The Last Week · Day 8 of 8
Resurrection Sunday: He Is Risen
Very early on the first day of the week the women come to the tomb and find the stone rolled away and the body gone. Angels announce that Jesus is risen. Mary Magdalene weeps until the risen Lord speaks her name. Peter and John run to the empty tomb and see the linen cloths lying. Fear turns to joy as the crucified Jesus is met alive.
“He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”Matthew 28:6
What happened
As the first day of the week dawns, the women who prepared spices come to the tomb, wondering who will roll away the stone. They find it already rolled back and the tomb empty. An angel, in Matthew after a great earthquake, tells them not to fear, that Jesus who was crucified is not here but risen as He said, and sends them to tell the disciples. In Mark they flee trembling. Mary Magdalene, seeing the stone removed, runs to tell Peter and John, who race to the tomb, and John looks in and sees the linen cloths and the napkin folded apart, and believes. Mary remains weeping, supposes the risen Jesus to be the gardener, and knows Him only when He speaks her name. He tells her not to hold Him but to go to His brethren and say He ascends to His Father and their Father. In Matthew, Jesus Himself meets the women, and they hold His feet and worship, and He tells them to go and tell His brethren to meet Him in Galilee.
What it means
The resurrection is the hinge of history and the vindication of everything Jesus claimed and did. The tomb is empty not because the body was moved or stolen but because death could not hold Him, and the folded grave clothes speak of no hurried theft but a life laid down and taken up again. If Friday paid the price of sin, Sunday is the Father's public receipt, declaring the sacrifice accepted and the Son righteous. Death, the last enemy, is defeated at its own gate, and the fear that ruled the human story is broken. The scattered, grieving disciples are gathered again, their despair turned to unquenchable joy, and the same ones who fled are sent as witnesses. The story that seemed to end in a sealed tomb opens instead into a new creation, and the risen Christ becomes the firstfruits of all who will be raised in Him.
How it points to Christ
Here Jesus is declared with power to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead. The One crucified in weakness rises in glory, alive forevermore, holding the keys of death and the grave. He tenderly calls Mary by name, showing that the risen Lord still knows His own personally and gathers His scattered sheep. He is the firstfruits, the guarantee that all who belong to Him will share His resurrection life. Because He lives, the forgiveness won at the cross is sealed, the way to the Father is open, and death has become for His people a doorway rather than an end. He now sends His own to tell the world that He is risen and reigns.
Questions people ask
What happened on Resurrection Sunday?
Very early on the first day of the week the women came to the tomb and found the stone rolled away and the body gone. Angels announced that Jesus was risen as He said. Mary Magdalene met the risen Lord, who called her by name. Peter and John ran and found the empty tomb with the grave clothes lying there, and the disciples were sent to tell that He is risen.
Who first saw the risen Jesus?
According to the Gospels, Mary Magdalene was among the first to see the risen Jesus. She came to the tomb while it was still dark, found it empty, and lingered weeping. When Jesus spoke her name she recognized Him. Matthew records that Jesus also met the group of women as they ran from the tomb, and they held His feet and worshipped Him.
How do we know the tomb was really empty?
All four Gospels report the empty tomb, first discovered by women whose testimony would not have been invented in that culture. The grave clothes lay undisturbed, not stolen in haste. The guard set by the priests made theft difficult, and the leaders never produced a body, which they could have done to end the claim. The best explanation the witnesses gave was that Jesus had risen as He promised.