Scripture Notes: The Angel Sits (Matthew 28)

As the women approach Jesus’ tomb early on Easter morning, they meet with a surprise. They mean to mourn, perhaps to see if they can get into the tomb to further care for Jesus’ body, just to be there beside Him. But instead the ground shakes under them, and an angel descends and rolls back the huge stone that would have required several men to move in front of the tomb’s entrance. The angel pushes it aside as though it were merely a pebble, and then he sits on it.

We often overlook that little detail, but just like everything else in Scripture, it is important; it has meaning. The angel seats himself on the stone because it is a symbol of death, of separation. It has been an obstacle in the way of a connection between Jesus and His disciples. It has been blocking the way. Yet what once seemed insurmountable, permanent, impossible, is now out of the way. The angel sits on the stone like it is nothing at all, and to him, as well as to Jesus, it is nothing at all. Jesus is no longer in the tomb. Jesus is no longer dead. And since the angel moves the stone away, Jesus must have exited the tomb by going right through it. No wonder the guards are lying senseless on the ground!

By sitting on the stone, the angel indicates that a divine victory has taken place. The obstacle has been surmounted. Death has been conquered. The stone is rolled away, no longer to stand between Jesus and the whole world. Jesus is risen! Alleluia!