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.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
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.
And for fear of him the guards trembled and became as dead men.
Soldiers stood guard at the tomb of Jesus to make sure the body stayed there. This verse tells what happened to them when the ground shook and an angel came down and opened the grave.
Another earthquake happens at this time, a great one. With it comes an angel down from heaven. He rolled the stone away from the entrance to the grave and sat on it. The resurrection of the Lord is not to be a secret. It is shown in the open for all to see. The dazzling sight of the angel made the soldiers shake with fright. It left them frozen, unable to act, like dead men.
Jesus did not need the stone moved. One writer points to what His risen body could already do.
He passed through doors that were shut for fear of the Jews. He could just as easily pass through the sealed stone, despite all the soldiers of the empire. We know the angel sat there after rolling away the great stone that had closed the tomb... The Lord then had this further witness: the guards themselves, hard and bold as such men usually are, trembled and became like dead men, while the angel tells the women not to be afraid.
Earth's authorities sealed the tomb. This verse shows what their seal was worth once a higher authority arrived.
The authorities of earth had sealed the tomb, but a far higher authority broke the seal and flung back the stone door. At his presence the guards trembled and collapsed into a death-like faint. The sealed tomb was the challenge of daring men. God accepted their challenge, broke their power, and reduced their men to nothing. God had raised the Lord Jesus by His power, and the tomb was opened so that men might see beyond doubt that He was not there. The angel not only rolled back the stone but sat on it, making himself a seal upon it in its new position, so that no one could roll it back until enough witnesses had seen the empty tomb.
The soldiers had orders for grave robbers. They met something else.
They sent a guard and sealed the stone. I suppose the soldiers were told how to deal with a mob of Galilean fishermen, if they came to rob the tomb. They were not told how to deal with an earthquake or an angel from heaven! The fishermen did not come, but the angel did, and the earthquake, and those Roman veterans fell down as dead men for sheer fear. What had happened? God had intervened; God had justified His Faithful Witness.
The wording points to a real collapse, not a figure of speech. The open tomb that terrified these men serves everyone else.
It must have been a terrifying sight. The guards became like dead men. That is, they fainted and lost consciousness through sheer terror. Heaven broke the seal that man put on the tomb. But note this well: not to let the Saviour out of the tomb, but to let us look in.
The men posted to guard a dead body ended up looking dead themselves. One writer reads this as the world hearing its own sentence.
The world learns its judgment when the sealed stone is rolled away, and when the men guarding it are forced to take the sentence of death in themselves.
The same angel who flattens the guards calms the women. The difference is not in the angel but in who stands there: enemies on watch, or hearts seeking Jesus.
When men had done their worst to Jesus, the angel of the Lord rolls away the stone from the tomb and takes charge of the scene. His face is like lightning and his clothing white as snow. This puts terror into the hearts of His enemies, so that "the guards trembled and became like dead men." On the other hand, "the angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified."
The story of these men does not end here. In the end they wreck the lie told about the tomb.
The guards who had been like dead men announce their own defeat. Meanwhile the incurable hatred of the Jews would pursue their King even after He has entered into the glory, using a lie that their own plan had made impossible.
- Sealed. Human authority did everything it could to hold the tomb shut — stone, seal, and armed watch.
- Shaken. A higher authority arrived. The earth shook, the seal broke, and the men set to guard the grave fell down as though dead.
- Opened. The angel rolled the stone back not to let the Saviour out, but to let us look in. Jesus could pass through a sealed stone as easily as through a locked door.
- Divided. The same shining angel terrified the guards and calmed the women. Terror for His enemies, comfort for those seeking Jesus.
- Testifying. The fallen guards announce their own defeat. The very plan meant to hold Jesus in made the lie about His tomb impossible to believe.