CHAPTER 16

(A.D. 33)

THE TESTIMONY OF THE ANGEL

¹And when the Sabbath was past (the regular weekly Sabbath of Saturday), Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him (proving that they really did not believe that He would rise from the dead; if so, it would have been pointless to have wasted money on the purchase of these expensive items).

²And very early in the morning the first day of the week (Sunday morning), they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.

³And they said among themselves (means in the Greek Text that they kept on saying among themselves), Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? (The stone would have to be rolled away, so they could apply the spices to the corpse.)

⁴And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.

⁵And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side (sitting on the raised projection, which had contained the body of Jesus; Him sitting portrayed far more than posture; it meant that the work of the Resurrection was completed, and death had been defeated), clothed in a long white garment (the young man was an Angel; Expositors remarked that no such robe was worn by young men on Earth); and they were affrighted (no wonder, Matthew said, his countenance was like lightning [Mat. 28:3]).

⁶And he said unto them, Be not affrighted (fear not): You seek Jesus of Nazareth, Who was crucified: He is risen (without a doubt, the greatest statement ever made in the annals of human history); He is not here (speaks of victory over death, Hell, and the grave): behold the place where they laid Him (signifies the empty tomb; in other words, He definitely was dead, but is now definitely alive!).

⁷But go your way, tell His Disciples and Peter (no censor or reprimand concerning their unbelief; as well, Peter is added to let him know that he is included, despite his denial of Christ, because Peter had repented) that He goes before you into Galilee: there shall you see Him, as He said unto you (there were several appearances of Christ to the Disciples in Jerusalem before the Galilee appearance, but it was only during the latter appearance that He recommissioned them [Jn., Chpt. 21]).

THE TESTIMONY OF THE WOMEN

⁸And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed (proclaims them seeing more than they could comprehend, digest, or even accept for the moment): neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid (they were fearful that they would be accused of stealing the body).

⁹Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week (referred to some time after sundown Saturday, which would have been the beginning of the Jewish Sunday, the first day of the week), He appeared first to Mary Magdalene (He appeared to her even before appearing to His Disciples), out of whom He had cast seven devils (gives us at least a hint as to the cause of her love and devotion).

¹⁰And she went and told them who had been with Him (referred to His Disciples), as they mourned and wept (as stated, they had not believed that He would rise from the dead, despite the fact that He had plainly told them so [Mat. 12:40]).

¹¹And they, when they had heard that He was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not (they flatly rejected her testimony; Luke said that it seemed to them as idle tales [Lk. 24:11]; the repeated unbelief of the Apostles concerning the Resurrection, destroys the theory that they invented the Resurrection).

THE TESTIMONY OF THE DISCIPLES

¹²After that He appeared in another form unto two of them (another form, in the Greek Text literally says, In a different outward expression or appearance; this is given in detail in Lk. 24:13-35), as they walked, and went in to the country (outside of Jerusalem toward Emmaus; it is believed that the two were Cleophas and Luke).

¹³And they went and told it unto the residue (to the Disciples): neither believed they them (places them at the position of disbelieving two different and distinct sources).

¹⁴Afterward He appeared unto the Eleven as they sat at meat (could have been His Appearance to them by the Sea of Galilee [Jn. 21:4-23]), and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen Him after He was risen (He rebuked them, and did so sharply).

THE GREAT COMMISSION

¹⁵And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world (the Gospel of Christ is not merely a western Gospel, as some claim, but is for the entirety of the world), and preach the Gospel to every creature (preaching is Gods method, as is here plainly obvious; as well, it is imperative that every single person have the opportunity to hear; this is the responsibility of every Believer).

¹⁶He who believes (believes in Christ and what He did for us at the Cross) and is baptized (baptized into Christ [Rom. 6:3-5] not water baptism) shall be saved; but he who believes not shall be damned (Jn. 3:16).

¹⁷And these signs shall follow them who believe (not these sins shall follow them who believe); In My Name shall they cast out devils (demons Jesus defeated Satan, fallen angels, and all demon spirits at the Cross [Col. 2:14-15]); they shall speak with new tongues (baptism with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking with other tongues [Acts 2:4]);

¹⁸They shall take up serpents (put away demon spirits [Lk. 10:19] has nothing to do with reptiles); and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them (speaks of protection; in no way does it speak of purposely drinking poison, etc., in order to prove ones faith; the word, if, speaks of accidental ingestion); they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover (means to do so in the Name of Jesus [Acts 5:12; 13:3; 14:3; 19:11; 28:8; I Tim. 4:14; II Tim. 1:6; Heb. 6:2; James 5:14]).

THE ASCENSION

¹⁹So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, He was received up into Heaven (the Ascension), and sat on the Right Hand of God ([Heb. 1:3] signifying that the work of Redemption, was total and complete, i.e., a finished work).

THE EARLY CHURCH

²⁰And they went forth (refers to the entirety of the Early Church, and not just the Twelve Apostles), and preached everywhere (at the end of the First Century, the Gospel of Christ had been taken to the greater majority of the Roman Empire), the Lord working with them (He will work if His Commands are followed), and confirming the Word (the Word of God, what He had said) with signs following (if the signs are not following, the Gospel is not being preached, but rather something else). Amen (Truth).