by Timothy W. Burnett
As a review Jesus died on the day known as Preparation. The time was nearly 3 p.m. Joseph and Nicodemus buried him just before sunset. According to the Hebrew calendar, the time of sunset marked the change of a day. The day of Preparation was followed by the special high day called Passover. The scripture was fulfiled three full days later when God raised Jesus from the dead. The resurrection would have occurred just before sunset between the weekly sabbath and the first day of the week.
While preparing for this week's column, I discovered something I hadn't noticed before. The Gospel of Matthew reveals that Mary Magdalene and another Mary came to the sepulchre during the time of sunset on the weekly sabbath, toard the first day of the week. According to Matthew 28:1, "In the end of the sabbath as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre."
The words "the end of" came from an earlier known Greek word that meant "late on." It can be used in reference to the latter part of a day. The word "toward" is the translation for the earlier known word "eis." E.W. Bullinger gives the following explanation, "eis governs only one case (the Accusative). Euclid uses eis when a line is drawn to meet another line at a certain point. Hence it denotes motion to or unto an object, with the purpose of reaching or touching it" (The Companion Bible, Appendix 104 vi).
The use of the word "toward" shows that the women arrived on the latter part of the weekly sabbath as the first day of the week drew near. Because of the word "dawn" I thought it was related to one of the early morning arrivals recorded in the other Gospels. Here the word "dawn" is used for the approach of a new 24-hour day, rather than a 12-hour sunlit day.
The women must have arrived just in time for the earthquake, and to winess the angel from God roll back the stone from the opening. The angel was described as having the general appearance of lightning and wearing clothing as white as snow. Out of fear, the guards shook from within and fell unconscious as if to be dead.
The angel encouraged the women to not be afraid and told them that Jesus was not in the sepulchre because he was risen from the dead. The women were told to quickly leave and tell the disciples that Jesus was alive, and that he would meet them in Galilee. They left the sepulchre with reverence and great joy.
What a fantastic moment this must have been for the women. To add icing on the cake, they were confronted by Jesus himself while en-route to the disciples. They paid homage to him and embraced his feet as he told them to send word for the disciples to meet him in Galilee. The disciples did not believe their story.
Athough we need to research and spend more time in the scriptures on this new discovery, there is enough information to support a couple of corrections from last week's column. John's Gospel does not record the first time somebody arrived to find Jesus' body missing. Also, the record in Mark 16:9 possibly refers to Mary's encounter with Jesus according to Matthew's account.
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