_In the end of the sabbath_ Or rather, _After the sabbath_, as οψε σαββατων may be properly translated. Thus, in Philostratus, οψε των Τρωικων signifies, _after the Trojan war;_ οψε μυστηριων, _after the mysteries were ended._ And in other authors, οψε τουτων is, _after these things;_ οψε νυκτος, _a... [ Continue Reading ]
_And behold, there was a great earthquake_ While the women were making these preparations for embalming the body of Jesus, he arose from the dead; his resurrection being preceded by the descent of an angel, whose appearance at the sepulchre was ushered in with a great earthquake and probably also a... [ Continue Reading ]
_His countenance was like lightning_ Coruscations of light darting from his face; _and his raiment white as snow_ Glittering with an extraordinary lustre, beyond what any human eyes could bear; _and for fear of him the keepers_ Though Romans and soldiers; _did shake, and became as dead men_ Falling... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the angel said to the women, Fear not_ ye The resurrection of Christ, which is the terror and confusion of his enemies, is the joy and consolation of his friends; the ground of their confidence and hope, and the source of their comfort and felicity, for time and eternity. _For I know that ye se... [ Continue Reading ]
_Go quickly, and tell his disciples_ Mark says, _and Peter_ Communicate these glad tidings to his mourning disciples, and particularly to Peter, who is so much overwhelmed with sorrow on account of his late fall; and assure them further, that he is _going before them into Galilee;_ and that _there t... [ Continue Reading ]
_And as they went_ Or, _as they were going_, on their way, _Jesus met them_ These zealous, good women not only heard the first tidings of their Lord, but had the first sight of him after his resurrection. The angel directed those that would see him to go to Galilee; and gave none any hopes of seeing... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now when_, or _while they were going_ While these extraordinary things were transacting, and the women were going to tell the disciples what they had heard and seen: _behold, some of the watch_ Some of the guards, who had fled from the sepulchre in great consternation, beginning a little to recolle... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when they were assembled_, &c. The chief priests, having received this report, called the whole senate together, and they consulted among themselves what they should do in this perplexing emergency: and in particular, as may be reasonably supposed, whether they should dismiss the guards with a... [ Continue Reading ]
_So they took the money_ They did not, either on the score of conscience, or on account of the palpable falsehood of the story they were to propagate, refuse the bribe that was offered them by the chief priests. Their love of money, as is common with wicked men, pushed them on headlong, so that they... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then_ Not immediately after what is related in the preceding verses, but after several appearances of Christ, and events connected therewith, recorded in the last chapter of Luke and Mark, and in the last two Chapter s of John; where see the notes: _the eleven disciples went away into Galilee_, &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
_When they saw him, they worshipped_ The greatest part were so fully convinced that the person they saw was their Master, that they worshipped him; _but some doubted_ But with respect to a few, their joy, on seeing the Lord, put them into a kind of perturbation, and their desire that it might be him... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Jesus came and spake unto them_ Even unto those mentioned in the last clause, who at first doubted, but whose doubts were afterward fully removed, and probably by his drawing near, and speaking familiarly with them. “It tended much to the honour of Christ,” says Henry, “that [some of] the disci... [ Continue Reading ]
_Go ye therefore, and teach_ Greek, μαθητευσατε, _disciple_, or _make disciples of_, or, as Dr. Doddridge renders it, _proselyte all nations._ This includes the whole design of Christ's commission. _Baptizing_ and _teaching_ are the two great branches of that general design: and these were to be det... [ Continue Reading ]
_Teaching them to observe all things_, &c. Here we have, 1st, The duty of the apostles and ministers of Christ, which is, to teach his disciples to observe all things that he has commanded; that is, they must instruct them in all the _doctrines_ and _precepts_ taught by Christ, and inculcate upon th... [ Continue Reading ]