed in Christ’s resurrection; He rolls away the stone. But could not Christ have risen then without the angel’s help? Yes sure, he that raised himself, surely could have removed the stone: but God thinks fit to send an officer from heaven to open the prison-door of the grave; and by setting our surety at liberty, proclaims our debt to the divine justice fully satisfied. Besides, it was fit that the angels who had been witnesses of our Saviour’s passion, should also be witnesses of his resurrection.
Observe, 3. How unable the keepers of the grave were to bear the sight and presence of the angel; they shook for fear, and became as dead men. Angels being pure and perfect spirits, man is not able to bear the sight of an angel, no, not in human shape, without terror and affrightment; and if the sight of an angel be so dreadful, what is the sight of God himself?
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 28:2. And behold, there was a great earthquake While the women were making these preparations for embalming the body of Jesus, he arose from the dead; his resurrection being preceded by the descent of an angel, whose appearance at the sepulchre was ushered in with a great earthquake and probably also a storm, the word , here rendered earthquake, signifying any shaking, whether in the earth, air, or sea. Thus, chap. Mat 8:24, , is rightly rendered, a great tempest in the sea. And Eze 3:12, LXX., , is, the voice of a great rushing wind; and , is the word by which the LXX. denote a whirlwind, such as that wherein Elijah was caught up, 2Ki 2:1. Hammond and Le Clerc interpret the words , in this passage, of a tempest only. For the angel of the Lord descended from heaven Probably in sight of the guards; and came and rolled back the stone, &c. Jesus, by his miraculous power, could easily have rolled the stone from the door of the sepulchre, and therefore the descent of an angel was not necessary in order to that; but it was necessary, among other things, to throw the guards into a consternation before Jesus came forth, lest they should have been guilty of the impiety of offering to lay violent hands on him, as was done in the garden of Gethsemane, even after he had cast the whole party down on the ground. It is true, the divine wisdom and power could have intimidated the soldiers by a variety of methods, but the one pitched upon was certainly as proper as any. Macknight. And sat upon it Luke and John speak of two angels that appeared; but it seems as if one only of them had appeared sitting on the stone without the sepulchre, and then, going into it, was seen with another angel, sitting, one where the head, the other where the feet of the body had lain.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
CHAPTER 29
THE RESURRECTION
Mar 16:1. And the Sabbath passing away, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, purchased aromatics, in order that, having come, they may embalm Him. The city of Magdala, in the land of Dalmanutha, stands on the northwestern coast of the Galilean Sea, and was immortalized by the nativity and residence of the most heroic and spiritual female disciple of our Lord, cognomened Magdalene, designative of her city. I saw it frequently while sailing over that beautiful sea on the track of my Lord, and visited it once. The other Mary here mentioned, and second in prominence only to Mary Magdalene, was the mother of the Apostle James, surnamed the Less. Salome was the honored mother of James the Greater and John the beloved apostle. The hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes, furnished by Nicodemus at the time of His hurried interment on Friday evening, was only a noble beginning of that rich and royal embalmment with which they proposed to honor the One they all loved as no tongue could tell.
It is pertinent here to observe, that the disciples failed to discriminate between the prophecies appertaining to His two advents, mixing them up heterogeneously, and applied them all to His first coming; therefore we hear them certifying frequently that when Christ comes, He will abide forever (Dan 7:14), which was currently enunciated by the prophets. Consequently when they all see that He is dead, the result is that they give up all hope of His Christhood but still believing that when the Messiah comes, He will abide forever. However, they still believe that He is a prophet, and the greatest of all the prophets who have ever lived upon the earth, having such power as none of His predecessors ever wielded, but unfortunately, venturing too far permitted His enemies to get the advantage of Him, and consequently lost His life in the bloom of youth, at the early age of thirty-three with the Jews, thirty being majority and fifty maturity.
Though now under the awful collapse of blighted hopes and perished aspirations, yet they love Him as no tongue can fell; and feeling assured that He is the greatest prophet God ever sent to Israel, they are determined to compliment Him with the most honorable interment, embalming His body after the Jewish method, and sparing no expenditure in procuring an abundance of the most valuable Oriental antiseptics.
History says all the apostles, and these prominent, holy women so frequently mentioned, were at the house of Rabbi Amos, a friend of Jesus in the metropolis, and were all engaged in silent mourning, alter the Jewish method of mourning for the dead seven days. Naught is heard through the long, dreary night but sighs, groans, and sobs. As deepest grief is silent, their sorrow was too great for utterance. They also spent the ensuing day and night in silent mourning, the inviolable sanctity of the Sabbath being their only guarantee against the cruel arrest, imprisonment, and execution which would, it was apprehended, certainly follow quickly the ensuing week.
Mat 28:2-4. And, behold, there was a great earthquake; for the angel of the Lord, having descended from heaven, coming, rolled away the stone from the door, and sat upon it. And his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And from fear, the keepers did quake, and became like corpses. When the great archangel, whose countenance was like lightning, his pinions like rainbows, and his feet like pillars of fire, came sweeping down from heaven, old Earth trembling and quaking, and touched the great stone, secured by the seal of the Roman Empire, it rolled away as if struck with a score of battering-rams; meanwhile those gigantic Roman soldiers, who delighted in the thunder of the battle-field, fell in their tracks on all sides, pale and motionless as dead men. And now, the Conqueror of Mount Calvary, vacating the sepulcher, walked out, as free as a bird of paradise.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 2
There was; that is, there was before they came; for the Mark 16:4; Luke 24:2; John 20:1 say that they found the stone rolled away.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
A second earthquake (divine intervention) had occurred (cf. Mat 27:51). The relationship between the earthquake, the descent of the angel, and the rolling away of the stone is indefinite in the text. All of these events have supernatural connotations. An angel had announced the Incarnation, and now an angel announced the Resurrection (Mat 1:20-23; cf. Mat 18:10). [Note: Plummer, p. 417.] The angel rolled the stone away to admit the witnesses, not to allow Jesus to escape (cf. Joh 20:26). The guards experienced the earthquake and observed the angel who appeared as a young man (Mar 16:5). It was seeing the angel that evidently terrified them so greatly that Matthew could describe them as dead men (Mat 28:3-4). Perhaps they fainted dead away.