Matthew 28
1 After Shabbat, at sunrise on the first day of the week, Miriam the Towera and the other Miriam went to see the tomb. 2 Suddenly, there was an intense earthquake because the Lord’s messengerb descended from the heavens and, after going to the stone and rolling it away, sat down on it. 3 Theirc appearance was like lightning, and their clothing was white as snow.d 4 The people keeping watch were shaken by terror of them and went as rigid as corpses.e
5 However, the messenger responded to the women, “Don’t be scared. I know you’re looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He’s not here because he’s been raised up, just as he said. Come and see the place where he was lying. 7 So go quickly and tell his students that he was raised up from among the dead. Note this: he’s going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Pay attention to what I’ve told you.”f
8 They left the tomb quickly, scared and overjoyed, and ran to bring the message to his students, 9 and—incredibly—Jesus met up with them, and said, “Hello!”g Going up to him, they grabbed his feet and bowed down to him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be scared. Go and bring the message to my familyh so they’ll go to Galilee and see me there.”
11 While they were on their way—notably—some of the soldiers of the guard went to the city bringing a message to the lead priests about everything that had happened. 12 After the lead priests met with the elders to make a plan, both groups gave a lot of money to the soldiers, 13 telling them, “Say that his students came in the night and stole him while you were asleep. 14 If there is a hearing about this in front of the governor, we will persuade him and make it so you don’t have to worry.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were instructed, and this is the explanation spread among the Judeans to this day.
16 Meanwhile, the Eleven students traveled to Galilee, to the hill where Jesus had arranged for them to go. 17 When they saw him, they bowed down, but some hesitated. 18 Jesus went up to them and spoke with them. He said, “All authority throughout the heavens and the earth has been given to me. 19 So go and train all people groups, immersing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Sacred Life-Breath, 20 teaching them to observe everything that I have directed you. Look, I am with youi every day until the completion of the Age.j
FOOTNOTES:
a Magdalene means ‘Tower’ in Aramaic.
b This phrase is the same wording as in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (the Septuagint) where in many English translations it shows “The angel of the Lord,” often in a way that seems to make no distinction between the messenger and God. One example (out of dozens) where the Greek wording matches Matthew 28:2 is in Exodus 3:2. The New English Translation reads, “The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. He looked, and the bush was ablaze with fire, but it was not being consumed!” Robert Altar’s translation of the Hebrew Bible (2019) reads, “And the LORD’s messenger appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of the bush, and he saw and look, the bush was burning with fire and the bush was not consumed.” See Matthew 1:20.
c The Greek pronoun form here can be either masculine or neuter. The gender seems irrelevant here, and Matthew 22:30 may suggest gender with regard to celestial beings is entirely unrelated, so I’ve chosen ‘their’ as a gender neutral singular pronoun.
d Reference to Daniel 7:9. See also Matthew 24:31.
e Literally, ‘became like dead people’
f Literally, ‘Look, I told you.”
g Literally, ‘rejoice.’ This was a common greeting.
h The word adelphos, which literally means ‘brother’ or ‘sibling.’ It was also frequently used to refer to ‘cousin’ or ‘relative,’ and even for members of the same ideological or ethnic group. With Jesus’ insistence on a radically inclusive understanding of God’s instruction, it is always pushing further than what already seems to be the most wide-sweeping view people hold. Here, the point of the statement is not biological but, rather, the sense of being peers or companions who are connected with each other as opposed to competitors asserting their status over each other Jesus is speaking to his mother here, so he could intend her to tell his biological siblings. They were mentioned together in Matthew 12:48-50.
i See Matthew 1:23 and Isaiah 7:14, 8:8-10.
j The phrase "completion of the Age" translates suntelia tou aiōnos. Here, suntelia combines sun- ("together") with telos ("end" or "goal"), meaning a culmination or bringing to fullness. It suggests not merely the end but the reaching of a designated purpose or fulfillment. The term aiōnos means "age" or "era," indicating a period characterized by particular conditions or divine purposes. Thus, the "completion of the Age" implies a transition from the current age to the Reign of God that Jesus inaugurates, a new era marked by restoration and justice. This phrase may also echo Isaiah 10:23, which speaks of God accomplishing a decisive act, completing or fulfilling a specific purpose. In both contexts, the language conveys a purposeful conclusion to an era, suggesting that Jesus’ "arrival" is not an isolated event but the catalyst for transformative change in the entire course of history.