Mary Magdalene and the other Mary come toward dawn to see the tomb (verse 1). There is a great earthquake, and an angel descends, rolls back the stone, and sits on it. 4"for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men." Matthew has already mentioned an earthquake at the cross (Matthew 27:51), and two shakings now bracket the burial. The guards posted to prevent any talk of a resurrection collapse at the tomb where the one truly dead man is alive.
The angel says 6"He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay." He states it and invites inspection. He adds 7"See, I have told you," and tells them that Jesus is going before them to Galilee. The empty tomb is not a surprise to the one who said he would rise. The women run from the tomb 8"with fear and great joy," both emotions at once and neither cancelling the other.
Jesus himself meets them and says 9"Greetings!" They take hold of his feet and worship him, which tells us the body they hold is real. Then he tells them not to be afraid and to tell his brothers to go to Galilee. Earlier he had said that whoever does the will of his Father is his brother (Matthew 12:50). Now the word lands on the men who scattered in the dark and left him to face the cross. Peter had denied him three times. The first word sent to them, before any of them has apologized or explained, is my brothers. He sends them back to Galilee, where he first called them (Matthew 4:18-22), and the risen Lord begins again at the place of the first call.
Some of the guard go to the chief priests and report all that had taken place (verse 11). They saw an angel, an earthquake, and a stone rolled away. The priests give them a sufficient sum of money (verse 12), which buys what the evidence could not, and a story: 13"Tell people, 'His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.'" The priests promise 14"we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." A story like that requires the guards to know what happened while claiming to have been unconscious. Matthew says the story was still circulating when he wrote.
Two groups stand in front of the same facts that morning and walk away in opposite directions. One falls at Jesus' feet in worship. The other takes money to keep a lie moving. The evidence did not separate them. What separated them was what each was willing to let it cost.
Matthew records the names of the women and the hard facts of the cover story, and he lets the account stand as it is. Where do you need to let the evidence cost you something?
Prayer
Father, thank you that the resurrection was recorded honestly, even when honesty made the story harder to defend. Thank you that Christ called his scattered disciples brothers before any of them had earned the word back. Give us the women's response to the truth and not the guards', worship and not a story built to explain it away. In Jesus' name, amen.