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Thanks again for joining me here! If you’re studying with me, I hope you’re benefiting from what you’ve discovered so far. If you’re not, no problem. All of us have seasons where we can’t squeeze even one more thing into our overscheduled lives. I’m just grateful that you’re finding this series worthwhile enough to keep checking in, and I pray that something about what I share here helps you connect with God’s Word in a meaningful way.
Last Week’s Work
COMPARISONS
Following my instructions from last week, I didn’t find any comparisons using like or as in the verses I’m digging into most (vv5-7). But from my very first reading of the passage in this study, I was drawn to the contrast between the reaction of the guards (vv2-4), and the women. Wouldn’t you have expected the women to faint at the sight of an angel rolling a giant stone away from the tomb? But no, it was the tough, he-man guards who “became like dead men!” Matthew doesn’t indicate the women reacted at all to the angel, other than to hurriedly obey his commands “with fear and great joy” (v8).
CAUSES/MOTIVATIONS
Next, I looked for connectors in vv5-7 and found two action – connector – explanation patterns, along with one explanation. Its connector lies in verse 8, along with the action. I charted what I discovered this way:
Verse 5:
Action “Do not be afraid…”
Connector “for…”
Explanation “I [the angel] know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.”
Wow! I just realized this divine messenger said seeking Jesus is reason enough the women shouldn’t be afraid! Feels like that is a principle worth keeping in mind even today!
Verse 6:
Action “He [Jesus] is not here…”
Connector “for…”
Explanation “he has risen, as he said.”
The reason they wouldn’t find Jesus’s body in the tomb was because, as He’d told them numerous times, He’d risen!!
Verses 7-8:
Explanation “… go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him…”
Connector “So…” [therefore]
Action “they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.”
Here, I see why the women departed quickly with fear and joy to tell the disciples: because the angel told them to. Talk about courage—I admire their action in spite of their fear!
CONDITIONS/METHODS
Last, I made a note of how Matthew describes the women’s compliance with the angel’s commands in v8: “they departed quickly… with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.” This seems to be another contrast: to me, fear is a negative, limiting force, while joy is positive and motivating. I am so awed these simple women didn’t let fear overpower their joy.
Dig-In Challenges
Now that we’ve collected all these fact gems, we need to make sure we’re viewing them the same way Matthew and his audience would have interpreted this story.
Why that standard? Mainly, because God chose Matthew to write this to an audience in the first century. Our Lord could have decided to send the message through a contemporary American writer—maybe even me (ha ha!)—and then we could have skipped Step 4, Refine, altogether. But He didn’t.
So, this means if we really want the correct understanding of the treasure the Holy Spirit is revealing to us, we need to know how Matthew and his audience would have interpreted it. Here’s how we’ll work toward that this week:
- As always, start with the prayer we created in Step 1.
- REFINE: next, let’s read chapters 1 and 26-28 of Matthew to determine which writing type(s) he used, and list them in our study journals or on a copy of the passage.
NOTE: I’ll be looking for an overall type and individual instances where Matthew used instruction, law, letter, narrative, poetry, and/or prophecy. - REFINE: At the same time, notice and record any relevant details or events leading up to or following our study text. This will help us establish the literal context of the study passage.
- REFINE: Next, find out what you can about the historical context by identifying the author of this book, and when, to whom, and why he wrote it. You can usually find this information in your bound Bible if it contains an introduction to Matthew’s Gospel. If you don’t have a bound Bible with introductions, check out one of these resources: the ESV Bible Introduction, or the Introduction to Matthew’s gospel from the ESV Global Study Bible.
NOTE: Bible introductions aren’t the inspired Word of God, but they usually provide factual details about the author and his audience we can use to adjust our perspective. Keep in mind, if you decide to research this further, stick with factual, historical resources and avoid commentary if possible. - REFINE: Finally, examine key words and/or phrases using an interlinear Bible, and note what the Spirit reveals. These Bibles are available on several study websites (I’ll be using the Blue Letter Bible Interlinear tool). They show a verse in the original Hebrew or Greek and provide detail about each word, including its meaning in context. As usual, I encourage you to log anything the Spirit illuminates from this exercise.
This week’s work is a little more involved than the observation we did earlier, but I encourage you to use these tools and dig as much as you can this week. I pray the Spirit will bless your efforts, my friend!