John Calvin Commentary Matthew 28

We now come to the closing scene of our redemption. For the living assurance of our reconciliation with God arises from Christ having come from hell as the conqueror of death, to show that He had the power of a new life at His disposal. Therefore, Paul justly says that there will be no gospel, and that the hope of salvation will be vain and fruitless, unless we believe that Christ is risen from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:14). For then Christ obtained righteousness for us and opened up our entrance into heaven; and, in short, then our adoption was ratified, when Christ, by rising from the dead, exerted the power of His Spirit and proved Himself to be the Son of God.

Although He manifested His resurrection in a different manner than what our fleshly senses would have desired, still the method He approved ought to be regarded by us also as the best.

He went out of the grave without a witness, so that the emptiness of the place might be the earliest indication; next, He chose to have it announced to the women by the angels that He was alive; and shortly afterward He appeared to the women and, finally, to the apostles on various occasions.

Thus He gradually brought His followers, according to their capacity, to a greater measure of knowledge. He began with the women, and not only presented Himself to be seen by them but even gave them a commission to announce the gospel to the apostles, so as to become their instructors.

This was intended, first, to chastise the indifference of the apostles, who were like persons half-dead with fear, while the women ran with eagerness to the tomb and likewise obtained no ordinary reward. For though their design to anoint Christ, as if He were still dead, was not free from blame, still He forgave their weakness and bestowed on them distinguished honor, by taking away from men the apostolic office and committing it to them for a short time.

In this manner also He exhibited an instance of what Paul tells us, that He chooses those things which are foolish and weak in the world to abase the loftiness of the flesh. And we shall never be duly prepared to learn this article of our faith in any other manner than by laying aside all pride and submitting to receive the testimony of the women. Not that our faith ought to be confined within such narrow limits, but because the Lord, in order to test our faith, determines that we shall become fools before He admits us to a more ample knowledge of His mysteries.

As far as the narrative is concerned, Matthew says only that the two Marys came to see the tomb; Mark adds a third, Salome, and says that they bought spices to anoint the body; and from Luke we infer that not two or three only, but many women came. But we know that it is customary for the sacred writers, when speaking of a great number, to name only a few of them. It may also be conjectured with probability that Mary Magdalene, with another companion—whether she was sent before or ran forward of her own accord—arrived at the grave before the rest of the women. And this appears to be conveyed by the words of Matthew, that those two women came for the purpose of seeing; for without seeing Christ, they had no means of anointing Him. He says nothing, in the meantime, about the purpose they had formed of doing honor to Him, for the principal object He had in view was to testify to the resurrection.

But it may be asked, how could this zeal of the women, which was mixed with superstition, be acceptable to God? I have no doubt that the custom of anointing the dead, which they had borrowed from the Fathers, was applied by them to its proper object: to draw consolation, amidst the mourning of death, from the hope of the life to come. I readily acknowledge that they sinned in not immediately raising their minds to that prediction which they had heard from the lips of their Master, when He foretold that He would rise again on the third day.³⁰¹

But as they retained the general principle of the final resurrection, that defect is forgiven, which would justly have marred, as the phrase is, the whole of the action. Thus God frequently accepts, with fatherly kindness, the works of the saints, which, without pardon, not only would not have pleased Him, but would even have been justly rejected with shame and punishment.

It is, therefore, an astonishing display of the goodness of Christ, that He kindly and generously presents Himself alive to the women, who did Him wrong in seeking Him among the dead. Now if He did not permit them to come in vain to His grave, we may conclude with certainty that those who now aspire to Him by faith will not be disappointed; for the distance of places does not prevent believers from enjoying Him who fills heaven and earth by the power of His Spirit.

And, lo, a great earthquake. By many signs the Lord showed the presence of His glory, so that He might more fully prepare the hearts of the holy women to reverence the mystery.³⁰⁴ For since it was not a matter of little consequence to know that the Son of God had obtained a victory over death (on which the principal point of our salvation is founded), it was necessary to remove all doubts, so that the divine majesty might be openly and manifestly presented to the eyes of the women.

Matthew says, therefore, that there was an earthquake, by which the divine power that I have mentioned might be perceived. And by this prodigy, it was fitting that the women should expect nothing human or earthly, but raise their minds to a work of God that was new and surpassed human expectations.

The raiment and the countenance of the angel, too, might be described as rays by which the splendor of the Godhead was diffused, enabling them to perceive that it was not a mortal man who stood near them, despite having the face of a man.

For though dazzling light, or the whiteness of snow, is nothing in comparison with the boundless glory of God (indeed, if we wish to know Him rightly, we should not imagine any color for Him), yet when He makes known by outward signs that He is present, He invites us to Himself, as far as our weakness can endure. Still, we should understand that the visible signs of His presence are shown to us so that our minds may conceive of Him as invisible; and that, under bodily forms, we obtain a taste of His spiritual essence, so that we may seek Him spiritually.

Yet it cannot be doubted that, along with outward signs, there was an inward power that engraved on the hearts of the women an impression of Deity. For though at first they were struck with amazement, yet it will become clear from what follows that they gathered courage and were gradually instructed in such a way that they perceived the hand of God to be present.

Our three Evangelists, from a desire for brevity, leave out what is more fully related by John (John 20:1–12), which, as we know, is not unusual for them.

There is also this difference: Matthew and Mark mention only one angel, while John and Luke speak of two. But this apparent contradiction is also easily resolved, for we know how frequently instances of that figure of speech occur in Scripture where a part is taken for the whole.

There were two angels, therefore, who appeared first to Mary and afterwards to her other companions. However, as the women's attention was chiefly directed to the angel who spoke, Matthew and Mark contented themselves with relating his message.

Besides, when Matthew says that the angel sat on a stone, there is in his words (ὕστερον πρότερον), an inversion of the order of events; or, at least, he disregarded that order. For the angel did not immediately appear, but rather while the women were held in suspense and anxiety by such a strange and astonishing event.

And they departed quickly. The three Evangelists pass by what John relates about Mary Magdalene (John 20:2), that she returned to the city before she had seen the angels, and complained with tears that the body of Christ had been taken away. Here they mention only the second return to the city, when she, and other women who accompanied her, told the disciples that Christ was risen; which they had learned both from the words and testimony of the angel, and from seeing Christ himself. Now before Christ showed himself, they already ran to the disciples, as they had been commanded by the angel. On the road they received a second confirmation, so that they might with greater certainty assert the resurrection of the Lord.

With fear and great joy. By these words Matthew means that they were indeed gladdened by what the angel told them, but, at the same time, they were struck with fear, so that they were held in suspense between joy and perplexity. For there are sometimes opposite feelings in the hearts of the godly, which move them alternately in opposite directions, until finally the peace of the Spirit brings them into a settled condition. For if their faith had been strong, it would have given them entire composure by subduing fear; but now fear, mingled with joy, shows that they had not yet fully relied on the testimony of the angel. And here Christ exhibited a remarkable instance of compassion, in meeting them while they thus doubted and trembled, so as to remove all remaining doubt.

Yet there is some diversity in the words of Mark, that they fled, seized with trembling and amazement, so that through fear they were dismayed. But the solution is not very difficult; for though they were resolved to obey the angel, still they had not power to do so,³⁰⁷ if the Lord himself had not loosed their tongues. But in what follows there is greater appearance of contradiction; for Mark does not say that Christ met them, but only that he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, while Luke says nothing whatever of this appearance. But this omission should not seem strange to us, since it is far from being unusual with the Evangelists.

As to the difference between the words of Matthew and of Mark, it is possible that Magdalene may have been a partaker of so great a favor before the other women, or even that Matthew, by synecdoche, may have extended to all what was peculiar to one of their number. It is more probable, however, that Mark names her alone, because she first obtained a sight of Christ, and in a peculiar manner, in preference to the others, and yet that her companions also saw Christ in their order, and that on this account Matthew attributes it to all of them in common. This was an astonishing instance of goodness, that Christ manifested his heavenly glory to a wretched woman, who had been possessed by seven devils (Luke 8:2), and, intending to display the light of a new and eternal life, began where there was nothing in the eyes of man but what was base and contemptible. But by this example Christ showed how generously he is accustomed to continue the progress of his grace, when he has once displayed it towards us; and, at the same time, he threw down the pride of the flesh.