THE WAY OF THE COMMUNITY: THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW Chapter 23: The Empty Tomb Open with Prayer On the Resurrection of Jesus One cannot easily harmonize the four gospels to the details surrounding the resurrection of Jesus. How many women went to the tomb on Sunday morning? Mark says two, but Matthew says three, and Luke indicates there were even more. Why were the women there? Mark says they wanted to anoint the body, but Matthew makes no mention of this. How many angels were at the tomb? Luke has two, Matthew and Mark have one, and John has none! Scholars Albright and Mann put it this way: “For all the confusing chronology, for the manifest variations in tradition, the one thing upon which all four evangelists are agreed is that the tomb of Jesus was empty.” Each gospel writer then adds his perspective to this very important piece of information. Why is the tomb empty? What does it mean? Let’s investigate Matthew’s account of the resurrection for a better understanding of what he understood by the empty tomb. Burying Jesus Read Matthew 27:57-61 What details strike you about the burial of Jesus? Why do you believe Matthew included these details in his gospel? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ !1 Each one of the four gospels tell us that Joseph of Arimathea was responsible for burying Jesus. However, Matthew’s account is unique in the following ways: — Joseph is called “a rich man” — Joseph is explicitly called a disciple of Jesus; in the other gospels, he is merely “good and righteous” or “waiting for the kingdom of God” — nowhere is mentioned that he was a member of the Sanhedrin (religious council) — the tomb belonged to Joseph — Joseph himself had hewn the tomb out of the rock. Keeping in mind that Matthew was trying to establish that the tomb of Jesus was empty, we can imagine that it was important for him to prove that Jesus was not buried in an unmarked tomb; otherwise, it could have been argued that his disciples were looking in the wrong tomb. Roman soldiers typically buried their crucified victims in unmarked graves, often very near the place where they died. But in Jesus’ case, Joseph of Arimathea apparently specifically asked that his body be remanded to his care. A recent archaeological discovery of a crucified body in a private grave in Israel proves that this is an historical possibility. So Matthew wants critics to take notice that Jesus was buried in a well-known, rich man’s grave. Nobody could have mistaken the place where he was laid. Furthermore, take note that there were two other witnesses to his burial — Mary Magdalene and Mary, his own mother. Keeping Jesus Buried Read Matthew 27:62-66 and 28:11-15 Why does Matthew tel this story, which is unique to his gospel? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ We have already seen that Matthew has told the story of Jesus’ suffering in such a way as to pin the blame for his death directly on the Jewish religious leadership. He practically absolves Pilate and the Romans for their part in the crucifixion. !2 In the story of the sealed and guarded tomb, Matthew continues this attack. In a story rich with irony, he relates that the Jewish leaders send guards to the tomb to make sure Jesus’ disciples don’t steal his body; after the resurrection, they pay the same guards to tell that exact story! Not only that, but apparently they end up paying more to the guards than they did to Jesus, leading one scholar to note that “it costs more to suppress the resurrection than it does to engineer the crucifixion.” Thus, this story acts as both a blaming device as well as a clever piece of defense against the criticism that Jesus wasn’t actually resurrected, but merely removed from the tomb by his earnest and overzealous followers. It appears that the guards also witnessed the empty tomb. Why didn’t they believe in the resurrection? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ Reappearing Jesus Read Matthew 28:1-10 The resurrection is never described in the New Testament; we never get a colorful account of what happened or how it happened when Jesus arose from the tomb. All we get from the gospel accounts are stories of women discovering that the tomb is empty. And in each of the accounts, the resurrection has already taken place. The only consistent fact from these stories is that Jesus is not in the tomb any longer. In your opinion, why is the resurrection of Jesus not more fuly described or explained? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ I believe there are several answers to the question of why the resurrection is not more fully described: !3 1) To go into great detail over fantastical or mystical thoughts is to lead the reader astray into unnecessary speculations. Matthew wants us to believe that Jesus is still present with us; we don’t have to know why or how he is still present. 2) There is nothing Matthew can say to us that will definitely prove anything to us anyway. Just because someone has seen the empty tomb or a resurrected Jesus doesn’t mean he or she will actually believe in Jesus. See Matthew 28:17. 3) Resurrection faith is different from scientific reason or journalistic fact. It requires a different way of seeing, as Matthew has consistently reminded us. It might also be wise to reflect on the fact that, in the end, the two people entrusted with the Easter message are women. They are instructed to “go and tell” the disciples that he has been raised, making them the first evangelists and apostles; not only that, they are also the first witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. In the end, Matthew doesn’t really give us very much to go on. He doesn’t tell us exactly how God raised Jesus; he doesn’t describe what the resurrected Jesus looks like; and he doesn’t give us any better witnesses than two women, who were the least likely to be believed in those days. Yet he believed it was enough for us to believe, too. Do you believe in the resurrection of Jesus? Why or why not? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ Close with Unison Afrmation: In the confidence that God is with us, we go on the Way with Christ. May the Spirit lead and guide us. !4.