Sequence in Chronology: 25 of 26
Topics Covered: Guards are placed at Jesus' tomb, spices for his body are prepared, the Lord is resurrected at sunset on a Saturday, Mary Magdalene discovers empty tomb then encounters angels, the eleven disciples are informed Jesus' body is no longer in tomb, Peter and John rush to burial location and go inside the tomb.
Mary Magdalene meets the resurrected Jesus but is unable to touch him, the Lord ascends to God the Father to present himself as man's sacrifice for sin, those who guarded the tomb are bribed by Jewish religious leaders to LIE about what happened to Jesus' body.
Bible References: Matthew 27:57 - 66, 28:1 - 8, 11 - 15, Mark 15:42 - 47, 16:1 - 11, Luke 23:50 - 56, 24:1 - 12, John 19:38 - 42, 20:1 - 18.
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April 5, 30 A.D.
(Wednesday)
Jesus dies at 3 p.m. after receiving the death penalty from the Roman Empire. His body is placed in a Garden tomb just before sunset which falls around 6 p.m.
April 6
(Thursday)
Troops Guard the Tomb
The Chief Priests, along with the Pharisees, visit Pontius Pilate out of fear that Jesus' disciples will secretly steal his body then claim he has risen from the dead. The religious leaders request that Pilate use his troops to have the tomb secured. Pilate, however, gives them permission to use their own guard for the task.
Jesus' garden tomb is made secure, the stone at the entrance of the tomb is sealed, and a guard is placed near it. At sunset the high holy day (first day of Feast of Unleavened Bread) ends.
. . . the chief priests and the Pharisees came together to Pilate, saying, "Sir, we remember that that deceiver said while He was living, 'After three days I will rise.'
Therefore, command that the sepulcher be secured until the third day; lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, 'He is risen from the dead'; and the last deception shall be worse than the first.”
Then Pilate said to them, "You have a guard. Go, make it as secure as you know how." And they went and made the sepulcher secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard. (Matthew 27:62 - 66).
April 7
(Friday)
Buying Spices
Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome buy and prepare spices for the body of Jesus. They also prepare to rest on the weekly Bible Sabbath which begins at sunset.
Now when the Sabbath had passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James; and Salome bought aromatic oils, so that they might come and anoint Him. (Mark 16:1, see also Luke 23:56).
April 8
(Saturday)
Resurrected from the Dead!
Late in the afternoon of the weekly Sabbath, Mary Magdalene and the "other Mary" check on where Jesus is buried.
Now late on the Sabbath, as the first day of the weeks was drawing near, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to observe the sepulcher. (Matthew 28:1).
Just before sunset, precisely three days and three nights (72 hours) after Jesus was placed in his tomb, he is resurrected from the dead!
April 9
(Sunday)
An Empty Tomb
Mary Magdalene and other women, early Sunday morning, go to Jesus' tomb with the spices they had prepared for his body. An angel, before the women arrive, rolls back the stone sealing Jesus' tomb. His appearance so frightens those guarding the tomb that they faint from the fear it caused!
And in the morning suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
Now his appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him, those who were keeping guard trembled, and became as dead men. (Matthew 28:2 - 4, see also Mark 16:2 - 5, Luke 24:1 - 2, John 20:1).
When the women arrive, they see the large stone that blocked the entrance into the tomb moved away and an angel sitting on top of it. The angel tells the women that although Jesus had already been resurrected from the dead they should still enter it to see for themselves.
But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are seeking Jesus, Who was crucified. He is not here; for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord Himself was lying . . ." (Matthew 28:5 - 6).
The women, in the tomb, see a young man clothed in a white robe. He is sitting on the right side of where Jesus was laid. The man shows them that the body is gone. He also tells the women to inform the disciples, especially Peter, that Jesus is alive. Two more angels appear to confirm that Jesus had risen from the dead.
And after entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right, clothed in a white robe; and they were very frightened. But he said to them, "Do not be afraid. You are seeking Jesus the Nazarene Who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here. Look, there is the place where they laid Him.
"But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He goes before you into Galilee; there you shall see Him, as He said to you." (Mark 16:5 - 7, see also Matthew 28:7 - 8).
And it came to pass that while they were puzzling over this, suddenly two men in shining garments stood by them.
And as they bowed their faces to the ground, being filled with fear, they said to them, "Why are you seeking the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen: remember when He spoke to you while He was yet in Galilee . . ." (Luke 24:4 - 6, see also verses 7 - 8).
Notifying the Apostles
Mary Magdalene, as well as other women, run to tell Peter, John and the rest of the disciples that Jesus' body is gone from his tomb (Luke 24:9 - 11, John 20:2). Although the disciples could hardly believe what they said, Peter and John run to the tomb with John running faster than Peter.
John stoops down at the tomb entrance but does not go in. Peter, however, when he arrives, goes into the tomb with John following him.
Now the two ran together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; and he stooped down and saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not enter.
Then Simon Peter came following him, and he went into the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin that had been on His head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.
Then the other disciple (John), who had come to the tomb first, also went in and saw these things; and he believed. (John 20:4 - 8, see also Luke 24:12).
After Peter and John visit the tomb they go back home (John 20:10).
The First Appearance
Mary Magdalene is back at Jesus' tomb. She peers inside the tomb and sees for herself his body is missing. She instead sees one angel sitting where Jesus laid his head and another sitting where his feet were located. They ask her why she is weeping. She answers their question and, turning around, sees something amazing!
And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him."
And after saying these things, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" Thinking that He was the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him off, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away."
Jesus said to her, "Mary." Turning around, she said to Him, "Rabboni"; that is to say, "Teacher."
Jesus said to her, "Do not touch Me, because I have not yet ascended to My Father . . ." (John 20:13 - 17, see also Mark 16:9 - 11).
Why Couldn't Jesus be Touched?
Jesus could not be touched by Mary Magdalene because he had yet to ascend to God the Father. His early appearance to her on Sunday took place just before the offering of the Wave Sheaf at the temple (Leviticus 23:10 - 11).
The offering of the wave sheaf was an important event to be carried out each year on the Sunday during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This offering of the first fruits of the land had to be carried out before the spring harvest was reaped (Leviticus 23:14).
Each year, at sunset on the Saturday before the offering, a wave sheaf was cut from the land. This symbolized Jesus' actual resurrection near sunset Saturday as he was then "cut free" from the earth! It also represented him becoming the first of the fruitfruits to be resurrected from the dead (1Corinthians 15:20, 23).
On Sunday morning, at around 9 a.m., the sheaf that had been cut the day before is waved before God. This symbolized Jesus presenting himself, for the first time after his resurrection, to God the Father in heaven. Jesus had to appear first before God as a spotless, perfect sacrifice for sin before anyone could touch him.
Bribed to Lie
Sometime on Sunday April 9, the Wave Sheaf day, some Roman soldiers who guarded Jesus' tomb go to the chief priests and report all that had happened. The priests meet with the elders to decide what to do next. They decide to bribe the soldiers with a large sum of money to have them tell an incredibly absurd story, a giant LIE, as to what happened to the Jesus' body. This lie continues to be believed by many who refuse to acknowledge Jesus was the Messiah.
And as they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that were done.
Then, after gathering together with the elders and taking counsel, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, "Tell everyone that His disciples came by night and stole Him while you were sleeping. And if the governor hears of this, we will persuade him to release you from responsibility."
And they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this report has been spread abroad among the Jews to this day. (Matthew 28:11 - 15).