Matthew 28:1-10

Matthew 28:1-10

Imagine that you have followed Jesus for years, developing a personal relationship with him, hearing him teach, watching him do amazing miracles. You are sure that he is the promised Messiah, the savior of Israel. You have no doubt that he is the one who will finally raise up your demoralized, downtrodden nation and recreate it into a glorious kingdom. Then imagine that he dies, taking all your hopes with him to the grave.

No doubt these thoughts were running through the minds of the two Mary’s as they sadly made their way to Jesus’ tomb to grieve for him. But instead of a sealed and somber tomb, they found an angel from God, fear-stricken guards, and a new hope to carry to the rest of the disciples! The only problem was… they were women.

The testimony of women was not viewed as credible in ancient Jewish society. They were not permitted to give evidence in a court of law and were forbidden from having an intimate knowledge of the law of Moses. In fact, one rabbi (Eliezer ben Hyrcanus) said in the Jewish Talmud that “The words of the Torah [law of Moses] should be burned rather than entrusted to women.” In keeping with their society, the apostles did not initially believe the testimony of the Mary’s, considering their story and “idle tale” (Luke 24:11, Mark 16:13).

The fact that the gospel writers unabashedly reported that women were the first people to see Jesus and the tomb empty is actually good evidence for the truth of the gospel. If I were trying to write a fictional story that sounded believable to my 1st century audience, I would not say that the tomb was first seen by women! The fact that every gospel freely admits the presence of women at the tomb is a strong indication that the writers were telling the story in the way that it actually happened.

Nathan Combs