Scripture Daily

Context No. 1277 of 4322 · Matthew

Context · Reflection

Matthew 28:8-15: in context

8They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. 9As they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” They came and took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go tell my brothers that they should go into Galilee, and there they will see me.” 11Now while they were going, behold, some of the guards came into the city and told the chief priests all the things that had happened. 12When they were assembled with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave a large amount of silver to the soldiers, 13saying, “Say that his disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept. 14If this comes to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him and make you free of worry.” 15So they took the money and did as they were told. This saying was spread abroad among the Jews, and continues until today.

The women leave the empty tomb with fear and great joy, running to tell the disciples, when Jesus himself meets them. Rejoice, he says; they fall and take hold of his feet and worship. Do not be afraid, he tells them; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me. Meanwhile the guards report to the chief priests what has happened, and the leaders bribe them heavily to spread a lie: say his disciples came by night and stole the body while you slept. The soldiers take the money and the story spreads.

Two things sit side by side in this passage. First, the tenderness of the risen Jesus toward the very men who had failed him. His first message from beyond the grave is, go and tell my brothers. His brothers. These are the men who had all fled, who had abandoned him in his hour of need, and Peter had denied him outright; and the risen Christ's word for them is not a rebuke but a warm name, brothers. The resurrection does not come with condemnation for the deserters; it comes with restoration, calling the failures family. Second, notice the response of the authorities to the same event: they pay to have it lied about. Confronted with the resurrection, the leaders do not investigate; they bribe the guards to say the body was stolen and manufacture a cover story that, Matthew notes, was still circulating in his day. It is the old pattern of a hardened heart, not denying that something happened but paying to explain it away. The same resurrection meets two responses: the failed disciples are called brothers and restored, while the authorities spend money to bury the truth. Grace for those who fell and fled; and self-deception for those who will not have it be true.

When I have failed and fled, do I hear the risen Christ still calling me brother, and am I ever, like the leaders, tempted to explain away a truth about him rather than face it?

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