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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - Matthew 28:2 - 28:2
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There was a great earthquake (seismos egeneto megas). Clearly not the earthquake of Mat 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 (apekulise ton lithon kai ekathēto epanō autou). 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).