The Resurrection of Jesus and the Great Commission of the Risen King

Now late on the sabbath as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week (οψε δε σαββατων, τη επιφωσκουση εις μιαν σαββατων). This careful chronological statement according to Jewish days clearly means that before the sabbath was over, that is before six P. M. , this visit by the women was made "to see the sepulchre" (θεορησα τον ταφον). They had seen the place of burial on Friday afternoon ( Mr 15:47 ; Mt 27:61 ; Lu 23:55 ).

They had rested on the sabbath after preparing spices and ointments for the body of Jesus ( Lu 23:56 ), a sabbath of unutterable sorrow and woe. They will buy other spices after sundown when the new day has dawned and the sabbath is over ( Mr 16:1 ). Both Matthew here and Luke ( Lu 23:54 ) use dawn (επιφωσκω) for the dawning of the twenty-four hour-day at sunset, not of the dawning of the twelve-hour day at sunrise.

The Aramaic used the verb for dawn in both senses. The so-called Gospel of Peter has επιφωσκω in the same sense as Matthew and Luke as does a late papyrus. Apparently the Jewish sense of "dawn" is here expressed by this Greek verb. Allen thinks that Matthew misunderstands Mark at this point, but clearly Mark is speaking of sunrise and Matthew of sunset. Why allow only one visit for the anxious women?

There was a great earthquake (σεισμος εγενετο μεγας). Clearly not the earthquake of 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 (απεκυλισε τον λιθον κα εκαθητο επανω αυτου).

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).

Appearance (ειδεα). Here only in the N.T. Compare μορφη and σχημα.

The watchers did quake (εσεισθησαν ο τηρουντες). And no wonder that they became as dead men and fled before the women came.

Unto the women (ταις γυναιξιν). According to John, Mary Magdalene had left to go and tell Peter and John of the supposed grave robbery ( Joh 20:1 f. ). But the other women remained and had the interview with the angel (or men, Luke) about the empty tomb and the Risen Christ. Jesus the Crucified (Ιησουν τον εσταυρωμενον). Perfect passive participle, state of completion. This he will always be. So Paul will preach as essential to his gospel "and this one crucified" (κα τουτον εσταυρωμενον, 1Co 2:2 ).

Risen from the dead (ηγερθη απο των νεκρων). Jesus the Risen . This is the heart of the testimony of the angel to the women. It is what Paul wishes Timothy never to forget ( 2Ti 2:8 ), "Jesus Christ risen from the dead" (Ιησουν Χριστον εγηγερμενον εκ νεκρων). They were afraid and dazzled by the glory of the scene, but the angel said, "Come, see the place where the Lord lay" (δευτε ιδετε τον τοπον οπου εκειτο ο Κυριος).

Some MSS. do not have ο Κυριος, but he is the subject of εκειτο. His body was not there. It will not do to say that Jesus arose in spirit and appeared alive though his body remained in the tomb. The empty tomb is the first great fact confronting the women and later the men. Various theories were offered then as now. But none of them satisfy the evidence and explain the survival of faith and hope in the disciples that do not rest upon the fact of the Risen Christ whose body was no longer in the tomb.

He goeth before you into Galilee (προαγε υμας εις την Γαλιλαιαν). Jesus did appear to the disciples in Galilee on two notable occasions (by the beloved lake, Joh 21 , and on the mountain, Mt 28:16-20 ). Probably before the women were permitted to tell this story in full to the disciples who scouted as idle talk ( Joh 24:11 ) their first accounts, Jesus appeared to various disciples in Jerusalem on this first great Sunday.

Jesus did not say that he would not see any of them in Jerusalem. He merely made a definite appointment in Galilee which he kept.

With fear and great joy (μετα φοβου κα χαρας μεγαλης). A touch of life was this as the excited women ran quickly (ταχυ εδραμον) as they had been told "to bring his disciples word" (απαγγειλα τοις μαθηταις αυτου). They had the greatest piece of news that it was possible to have. Mark calls it fear and ecstasy. Anything seemed possible now. Mark even says that at first they told no one anything for they were afraid ( Mr 16:9 ), the tragic close of the text of Mark in Aleph and B, our two oldest manuscripts.

But these mingled emotions of ecstasy and dread need cause no surprise when all things are considered.

Jesus met them (Ιησους υπηντησεν αυταις). Came suddenly face to face (ανταω, υπο) with them as they brooded over the message of the angel and the fact of the empty tomb (associative instrumental, αυταις). Cf. 8:34 ; 24:1-6 . Probably the lost portion of Mark's Gospel contained the story of this meeting with Jesus which changed their fears into joy and peace.

His greeting was the ordinary "Hail" (χαιρετε). They fell at his feet and held them in reverence while they worshipped him. Jesus allowed this act of worship though he forbade eager handling of his body by Mary Magdalene ( Joh 20:17 ). It was a great moment of faith and cheer.

Fear not (μη φοβεισθε). They were still afraid for joy and embarrassment. Jesus calms their excitement by the repetition of the charge from the angel for the disciples to meet him in Galilee. There is no special mention of Peter ("and Peter") as in Mr 16:7 , but we may be sure that the special message to Peter was delivered.

Told unto the chief priests (απηγγειλαν τοις αρχιερευσιν). These Roman soldiers had been placed at the disposal of the Sanhedrin. They were probably afraid also to report to Pilate and tell him what had happened. They apparently told a truthful account as far as they understood it. But were the Sanhedrin convinced of the resurrection of Jesus?

They gave large money (αργυρια ικανα εδωκαν). The use of the plural for pieces of silver (αργυρια) is common. The papyri have many instances of ικανα for considerable (from ικανω, to reach to, attain to). These pious Sanhedrists knew full well the power of bribes. They make a contract with the Roman soldiers to tell a lie about the resurrection of Jesus as they paid Judas money to betray him. They show not the slightest tendency to be convinced by the facts though one had risen from the dead.

Stole him away while we slept (εκλεψαν αυτον ημων κοιμωμενων). Genitive absolute. An Irish bull on the face of it. If they were asleep they would not know anything about it.

We will persuade him, and rid you of care (ημεις πεισομεν κα υμας αμεριμνους ποιησομεν). They would try money also on Pilate and assume all responsibility. Hence the soldiers have no anxiety (αμεριμνους, alpha privative and μεριμναω, to be anxious). They lived up to their bargain and this lie lives on through the ages. Justin ( Dial . 108) accuses the Jews of spreading the charge.

Bengel: Quam laboriosum bellum mendacii contra veritatem . It was spread about (διεφημισθη) diligently by the Jews to excuse their disbelief in the Messiahship of Jesus.

But some doubted (ο δε εδιστασαν). From δις (in two, divided in mind). Cf. Mt 14:31 . The reference is not to the eleven who were all now convinced after some doubt, but to the others present. Paul states that over five hundred were present, most of whom were still alive when he wrote ( 1Co 15:6 ). It is natural that some should hesitate to believe so great a thing at the first appearance of Jesus to them.

Their very doubt makes it easier for us to believe. This was the mountain where Jesus had promised to meet them. This fact explains the large number present. Time and place were arranged beforehand. It was the climax of the various appearances and in Galilee where were so many believers. They worshipped (προσεκυνησαν) Jesus as the women had done ( 28:9 ). He is now their Risen Lord and Saviour.

All authority (πασα εξουσια). Jesus came close to them (προσελθων) and made this astounding claim. He spoke as one already in heaven with a world-wide outlook and with the resources of heaven at his command. His authority or power in his earthly life had been great ( 7:29 ; 11:27 ; 21:23 f. ). Now it is boundless and includes earth and heaven. Hath been given (εδοθη) is a timeless aorist (Robertson, Grammar , pp.

836f.) It is the sublimist of all spectacles to see the Risen Christ without money or army or state charging this band of five hundred men and women with world conquest and bringing them to believe it possible and to undertake it with serious passion and power. Pentecost is still to come, but dynamic faith rules on this mountain in Galilee.

All the nations (παντα τα εθνη). Not just the Jews scattered among the Gentiles, but the Gentiles themselves in every land. And not by making Jews of them, though this point is not made plain here. It will take time for the disciples to grow into this Magna Charta of the missionary propaganda. But here is the world program of the Risen Christ and it should not be forgotten by those who seek to foreshorten it all by saying that Jesus expected his second coming to be very soon, even within the lifetime of those who heard.

He did promise to come, but he has never named the date. Meanwhile we are to be ready for his coming at any time and to look for it joyfully. But we are to leave that to the Father and push on the campaign for world conquest. This program includes making disciples or learners (μαθητευσατε) such as they were themselves. That means evangelism in the fullest sense and not merely revival meetings.

Baptism in (εις, not into ) the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in the name of the Trinity. Objection is raised to this language in the mouth of Jesus as too theological and as not a genuine part of the Gospel of Matthew for the same reason. See Mt 11:27 , where Jesus speaks of the Father and the Son as here. But it is all to no purpose. There is a chapter devoted to this subject in my The Christ of the Logia in which the genuineness of these words is proven.

The name of Jesus is the essential part of it as is shown in the Acts. Trine immersion is not taught as the Greek Church holds and practices, baptism in the name of the Father, then of the Son, then of the Holy Spirit. The use of name (ονομα) here is a common one in the Septuagint and the papyri for power or authority. For the use of εις with ονομα in the sense here employed, not meaning into , see Mt 10:41 f.

(cf. also 12:41 ).

Teaching them (διδασκοντες αυτους). Christians have been slow to realize the full value of what we now call religious education. The work of teaching belongs to the home, to the church (sermon, Sunday school, young people's work, prayer-meeting, study classes, mission classes), to the school (not mixing of church and state, but moral instruction if not the reading of the Bible), good books which should be in every home, reading of the Bible itself.

Some react too far and actually put education in the place of conversion or regeneration. That is to miss the mark. But teaching is part, a weighty part, of the work of Christians. I am with you (εγω μετα υμων). This is the amazing and blessed promise. He is to be with the disciples when he is gone, with all the disciples, with all knowledge, with all power, with them all the days (all sorts of days, weakness, sorrows, joy, power), till the consummation of the age (εως της συντελειας του αιωνος).

That goal is in the future and unknown to the disciples. This blessed hope is not designed as a sedative to an inactive mind and complacent conscience, but an incentive to the fullest endeavor to press on to the farthest limits of the world that all the nations may know Christ and the power of his Risen Life. So Matthew's Gospel closes in a blaze of glory. Christ is conqueror in prospect and in fact.

Christian history from that eventful experience on the Mountain in Galilee has been the fulfilment of that promise in as far as we allow God's power to work in us for the winning of the world to Christ, the Risen, all powerful Redeemer, who is with his people all the time. Jesus employs the prophetic present here (ειμ, I am). He is with us all the days till he comes in glory.

One of the clearest results of modern critical study of the Gospels is the early date of Mark's Gospel. Precisely how early is not definitely known, but there are leading scholars who hold that A. D. 50 is quite probable. My own views are given in detail in my Studies in Mark's Gospel . Zahn still argues that the Gospel according to Matthew is earlier than that according to Mark, but the arguments are against him.

The framework of Mark's Gospel lies behind both Matthew and Luke and nearly all of it is used by one or the other. One may satisfy himself on this point by careful use of a Harmony of the Gospels in Greek or English. Whether Mark made use of Q ( Logia of Jesus ) or not is not yet shown, though it is possible. But Mark and Q constitute the two oldest known sources of our Matthew and Luke.

We have much of Q preserved in the Non-Markan portions of both Matthew and Luke, though the document itself has disappeared. But Mark's work has remained in spite of its exhaustive use by Matthew and Luke, all except the disputed close. For this preservation we are all grateful. Streeter ( The Four Gospels ) has emphasized the local use of texts in preserving portions of the New Testament.

If Mark wrote in Rome, as is quite possible, his book was looked upon as the Roman Gospel and had a powerful environment in which to take root. It has distinctive merits of its own that helped to keep it in use. It is mainly narrative and the style is direct and simple with many vivid touches, like the historical present of an eyewitness. The early writers all agree that Mark was the interpreter for Simon Peter with whom he was at one time, according to Peter's own statement, either in Babylon or Rome ( 1Pe 5:13 ).

This Gospel is the briefest of the four, but is fullest of striking details that apparently came from Peter's discourses which Mark heard, such as green grass, flower beds ( Mr 6:38 ), two thousand hogs ( Mr 5:13 ), looking round about ( Mr 3:5 , 34 ). Peter usually spoke in Aramaic and Mark has more Aramaic phrases than the others, like Boanerges ( Mr 3:17 ), Talitha cumi ( Mr 5:41 ), Korban ( Mr 7:11 ), Ephphatha ( Mr 7:34 ), Abba ( Mr 14:36 ).

The Greek is distinctly vernacular Koin‚ like one-eyed (μονοφθαλμον, Mr 9:47 ) as one would expect from both Peter and Mark. There are also more Latin phrases and idioms like centurio ( Mr 15:39 ), quadrans ( Mr 12:42 ), flagellare ( Mr 15:15 ), speculator ( Mr 6:27 ), census ( Mr 12:14 ), sextarius ( Mr 7:4 ), praetorium ( Mr 15:6 ), than in the other Gospels, so much so that C.

H. Turner raises the question whether Mark wrote first in Latin, or at any rate in Rome. There are some who hold that Mark wrote first in Aramaic, but the facts are sufficiently accounted for by the fact of Peter's preaching and the activity in Rome. Some even think that he wrote the Gospel in Rome while with Peter who suggested and read the manuscript. B. W.

Bacon holds that this Gospel has a distinct Pauline flavour and may have had several recensions. The Ur-Marcus theory does not have strong support now. Mark was once a co-worker with Barnabas and Paul, but deserted them at Perga. Paul held this against Mark and refused to take him on the second mission tour. Barnabas took Mark, his cousin, with him and then he appeared with Simon Peter with whom he did his greatest work.

When Mark had made good with Barnabas and Peter, Paul rejoiced and commends him heartily to the Colossians ( Col 4:10 ) In the end Paul will ask Timothy to pick up Mark and bring him along with him to Paul in Rome, for he has found him useful for ministry, this very young man who made such a mistake that Paul would have no more of him. This tribute to Mark by Paul throws credit upon both of them as is shown in my Making Good in the Ministry .

The character of the Gospel of Mark is determined largely by the scope of Peter's preaching as we see it in Ac 10:36-42 , covering the period in outline from John the Baptist to the Resurrection of Jesus. There is nothing about the birth of the Baptist or of Jesus. This peculiarity of Mark's Gospel cannot be used against the narratives of the Virgin Birth of Jesus in Matthew and Luke, since Mark tells nothing whatever about his birth at all.

The closing passage in the Textus Receptus, Mr 16:9-20 , is not found in the oldest Greek Manuscripts, Aleph and B, and is probably not genuine. A discussion of the evidence will appear at the proper place. Swete points out that Mark deals with two great themes, the Ministry in Galilee (Chs. 1 to 9) and the Last Week in Jerusalem (11 to 16) with a brief sketch of the period of withdrawal from Galilee (ch.

10). The first fourteen verses are introductory as Mr 16:9-20 is an appendix. The Gospel of Mark pictures Christ in action. There is a minimum of discourse and a maximum of deed. And yet the same essential pictures of Christ appear here as in the Logia, in Matthew, in Luke, in John, in Paul, in Peter, in Hebrews as is shown in my The Christ of the Logia . The cry of the critics to get back to the Synoptics and away from Paul and John has ceased since it is plain that the Jesus of Mark is the same as the Christ of Paul.

There is a different shading in the pictures, but the same picture, Son of God and Son of Man, Lord of life and death, worker of miracles and Saviour from sin. This Gospel is the one for children to read first and is the one that we should use to lay the foundation for our picture of Christ. In my Harmony of the Gospels I have placed Mark first in the framework since Matthew, Luke, and John all follow in broad outline his plan with additions and supplemental material.

Mark's Gospel throbs with life and bristles with vivid details. We see with Peter's eyes and catch almost the very look and gesture of Jesus as he moved among men in his work of healing men's bodies and saving men's souls.