Scripture Used to Create “The Resurrection of Jesus” Splice Series
Matthew 28:1-20 (Greek Text Analysis starting with Matthew 28:1)
Mark 16:1-20 (Greek Text Analysis starting with Mark 16:1)
Luke 24:1-53 (Greek Text Analysis starting with Luke 24:1)
John 20 (Greek Text Analysis starting with John 20:1)
John 21 (Greek Text Analysis starting with John 21:1)
Acts 1:1-14 (Greek Text Analysis starting with Acts 1:1)
Need to catch up first? To read the Splice “The Burial of Jesus”, click here.
Acts 17:31
“…because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
THE SPLICE
Now on the 1 first day of the week, when the Sabbath was over, while it was still 2 dark, as it began to dawn before sunrise, Mary Magdalene and 3 Mary the mother of James, and 4 Salome 5 bought spices, and brought the spices that 6 they had prepared to the tomb, so that they might come and anoint Jesus and they also wanted to look at the grave. Before the women arrived at the tomb, 7 a severe earthquake had occurred, because an angel of the Lord descended from Heaven and came and rolled away the stone. He then sat down upon the stone. And 8 this angel’s appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was as white as pure snow. 9 The guards were so afraid of the angel, that they were shaking and then they became like they were dead men.
As the women were walking to the tomb, 10 they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” When they got there, they were looking up towards it, and they saw that the stone had already been rolled away and taken away from the tomb, although the stone was extremely large. Entering the tomb, the women did not find the body of the Lord Jesus and were perplexed about this. Two men suddenly stood near them, with one wearing a white robe, and both in 11 dazzling clothing; one of them, a 12 young man wearing the white robe, then was sitting at the right. The women were amazed; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how 13 He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” And the women remembered Jesus’s words. The specific words of the angel sitting to the right in the white robe were, “Do not be amazed; Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. But go quickly, tell His disciples and Peter that He has risen from the dead and behold, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee; there you will see Him, 14 just as He told you. Behold, I have told you.”’ Then, Mary Magdalene, with the other women, ran and returned from the tomb to the place where the disciples were gathered and came to Simon Peter and to the 15 other disciple whom Jesus loved, and reported all these things to the 16 eleven and to all the rest. And Mary Magdalene said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” The women told everyone in attendance that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. Now the women were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also 17 the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. But these words appeared to the disciples and others as nonsense, and they would not believe the women. But Peter got up and with 18 the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not understand 19 the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their 20 own homes, Peter marveling at what had happened. It was after this that Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene (she was the first one He appeared to), from whom He had cast out seven demons. Here’s how His appearance to Mary happened: After Peter and John had left, Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping (we do not know where the other women were at the time); and as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and 21 I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” At some point after this, the other women joined Mary, and together, they left the tomb quickly, trembling and fleeing in fear, astonishment and great joy and 22 they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid to tell anyone. And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.” Mary Magdalene went and reported this message. She announced to the disciples, the people who had been with Jesus during His ministry, while they were all mourning and weeping, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her. When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it.
Now while the women had run to tell everyone that Jesus was risen and seen by them, some of the guard that had been at the tomb came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, “you are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ And if this should come to the governor’s ears, 23 we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.” And the guards took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews for at least 50 years (and even today, 2000 years later, it is still spread around as a “theory” by those who claim that the Gospel is false or that God does not exist).
When Jesus had died on the cross, the earth had shook and the rocks were split, as well as some tombs were opened. And many of His saints that had died had been buried in these opened tombs. Now that Jesus had been resurrected, those saints who had fallen asleep were also raised and were coming of out the tombs after His resurrection. 24 These raised saints went into Jerusalem, the holy city, and appeared to many.
Want to continue reading? To read the Splice “The Resurrection of Jesus: Part Two”, click here.
NOTES
1 first day of the week: The first day of the week is Sunday. This particular Sunday would be Nissan/Abib 16. Both Nissan (Nisan) and Abib are correct, but do have some differences. An internet search on “Nisan Abib” will produce explanatory websites. (Back)
2 dark, as it began to dawn before sunrise: Dawn and sunrise are not the same things. Sunrises happen at an exact moment, such as 5:42am. Dawn happens before sunrise and is a gradual event, taking around 15-20 minutes, ending at the moment of sunrise. April sunrises in Jerusalem, Israel occur at approximately 6:30am, give or take a few minutes. Since it is still dark and at early dawn when the women go to the tomb, it is fair to think that the ladies were setting out at around 6am. This does not take into account that the word “dawn” meant the same thing in the ancient world as it does today. For example, we have no way of knowing if the ancient world considered dawn to include the 15 minutes before our consideration of dawn. We are also assuming that earthly functions from back then are equal to today, such as the speed of the earth’s daily rotation. You can do an internet search to see the several studies claiming that the earth’s rotation speed is changing. (Back)
3 Mary the mother of James: She was possibly the same Mary who was the mother of both James the Less and Joseph/Joses but the Bible doesn’t say that. (Back)
4 Salome: Some Bible scholars insist that Salome is Zebedee’s wife (Zebedee is the father of James and John, the apostles). The Bible never mentions any children/husband for Salome and Zebedee’s wife’s name is never mentioned, nor is John and James the disciples’ mother’s name given to us. Salome COULD be Zebedee’s wife and she COULD NOT be Zebedee’s wife. We have no idea who Zebedee’s wife is and to insist that Salome is his wife is making the Bible say something that it doesn’t say. (Back)
5 bought spices, and brought the spices: Mark 16:1 tells us that Mary Mags, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices after the Sabbath. Luke 23:55-56 tells us that the women who had come with Jesus out of Galilee returned (presumably to where they were staying for the Passover week) and prepared spices and perfumes and on the Sabbath they rested. The simplest explanation is that the women had prepared some spices on Friday, needed more than what they had, and then bought some after the Sabbath ended. (Back)
6 they: The women already mentioned, plus Joanna and some other unnamed Galilean women, because of Luke 23:55–24:10. It is possible that Jesus’s mother Mary was among those present, although the Bible doesn’t specifically name her. Susanna could have been there, too. We can only assume that Joanna and Susanna are Galilean, and the probability is fairly substantial, especially for Joanna. See Luke 8:2-3 for mentions of Susanna and Joanna. (Back)
7 severe earthquake had occurred: The earthquake was a supernatural event, not a natural earthquake. The earthquake happened before the ladies got to the tomb because of Luke 24:2. I firmly believe that the angel came down from Heaven and he removed the stone in accordance with the earthquake (Matthew 28:2) as soon as Jesus was resurrected. This was done, not to let Jesus out. I believe Jesus was instantly resurrected and vanished from the tomb, like He vanished from sight in Luke 24:31 or how He instantly appeared as in John 20:19, 26 or as John says, “revealed” Himself (Greek word phaneroó) in 21:1, 14. The tomb stone was removed because Jesus was no longer in the tomb, and He wanted to show people that He was no longer there; to let them come in and see, that He was risen. No Roman seal or Roman guards’ lies would put a stop to that (Matthew 27:62-66, 28:11-15). (Back)
8 his appearance: From Matthew 28:3. The Greek word used for appearance is idea meaning “form, countenance, appearance”. It is from the Greek word eido meaning “to perceive”. The Greek word used for lightning is astrapé and means “a flash of lightning, brightness, luster”. The Greek word for white is leukos and means “white, bright, brilliant”. I believe that the brightness and lightning, and the brilliant white are supernatural-looking, like Jesus’s appearance as described in Revelation 1:14-15. We only have human languages to describe things, but I believe these supernatural sights are supernatural indeed, and do not consist of “normal” lightning or “normal” whiteness, just as I don’t believe that the cloud of Christ in Acts 1:9 or the cloud of Exodus 13:21 was a “normal” looking atmospheric cloud. By the way, I think the cloud of Acts and of Exodus are the same. None of these things that I think are substantiated by the Bible. (Back)
9 The guards: The guards that were present at the tomb on Sunday are only mentioned in Matthew 28:4 and in Matthew 28:11-15. They could be a completely different set of guards from the ones mentioned in Matthew 27:65-66, but we don’t know. We don’t know when the guards stopped being like “dead men”. We know that they went into the city of Jerusalem to report to the chief priests while the women were on their way back to the disciples (Matthew 28:11). We don’t know if the women had any interactions with the guards. We do know that the women were not at the tomb when the angel rolled away the stone in front of the guards because of Mark 16:4. (Back)
10 They were saying to one another: I believe they held this conversation during the walk to the tomb somewhere along the line because of Mark 16:4. (Back)
11 dazzling clothing: Luke uses this descriptor in Luke 24:4. It is the same Greek word that Matthew uses in Matthew 28:3, astraptó, and means “to lighten, to flash, I flash (with lightning, like lightning), am lustrous”. (Back)
12 young man wearing the white robe: This is probably the same angel that removed the stone from the tomb, as Matthew 28:2-7 tells it. Matthew 28:2-7, Mark 16:5-7, Luke 24:4-7, and John 20:12-13 tell us about the angels and their conversations with the women. The Greek word used here for “robe” is stolé and the word is used to describe a long, flowing robe that was used for the wealthy/elite classes. The angels were dressed rather nicely. (Back)
13 He spoke to you: Jesus told His disciples many times that He was to be crucified, such as in Matthew 10:38, 16:21; 20:17-19, 26:1-2, 12 and Mark 10:32-34. (Back)
14 just as He told you: Jesus tells the disciples that He will go ahead of them to Galilee when He has been resurrected in Matthew 26:32. (Back)
15 other disciple whom Jesus loved: This would be John, the Gospel writer, as well as the writer of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Letters of John, and Revelation. We know the “disciple whom Jesus loved” is John because he is introduced as this disciple in John 21:24 after the conversation and then rumor of John 21:20-23. (Back)
16 eleven and to all the rest: From Luke 24:9. It is not clear who is referenced to as “all the rest”. We know that the eleven had other people with them because of Luke 24:33, however the wording is different for the two verses. Luke 24:9 says “…to all the rest” in the Greek, and Luke 24:33 says “…those with them”. There is a difference and it does matter. “All the rest” in could mean that the women not only told the disciples at the place where they were staying, but that they also went to other believers’ homes and told them the news. It isn’t even clear that the eleven were all staying in the same place. It seems they were gathering together some of the time at the very least, because of Mark 16:10 and Luke 24:33.
In John 20:10, the transliteral Greek says this: “Went away therefore again to their the disciples.” The Greek word for “their” is hautou and means “her own, his own, their own, themselves, they”. It could mean that the disciples all returned back to the place where they were all staying together, or it could mean that they returned to different places to stay. (Back)
17 the other women: Luke 24:10 says that there were “other women” there with Mary Mags, Mary the mother of James, and Joanna. One of these other women could be Salome, who was there at the start of the trip to the tomb (Mark 16:1). It could also be “the other Mary” (we don’t know which “Mary” Matthew is referring to in Matthew 28:1). In short, we don’t really know how many women ran back to tell the group about Jesus’s missing body. (Back)
18 the other disciple: John is the other disciple, because of John 20:2. It is mentioned in John 20:3 that Peter is running with “the other disciple”. (Back)
19 the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead: Jesus told the disciples many times that He would be killed and then raised on the third day, see note 13. The Old Testament Scripture reference that describes that Jesus would have to die could have been from Isaiah 53. (Back)
20 own homes: Not back to Galilee, but to where the disciples were staying for the Sabbath/Passover. Because of Luke 24:33, and John 20:19, they were meeting together for at least part of the time and I think it was in the Jerusalem upper room from Thursday (see Matthew 26:17-19, Mark 14:13-16,Luke 22:7-13) because it would hold many people. Where they were actually staying and sleeping is debatable. (Back)
21 I will take Him away: I’m not sure how strong women were back in those days, but how does Mary plan to drag/carry a body of literal dead weight back to a tomb? In her grief, she doesn’t seem to care about that. The good news is she wouldn’t have to figure it out. (Back)
22 they said nothing to anyone: This means that they had planned on not saying anything to anyone and then changed their minds when they met Jesus on the road or it meant that they told no one that they saw on the road on their way back to the disciples. (Back)
23 we will win him over and keep you out of trouble: These chief priests had already proven that they could get Pontius Pilate to do whatever they wanted, with enough pressure (see Matthew 27:20-24), but still, the guards are taking a large risk in spreading around a report that they fell asleep on the job. (Back)
24 These raised saints: This part of the story was told in Matthew 27:51-53. (Back)