The Resurrection Of Jesus In Matthew Essay

A key Matthean theme is emphasizing the Jewishness of Jesus, so when Matthew recounts the resurrection of Jesus, he starts off by stating that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary visited the tomb after the sabbath. From this we can infer that visiting the tomb and tending to the body might have been considered breaking the sabbath, so by including this detail Matthew portrays Jesus and his followers as people who do not turn away from the Jewish Law, but rather as people who embrace it. Ehrman even emphasizes this point in chapter six of his book asserting that, “...Jesus in Matthew also requires his followers to fulfill the Law, in fact, to fulfill it even better than the Jewish leaders…” (Ehrman p. 85). In keeping with the theme of Jesus’

Matthew specifically stresses their corruption when he explains how the priests and elders gave money to the soldiers to spread the rumor that Jesus’ disciples had stolen his body away in the night while they were asleep. Matthew’s emphasis on the Jewish leaders and soldiers also highlights the point made earlier that “No one can serve two masters… you cannot serve both God and wealth” (Matthew 6:24). In this situation, the soldiers were faced with a decision, hide the truth of the messiah’s resurrection for money, or deny the bribe and serve the Lord, and the guards choice of money is significant because it demonstrates the reason why you cannot serve two masters. This distinction between following the Law and giving credence to Jewish authorities’ righteousness is also pointed out by Ehrman as he says, “in this Gospel Jesus commands his followers to adhere to the Jewish religion as it should be, while urging them to reject the Jewish authorities...” (Ehrman p. 89). Furthermore this account of the priests’ and elders’ deception provides Matthew with an explanation for why many Jewish people never became believers after the