Matthew 28:5-7 meaning

The parallel Gospel accounts for Matthew 28:5-7 are Mark 16:5-7 and Luke 24:4-8.

After recording how the tomb was opened by an angel who descended from heaven (Matthew 28:2-4), Matthew tells us what happened when the women arrived at the tomb:

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.” (vv 5-7).

Before we consider the angel’s message to the women, we first need to recall six events that happened during the period of time between the angel’s opening of Jesus’s tomb (Matthew 28:2-4) and the arrival of these women at His grave.

The first three of these events are not explicitly stated by the Bible, but are implied to have occurred. In no particular order, these first three events were:

1. Jesus came out of His tomb.
2. The frightened guards ran away from the tomb.
3. The angel entered Jesus’s tomb.

The next event to have happened after these three implied events is found in John:

4. “Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb [alone], while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb” (John 20:1).

Notice how John says Mary came “early…while it was still dark” (John 20:1). He does not mention anyone else who came with her. This implies that she came to the tomb by herself. Notice also that he does not mention Mary encountering the guards. This is probably because they had run away by this time. Neither does John mention her seeing an angel. This is likely because he had already entered Jesus’s tomb (Mark 16:5). Apparently, Mary Magdalene did not enter Jesus’s tomb at this time.

5. Upon seeing the stone rolled away, Mary Magdalene ran away and eventually found Peter and John and told them what had happened (John 20:2).

It was likely while Mary Magdalene was gone and finding Peter and John that the sixth event and everything recorded in Matthew 28:5-7 took place. There is also a possibility that John’s account mentioning Mary Magdalene (John 20:1-2) is a much condensed version of the events described in Matthew 28:5-7, Mark 16:2-8 and Luke 24:1-5.

6. The rest of the women (minus Mary Magdalene who had departed to find Peter and John) arrived at the tomb with the spices they bought the evening before in order to prepare His body (Mark 16:2-3, Luke 24:1).

See The Bible Says article, “How can the Biblical Events Concerning Jesus’s Resurrection be Harmonized?—Part 1: The Day Jesus Rose from the Dead.”

These women most likely arrived at the tomb after Mary Magdalene had left it. They got there “early at dawn” (Luke 24:1), “when the sun had risen” (Mark 16:2) while Mary Magdalene came “while it was still dark” (John 20:1). If the women did arrive in two groups, then the women who arrived after Mary Magdalene were likely unaware of what she had seen.

Who were these other Jewish women who came to Jesus’s tomb after Mary Magdalene came and went?

Luke identifies some of them. Luke mentions Joanna and Mary the mother of James (Luke 24:10). Joanna was a supporter of Jesus and was the wife of Herod’s steward (Luke 8:3). “Mary the mother of James” (Luke 24:10) is most likely the same woman as “the other Mary” mentioned by Matthew (Matthew 28:1) and/or “Mary the wife of Clopas” identified by John (John 19:25). Luke indicates that “other women” were “with them” (Luke 24:10).

According to Mark’s gospel, Salome, the mother of James and John, was likely with the other women (Mark 16:1).

On the way to the tomb it seems the women realized that although they intended to prepare to anoint Jesus’s body, there was no way to access it. The tomb was sealed and guarded. Mark records that they started wondering how they would get into the tomb (Mark 16:3). But then upon arriving at Jesus’s tomb they discovered God’s divine provision:

• The women saw the large stone had been rolled away (Mark 16:4, Luke 24:2).
• They entered the tomb (Mark 16:5a, Luke 24:3a).
• Once inside, they did not see the body of Jesus (Luke 24:3b). Instead, they saw an angel sitting inside of the tomb (Mark 16:5b).
• When this angel stood up, another angel appeared near them (Luke 24:4).
• The women were terrified and bowed down to the ground (Luke 24:5a).

It was while the women were terrified, that Matthew rejoins the narrative. Matthew says that the angel spoke to the women.

There are three basic parts to the angel’s message to these women. The angel gave them an assurance, he gave them a statement, and he delivered a set of instructions.

The Angel’s Assurance
The angel began with a comforting command: Do not be afraid (v 5).

When the women first saw the angel, they bowed their face to the ground in amazement (Mark 16:5) and fright (Luke 24:5a). The apparent reason that the women were afraid was because they were fearful of seeing the supernatural messenger. This was likely the same angel who had terrified the soldiers guarding Jesus’s tomb and who was powerful enough to roll away the extremely large stone sealing it (Matthew 28:2-4).

The angel’s appearance was like lightning and his clothing dazzlingly white—like snow (Matthew 28:3, Mark 16:5, Luke 24:4). He appeared as otherworldly. His radiance was similar to the brilliance others had showed when just coming from the presence of God (Exodus 34:29-30).

The women’s fright might have been a holy fear. It is possible that the reason the women bowed was because they recognized the holiness of this heavenly angel and were tempted to worship him. But it is also likely there was an element of shock. It is typical for humans to fall down in amazement when they encounter angels who appear in their glorious radiance (Daniel 8:17, 2 Chronicles 21:16, Revelation 22:8).

Mark’s Gospel records the angel as saying to the women: “Do not be amazed” (Mark 16:5). The term amazement includes fear, but it also may include surprise and/or a sense of feeling overwhelmed.

Normally, it would be surprising to find an angel inside of a tomb, instead of the body that had recently been laid there. But the women should not have been surprised by this because Jesus, whom they believed to be God, told them many times that He would be killed by His enemies but then come back to life (Matthew 16:21, 17:22-23, 20:17-19). From the angel’s perspective, the women should have anticipated all of this and not been amazed when it happened as God said it would happen.

The angel also could have been addressing the larger situation when he said to the women, “Do not be amazed” (Mark 16:5). If so, the angel was encouraging them to not be overwhelmed by the series of events they had recently experienced.

Over the last week, these women who clearly loved Jesus deeply had experienced a rollercoaster of emotional highs as well as traumatic lows. About a week before, they had witnessed their Messiah triumphantly enter Jerusalem with shouts of joy. It may have seemed to them that all of their hopes for the fulfillment of His kingdom were about to begin. And if Israel had received Jesus, His kingdom would have been soon established.

But those hopes were dashed when Judas (unexpectedly, from the women’s point of view) betrayed Jesus to His enemies, who hastily arrested and illegally condemned Him in the middle of the night. His disciples abandoned Him. And Jesus was violently rejected by the Jews in His civil trial under Pilate who ordered Him flogged and crucified.

Jesus, their Lord, was humiliated and tortuously put to death. They then gave His body a hasty burial. Through their grief, they managed to buy and prepare spices to complete the job of burying their Lord when the women saw the stone was rolled away and instead of finding His body inside the tomb—they saw an angel. All of these things were amazing and they may have felt overwhelmed. And yet the angel bid them—“Do not be amazed”—i.e. afraid, surprised, overwhelmed (Mark 16:5).

There is an application available for us in the angel’s initial bidding—Do not be afraid. The lesson is this: we are not to be controlled by our emotions. Emotions are responders to our circumstances and our expectations. Emotions are good and are among God’s good gifts to us, but they were not designed or intended to be the basis upon which we make decisions. Our emotions should not control us.

Whenever we experience big emotions or feel overwhelmed like these women were likely feeling in this moment, we should follow the acronym L.I.D.D.

That is, we should Listen, Investigate, Decide, and Dismiss when it comes to feeling emotions big or small.

• Listen means to acknowledge or accept that we are feeling certain emotions. It is good for you to tell yourself “I am feeling angry right now” whenever you are feeling angry. Acknowledging our feelings helps us deal with them in a healthy way, rather than being in denial of them. Denying our feelings will often lead to choices that are not constructive or are detached from reality.

• Investigate means to consider or examine why you might be feeling a certain emotion. Once you accept that you are feeling sad, you can consider the cause of your sadness. This usually is not difficult to figure out. Stating the cause of your emotions helps you determine if the cause of them is appropriate or irrational. It also provides a more stable basis for you to decide how to respond to them. The angel asked the women to make a logical choice rather than be ruled by emotional amazement and fear.

After investigating the cause of what you are feeling, it is time to decide.

• Decide means to choose your course of action. The angel asked the women to choose and act upon a proposition that Jesus had risen.
  
  If an emotion is a false alarm, we should not obey it. If the emotion is an appropriate response to the circumstance, but runs counter to God’s word, then we should not follow where it is pushing us.
  
  If the emotion is in harmony with God’s word, then we should follow God’s word. Again this is a decision based on evaluation and values. We may be feeling scared, and have a reasonable cause for feeling that way, but our emotions should never determine our actions. Our actions should be based on what God’s word says is good and true. Our actions should be in line with Biblical values, because we know God desires the best for us.

• Dismiss means to dismiss your emotions after you have decided the action you will take. For instance, after getting a fright from hearing an unexpected noise in your house and investigating that it was caused by the pet cat knocking over a plant—there is no need to remain scared all night. Dismiss your fearful feelings by telling them: “Thank you for bringing this to my attention, but I’ve got it from here.”
  
  It is the same with legitimate and proper emotions that encourage you to follow the Lord. Thank them for encouraging you to do what is right, and then do what is right. In the case of the women, they had the opportunity to follow the angel’s instructions rather than be paralyzed in fear.

The women experienced the emotion of fear. In their case, they did not have to investigate what was causing the fear—it was the presence of the angel. The angel encouraged the women to make a decision to trust rather than fear. This is an excellent illustration of how to follow value-based/faith-based decisions to inform our actions when emotions scream “Action required.”

The angel did not come to frighten or amaze the women. Neither did he come to be worshiped by them. He came to encourage them.

After saying to them—Do not be afraid—the angel further reassured the women:

For I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified (v 5b).

The angel informed the women that he understood their purpose for entering the tomb. He knew why they initially came to anoint Jesus’s body. And upon seeing His tomb opened, that the women were looking for His body which had been placed there.

In Luke’s gospel (which mentions two angels), Luke records one of the angels as asking the women the question: “Why do you seek the living One among the dead?” (Luke 24:5b). This question implies that Jesus is no longer dead, since He is the living One.

In Matthew, the angel described Jesus as someone who has been crucified.

The Greek aspect of this description is in the perfect tense. The perfect tense is captured in the words has been. The perfect tense describes a completed action from the past but emphasizes its ongoing effects. When the angel said I: Jesus who has been crucified, he was saying two things at once:

1. The angel was acknowledging that Jesus was crucified and killed.
2. The angel was stressing that there were ongoing ramifications and consequences of His crucifixion.

Normally one of the most basic ramifications of crucifixion would be that the person who has been crucified is still dead. However, this was not what the angel meant. Jesus was risen, as the angel would soon announce. Therefore, the ramifications the angel likely meant by saying that Jesus has been crucified were the ramifications of Jesus’s completed work on the cross. The ramifications of the cross include:

• Atonement and the forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:14, 2:13-14, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 Peter 3:28),
• Humanity’s opportunity to be reconciled to God (Romans 5:10, Ephesians 2:11-16, Colossians 1:20-22)
• Humanity’s opportunity to be restored to our divine destiny (Romans 8:16-18, Ephesians 1:11, Ephesians 2:10, Hebrews 2:8-10)
  
  

The Angel’s Statement
The next thing the angel said to the women was an important statement:

He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said (v 6a).

There are three parts to this important statement. The three parts of this statement are an observation, a claim, and a reminder.

The angel began his statement with the observation: He is not here. 

The pronoun—He—refers to Jesus. 

The angel’s observation was readily apparent. And the angel will follow up his statement with an opportunity for the women to verify his claim by inviting them to Come, see the place where He was lying (v 6b). Indeed, the women could see for themselves that Jesus’s body was not here where it had been placed three days ago.

But there is also something revealing about the angel’s language and the manner in which he said, “He is not here.” Notice how the angel did not say: “His body is not here,” but rather: “He is not here.” This subtly reveals that Jesus is no longer dead, but is now alive.

The second part of the angel’s statement was a claim. The angel’s claim was—He has risen.

This was not just any claim. It is perhaps the most important claim in human history. The angel's declaration—He has risen—signified that Jesus, once dead, has now returned to life for all eternity. This claim explicitly stated what had previously been implied—Jesus was alive!

The Gospel's foundation lies in Jesus’s death and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). The apostle Paul conveyed the importance of Jesus’s resurrection as the pillar of the Christian faith when he wrote to the Corinthians:

“And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith also is vain.”
(1 Corinthians 15:14)

One of the most significant things about Jesus’s resurrection was that it conclusively proved that He was who He claimed to be—the Messiah and Son of God (Matthew 12:38-40, John 2:18-22, Romans 1:4).

And by extension in proving Jesus to be God, the resurrection also affirmed the goodness of all of His teachings and the certainty of all of His promises, including the Bible’s central hope that people can be restored to eternal life with God (John 11:25-26, John 14:19b, Romans 6:4-5, Romans 8:11, 1 Corinthians 15:54-57, 1 Peter 1:3-4).

The resurrection proves that: Jesus is God; and that His claims are true. This is just a part of what makes His resurrection the pillar of the Gospel.

The Gospel is the power of God to save everyone who believes in Jesus from death to life (Romans 1:18). In Greek, the expression He has risen is actually a single word. And it too is expressed in the perfect tense. And as the case with the expression who has been crucified, the perfect tense describes a past action but emphasizes or stresses the ongoing consequences of that action. Jesus’s crucifixion has an ongoing ministry of reconciling the sins of the world, and His resurrection has an ongoing ministry of bringing eternal life into the world.

Six major ramifications of Jesus’s resurrection concerning the Gospel are:

1. It defeats death.
   (Romans 6:9, 1 Corinthians 15:54-57, 2 Timothy 1:10)
   
   
2. It defeats Satan.
   (Colossians 2:10-15, Hebrews 2:14-15)
   
   
3. It restores humanity back into harmony with God in terms of our relationship with Him, adopting us into His family as His children. The Bible calls this restoration being justified in His sight. The Bible says a person who believes in Jesus has been reckoned to have His righteousness because of faith.
   (Genesis 15:6, Romans 4:3, 25, 5:10, 8:11-13)
   
   
4. It destroys the power of sin in the lives of believers. “Sanctification” is a term the Bible often uses to refer to the overcoming of sin in a believer’s life by the power of Christ’s resurrection.
   (Romans 6:4-6, 1 Corinthians 15:17, Ephesians 1:19-20, Philippians 3:10, Colossians 2:10-15)
   
   
5. It grants eternal life to all who believe in Jesus.
   (John 11:25-26, 1 Corinthians 15:20-22)
   
   
6. It reinstates believers to their divine destiny and everlasting inheritance in God’s kingdom.
   (1 Peter 1:3-4)

The third part of the angel’s statement to the women after telling them He is not here in the tomb and He is risen is a reminder. After making the observation He is not here and asserting the claim He has risen, the angel offers a reminder to help explain and validate what he just told the women.

The angel’s reminder is: just as He said.

By this the angel was reminding the women that Jesus has risen from the dead, just as He predicted He would be before He was betrayed, arrested, crucified, and buried.

The Gospel of Matthew records at least four instances where Jesus explicitly states that He will rise from the dead:

“From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.”
(Matthew 16:21)

“And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.’”
(Matthew 17:22-23)

“As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.’”
(Matthew 20:17-19)

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, “I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.” But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.’”
(Matthew 26:31-32)

Jesus also alluded to His death and resurrection many other times (Matthew 12:39-40, 16:4, John 2:19-22).

When the angel said—He has risen, just as He told you—the angel was referring to one or more of these times when Jesus had predicted His death and resurrection. As the angel reminded the women of these things which Jesus had spoken, Luke wrote: “And they remembered His [Jesus’s] words” (Luke 24:8).

After reminding them that Jesus rose from the dead just as He said He would, the angel invited the women to investigate his claim for themselves.

Come, see the place where He was lying (6b).

The faith God asks us to have is always attended with ample evidence for those who are willing to see (Romans 1:19-20). As the women looked at the place where His body was lying they could see that He was not there. At least one of these women (the other Mary) was present when they buried Jesus and saw precisely where they had laid His body (Matthew 27:61).

John’s Gospel describes how when Peter and John arrived a little while later, they saw the strips of linen wrappings lying inside the tomb with the face-cloth that had been covering Jesus’s head neatly rolled up and set aside (John 2:6-7). The women likely also saw these same linen wrappings when they looked at the place where Jesus’s body was lying.

As with the lowly shepherds who were the first to hear of the Messiah’s birth by the heavenly host (Luke 2:8-15), so too were these humble women the first to learn of the Messiah’s resurrection from the angel. Women were generally regarded as unimportant figures in ancient Jewish culture and their testimony had almost zero credibility in the court of law. It was on the same level as a minor, a slave, a known liar, or an insane person (Mishnah. Eduyot 3:6).

But as Jesus said, “so the last shall be first” (Matthew 20:16). The fact that women were the primary witnesses of His resurrection in a culture that ignored their testimony is now considered a strong proof for the authenticity of the Gospels. If the Gospel story and the resurrection was made up, no one in that culture would have used women to be the primary witnesses to its core claim because it would be more likely to be rejected.

The Angel’s Instruction
The next part of the angel’s address to the women was an instruction for them to do something:

Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him (v 7a).

There were three parts to the angel’s instruction.

The first part was for the women to go quickly from the empty tomb and tell Jesus’s disciples an important message. They were to go quickly because the message was urgent and important.

In Mark’s gospel, the women were instructed to “go, tell His disciples and Peter” the message (Mark 16:7). The likely reason—“and Peter” (Mark 16:7) was included and not assumed to be among the disciples, was because he had recently and repeatedly denied knowing Jesus publicly with oaths and curses (Matthew 26:69-75) and these actions may have caused Peter and/or the other disciples to question or doubt whether he was still a disciple.

Interestingly, it is believed that Peter was the sponsor and apostolic source for Mark’s Gospel. If so, he may have had Mark include the—“and Peter” (Mark 16:7) to demonstrate how he assumed that he was disqualified from following Jesus because of his shameful actions. But Jesus forgave Peter and reinstated him as an apostle (John 21:15-23). The Book of Acts records how Peter would go onto become a leader among the Apostles in their mission to advance the Gospel. In addition to sponsoring the Gospel of Mark, Peter was also the author of two epistles—1 Peter and 2 Peter.

The message that the women were to tell was twofold.

They were to tell His disciples that Jesus has risen from the dead. That is, they were to inform the disciples about Jesus’s bodily resurrection. And they were to tell His disciples that Jesus is going ahead of them into Galilee, where they would see Him. The angel concluded this instruction with the phrase: behold, I have told you.

This extra phrase likely means that the angel was directly quoting Jesus, who initially and personally gave the angel the message to deliver to the women, who were themselves to relay it to His disciples.

Jesus previously told His disciples to meet Him in Galilee after He was resurrected from the dead. Jesus told them this several days ago, after they had celebrated Passover and were on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane. At that time Jesus told His disciples:

“But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee”
(Matthew 26:32).

Now Jesus was reminding His disciples what He told and instructed them to do through the angel and these women.

Galilee was the district in the northern part of Israel where Jesus based His ministry (Matthew 4:12-13, 17, 23). Several of His disciples were from Galilee. It is inferred that they knew the place where Jesus would go ahead of them and would see them.

After initial skepticism, that Jesus had risen from the dead, the disciples obeyed their Lord’s command and met Him in Galilee (John 21:1-23).

Jesus’s Resurrection as a fulfillment of Prophecy

Jesus’s resurrection from the dead fulfilled not only His own predictions about Himself, it also fulfilled Messianic prophecies from the Old Testament that foretold the Messiah’s resurrection.

Here is a list of seven Old Testament scriptures, several of which contain multiple prophecies that predicted the Messiah’s resurrection. The psalms were written approximately a thousand years prior to the earthly advent of Jesus. The Isaiah passage was written approximately seven hundred years prior. In each case the prediction was one hundred percent accurate.

1.  Psalm 16

Psalm 16 is a Messianic Psalm that predicts the Messiah’s resurrection,

“For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
You will make known to me the path of life.”
(Psalm 16:10-11a)

These verses prophesy how God will not leave the Messiah in death (Sheol) or permit His body to undergo decay, but will restore Him to the path of life.

During his sermon at Pentecost, Peter quoted Psalm 16:8-11 as scriptural proof that Jesus was both the Messiah and had resurrected from the dead (Acts 2:24-30).

Paul also quoted Psalm 16:10 when he proclaimed the Gospel to the Jews in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch during his first missionary journey (Acts 13:35).

2.  Psalm 22

Psalm 22 is a Messianic Psalm. Jesus drew attention to Psalm 22 when He quoted the first verse as He suffered on the cross (Psalm 22:1, Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34).

The first half of Psalm 22 predicts and graphically portrays the Messiah’s death in terms like a crucifixion (Psalm 22:1-21). The second half of Psalm 22 depicts the same Messiah as triumphant and forever alive. Taken together, the two halves of Psalm 22 predict the Messiah’s death and resurrection as well as His creating the restoration of all things.

Here are two verses from the first half of Psalm 22 that predict the Messiah’s death,

“I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It is melted within me.”
(Psalm 22:14)

“You lay me in the dust of death.”
(Psalm 22:15b)

These verses describe physical effects that would attend a crucifixion.

Here are two verses from the second half of Psalm 22 that are indicative that the Messiah is alive after He has suffered the pains of the psalm’s first half—including death. In both of these verses, the term, “the afflicted” refers to the Messiah who was afflicted with death:

“For He [the LORD] has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from him;
But when he cried to Him for help, He heard.”
(Psalm 22:24)

“The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the LORD.
Let your heart live forever!”
(Psalm 22:26)

Moreover, Psalm 22 alludes to how the Messiah’s resurrection will lead to the resurrection of everyone who has died, and how they will worship Him:

“All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.”
(Psalm 22:29b)

The prophecy of Psalm 22:29 will be fulfilled in the future when “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10-11).

There are other scriptures within Psalm 22 that predict the Messiah’s death and/or resurrection. See The Bible Says commentary on Psalm 22 to discover more of these Messianic prophecies.

3.  Psalm 31

Psalm 31 is a Messianic Psalm. It depicts the Messiah’s death and resurrection:

“Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have ransomed me, O LORD, God of truth.”
(Psalm 31:5)

Jesus drew attention to the Messianic prophecies of Psalm 31 when He paraphrased the first half of Psalm 31:5 as He yielded up His spirit to His Father on the cross (Luke 23:46). This was the final statement Jesus made from the cross. It displays the Messiah’s faith in the LORD in the moment of His death.

But the second half of Psalm 31:5 (the part Jesus left unsaid) prophetically alludes to the Messiah’s resurrection. The Hebrew word translated as “ransomed” can imply “resurrect” in certain contexts. In other words, Psalm 31:5b can be interpreted to mean: “You have resurrected me, O LORD, God of truth.”

There are other scriptures within Psalm 31 that also predict the Messiah’s death and/or resurrection. See The Bible Says commentary on Psalm 31 to discover more of these Messianic prophecies.

4.  Psalm 49

Psalm 49 is not necessarily regarded as a Messianic Psalm, but Psalm 49:15 seems to speak of resurrection by God, and this verse could be regarded as predictive of the Messiah’s resurrection:

“But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol,
For He will receive me.”
(Psalm 49:15)

The expression: “redeem my soul from the power of Sheol” can be interpreted to mean “resurrect my soul from the power of death.”

5.  Psalm 69

Psalm 69 is a Messianic Psalm that predicts the Messiah’s death and resurrection. Psalm 69:21 is twice alluded to in Matthew’s account of Jesus’s crucifixion (Matthew 27:34, 48). Here are two of several verses that allude to the resurrection in Psalm 69:

“Oh draw near to my soul and redeem it;
Ransom me because of my enemies!”
(Psalm 69:18)

The Hebrew term translated in Psalm 69:18 as “ransom” also can mean “resurrect.”

“You who seek God, let your heart revive.”
(Psalm 69:32b)

There are other scriptures within Psalm 69 that also predict the Messiah’s death and/or resurrection.

6.  Psalm 116

Psalm 116 is a Messianic Psalm that predicts both the Messiah’s death and His resurrection:

“The cords of death encompassed me
And the terrors of Sheol came upon me.”
(Psalm 116:3a)

“For You have rescued my soul from death.”
(Psalm 116:8a)

“I shall walk before the LORD
In the land of the living.”
(Psalm 116:9)

Psalm 116 is part of a collection of five psalms called “the Hallel,” meaning praise. The Hallel consists of Psalm 113-118. The Hallel is traditionally sung at the conclusion of the Passover Seder. Matthew wrote that Jesus and His disciples sang psalms to conclude their Seder (Matthew 26:30). This means Jesus may have sung these verses foretelling His own death and resurrection with His followers as one of their final actions as a group before He was arrested and crucified.

7.  The Fourth Servant Song of Isaiah

The Fourth (and final) Servant Song of Isaiah (Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12) is descriptive and predictive of both the Messiah’s suffering and death and His resurrection and exaltation.

The song alludes to the Messiah’s ultimate exaltation and resurrection:

“Behold, My servant will prosper,
He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.”
(Isaiah 52:13)

It then graphically describes the Messiah’s suffering and death:

“But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;”
(Isaiah 53:5a)

“Like a lamb that is led to slaughter”
(Isaiah 53:7b)

“He was cut off out of the land of the living”
(Isaiah 53:8b)

“His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death.”
(Isaiah 53:9a)

Isaiah’s fourth Servant Song ends with the Messiah alive, resurrected, and triumphant:

“Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.”
(Isaiah 53:12)

There are other scriptures in Isaiah’s Fourth Servant Song that predict the Messiah’s death and/or resurrection. To learn more about the Messianic prophecies of Isaiah’s fourth Servant Song, see The Bible Says commentaries for Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12.

Jesus, the Messiah, fulfilled all of these resurrection prophecies when He rose from the dead.