Early on the first day of the week women came to the tomb and found the stone rolled away. Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, to the disciples behind locked doors, to two travelers on the Emmaus road, and to many others over forty days. The New Testament stakes everything on this: He is risen indeed.
1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2There 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. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 5The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7Then 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.” 8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” The palette of the story changes here, from midnight toward dawn.
The witnesses were not expecting it. The women brought spices for a body. The disciples did not believe the first reports. Thomas wanted to touch the wounds. Yet within weeks these same people were proclaiming in Jerusalem, at risk of their lives, that God had raised Jesus from the dead, and the earliest written summary of the faith (1 Corinthians 15) lists the witnesses by name.
On the Emmaus road the risen Jesus explained from Moses and all the Prophets what was said about Himself. That conversation is the pattern for the Old Testament threads throughout this site.
Events in this chapter
- Event
The resurrection of Jesus
On the first day of the week the tomb of Jesus was found empty, and He appeared alive to Mary Magdalene, to the disciples, and, according to Paul, to more than five hundred people at once. The New Testament proclaims that God raised Him bodily from the dead.
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The empty tomb is discovered
Early on the first day of the week, women who had followed Jesus came to His tomb and found the stone moved and the body gone. Messengers told them He had risen. Mary Magdalene ran to Peter and John, who found the linen cloths lying where the body had been.
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Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene
Weeping outside the tomb, Mary Magdalene saw two angels and then Jesus Himself, whom she took for the gardener until He spoke her name. He sent her to tell the disciples, and she became the first to announce that she had seen the Lord.
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The road to Emmaus
On the day of the resurrection two disciples walked from Jerusalem toward Emmaus, about seven miles away, and a stranger joined them. He explained from Moses and all the Prophets what the Scriptures said about the Christ, and they recognized Him as Jesus when He broke bread at their table.
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Jesus appears to the gathered disciples
That same evening Jesus stood among the disciples in a locked room, greeted them with peace, showed them His hands and side, and ate in front of them to prove He was no ghost. He opened their minds to the Scriptures, breathed on them, and told them they would be His witnesses.
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Jesus appears to Thomas
Thomas had missed the first appearance and said he would not believe without touching the wounds. A week later Jesus came again, invited Thomas to do exactly that, and Thomas answered with the fullest confession in the Gospels, calling Jesus his Lord and his God.
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Jesus appears by the Sea of Galilee
Seven disciples fished all night on the Sea of Galilee and caught nothing until a figure on the shore told them to cast on the right side. Recognizing Jesus, Peter swam ashore. After breakfast Jesus asked Peter three times whether he loved Him and three times charged him to care for His sheep.
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Jesus appears to more than five hundred
Paul passed on a summary he had himself received: Christ died for our sins, was buried, was raised on the third day, and appeared to Cephas, to the Twelve, to more than five hundred at once, to James, to all the apostles, and finally to Paul.
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The Great Commission
The risen Jesus commissioned His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything He commanded, with the promise that He is with them always.
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Old Testament threads 8
Promises and patterns in this chapter
Acts 2:25-28 quotes Psalms 16:8-11
Direct quotationHigh confidenceAt Pentecost Peter quotes David's psalm about the Holy One who will not see decay and applies it to the resurrection of Jesus.
Evidence:Acts 2:34-35 quotes Psalms 110:1
Direct quotationHigh confidencePeter quotes the psalm's oracle to David's Lord to explain that Jesus, not David, has been exalted to God's right hand.
Evidence:Acts 13:33 quotes Psalms 2:7
Direct quotationHigh confidencePaul at Pisidian Antioch cites the second Psalm's decree of sonship as fulfilled in God raising up Jesus.
Evidence:Acts 13:34 quotes Isaiah 55:3
Direct quotationHigh confidencePaul cites the holy and sure blessings promised to David as the ground of the resurrection that will never see decay.
Evidence:1 Corinthians 15:54 quotes Isaiah 25:8
Direct quotationHigh confidencePaul says the written saying that death is swallowed up in victory will come to pass at the resurrection of the dead.
Evidence:1 Corinthians 15:55 quotes Hosea 13:14
Direct quotationHigh confidencePaul takes up Hosea's taunt against death and the grave.
Evidence:Revelation 21:1-4 alludes to Isaiah 65:17
Strong allusion or echoHigh confidenceJohn's new heaven and new earth uses Isaiah's exact phrase and, in the same vision, Isaiah's promise that God will wipe away every tear.
Acts 1:9-11 echoes Daniel 7:13-14
Strong allusion or echoMedium confidenceJesus is taken up in a cloud and promised to return the same way; Daniel saw one like a son of man coming with the clouds to receive an everlasting kingdom. The link is widely noted but Acts does not quote Daniel.
Other responsible views
- Coming to the Ancient of Days: In Daniel the figure comes with clouds to the Ancient of Days, which some read as enthronement rather than return to earth; Jesus applies the clouds image to His own coming before the council (Matt 26:64), and Acts pictures both going and return with a cloud.
Explore the layers
People, places, themes, and passages in this chapter
- Event
The crucifixion of Jesus
Jesus was crucified outside Jerusalem at Golgotha under Pontius Pilate. He died after several hours on the cross and was buried in a nearby tomb before the Sabbath. The Gospels present His death as the sacrifice for the sins of the world.
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The ascension of Jesus
Forty days after the resurrection, Jesus led His disciples out near Bethany, promised the Holy Spirit, and was taken up into heaven as they watched. Two messengers told them He would return in the same way.
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Cleopas
Cleopas was one of the two disciples who walked to Emmaus on the day of the resurrection. He told the stranger who joined them everything that had happened in Jerusalem, listened as the stranger explained the Scriptures, and recognized Jesus when the bread was broken at their table.
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James, brother of Jesus
James was a brother of Jesus who did not believe during the ministry, saw the risen Jesus according to Paul, and became a leading figure of the church in Jerusalem. He gave the decisive judgment at the Jerusalem council and is traditionally identified as the author of the letter of James.
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John the apostle
John was a Galilean fisherman, the brother of James and son of Zebedee, called by Jesus beside the Sea of Galilee. With Peter and James he witnessed the raising of Jairus's daughter and the transfiguration, and Christian tradition identifies him with the disciple whom Jesus loved and with the author of the fourth Gospel.
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Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was a follower of Jesus from whom, Luke says, seven demons had gone out. She was present at the crucifixion, went to the tomb early on the first day of the week, and in John's account was the first person to see the risen Jesus and to announce it to the disciples.
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Matthias
Matthias was one of two men proposed to fill the place of Judas among the Twelve, having been with Jesus from the baptism of John to the ascension. After prayer and the casting of lots he was added to the eleven apostles. Acts does not record his later ministry.
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Paul
Paul, first known as Saul of Tarsus, was a Pharisee who persecuted the church until the risen Jesus met him on the road to Damascus. He became the apostle to the Gentiles, planted churches across the Roman world, and wrote the letters that make up much of the New Testament.
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Peter
Peter, originally Simon, was a fisherman from Galilee whom Jesus called to follow Him and renamed Peter. He confessed Jesus as the Christ, denied Him during the trial, was restored after the resurrection, and preached the first sermon at Pentecost.
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