Chapter 3 

Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost 

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead 

     Now after the sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary 

went to see the sepulchre. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from 

heaven and came and rolled back the stone, and sat upon it.  (Mt 28:1 2). 

    When the two women see the angel of the Lord, he tells them that Jesus has risen from the dead, and 

instructs them to inform the disciples. But, before they can reach the disciples, Jesus meets them. 

     And behold, Jesus met them and said, `Hail!' And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped 

him.  (Mt 28:9). 

    The two women meet Jesus, confirming the angel's word that Jesus had risen from the dead. They are able 

to take hold of His feet, therefore, He is not a ghost. And they worship Him, because they realize that He is the 

Son of God. 

    The Jewish Sabbath is Saturday, the seventh day of the week (cf. Gen 2:1 3). The day after the Jewish 

Sabbath is Sunday, the first day of the week. Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, Sunday. As 

shown in chapter 2 of this book, Jesus died on Friday, April 7 of 

A.D.

 19, and so He rose from the dead on the 

following Sunday. The three days from His Crucifixion to His Resurrection are  counted inclusively, where a 

part of a day counts as a day. The three days from His Crucifixion to His Resurrection do not total 3 times 24 

hours. Instead, the Jewish custom to count inclusively, where a part counts for the whole, is followed.

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 Jesus 

rose from the dead on Sunday, April 9 of 

A.D.

 19. 

The Order of Events 

    The order of events on the day of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is not immediately obvious from the 

different descriptions given in the four Gospels. As often occurs in the Gospels, one Gospel gives us one set of 

details, and another gives us a different set of details. Each Gospel tells the one true story in its different parts. 

We are then left to put together the order and meaning of the events. 

    The writings of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich are a useful guide to discovering the order of events on 

that first Easter Sunday, for she described the events of that day in great detail based on her visions from God. 

Even so, the words of Sacred Scripture are far above the words of even the holiest of saints. God's Sacred 

Infallible Scripture is first among all writings. 

The Time of Day 

     Now after the sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary 

went to see the sepulchre.  (Mt 28:1). 

    According to the Gospel of Matthew, Mary Magdalene and  the other Mary  went to the sepulchre 

 toward dawn.  We can readily see from the expression  toward dawn  that it was not yet dawn, in other 

words, the sun had not yet risen above the horizon. The sky begins to brighten well before the visible disc of 

the sun appears above the horizon. The sky becomes progressively lighter as much as an hour or more before 

sunrise, especially in the eastern sky, where the sun will later rise. On Sunday, April 9 of 

A.D.

 19, sunrise 

occurred at approx. 05:21 a.m. Jerusalem Standard Time (JST).

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     And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen.  (Mk 16:2). 

    The Gospel of Mark states that the women went to the tomb at dawn,  when the sun had risen. This 

statement does not contradict the statement in Matthew's Gospel that they went to the tomb  toward dawn  

because there is obviously a length of time needed for the women to set out from their homes and travel to the 

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