He Is Risen
The Women Worship the Risen Lord
The Soldiers Are Bribed
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What Does Matthew 28:1 Mean?
Matthew 28:1
By comparing these four accounts (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1), it is evident that Mary Magdalene and the other women arrived at the tomb early in the morning on Sunday morning, while it was still dark. When they arrived, they saw that the stone had already been rolled back. None of these verses specify when Christ arose from the dead, but we do know that He left the tomb before the women arrived. It is plain that the women arrived early in the morning on the first day of the week, and first saw the resurrected Christ at that time. But these accounts do not say that was when Christ arose.
Matthew 28:1 and Mark 16:1-2 also reiterate that the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week.
David C. Grabbe
| << Matthew 27:66 | Matthew 28:2 >> |
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Comparing the four gospel accounts, Mary Magdalene and the other women arrived at the tomb early Sunday morning while it was still dark, finding the stone already rolled back and the tomb empty. None of these verses state when Christ arose; He left the tomb before the women arrived, likely around 12 hours earlier, at the end of the Sabbath the previous afternoon. The Greek phrase translated "first day of the week" is mia sabbaton, where sabbaton is plural, literally meaning "the first of the weeks"—Wavesheaf Day, the first day in the count to Pentecost, always falling the day after a weekly Sabbath. This verse also confirms the Sabbath as the seventh day, with the first day following after it.