And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of [the] Lord, descending out of heaven, came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.
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And his look was as lightning, and his clothing white as snow.
The authorities had sealed the tomb of Jesus and set guards over it. Now a messenger from heaven sits on the stone he has just rolled away. Matthew stops to describe how he looked. That description tells us where he came from, and what his arrival meant for the men watching the grave.
Matthew's two details mark the angel out as a visitor carrying the light of the place he came from.
The angel had come from the land of light, and brought with him some of the characteristics of that land. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow. We are going to that land, and it is our privilege to have the light of it in our hearts even now. What brought fear to the keepers brought joy to the women.
Snow carries a settled meaning across Scripture, and this verse belongs to that pattern.
Snow is taken in Scripture as a symbol of "whiteness." Sins as scarlet become as white as snow. The clothing of the Lord at the transfiguration was as white as snow, and so on. Psalm 51:7; Isaiah 1:18; Lamentations 4:7; Daniel 7:9; Matthew 28:3; Revelation 1:14.
That stone carried an official seal. Rolling it back reversed a human decree in public.
The angel rolls back the sealed stone. It bore the official seal, so that no one could change the decision. Who would dare to touch it? It would be death to any man. But He who sits in the heavens laughed it to scorn. The angel sits in triumph upon it, and puts the sentence of death into the keepers of it.
The stone was never an obstacle the Lord needed removed. It was moved for the sake of those who would come looking.
But the Lord did not rise when the earthquake struck and the stone rolled away. Paintings often help along this unscriptural idea. No angel had to open the way out of the tomb for Him. God raised Him from the dead, and He Himself arose. The angel rolled the stone away to show that the tomb was empty.
His sitting down on it had its own purpose. A higher authority now fixed the stone in place.
The authorities of earth had sealed the tomb, but a far higher authority broke the seal and flung back the stone door. The angel did not only roll back the stone. He sat on it, placing himself as a seal on it in its new position. No one could roll it back until enough witnesses had seen the empty tomb.
Angels often appear in Scripture without alarming anyone. This one was different, and the men posted to hold the tomb were the first to find it out.
Most visits of angels are not like this one. His appearance was enough to make the strong soldiers shake with fear and become as dead men. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was white as snow. In this way the resurrection declared our Lord to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness.
The women who arrived later were not paralysed. They met the same messenger, and the difference lay in who was looking at him.
To the frightened women, the angel appeared as "a young man… clothed in a long white garment." A little earlier he had appeared to the keepers as one whose appearance was "like lightning, and his clothing white as snow." A kind of paralysis fell on them. He was one thing to the world and quite another to disciples. He knew how to tell the difference. He knew these women were seeking Jesus, though they thought He was still dead. They were ignorant, yet they loved Him; and that made all the difference.
- Light — The angel's lightning look and snow-white clothing are marks of the land of light he came from. Scripture uses that same white for sins made clean and for the Lord's clothing at the transfiguration.
- Seal — That light fell on a stone the authorities of earth had sealed. He who sits in the heavens laughed the seal to scorn, and the angel sat down on it in triumph.
- Empty — No angel had to let Jesus out; God had already raised Him. The stone moved so that people could see the tomb was empty.
- Guard — The soldiers set to hold that grave shook and became as dead men. The resurrection declared Him Son of God with power.
- Difference — The same angel was one thing to the world and another to those who loved Jesus. The women were ignorant, yet they loved Him, and that made all the difference.