+ The drama begins! The Acts of the Apostles get prominent place and attention throughout the Easter season. This particular passage is the first of six discourses — five given by Peter, and the last given by Paul.
These discourses were proclamations, or kerygma, which is the Greek word for proclamations or announcements used in the New Testament. The kerygma is often described in terms of four essential elements —
1. The loving plan of God for human beings;
2. Sin and its devastating consequences, especially separation from God;
3. God’s answer to our predicament in the sending of his Son for our salvation;
And 4. The response to this gift is a call for every person: to repent of our sins, believe in Jesus, and be baptized, so we can be filled with his Holy Spirit and live a new life in his family, the church.
And to be sure, the great Pentecost is the explosion of grace and Spirit upon the apostles that birthed the church as we would come to know it.
+Matthew, in his Gospel, tells a unique little story, or tradition, that circulated as he puts it in his own words —
“And this story has circulated among the Jews to this present day.”
The footnotes to these verses, telling about the “paying off” of the guards in order to cover up the facts of this matter, purport to explain not that the tomb was empty — everyone agreed upon that —, but why the tomb was empty, and who emptied the tomb.
Since no one actually witnessed the resurrection, these stories — each of them — point to and make the claims, especially the appearance stories themselves, that Jesus Christ had indeed been raised from the dead.
And as stated at the outset of this reflection, the drama begins! Feature it —
“Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.”
And then the great wow begins to happen. Behold, a great earthquake, an angel appears, angel rolls back the stone and sits upon it — a “lightning-like appearance” of the angel.
Fear is in great abundance. The soldier guards faint or pass out in fear.
The two women are calmed by angelic words, and they are invited to see the empty tomb (the first evidence by Matthew that it was empty and presumably proved the resurrection).
Then, the angelic proclamation and order to go and tell the disciples that he has indeed been raised from the dead.
They did as they had been told by the angel, but on the way — and they remained fearful, but at the same time overjoyed (great combo) —, Jesus appeared and met them.
It is the first appearance in Matthew’s Gospel.
They touched him, and embraced his feet.
See, it was not their imagination! He was real. They embraced his feet: such love and respect!
And this first appearance story ends with the great lie: the cover up with “a large sum of money,” and a well-guarded lie consummated by the guard’s acceptance of the cash.
