Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 28:1-7

"Now late on the sabbath day, as it began to dawn toward the first [day] of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the watchers did quake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye; for I know that ye seek Jesus, who hath been crucified. He is not here; for he is risen, even as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples, He is risen from the dead; and lo, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you." — Matthew 28:1-7 (ASV)

Pseudo-Chrysostom: After the mockings and scourgings, after the mingled drinks of vinegar and gall, the pains of the cross, the wounds, and finally after death itself and Hades, a renewed flesh rose again from the grave. A hidden life returned from confinement, and health, once chained up in death, broke forth with fresh beauty from its ruin.¹

St. Augustine of Hippo: A question arises concerning the hour when the women came to the tomb, and it should not be overlooked. Matthew here says, “On the evening of the Sabbath.” What, then, does Mark mean by, “Very early in the morning, the first day of the week” (Mark 16:2)?²

Indeed, Matthew, by naming the first part of the night—that is, the evening—is referring to the entire night, at the end of which they came to the tomb. Since the Sabbath prevented them from doing this earlier, he designates the whole night by its earliest part, which was the first time it became lawful for them to carry out what they had planned to do during the night.

Therefore, the phrase “On the evening of the sabbath” is the same as if he had said, “On the night of the sabbath”—that is, the night following the Sabbath day. This is sufficiently proven by the words that follow: “As it began to dawn toward the first day of the week.” This interpretation would not be possible if we understood “evening” to mean only the first part of the night, its beginning. The beginning of the night does not “begin to dawn toward the first day of the week”; only the end of the night, which concludes at dawn, does so.

This is a common way of speaking in Holy Scripture: expressing the whole by a part. Therefore, by “evening,” he meant the entire night, at the end of which they came to the tomb.

The Venerable Bede: Alternatively, it may be understood that they began their journey in the evening, but it was the dawn of the first day of the week when they reached the tomb. That is, they prepared the spices for anointing the Lord's body in the evening but brought them to the tomb in the morning. Matthew describes this so briefly that his account is not entirely clear, but the other Evangelists present the sequence of events more distinctly.

The Lord was buried on the sixth day of the week. The women, returning from the tomb, prepared spices and ointments as long as it was lawful to work. On the Sabbath, they rested according to the commandment, as Luke plainly declares. Then, when the Sabbath was past and evening had come, the time for work returned. With zealous devotion, they went to purchase the spices they still needed—this is implied in Mark's words, “when the sabbath was past”—so that they might go and anoint Jesus. It was for this purpose that they came early in the morning to the tomb.³

St. Jerome: Alternatively, this apparent discrepancy among the Evangelists regarding the times of their visits is not a sign of falsehood, as wicked men claim. Instead, it shows the diligent duty and attention of the women, who were often coming and going, unable to endure being away from their Lord's tomb for long.

Remigius of Auxerre: It should be known that Matthew intends to hint at a mystical meaning: how great a dignity this most holy night received from the noble conquest of death and the Resurrection of our Lord. With this purpose, he says, “On the evening of the Sabbath.” For whereas in the usual succession of hours, evening does not dawn into day but rather darkens into night, these words show that the Lord, by the light of His resurrection, shed joy and brilliance over this entire night.

The Venerable Bede: From the beginning of the world's creation until now, the course of time has followed this arrangement: day has preceded night, because humanity, having fallen by sin from the light of paradise, has sunk into the darkness and misery of this world. But now, most fittingly, night precedes day, since through faith in the resurrection, we are brought back by Christ's bounty from the darkness of sin and the shadow of death to the light of life.⁴

St. Peter Chrysologusⁱ: The Sabbath is illuminated, not taken away, by Christ, who said, “I am not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfil it” (Matthew 5:17). It is illuminated so that it may brighten into the Lord's day and shine forth in the Church, whereas it had until now burned dimly, obscured by the Jews in the Synagogue.⁵

St. Peter Chrysologus: The text continues, “Came Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary,” and so on. The woman who ran early to sin now runs late for pardon. In paradise, she embraced unbelief; from the tomb, she hurries to embrace faith. She who once snatched death from life now hastens to snatch life from death.

And it is not “they came” (plural), but “came” (singular), for it is a matter of mystery, not accident, that the two came under one name. She came, but she was changed—a woman transformed in her life, not in her name; in her virtue, not in her sex. The women go before the Apostles, bearing to the Lord's tomb a type of the Churches—namely, the two Marys.

For Mary is the name of Christ's mother, and one name is repeated for two women because this represents the Church, which comes from two peoples—the Gentiles and the Jews—and yet is one. Mary came to the tomb as to the womb of the resurrection, so that Christ—who had been born of her womb according to the flesh—might be born a second time from the tomb of faith. Just as a virgin had borne Him into this present life, so a sealed tomb would bring Him forth into eternal life. It is a proof of His deity to have left a womb virgin after birth, and no less a proof to have come forth in the body from a closed tomb.

St. Jerome: “And, behold, there was a great earthquake.” Our Lord, who is at once Son of God and Son of Man, according to His twofold nature of divinity and flesh, gives a sign sometimes of His greatness and at other times of His humility. Thus, although it was a man who was crucified and a man who was buried, the events surrounding it show Him to be the Son of God.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: The earthquake represents the power of the resurrection. When the sting of death is blunted and its darkness is illuminated, a quaking is stirred up among the powers beneath as the Lord of the heavenly powers rises again.

St. John Chrysostom: Alternatively, the earthquake was meant to rouse and awaken the women who had come to anoint the body. Since all these things were done in the night, it was likely that some of them had fallen asleep.

The Venerable Bede: The earthquake at the Resurrection, as at the Crucifixion, signifies that worldly hearts must first be moved to repentance by a wholesome fear that comes from believing in His Passion and Resurrection.

St. Peter Chrysologus: If the earth quaked this way when the Lord rose for the pardon of the saints, how will it quake when He rises for the punishment of the wicked? As the Prophet says, “The earth trembled when the Lord rose again to judgment” (Psalm 76:8). And how will the earth endure the Lord's presence when it was unable to endure the presence of His angel? “And the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven.” For when Christ arose, death was destroyed, and communion with heaven was restored to things on earth. And woman, who long ago communicated with the Devil leading to death, now communicates with the angel leading to life.⁶

St. Hilary of Poitiers: This is an example of the mercy of God the Father, who supplied the ministry of heavenly power to the Son at His resurrection from the grave. The angel is therefore the proclaimer of this first resurrection, so that it might be announced by an accompanying sign of the Father's good pleasure.

The Venerable Bede: Because Christ is both God and man, the acts of His humanity are not lacking the ministrations of angels, which are due to Him as God. “And came and rolled back the stone”—not to open the door for the Lord to come out, but to give evidence to people that He had already come out. For He who, as a mortal, had the power to enter the world through the closed womb of a Virgin, was able, having become immortal, to depart from the world by rising from a sealed tomb.

Remigius of Auxerre: The rolling back of the stone signifies the revealing of Christ's sacraments, which were covered by the letter of the Law. Since the Law was written on stones, it is represented here by the stone.

St. Peter Chrysologus: He did not say “rolled,” but “rolled back,” because rolling the stone to the tomb was a proof of death, while rolling it back asserted the resurrection. The order of things is changed: the tomb devours death, not the dead. The house of death becomes the mansion of life. A new law is imposed upon it: it receives a dead man and gives up a living one.⁷

The text continues, “And sat on it.” He sat down, though He is incapable of weariness. He sat as a teacher of the faith and a master of the Resurrection. He sat upon the stone so that the firmness of his seat might assure the steadfastness of the believers. The angel rested the foundations of the faith upon that rock on which Christ was to found His Church.

Alternatively, the stone of the tomb may represent death, under which we all lay. The angel sitting on it shows that Christ has subdued death by His power.

The Venerable Bede: And the angel who proclaimed the Lord's coming into the world rightly appeared standing, to show that the Lord would come to vanquish the prince of this world. But the herald of the Resurrection is described as being seated, to show that now that Christ had overcome him who had the power of death, He had ascended the throne of the everlasting kingdom. He sat upon the stone that had been rolled back, with which the mouth of the tomb had been closed, to teach that by His power He had burst the bonds of the tomb.

St. Augustine of Hippo: It may trouble some that according to Matthew, the angel sat on the stone after it had been rolled back from the tomb, whereas Mark says that the women, having gone into the tomb, saw a young man sitting on the right side. We may suppose either that they saw two angels—and that Matthew did not mention the one they saw inside, nor Mark the one they saw outside the tomb—or that they heard from each one separately what the angels said concerning Jesus.⁸

Alternatively, the words “entering into the tomb” (Mark 16:5) may mean entering an enclosed area, which likely existed in front of the rock out of which the tomb was carved. In that case, it could be the same angel they saw sitting on the right side whom Matthew describes as sitting on the stone he had rolled back.

St. Peter Chrysologus: The splendor of his face is distinct from the shining of his clothing. His face is compared to lightning, his clothing to snow, for lightning is in heaven and snow is on the earth. As the Prophet says, “Praise the Lord from the earth, ... fire and hail, snow and vapors” (Psalm 148:7-8). Thus, the splendor of his heavenly nature is preserved in the angel's face, while the grace of human interaction is shown in his clothing. The appearance of the angel who talked with them is arranged so that human eyes could endure the quiet splendor of his robes, yet because of his shining face, they would tremble before the messenger of their Maker.⁹

But what is the meaning of this clothing where there is no need for a covering? The angel represents our dress, our shape, and our likeness in the Resurrection, when a person is sufficiently clothed by the splendor of their own body.¹⁰

St. Jerome: The angel in white clothing signifies the glory of His triumph.

St. Gregory the Great: “Lightning” inspires terror, while “snow” is an emblem of fairness. Just as Almighty God is terrible to sinners and gentle to the righteous, so this angel is rightly a witness of His resurrection. He is shown with a face like lightning and clothing like snow, so that by his presence he might terrify the wicked and comfort the good. And so it follows, “And for fear of him the keepers did shake.”¹¹

Rabanus Maurus: Those who did not have the faith of love were shaken with panic, and those who would not believe the truth of the resurrection themselves “became as dead men.”

St. Peter Chrysologus: For they kept watch over Him with cruel intent, not with loving concern. And no one can stand who is forsaken by their own conscience or troubled by a sense of guilt. For this reason, the angel confounds the wicked and comforts the good.¹²

St. Jerome: The guards lay like dead men in a trance of terror, but the angel speaks comfort not to them, but to the women, saying, “Fear not ye.” This is as much as to say, “Let those fear in whom unbelief remains; but you who seek the crucified Jesus, hear that He has risen again and has accomplished what He promised.”

St. Peter Chrysologus: For their faith had been shaken by the cruel storm of His Passion, so they still sought Him as one crucified and dead. The angel says, “I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified.” The weight of the trial had bent them to look for the Lord of heaven in the tomb, but, “He is not here.”¹³

Rabanus Maurus: That is, His physical presence is gone, for His spiritual presence is absent from no place. “He is risen, as he said.”

St. John Chrysostom: This is as much as to say, “If you do not believe me, remember His own words.” Then follows further proof when he adds, “Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”

St. Jerome: This means, “If my words fail to convince you, may the empty tomb do so.”

St. Peter Chrysologus: Thus the angel first announces His name, declares His Cross, and acknowledges His Passion, but immediately proclaims Him risen and their Lord. An angel, after such sufferings and after the grave, acknowledges Him as Lord. How then can any person judge that the Godhead was diminished by the flesh, or that His power failed in His Passion?¹⁴

He says, “Which was crucified,” and points out the place where the Lord was laid, so that they would not think it was another, and not the same person, who had risen from the dead. And if the Lord reappears in the same flesh and gives evidence of His resurrection, why should anyone suppose that they themselves will reappear in different flesh? Why should a servant disdain his own flesh, seeing that the Lord did not change ours?

Rabanus Maurus: And this good news is given not to you alone for the secret comfort of your own hearts; you must extend it to all who love Him: “Go quickly, and tell his disciples.”

St. Peter Chrysologus: This is as much as to say: “Woman, now that you are healed, return to the man and persuade him to faith, just as you once persuaded him to treachery. Carry to man the proof of the Resurrection, to whom you once carried the counsel of destruction.”¹⁵

St. John Chrysostom: “And, behold, he shall go before you,” that is, to save you from danger, so that fear does not prevail over faith.

St. Jerome: Mystically, “He shall go before you into Galilee,” that is, into the “wallowing place”ⁱ of the Gentiles, where before there was wandering and stumbling, and the foot had no firm and steady place to rest.

The Venerable Bede: The Lord is rightly seen by His disciples in Galilee, because He had already passed from death to life, from corruption to incorruption. For the interpretation of “Galilee” is “transmigration” or “passage.” Happy are the women who were worthy to announce the triumph of the Resurrection to the world! Even happier are the souls who, on the day of judgment, when the reprobate are struck with terror, will be found worthy to enter the joy of the blessed resurrection!

1. Hom. de Resur., iii
2. de Cons. Ev., iii, 24
3. Beda in loc.
4. Beda Hom. Aest. i
5. Serm. 75
6. Serm. 77 et 74
7. Serm. 74
8. de Cons. Ev., iii, 24
9. Serm. 75
10. Serm. 77
11. Hom. in Ev., xxi, 4
12. Serm. 75
13. Serm. 77
14. Serm. 76
15. Serm. 77