The Angel at The Empty Tomb
Throughout the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is presented to readers as the King. Jesus the King has finally defeated Satan, “ the prince of this world ,” on the Cross and in His resurrection, stripped Satan of all his power and defeated death itself.
The climax of Matthew’s gospel is that the King has risen. If we were to recount the events of the resurrection morning, they would probably be as follows: ‘ The violent earthquake ” (cf. Matt 28:2). The angel of the Lord, who descended from heaven and rolled back the stone, from the entrance of the tomb (Matthew 28:2).
At the advent of Christ’s coming, it was the angels or the angelic host that proclaimed the birth of Jesus the king, “ Unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord ” (Luke 2:11).
And now an angel came again, to roll away the stone, while the first women were on their way to the tomb. The rolling away of the stone was not to help Christ to come out of the grave but to let everyone know that Christ is not in the grave.
Whereas the resurrection of Christ was both mysterious and majestic, unseen by foe or friend. And all that the angel did was to show men and women the empty grave. The angel was visible, and “ his appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow ” (Matt. 28:3).
The coming of the angel was a source of discomfort to the enemies of Jesus. The temple guards who were guarding the tomb (Matthew 27:65) were overcome with fear that the glory of the angel made them as dead men, or became as lifeless as a corpse.
To the friends of Jesus, the angel was a source of comfort. He said to the women, “ Fear not; for I know that ye seek Jesus ” (Mat 28:2-4). The comforting words are different in Mark 16;6. “ Be not affrighted: ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified. He is risen; he is not here …”
The women had good intentions of embalming the body of Jesus, but had failed to understand all that Christ had spoken to them. In love, the angel reminds them that He had predicted his betrayal, crucifixion, and His resurrection as well. As it were, the angel was telling the women, Your seeking is good, but you are seeking the wrong Way. The angel announced to them, “ He is not here, He is risen ”, with a gentle rebuke, even “ as He said ”.
The last words that the angel spoke tell us the real meaning of resurrection. “ Come see the place where the Lord lay .”
This is to tell the women then, and to us now, that the resurrection of Jesus was a demonstration that He had accomplished all that He said He would accomplish. He has broken the bands of death and has risen, without the help of angels or disciples, and left the tomb forever.
Today, we have a risen savior and an empty tomb.
Dr. Emmanuel Damara , M.Th.,Ph.D is the Pastor of Grace Community Baptist Church, Secunderabad.
