Matthew 28: Risen! (3)
Pray Psalm 96.8-10.
Give to the LORD the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!
Tremble before Him, all the earth.
Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns;
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be moved;
He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
Sing Psalm 96.8-10.
Mit Freuden Zart: All Praise to God, Who Reigns Above
Bring off’rings sweet to Him, our LORD; in holy garments praise Him!
Tremble before Him, all the earth; among the nations raise Him!
The earth is fixed, it will not move; the peoples will His justice prove.
Exalt the LORD and praise Him!
Read Matthew 28.1-10; meditate on verses 9, 10.
Why should we “Rejoice!” at the resurrection of Jesus?
Prepare.
1. How did the women respond to seeing Jesus?
2. What did He tell them to do?
Meditate.
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb by herself, quite early (Jn. 20.1). When she “saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb”, she ran to tell Peter and the other disciples (Jn. 20.2). Upon hearing this, Peter and John ran to the tomb, and found it just as Mary had reported (Jn. 20.3-8). Having seen the empty tomb, Peter and John “went away again to their own homes” (Jn. 20.10).
Mary returned to the tomb, where she perhaps was met by the other women, who brought the spices for anointing Jesus’ body (Mk. 16.1ff). By this time, Peter and John had already arrived and left. At that point, perhaps pointed out by Mary Magdalene, the women saw the stone rolled away and went into the tomb; and there they were met by “two men” in shining garments (Lk. 24.4; “angels”, Jn. 20.12). Mark records only one “man clothed in a long white robe” (Mk. 16.5), and Mark may have mentioned only him because he was the spokesman (Matt. 28.5).
It appears then that the other women left the tomb and Mary Magdalene just outside it, weeping (Jn. 20.11). Perhaps the women began to go to the disciples, as instructed by the angel (Matt. 28.8). Jesus appeared to Mary, apparently while she was alone (Jn. 20.11-18), at which time she received the additional information about His forthcoming ascension (Jn. 20.17). Mary then ran to catch up with the other women, and together they went to the disciples, where Mary reported these events (Jn. 20.18). Upon hearing again about the resurrection, Peter appears to have returned to the tomb for a second look (Lk. 24.12). Luke has him coming to the tomb alone and departing, “marveling to himself at what had happened.”
Let’s note a few things that I think are important for the redemptive work of Christ and the character of the Kingdom.
First, John deliberately invokes a garden setting. Mary saw Jesus and supposed Him to be the gardener (Jn. 20.15). Mary is in the garden of death, and the Word of God comes to her, speaking her name. Mary embraces Him, clinging to Him, so great is her love for the Word of God. She is the antitype of Eve, who turned away from the Word of God in the garden of life, and thus brought death to the world. Here, Mary clings to the Word of life, and is appointed to announce the Good News of Jesus’ victory over death and His ascension to glory, thus bringing life to the world.
But wait: Peter and John had, by this time, been to the tomb and left. Why didn’t Jesus just tell them Himself? Why wait for them to leave, and then enlist Mary to bring the news? Because in choosing Mary, Jesus reversed the curse of Eden. He made a woman—from the very dregs of womanhood—His herald of the Good News. Paul tells us that sin came into the world by one man, Adam (Rom. 5.12). But he is using Adam as the representative of all people. Jesus chose to reveal Himself first to Mary, who, by her obedience, would undo for the apostles and the world the curse that Eve had introduced through her disobedience. Eve ate the apple and gave death to the world. Mary embraced the Bread of Life, and offered it to the disciples, the world, and us.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“And as they went…Jesus met them…so they came…and worshiped Him” (Matt. 28.9).
Jesus met them in their obedience.
Moses experienced the same.
When God was explaining to Moses what He wanted him to do, Moses was looking for a little
encouragement to obey. Here is what God told him:
“I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you:
When you have brought the people out of Egypt,
you shall serve God on this mountain” (Ex. 3.12).
So, the very mountain God initially met Moses on,
to give him his marching orders,
would be the very same mountain they would meet upon again,
after he had obediently brought the people out of Egypt.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He shall direct your paths” (Prov. 3.5, 6).
The way Mary met with the risen Jesus, and the way Moses was affirmed,
was as they were obeying. In the process.
That protocol is the same for all believers, throughout all time, all the way down to us.
It is in the faithful every day “as we are goings” of life that we are:
affirmed in our calling, we meet with Jesus, and we worship Him.
It is how we all reverse the curse.
We serve a risen Savior. He is Lord. He is King.
Follow Him. Obey Him. Worship Him.
And He will meet us therein—in His Kingdom.
Reflect.
1. Obedience seems to be a prerequisite for meeting the Lord. Explain.
2. In what ways should we expect to meet the Lord? How should we respond to those?
3. What can keep us from meeting with the Lord and obeying His Word? How can we keep this from happening?
“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. Jerome (347-420), Commentary on Matthew 4.28.8-9
Pray Psalm 96.1-7, 11-13.
Jesus calls us to proclaim the Good News of His salvation. Pray for the people in your Personal Mission Field, especially those you expect to see today. Ask the Lord to give you something to share with each of them, to encourage them to look to Jesus.
Sing Psalm 96.1-7, 11-13.
Mit Freuden Zart: All Praise to God, Who Reigns Above
Sing to the LORD! O, bless His Name! All nations tell His glory!
Salvation’s tidings loud proclaim; let earth rehearse His story!
For God is greatly to be praised; His throne above all gods is raised!
Fear Him, and sing His glory!
All other gods are idols vain; the LORD created heaven.
Splendor and strength with Him obtain; to Him be glory given!
All fam’lies, praise this mighty LORD! Give strength and glory to His Word;
exalt the LORD of heaven.
Let heaven sing with lusty voice; let earth and sea sing sweetly!
Let fields and trees in Him rejoice, for He is coming swiftly
to judge the world in righteousness, the peoples in His faithfulness.
He comes; exalt Him greatly!
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Men, check out the fall schedule of reading and study groups. Lots of opportunities here to grow and make some new friends. And check out our clearance sale at The Ailbe Bookstore.
Other columns of interest: This week: Our Read Moore podcast features excerpts from the book, Patrick: A Devotional History. Our Crosfigell teaching letter is pursuing a series on the spiritual poetry of the Celtic Revival. The ReVision column continues our study of “Everyday Christianity”. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
