How does Matthew 28:7 affirm the resurrection of Jesus? Text of Matthew 28:7 “Then 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.’ See, I have told you.” Original Language and Key Terms The verb ἠγέρθη (ēgerthē, “has risen”) is aorist passive—indicating a completed historical act accomplished by an outside agency (God the Father, cf. Acts 2:24). The perfect force underscores permanence: Jesus is not merely revived; He remains alive. The angel’s introductory particle ἰδού (“See”) functions as an emphatic marker of verifiable fact. Immediate Narrative Context Matthew places this statement after the women discover the stone rolled away and encounter the angel (28:1-6). Verse 6 announces the fact; verse 7 orders proclamation. The juxtaposition of declaration (“He is risen”) and directive (“go quickly, tell”) tightly binds resurrection reality to eyewitness testimony. Historical and Manuscript Attestation Matthew 28:7 appears without variation in the earliest extant witnesses: Codex Vaticanus (B, 4th c.), Codex Sinaiticus (א, 4th c.), Codex Alexandrinus (A, 5th c.), and the early papyri \(𝔓^{105}\) (3rd-4th c. fragment). No textual tradition omits the clause “He has risen,” confirming that the verse is integral to the autograph. Patristic citations by Ignatius (c. 110 AD, Smyrn. 1.1) and Justin Martyr (Dial. 108) further root its authenticity a generation after composition. Internal Evidence of Resurrection Affirmation 1. Declarative Certainty: “He has risen” is stated as accomplished fact, not hypothesis. 2. Angelic Authority: An angelic messenger, traditionally God’s legal witness (Deuteronomy 19:15; Hebrews 2:2), vouches for the event. 3. Empirical Verification: “There you will see Him” invites corroboration, rejecting mythic abstraction. 4. Geographic Specificity: Naming Galilee anchors the event to a real locale; subsequent fulfillment in 28:16-17 verifies prophecy within the same chapter. Coherence with Jesus’ Prior Predictions Matthew 16:21; 17:22-23; 20:18-19 record three explicit forecasts of death and resurrection. Matthew 28:7 shows their precise fulfillment, underscoring Jesus’ prophetic reliability and divine authority. Harmony with Other Gospel Accounts Mark 16:7 parallels Matthew almost verbatim, confirming an independent but convergent tradition. Luke 24:6-7,23 and John 20:17-20 supply complementary eyewitness data. The consonance of multiple independent sources satisfies the criterion of multiple attestation employed by historiographers from Tacitus to contemporary scholarship. Early Creedal Echoes Paul’s creed in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 (dated within five years of the crucifixion) declares, “that Christ died…that He was raised…that He appeared.” Matthew 28:7 contains those same three elements: death (“from the dead”), resurrection (“has risen”), appearance promise (“you will see Him”). This alignment corroborates that Matthew transmits primitive apostolic preaching. Archaeological and Topographical Corroboration The Church of the Holy Sepulchre site fits the described “new tomb…cut in the rock” (Matthew 27:60) located outside the first-century city wall. First-century ossuary inscriptions (e.g., “Yehosef bar Caiapha,” 1990 find) confirm burial customs consonant with the Gospel description, underscoring historical verisimilitude. Theological Significance Resurrection vindicates Jesus as Messiah and Son of God (Romans 1:4). It secures justification (Romans 4:25), guarantees believers’ future resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20-23), and inaugurates the new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). Matthew 28:7 therefore stands as a linchpin verse linking historical event to redemptive doctrine. Missional Impulse The angel’s “go quickly and tell” foreshadows the Great Commission (28:19-20). Resurrection truth propels proclamation; disbelief is not intellectual only but moral (John 3:19). Behavioral science affirms that eyewitness conviction under persecution (Acts 5:40-42) suggests sincerity exceeding that produced by deception or hallucination. Consilience with Intelligent Design and Miracles A universe fine-tuned for life (cosmological constant, gravitational force) reflects a God capable of raising the dead. The resurrection is consistent with established theistic miracle expectations; its singularity does not diminish probability when contingent on an omnipotent Agent (cf. Bayes’ theorem applied by contemporary analytic philosophers). Eschatological Trajectory Matthew ends with the risen Christ’s promise, “I am with you always” (28:20), rooting Christian hope in a living Lord who guarantees the consummation of history (1 Corinthians 15:24-28). Thus verse 7 not only testifies to a past miracle but previews the final resurrection of all who are “in Christ.” Summary Matthew 28:7 affirms the resurrection by: • Stating it as a completed, divinely effected fact. • Inviting verification through promised appearances. • Linking fulfillment to Jesus’ own predictions and to creedal tradition. • Standing on unshaken manuscript authority and corroborated historical context. • Serving as foundation for doctrine, mission, and eschatological hope. |
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