How does Matthew 28:8 support the resurrection's historical credibility? Text of Matthew 28:8 “So they hurried away from the tomb in fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples.” Immediate Narrative Frame Matthew places this report within a tightly structured sequence: (1) discovery of the empty tomb by the women (vv.1–7); (2) their emotional reaction (v.8); (3) the risen Christ meeting them on the road (vv.9–10). Verse 8 functions as the pivot between the objective fact of an open, vacated tomb and the physical appearance of Jesus. By explicitly recording movement away from the tomb, Matthew eliminates any possibility that the report arose from visionary experience inside a dark enclosure; the women leave the site, thus reinforcing that the tomb was demonstrably empty. Eyewitness Detail and Psychological Realism “Fear and great joy” is an unvarnished mixture of emotions. Ancient fiction typically portrays heroes with a consistent emotional profile; genuine testimony records conflicted feelings. Behavioral studies on trauma-surprise responses confirm that simultaneous dread and elation is a normal reaction to incomprehensible, world-upending events. The verse’s emotional duality validates its autobiographical flavor. Criterion of Embarrassment: Female Witnesses First-century Judaism did not accept women as legal witnesses in most courts (Josephus, Antiquities 4.219). By grounding the story in women who “ran to tell His disciples,” Matthew 28:8 passes the criterion of embarrassment: had the church fabricated the narrative, male witnesses would have been preferable. The verse therefore signals historical bedrock rather than apologetic invention. Multiple Independent Attestation Mark 16:8 (“trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb”) predates Matthew and records the same emotional tension. Luke 24:9 records the women’s immediate report to the Eleven. John 20:2 depicts Mary Magdalene running with similar urgency. Independent streams reproduce the core: women leave an empty tomb and hasten to report it. Converging testimony across separate literary traditions amplifies credibility. Early Dating and Oral Formulas The summary in Matthew 28:8—departure, dual emotion, rapid proclamation—matches phrases embedded in the pre-Pauline creed of 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 (“He was buried… He was raised… He appeared”). Scholars across the spectrum date that creed to within five years of the crucifixion. The evangelist is therefore narrating what earliest believers were already proclaiming, not evolving legend centuries later. Archaeological Corroboration of Tomb Features Matthew’s earlier mention of a “large stone” (27:60) accords with Second-Temple rolling-stone tombs unearthed at the Jerusalem necropolis of Dominus Flevit and Talpiot. The women’s ability to enter and then depart aligns with the rock-hewn kokhim design, not a burial pit. Verse 8’s haste away from the site is geographically plausible; the traditional Garden Tomb and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre lie within a few minutes’ run of the city’s upper room precinct. Literary Coherence with Jewish Legal Motifs The women “ran to tell His disciples” mirrors the Torah’s demand that two or three witnesses establish a matter (Deuteronomy 19:15). Their immediate movement to report functions legally: they are presenting courtroom-grade testimony. Matthew, an author steeped in Jewish legal consciousness, would be unlikely to invent a procedure that violated cultural norms regarding female testimony unless compelled by raw historical fact. Harmony with External Historical Claims Matthew 28:8 indirectly counters the alternative explanation recorded in 28:13 (“Tell them, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away…’”). The verse’s timing is crucial: the women leave before any bribed guard story circulates, supplying antecedent testimony that neutralizes the theft hypothesis. Early extra-biblical polemics (Justin, Trypho 108; Tertullian, De Spect. 30) acknowledge the guard-bribe narrative, confirming Matthew’s historical memory of competing explanations. Consistency with Intelligent-Design Worldview A bodily resurrection presupposes a universe open to intelligent causation beyond naturalistic closure. Diverse scientific observations—fine-tuned cosmological constants (e.g., gravitational constant G, strong nuclear force) and the specified complexity in coded DNA—render a theistic miracle not only possible but congruent with the environment’s design. Matthew 28:8 documents one such intelligent intervention at a pinnacle moment in redemptive history. Eschatological and Soteriological Implications Because the verse depicts the first human messengers of the resurrection, it anchors the gospel proclamation that “God… has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). Historically credible events ground the offer of salvation, fulfilling the promise that those who believe “will live, even though they die” (John 11:25). Objections Addressed • Legend Development: Uniform manuscript evidence and early patristic citations preclude mythic accretion. • Hallucination Theory: Collective, identical hallucinations shared by multiple women across time and space have no clinical precedent. • Stolen Body: The verse’s urgency and forthcoming appearance (vv.9-10) undermine any premeditated hoax; the women lacked motive or means. Cumulative Conclusion Matthew 28:8 contributes a concise, historically resonant data point: credible eyewitnesses, preserved in stable textual form, reacting in psychologically authentic ways, corroborated by archaeology, multiple attestation, and early creedal evidence. This single sentence thus bears disproportionate evidential weight, fortifying the overall historical case that the tomb was empty because Jesus genuinely rose from the dead. |
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