Now
after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
Matthew 28:1
Matthew 27 [65.] Pilate said to them, “You have a guard. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone.
Matthew 28 [1.] Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. Behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from the sky, and came and rolled away the stone from the door, and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him, the guards shook, and became like dead men. The angel answered the women, “Don’t be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who has been crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, just like he said. Come, see the place where the Lord was lying. Go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead, and behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.”
Matthew 28 [8.] They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. As they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!”
They came and took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.
Meaning:
Jesus had been buried on Friday evening, and his enemies had sealed the stone and set a guard (Matthew 27:62-66). The last people Matthew mentioned at the tomb were “Mary Magdalene… and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb” (Matthew 27:61). Now the same two women return. Mark tells it this way: “Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen” (Mark 16:1; Mark 16:2).
- “Now after the Sabbath”
The Sabbath ran from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday. The law required rest, so the women had waited. Mark and Luke say they had prepared spices to anoint the body. Their love for Jesus was patient as well as practical: they kept God’s law and then came at the first opportunity.
- “as it began to dawn on the first day of the week”
The first day of the week is our Sunday. John says Mary Magdalene went “while it was still dark” (John 20:1), and the others describe the sunrise. They set out in the dark and arrived as the light was coming. The time is full of meaning. On the first day of creation God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light (Genesis 1:3). Now, on the first day of a new week, God’s new creation was beginning. The Psalm says, “Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).
From that morning, the first day of the week became the special day for Christians to gather. Luke records that “On the first day of the week, when the disciples were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them” (Acts 20:7). John calls it “the Lord’s day” (Revelation 1:10). Every Sunday celebrates this dawn.
- “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb”
The other Mary is “Mary the mother of James and Joses” (Matthew 27:56). These women had followed Jesus from Galilee, watched him die and seen where he was laid. They did not come expecting a resurrection. They came to mourn and to honour his body. Yet because they came, they became the first witnesses of the empty tomb and the first to carry the news that Jesus had risen (Matthew 28:6-7).
The Significance of Matthew 28:1
- Love that keeps coming
The disciples were hiding, but the women came to the tomb at the first light. Faithful love does not stop when hope seems lost. God often meets those who keep coming to him even when they do not understand.
- A new day
The resurrection turned the first day of the week into a day of hope. Whatever darkness we walk through, the risen Lord brings a new morning.
Cross-References:
Mark 16:2: "Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen." Mark’s parallel account.
Psalm 30:5: "Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning." The morning of joy.
Acts 20:7: "On the first day of the week, when the disciples were gathered together to break bread," The church’s day of worship.
Conclusion: After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb where Jesus was laid. They came in grief to honour his body, but they were about to become the first witnesses of the resurrection. Their dawn visit made the first day of the week the Lord’s day, a weekly celebration of new life.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible