The Resurrection

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week begins to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary go to see the tomb. A great earthquake strikes: an angel of the Lord descends from heaven, rolls back the stone, and sits on it. His appearance is like lightning, and the guards shake with fear and become like dead men. The angel reassures the women: “He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.” Filled with fear and great joy, they run to tell the disciples, and Jesus himself meets them; they take hold of his feet and worship him. Meanwhile, the chief priests pay the soldiers to say that the disciples stole the body while they slept. On a mountain in Galilee, Jesus sends out the eleven: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations . . . and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”