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1After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves. 2He was changed before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light. 3Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him.

4Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, let’s make three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

5While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”

6When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces, and were very afraid. 7Jesus came and touched them and said, “Get up, and don’t be afraid.” 8Lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, except Jesus alone.

9As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Don’t tell anyone what you saw, until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”

10His disciples asked him, saying, “Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

11Jesus answered them, “Elijah indeed comes first, and will restore all things; 12but I tell you that Elijah has come already, and they didn’t recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted to. Even so the Son of Man will also suffer by them.” 13Then the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John the Baptizer.

14When they came to the multitude, a man came to him, kneeling down to him and saying, 15“Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is epileptic and suffers grievously; for he often falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16So I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him.”

17Jesus answered, “Faithless and perverse generation! How long will I be with you? How long will I bear with you? Bring him here to me.” 18Jesus rebuked the demon, and it went out of him, and the boy was cured from that hour.

19Then the disciples came to Jesus privately, and said, “Why weren’t we able to cast it out?”

20He said to them, “Because of your unbelief. For most certainly I tell you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21But this kind doesn’t go out except by prayer and fasting.”

22While they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered up into the hands of men, 23and they will kill him, and the third day he will be raised up.”

They were exceedingly sorry.

24When they had come to Capernaum, those who collected the didrachma coins came to Peter, and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the didrachma?” 25He said, “Yes.”

When he came into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth receive toll or tribute? From their children, or from strangers?”

26Peter said to him, “From strangers.”

Jesus said to him, “Therefore the children are exempt. 27But, lest we cause them to stumble, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take up the first fish that comes up. When you have opened its mouth, you will find a stater coin. Take that, and give it to them for me and you.”

Matthew's Presentation of the Resurrection of the Messiah

Matthew's Presentation of the Resurrection of the Messiah

Topical Study | Matt 28:1 | Hershel Wayne House

Matthew's presentation of the resurrection of the Messiah Jesus is brief, but he lays out the argument for the resurrection carefully: 

  • He provides a number of eyewitnesses to the resurrection, namely,  an angel (Matt 28:5), the Roman soldiers (Matt 28:3, 4), and the women who came to the tomb (Matt 28:1-8).
  • Besides these eyewitnesses, the next evidence relates to the security of the tomb. The tomb in which Jesus' body was laid was sealed (Matt 27:66), yet when the women came to the tomb on Sunday morning the body was not there (Matt 28:6, 7).
  • Matthew's record of the earliest argument against the resurrection, of the Roman soldiers sleeping at their posts, with the disciples stealing the body away. This is an illogical position in its worst example. Roman soldiers did not sleep when they were on guard duty. It defies their training, the fact that all would sleep at the same time, that the penalty for doing what is claimed would bring the death penalty, and the stealth that these inexperienced disciples would need to exercise to move among the soldiers and to remove the large stone covering the tomb makes their story illogical and extremely unlikely. The Nazareth Decree (issued by Emperor Claudius, A.D. 41-54) serves as a possible response of the Roman government after a report of the event of Christ's resurrection and the stir that it caused (see Nazarene Decree Inscription (Decree by Emperor Claudius, A.D. 41-54 at Matt 28:13).
  • Last of all, the manner of Jesus' resurrection to the disciples gives additional evidence for the resurrection of the Messiah. He appears to a number of His disciples (Matt 28:16-20).

What was the importance of the resurrection to Matthew, that gave rise to the way in which He presents the narrative?

The resurrection is a pivotal doctrine of the new Christian faith, without which the claims of Christ to be Savior and God would be meaningless. The song He Lives, that says triumphantly that we serve a risen Savior would be a hollow statement. As Paul later says in 1 Corinthians 15:17, if Christ did not rise from the dead, those who believe in Him are still in their sins and their faith in Him is vain. It is likely that Matthew understands this truth from the words of Jesus that he provides in Matthew 12:38-42; 16:21; 17:22, 23; 20:17-19.