Jesus rises from the dead
At the dawn of Sunday, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb. There was a strong earthquake. The angel of God came down from the sky, rolled away the stone and sat on it. He shone like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. The guards were so scared that they couldn’t even move. The angel spoke to the women: ‘Do not be afraid, I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. But he is no longer here, he rose again to life, as he predicted. Come and look at the grave. Now hurry and tell his To the disciples, that he rose from the dead and goes first to Galilee, where you will see him. I should have done that to you.’
Jesus appears to women
With fear, and yet with great joy, the women quickly left the grave and ran to announce it to the disciples. On the way they met Jesus himself. He greeted them and they fell to their knees and hugged his legs. Jesus said to them: ‘Do not be afraid, just go to my brothers and tell them to go to Galilee and we will meet there.’
Comment: How nice and considerate of Jesus that he immediately told them where to go so they could see each other again.
Religious leaders bribe a guard
After the women left, some guards went to the city to announce to the high priests everything that had happened. They gathered and, after consulting the elders, gave the soldiers a lot of money with the instruction: “Say that his disciples came at night and stole him while you were asleep.
Then they promised the soldiers that if the governor heard about it, they would appease him and make sure that they escaped without inconvenience. So the soldiers took the money and announced what they were led to do. This version has spread among the Jews, so they still believe it today.
Jesus gives great credentials
The eleven apostles went to Galilee, to the mountain that Jesus designated as the meeting place. There they saw him, bowed to him, but some doubted that it was really him. Jesus said to them: ‘All power is given to me in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and gain my followers in all nations, baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Guide these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And rely on the fact that I am always with you until the end of the world.”
Commentary: This is a wonderful promise that Jesus is still with us until the end of the world.
In verse 19 it is written: ‘Go and get me followers in all nations’ This is a beautiful mandate not only for the disciples, but also for us.
As we know from the letter to the Corinthians, after rising from the dead, Jesus showed himself to more than 500 people. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, he was buried and on the third day he was resurrected according to the scriptures. Most of them are still alive), then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
We also know from works that after Jesus rose from the dead, he met them for 40 days. In Acts 1:1-4 it is written In the forty days of his death and resurrection, he met them, proved to them that he was truly alive, and told them that he would return to carry out God’s purpose for the world. While they were still together, he told them not to leave Jerusalem after his departure, but to wait there for God to fulfill his promise.
After those 40 days, Jesus went back to his Father in the clouds. After that, the disciples listened to what he told them and waited in Jerusalem for something amazing to happen. But we will read about it only in the Acts of the Apostles here: https://www.bible.com/cs/bible/162/ACT.1.SNC
Matthew’s End
