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Matthew 28:1. After the Sabbath had passed, at dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. “On the evening ... of Saturday” (Matthew 28:1) is equivalent to what was said in Luke: “deep in the morning” (Luke 24 – “very early”) and in Mark: “at sunrise” (Mark 16:2), for by the sun here we should mean the morning rays of the sun. When the eighth hour of the night comes, then the beginning of the next day, and, as they say, morning comes; that is why then, on the one hand, it was Saturday evening, and on the other, the beginning of the Day of the Lord, which day the Evangelist calls “one of the Sabbaths” (Mark 16:2, Luke 24:1, John 20:1), for the days of the week were called Saturdays, and the first - one, so that the Day of the Lord is “one of the Sabbaths,” that is, the first of the days of the week; the one closest to this first was called the second, then the third, and then the rest. Matthew 28:2. And behold, there was a great earthquake: for the Angel of the Lord, who came down from heaven, came and rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb and sat on it; Matthew 28:3. his appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow; Matthew 28:4. Frightened by him, those guarding them trembled and became as if they were dead; Matthew 28:5. The angel, turning his speech to the women, said: Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus crucified; Matthew 28:6. He is not here - He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay, Matthew 28:7. and go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead and is going before you to Galilee; you will see Him there. Here, I told you. Matthew 28:8. And, hastily leaving the tomb, they ran with fear and great joy to tell His disciples. The Lord rose again while the stone was still lying on the tomb. After the resurrection of the Lord, an angel comes to roll away the stone and give the women entry into the tomb. The earthquake is done so that the guards awaken and understand the novelty of what happened. So, the Lord rose again for three days. How are three days counted? At the eighth hour the heel was crucified; from this until the ninth there is darkness: for me this is considered a night; then from the ninth hour - light: this is day, - this is the day: night and day. Next, Friday night and Saturday are the second day. Again, the night of Saturday and the morning of the Lord's Day, designated by Matthew: “one of the Sabbaths, at dawn,” for the morning is counted for the whole day—this is the third day. And otherwise you can count three days: on Friday the Lord gave up the spirit, that’s one day; on Saturday I was in the tomb, that is another day; On the night of the Lord's day he rose again, but from his part the Lord's day is counted as another day, so that's three days. For also about the deceased, if one died around the tenth hour of the day, and another around the first hour of the same day, then they say that they both died on the same day. I have another way to tell you how to count three days and three nights. Listen! On Thursday evening the Lord celebrated supper and said to the disciples: “Take, eat My body.” Since He had the power to lay down His soul according to His will, it is clear that then He also slaughtered Himself, just as He taught His disciples the body, for no one eats anything unless it has been slaughtered first. Consider: in the evening He presented His body, that night and day of Friday until the sixth hour is one day; then, from the sixth hour to the ninth there is darkness, and from the ninth until the evening there is light again - that’s the second day; again night on the heel and day of Saturday - this is the third day; On Saturday night the Lord rose again: that’s three full days. Matthew says about the angel that he was sitting on a stone, while Mark says that, having rolled away the stone, he sat inside the tomb on the right side. Are they saying the opposite? No! Apparently, the angel first appeared sitting on a stone, and then, when the women entered, he led them and again appeared inside the tomb sitting on the right side. He said to the wives: Do not be afraid, that is, the guards are worthy to be afraid, but you, disciples of the Lord, do not be afraid. After he frees them from fear, he preaches the good news to them about the resurrection, for it was necessary to first drive out fear and then preach the good news. He is not ashamed to call the Lord crucified, for he boasts of the cross, as if it were some kind of victorious trophy that has brought us all the blessings. Matthew 28:9. When they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them and said: Rejoice! And they came, grabbed His feet and worshiped Him. Matthew 28:10. Then Jesus says to them: Do not be afraid; go, tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me. Since the female sex was condemned to sorrow, the Lord, through His resurrection, brought joy to the female sex and blessed it. For this reason, they, out of deep reverence for Him and honor, hold His feet, not daring, due to modesty, to touch other parts of the body, except for the extreme parts of His body. Some say that they deliberately grabbed His feet in order to find out whether He had truly risen and whether it was a dream, or whether it was a spirit, for they thought that it was a spirit. So then both Marys touched His feet; according to John, Mary Magdalene tries to touch, but is not allowed to touch her. This is because she wanted to always be with Him, as before, or better: through this it is not allowed, according to John, to touch Jesus, that this is unnecessary, for after she, as Matthew says, touched His feet, what was the need to touch again? So she is not allowed, as she wants too much. Matthew 28:11. As they walked, some of the guards entered the city and announced to the high priests everything that had happened. Matthew 28:12. And these, having gathered with the elders and held a meeting, gave enough money to the soldiers, Matthew 28:13. and they said: Say that His disciples came at night and stole Him while we were sleeping; Matthew 28:14. and if rumors about this reach the ruler, we will convince him and save you from trouble. Matthew 28:15. They, having taken the money, acted as they were taught; and this word spread among the Jews to this day. The guards announced everything: that there was an earthquake, that the stone fell away by itself, that they, being frightened, became as if dead. But the Jews, not understanding either the miracles that took place during the suffering, or what was testified by the soldiers and what happened at the tomb, infect the soldiers with their own passion of love of money, convincing them to say what is most wicked and craziest of all: that He was stolen. But how, O madmen, did the disciples, who locked themselves out of fear and did not dare to come out, steal? If they had stolen it, how would they subsequently die for Him, preaching that He had risen and suffering for the lie? Matthew 28:16. The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus commanded them, According to John, Jesus first appeared to the disciples on the very day of the resurrection, when the doors were locked; then - after eight days, when Thomas also believed. Then, when they were thinking of going to Galilee and not all were gathered together, but some of them were fishing on the Sea of ​​Tiberias, then the Lord appeared to one of the seven who were fishing. What Matthew speaks of happened afterward, precisely when what John narrates happened first, for he often appeared to them over the course of forty days, first coming and then leaving again, but not always and not being present with them everywhere. So, the eleven supreme disciples with all the other followers bowed to Christ. Matthew 28:17. and when they saw Him, they worshiped Him, but others doubted. “And others doubted” instead of: some doubted. This should be understood this way: eleven disciples went to Galilee, these eleven worshiped Him; “others” (instead of “some”), probably out of seventy, doubted Christ. However, in the end, these too were strengthened in faith. Some, however, understand this: Matthew did not try to say who the doubters were, but what he did not try to say, John said - that Thomas was the doubter. However, it could also happen that everyone doubted, as Luke actually says. Therefore, you must understand that when they came to Galilee, the disciples worshiped Christ, but these same ones who worshiped in Galilee had previously doubted in Jerusalem, as Luke says. Matthew 28:18. And Jesus approached and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.” Jesus told them that “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.” It comes down to this: as God and Creator, I have always had power over everything, for “all things serve You,” David says to God (Psalm 119:91), but I did not have voluntary submission; now I think to have it too, for now everything will be subject to Me, since by My cross I have defeated the one who has the power of death. Submission is twofold: one is involuntary, according to which we are all slaves of God in captivity, like demons; but there is an arbitrary submission, according to which Paul was a servant of Christ. Previously, when everyone had only involuntary submission, the Savior had half the power over everything, but after the cross, when the knowledge of God became available to everyone and when everyone submitted to voluntary submission, Christ appropriately says that “now I have received all authority.” Previously, I had power only partially, for they served Me only involuntarily, since I am the Creator; Now, when people serve Me wisely, I have already been given all and complete power. From whom was it given to Him? He accepted it from Himself and from His humility, for if He had not humbled himself and fought the enemy through the cross, he would not have saved us; so “power was given to Me,” understand this: through My own exploits and labors I saved people, and they became My inheritance, the chosen people. Therefore, on earth the Lord has power, since the whole earth has come to know Him, and in heaven because the reward for those who believe in Him and residence are in heaven. On the other hand, since human nature, first condemned, and then hypostatically united with God the Word, sits in heaven, receiving worship from the angels, it speaks decently; “All authority in heaven has been given to Me,” for the human nature, which was formerly a servant, now in Christ rules over all things. In short, understand: “all power has been given to Me” - if you accept this as spoken by God’s Word - that all power has been given to Me, since now, both involuntarily and together by will, those who previously served Me by way of only involuntary submission recognize Me as God. If what is said is from human nature, then understand that I, the previously condemned nature, now, through an unmerged union with the Son of God, have become God, I, this nature, have received power over everything, so that in heaven the angels worship me, and on earth I am glorified by all ends. Matthew 28:19. Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Matthew 28:20. teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. Therefore, the Lord no longer sends His disciples to the Jews alone, but since He received power over everyone, having sanctified all human nature in Himself, He decently sends them to all languages, instructing them to baptize “in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” So, let Arius and Sabellius be put to shame! Arius - since the Lord said to baptize not in names, but in the name; The three have one name - Divinity. Sabellius - since the Lord mentioned three persons, and not one person (as Sabellius talks nonsense), as if he had three names and was sometimes called the Father, sometimes the Son, and sometimes the Spirit; The Lord mentioned three persons who have one name - God. Further, since it is not enough to be baptized only, but one must also do good after baptism, he says: “teaching them to keep everything that I have commanded you,” not one or two, but all My commandments. Let us fear, brethren, knowing that even if one thing remained unobserved among us, we would not be perfect servants of Christ, for we are required to keep everything. See the speech of the Lord, how it embraces both heads of Christianity: theology and active virtue. For, having said that we should baptize in the name of the Trinity, He taught us theology, and by saying that we should teach and keep the commandments, He also brought us active virtue. Encouraging His disciples (since He sent them to the pagans to slaughter and danger), He says that “do not be afraid, because I will be with you until the end of the age.” See also how he reminded them of his death in order to encourage them to despise danger even more. Do not be afraid, he says, everything will have an end, whether it be worldly grief or prosperity; Therefore, do not be discouraged by sorrows, for they will pass, nor be deceived by blessings, for they will end. However, this did not apply to just the apostles: to remain with them, but also to all His disciples in general, for, undoubtedly, the apostles did not have to live until the end of the world. So, both to us and to those who will come after us, this is promised; however, it is not so that He will be present until the end, and after the end will depart. No! Then it will especially abide with us and, moreover, in the clearest and most obvious way, for the word “before,” wherever it is found used in Scripture, does not exclude what will happen after. So, having given thanks to the Lord, who is here with us and delivers every good, and who again has the most perfect ability to abide with us after death, let us conclude here our explanation for the glory of Him, to Him belongs all thanksgiving and glory and honor forever and ever.