Matthew 28:1-10
Ruben stared at the scroll[1] in front of him, then looked at his wife across the table. This was the first written copy of the story of Jesus they had seen. Some of the teachings were familiar to them, but they had devoured the whole scroll up to this point. Now, however, the words took a different turn. Judas Iscariot agreed to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.
Ruben and Rebekah knew about the crucifixion and what happened afterward, but not with all these details. They knew the ending, but did he want to read for her and for himself what came before? Did he want all the information about the trial and the crucifixion?
He rolled up the scroll and set it aside. “Not today,” he told her.
“But when?” she asked. “Will we come back to it tomorrow? The next day?”
He sighed and unrolled the scroll. Rebekah listened quietly as he read about the Passover meal, about Jesus identifying the betrayer as the one who dipped his hand into the bowl with Jesus, and about the Mount of Olives, where Peter claimed he would not deny Jesus.
As Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, she wiped her eyes. Judas came with the crowd. They took Jesus to Caiaphas, the high priest, who accused him of blasphemy. Ruben hesitated after reading the verdict by those with Caiaphas. When Peter denied Jesus in Pilate’s courtyard the first time, Rebekah stood. She paced around the room as Peter continued his denials.
“Do you want me to continue?” Ruben asked.
“No … Yes … Maybe …” She sighed. “Yes, go on. We have to get past this. Without this, there would have been no resurrection.”
Feeling the pain the gospel described, they tried to absorb the details of Jesus before Pilate and at the crucifixion. Ruben’s voice cracked and Rebekah sobbed when he read Jesus’ cry of abandonment, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Tears fell on both faces when Jesus breathed his last and his body was taken to the tomb. They laughed through their tears when the chief priests asked Pilate for guards to protect the tomb from the disciples. The guards couldn’t stop the resurrection.
Ruben glanced at the next words and said to his wife, “This … this is the part we’ve been waiting for.”
“Just a minute,” she replied. “Let me get you a drink.”
“Thank you. I needed that.”
He turned back to the scroll.
“After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.”
Rebekah interrupted him. “Why would they do that? They were already there. Back when Joseph put the body in the tomb, … what did it say?”
Ruben scanned back a few lines. “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.”
“So why do they need to see the tomb now?”
“To see it? To check it out?”
“Back up a little, to one of the places where Jesus told them he was going to be killed. Didn’t he also say that he would be raised in three days?”
Ruben unrolled the scroll until he found the place. “Here’s one. ‘We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!.’ ”
“I think there were others.”
He rolled back and found others.
“So if he told them, and the women remembered, maybe they went to see if the tomb was empty? If it was, they would have known Jesus had been raised.”
Ruben leaned back and put his hands to his face. After a few moments, he returned to the scroll. “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.”
He looked up at Rebekah, then continued reading.
“The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
Rebekah sat down next to Ruben.
“So they went to see the tomb. The angel rolled the stone away and showed them it was empty, like they expected.” She paused. “So where was Jesus?”
Ruben had been scanning ahead. “Here, right here.” He put his finger on the next words. Rebekah, never having been taught to read, looked at him with a question mark in her eyes.
He smiled and read, “So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me. ”
“Ah. So they do see him.”
“Yes.”
“But there’s more to the scroll. Read it, please.”
The next part was about the guards who had been assigned to keep anyone from stealing the body. They went to the chief priests and told them what happened. The priests paid them off to spread the rumor that the disciples stole the body. They promised to make things right with the governor if he heard what was being said.
“But there’s still more writing.” Rebekah pointed to the scroll.
Ruben read. “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ ”
Rebekah repeated, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Her husband put his finger on the last word and said, “That is the end of the scroll, but not the end of the good news. Our job is to let others know.”
General Questions
1) How does this story follow its Scripture?
2) How does this story expand its Scripture for you?
3) What is the message of this story?
4) How does the message apply to us today?
Specific questions
5) Do you remember the first time you heard or read the story of the crucifixion?
6) Why would Ruben be hesitant to read it to Rebekah?
7) The other three gospels explain that the women took spices to the tomb that they had prepared. The gospel of Matthew does not. Why do you think the writer of Matthew did not explain that?
8) What do Jesus’ last words in this gospel (“I am with you always, to the end of the age.”) mean to you?
[1] Each gospel was used locally for a time without an identifying name. When they circulated more widely, names were attached. The Bart Ehrman Blog: The History & Literature of Early Christianity (https://ehrmanblog.org/when-did-the-gospels-get-their-names/)
