Matthew the apostle wrote, “In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher”, and in chapter twenty-eight and verse two of his book, Matthew shared how, “there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door” where we read:
And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven,
and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
The verse reads, “And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, ...” Matthew began words, “and, behold” which means “and consider, look, lo and see” “there was a great earthquake” or “a large and massive quaking, shaking and tempest occurred”: “for the angel of the Lord” which means “because, since and on account that a messenger belonging to he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, and the title given to God the Messiah” “descended from heaven” or “came down from the region above the sidereal heavens which is the seat of order of things eternal and consummately perfect where God dwells and other heavenly beings”. Matthew shared how a “great quaking of the earth” occurred because “God's angel” came down from “heaven”.
The verse continues, “... and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.” Matthew added the words, “and came” or “and arose and appeared” “and rolled back the stone” which means “and rolled away the stone covering Jesus' sepulcher” “from the door” or “separated from the opening, entrance way and passage of the sepulcher”, “and sat upon it” which means “and took a seat upon the stone”. Matthew shared how “the Lord's angel” “rolled” the stone away from the “opening” of Jesus' tomb and “sat down” upon the stone.
When we meditate upon Matthew's words in this verse, we see a supernatural interruption at Jesus' grave. This “angel” sent from God not only came upon the scene with an “earthquake”, but his purpose was to “roll” the “stone” away from the sepulcher which held Jesus. God's purpose to raise Jesus from the dead was before the women who came there as well as the world, and when this “angel” sat down upon the stone, there was a sense of “completion” to the resurrection of Jesus. God desires for people to be in a personal relationship with Him, and this is only possible if Jesus not only experienced “death”, but also “conquered” “death” through His “resurrection”. “Death” is the penalty for “sin”, and because people sin, they will die. However, Jesus “defeated” “death”, and those who believe and trust in Him as their personal “Savior and Lord” are promised to inherit “everlasting life” with God, so when they physically “die”, they shall indeed and evermore “live again”.
Next time Matthew shares how the angel's, “countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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