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Author: Stephen Weller
586 words, 3 minutes read time

Excitement At the Tomb

Scripture: Matthew 28:1-4; Mark 16:2-3; Luke 24:1; John 20:1

With the previous lesson we covered a short section and profiled three women. With this lesson we come to Sunday as we begin a new section.

^{Jn 20:}1 While it was still dark, ^{Mk 16:2} very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen (at sunrise – NET), ^{Mt 28:1} Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb, ^{Lk 24:1} taking the spices they had prepared. ^{Mk 16:3} They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”

When you harmonize verses like John 20:1 with Mark 16:1 – 2 and Matthew 28:1, differences become obvious that one might otherwise overlook. John tells us that it was still dark when only Mary Magdalene went to the tomb. From Mark 16:1 – 2 we are told that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices and when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. From Matthew 28:1 we learned that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb toward the dawn of the first day. Remember, we have three witnesses reporting something years later that they did not actually see and as a result we have a confused report.

Did one, two, or three women go to the tomb and was it still dark or had the sun already come up? Since Mark reports that there were three women, he tells us that they were talking among themselves about gaining entrance to the tomb. Who would remove the stone from the entrance for them? They did not know at this time that the entrance was sealed and that a Roman guard had been posted to prevent anyone from entering.

^{Mt 28:2} [Suddenly] there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. ⁴ And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.

According to Matthew 28:1 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were on their way to the tomb while it was still dark when, in verse 2, there was suddenly a great earthquake, or what seemed like a great earthquake when the “angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.” If you were one of the guards, think of how you might feel when an angel appears like lightning with clothing as white as snow and rolls back the stone and then sits on it. As the angel looks at the guard, they are probably wondering what he is going to do next and out of “fear of him they trembled and became like dead men.”

Conclusion

We end this lesson with a possibility of three women headed to the tomb, while it was still dark, wondering out loud how they would roll the stone away from the entrance. But suddenly a brilliant light shone from the area of the tomb and the earth shook as the angel of the Lord came and moved the stone from the entrance and sat on it freaking out the guards who were to make sure that no one opened the tomb. Then . . . (You will have to wait for the next lesson.)