Faith and trust

Confidence Before the Empty Tomb: A Journey from Fear to Faith

When the stone is rolled away, fear can become joy — faith is trusting the risen Christ.

BibleVibe Editorial5 min read
Translation：ESV
Matthew 28:1-20
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Now late on the sabbath day, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the watchers did quake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye; for I know that ye seek Jesus, who hath been crucified. He is not here; for he is risen, even as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples, He is risen from the dead; and lo, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. And behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and took hold of his feet, and worshipped him. Then saith Jesus unto them, Fear not: go tell my brethren that they depart into Galilee, and there shall they see me. Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city, and told unto the chief priests all the things that were come to pass. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave much money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and rid you of care. So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying was spread abroad among the Jews, and continueth until this day. But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

Matthew 28 records the climactic moment of the resurrection narrative — the empty tomb, the women's encounter with the risen Jesus, the great commission, and the promise of Christ's abiding presence. The Greek root for 'faith' (pistis) and the parallel idea of 'trust' both echo through the disciples' trembling yet worshipful response.

📖 Matthew
🕰️ 1st Century AD / Roman Judea📍 Jerusalem📍 Galilee
Narration

Context: The Dawn Tomb and the Roman Seal

Matthew 28 opens at the threshold of the first day of the week, in the brief, liminal space between Sabbath rest and resurrection morning. Two women — Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (cf. Matthew 27:56, 61) — come to the tomb not as the first disciples of a movement, but as grieving attendants finishing a burial interrupted by the urgency of the Sabbath. Their arrival coincides with a great earthquake (seismos), the second seismic event in Matthew's passion narrative (cf. Matthew 27:51–54), the first of which tore the temple veil and opened the tombs of the saints. Now the earth shakes again — not in judgment, but in announcement. An angel of the Lord descends, rolls away the stone, and sits upon it. The guards (the same Roman custodes Pilate had stationed, Matthew 27:62–66) become 'as dead men,' because the message of the resurrection is too bright for keepers of a dead seal to bear. The Angel's first word is the same word the Angel will later give through Jesus: 'Fear not.' The women are then commissioned to 'go quickly' — the same verb (tachu, tachys) used in Mark 16:8 — to tell the disciples that the crucified Jesus goes before them into Galilee. The chapter then brilliantly juxtaposes two responses to the empty tomb: the guards, bribed by the chief priests, manufacture a cover-up story (Ant. 18.2.2 in Josephus confirms the volcanic tension between Jewish authorities and Roman power in this period, and the Sanhedrin's willingness to bribe the custodes reflects that political reality), and the eleven disciples, who obey the angel by going to the appointed mountain in Galilee. There they meet the risen Christ, and even there — even with the wounds still fresh in his hands — 'some doubted.' Yet Jesus does not wait for perfect faith. He speaks 'all authority' (exousia) over them, and the word 'therefore' (oun) links that cosmic authority to the most concrete command imaginable: go, make disciples, baptize, teach. The chapter closes, in the verses that follow our lection, with the promise 'I am with you always, to the very end of the age' — the very language of Immanuel, the name given to Jesus back in Matthew 1:23.

Spacetime: Dawn, the Mount of Olives, and the Galilean Mountain

Set in the Jerusalem-Davidic period during the late Second Temple era, centered on Jerusalem and extending to the Galilean region near the Sea of Galilee.

Meaning: The Two Movements of Faith

Faith in Matthew 28 is not a single posture but a rhythm of two movements. The first movement is to trust the word when the eyes still doubt. Notice the disciples on the Galilean mountain: 'when they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.' Matthew, wonderfully honest, does not edit out the doubt. He does not pretend that the resurrection was so blindingly obvious that belief was automatic. The Greek word he uses for their doubt (edistasan) is a tender, hesitating word — to be divided in one's own mind, to waver. Yet Jesus does not say, 'Get your theology straight before you come.' He speaks through their wavering. Faith is receiving the word of Christ even when the heart is still being persuaded. The second movement is to go. The women who 'ran' to tell the disciples, the disciples who traveled to Galilee, and ultimately the disciples who would 'go' to all nations — all of them act on what they have heard before they have fully understood. This is the essence of biblical faith: it is not certainty that produces obedience, but obedience that grows into certainty. The Greek word for faith (pistis) shares its root with the verb 'to be persuaded' (peithō), and persuasion in Matthew 28 comes not from argument but from presence — the presence of the risen Christ whose 'all authority' underwrites the command. Faith, then, is the trust that lets the Christian carry two contradictory things at once: the joy of the resurrection and the fear of the empty tomb; the boldness of the commission and the honesty of the doubt. The 'Fear not' spoken by the angel and repeated by Jesus is the divine permission to act in the tension.

Application: Living Inside 'I Am With You'

How do we live out this chapter in the ordinary days that follow Easter Sunday? Three applications rise from the text. First, expect earthquakes. The two seismic events in Matthew's passion narrative are not anomalies; they are signs that the kingdom is breaking into the present age. When the ground beneath your plans shakes — when the job ends, when the diagnosis comes, when the relationship breaks — do not interpret the tremor as an absence of God. The angel who descends in the earthquake is the same angel who announces, 'He is not here; he is risen.' The shaking is not the destruction of the world; it is the rolling away of the stone. Second, obey before you understand. The women did not stay at the tomb to interrogate the angel; they ran. The disciples did not wait until their doubts were resolved to travel to Galilee; they went. Faith is not the absence of questions but the willingness to move while the questions remain. Third, anchor your mission in his authority, not your ability. 'All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth' is the ground of the great commission. We make disciples, baptize, and teach not because we are impressive, but because the One who sends us holds the cosmos in his hands. Our confidence is not in our strategy, our theology, or our eloquence; it is in the One who said, 'I am with you always, to the very end of the age.' When fear rises, rehearse the resurrection. When doubt rises, run the road the women ran. When the world feels too big, remember that the Man who holds all authority has promised to be with you — even to the end.

Reflection

Pause and consider: the same chapter that records the guards shaking 'as dead men' also records the women running 'with fear and great joy.' Fear and joy are not opposites in the presence of the risen Christ; they are companions. The guard's fear became paralysis; the women's fear became momentum. The difference was not emotional intensity but direction. The guards feared the miracle and chose to cover it up; the women feared and ran to tell. Where does your fear drive you today — toward cover-up or toward witness? And what is the stone your heart has been rolling against, the one you assumed required your own strength to move? The resurrection story is the story of a God who moves the stones we cannot move, seals we cannot break, and tombs we cannot enter. Trust is not first an act of the will; it is the recognition that Christ has already acted for us. The angel's question, implicit in 'Why do you seek the living among the dead?' is the invitation of every morning: stop looking for Jesus in yesterday's grave. He is risen. He goes before you. And he is with you — now, today, and to the very end of the age. Let that be enough for this hour, this breath, this step.

FAQ

Why did some disciples still doubt even when they saw the risen Jesus?

Matthew deliberately records the disciples' doubt to show that the resurrection is not a coercive miracle but an invitation into a journey of faith. Doubt is not unbelief; it is the process of being persuaded.

Why did both the angel and Jesus say 'Fear not'?

The arrival of the resurrection inevitably brings supernatural awe, but God calls his people not to remain in fear but to carry that awe as joy into proclamation.

What is the difference between faith and trust in Matthew 28?

Faith (pistis) is the acceptance of the truth heard, while trust is the step of action taken on that truth. The women first believed (the angel's word), then trusted (they ran to tell the disciples).

How does the Great Commission connect with 'I am with you always'?

Matthew places the mission and the presence together in the same sentence, telling us that Christ's presence is the foundation and guarantee of the Great Commission.

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