Matthew 28:6

6 He is not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was placed.

Matthew 28:6 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 28:6

He is not here
In the grave, where he was laid, and these women saw him laid: he was dead, but is now alive; he was laid in the grave, but God would not leave him there, nor suffer him to see corruption:

for he is risen, as he said;
not stolen away, as the chief priests hired the soldiers to say he was; nor removed to another place, as Mary Magdalene first thought, when she found him gone; but he was risen from the dead, by the power of his Father, and by his own power, as he had before said he should. In one of Beza's exemplars it is added, "to you"; for the words that Christ said in Galilee, that he should be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and rise again, the third day, were said in the presence and hearing of these women, and to them, as well as to the disciples; see ( 24:6-8 ) . This clause is left out in the Persic version: it follows,

come see the place where the Lord lay;
the Lord both of angels and men: the Syriac and Persic versions read, "our Lord". The Arabic and Ethiopic versions leave out the word "Lord", and only read "he". Christ, as the Son of God, lay in the bosom of his Father, and in the arms of his love, from all eternity; as mediator, he lay in the womb of God's purposes and decrees, being his elect, in whom his soul delighted; as man, he lay in the womb of the virgin; and, as an example to his people, he lay, when baptized, in the waters of Jordan; and as the language of the ordinance of the Lord's supper is, "come see my hands, and my feet"; that of baptism is, "come see the place where the Lord lay": but here it regards the grave, in which the body of Christ had been laid; and the women are invited by the angel to go along with him, into the sepulchre, to see the place where he had lain; to assure them the more of the truth of his resurrection, that they might, with their own eyes, see that he was gone, who before had beheld where, and how he was laid; as also to affect them with the condescending grace of Christ, in making his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; as well as to strengthen their faith in their discharge from sin and condemnation by Christ, who was risen for their justification; as also to let them see that the grave was perfumed and sanctified by him; and he was risen as the first fruits and pledge of them that slept.

Matthew 28:6 In-Context

4 The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened, they couldn't move.
5 The angel spoke to the women: "There is nothing to fear here. I know you're looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross.
6 He is not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was placed.
7 "Now, get on your way quickly and tell his disciples, 'He is risen from the dead. He is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.' That's the message."
8 The women, deep in wonder and full of joy, lost no time in leaving the tomb. They ran to tell the disciples.

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Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.