28:1 end of the sabbath. “In the end of the sabbath” means “after the sabbath.” In the Jewish reckoning, the day began at sundown, so the first day of the week was already well along when “it began to dawn.”

28:2 angel of the Lord. Angels were present at the Lord’s birth, strengthened Him in the wilderness temptation and the passion in Gethsemane, and rolled away the stone at His resurrection (not to release Him from the tomb but to allow the disciples to see that it was empty). However, He was all alone on the cross!

28:6 as he said. The angel would gently remind both the women and the disciples that Jesus had repeatedly promised He would rise from the dead in the third day! Why, then, were they coming to embalm Him in the tomb?

28:9 Jesus met them. Each of the four gospel writers has a different account of the resurrection events, written from his own knowledge and perspective. While they may appear superficially to be somewhat contradictory, their very differences prove the absence of collusion. Furthermore, when compared carefully, the contradictions vanish, and their combined testimony becomes an impregnable verification of the reality of Christ’s bodily resurrection.