And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and gave up his spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook; and the stones were scattered; and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were resurrected, and having come out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city, and appeared to many.

Jesus cries out with a loud voice: "Let us understand that when He said, "Lay down My soul," He was speaking the truth. Here He really gives His soul with authority. What kind of proclamation was it? Such as: "Father, in Thy hands I commend My spirit," because He gave up His spirit not under compulsion, but voluntarily, as the word "I commend" shows. This word also means that He will again receive His soul, since that which is given for a time usually returns. Thanks be to the Lord, that from the time of His death and the commission of His spirit into the hands of the Father, the souls of the saints, as a result, have been given over into the hands of God, and not into the prisons of hell, as before; so that the death of Christ became sanctification for us. It is for this reason that death is invoked by a loud voice; otherwise, if she had not been called, she could not have approached. The church curtain was a linen hung in the middle of the church and separating the inner from the outer, like a wall. And that it is being torn asunder, God has thereby shown that the temple, hitherto inaccessible to the people and unseen by them, whose interior was covered by a veil, will be in such humiliation and contempt that anyone can enter it and examine it. Others present other reasons for this. Thus, it is said that the torn veil signified the abolition of the letter of the law, and that all that is lawful must be revealed, which was formerly covered by the letter as by a veil, and all that was formerly obscure and mysterious must now be explained, having been fulfilled in Christ. It can also be said that just as the Jews had the custom of tearing their garments in case of blasphemy, so now the temple of God, as if grieving over the death of God, tore its garment, that is, the veil. Other explanations could be presented, but there are enough of them. Further, the elements were then shaken, both as a testimony that the sufferer is the Creator, and as a sign that there is a change in deeds, for in the Scriptures an earthquake usually indicates a change in deeds. Thus was the transfer of God's providence from the Jews to the Gentiles. Then also the stones, that is, the stony hearts of the Gentiles, were torn asunder, and received the seed of truth, the word of Christ, and those who were put to death by sins arose and entered into the holy city, into the highest Jerusalem, and appeared to many walking the broad path, and became for them an image of good life and conversion, for when anyone sees that a certain man was first killed by the passions, and then turned and entered into the holy heavenly city, he himself usually imitates him and converts him. However, this interpretation is too refined. And you should know this: the resurrection of the dead, which took place at the Lord's death on the cross, made known the liberation of those souls who were in hell; the resurrected then appeared to many, so that this event would not seem like a dream; but they were resurrected for the sake of a sign, and it is evident that they died again. However, some think that they were resurrected after the resurrection of Christ, and another time they did not die. But I don't know if it should be accepted.

And the centurion, and those who were with him, when they saw the earthquake and all that had happened, were greatly afraid, and said, Truly he was the Son of God. There were also and looked from afar many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee to serve Him; among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Josiah, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

The centurion, although he was a pagan, nevertheless, seeing the signs, believed together with those who were with him; on the contrary, the Jews who heard the law and the prophets remain unfaithful. Such is wickedness! The said centurion later even accepted a martyr's death for Christ. As for the wives, the spectators of the incident, this condemned and most compassionate sex enjoys the contemplation of good things above all. And the disciples fled, and the women stood looking at the suffering Lord. The Evangelist calls Mary, the mother of James and Josiah, the Mother of God, since James and Josiah were Joseph's children from his first wife. And since the Mother of God was called Joseph's wife, she was rightly called the mother, that is, the stepmother of his children. The mother of the sons of Zebedee was called Salome, who is said to have been the daughter of Joseph.

And when evening came, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had also studied with Jesus; he came to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate gave orders to give up the body; And Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean shroud, and laid it in his new sepulchre, which he had hewn out of the rock. and having rolled a large stone to the door of the tomb, he departed. And there was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, who were sitting opposite the tomb.

Formerly Joseph was in hiding, but now he dares to do a great deed, having decided to lay down his life for the body of the Teacher and to enter into battle with all the Jews, taking the body of Jesus. Pilate gives him a body as a great gift; for the body of Christ, who was killed as a rebel, was to be cast away without burial. However, Joseph, as a rich man, may have given money to Pilate. Having thus received the body, he buries it with honor, lays it in a new coffin, in which no one has ever been laid. And this was according to God's special dispensation, so that after the resurrection of the Lord it would not be said that in His place another dead man had risen, who had been buried there before Him. That is why there was a new coffin. Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, that is, the Mother of God, the mother of James and Josiah, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee, all three sat opposite the tomb, waiting for the moment when the fury of the enemies would subside, so that they could go to embrace the body and anoint it with myrrh. Of these women Isaiah says: "Women will come and burn them. For they are a foolish people" (27:11). The prophet evidently calls the Jewish people, who crucified the Lord, "foolish" people, and calls on women to leave this senseless people, follow the apostles and bring them the joyful news of the Resurrection.

On the next day, which follows Friday, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate and said, "Lord! We remembered that the deceiver, while still alive, said: "After three days I will rise." Therefore, command that the tomb be guarded until the third day, so that His disciples will not come by night and steal Him and say to the people, "He has risen from the dead"; and the last deception will be worse than the first. Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; Go and guard as you know. They went, and set a guard at the tomb, and put a seal on the stone.

He does not call Saturday the Sabbath, but says: "the day that follows Friday." Because, judging by the malice of the Jews, it was not the Sabbath. The law commanded that on the Sabbath day no one should move from his place; meanwhile, the lawless Jews gather to the foreigner Pilate instead of a lawful assembly. But even if they were moved by malice to come to Pilate and confirm the tomb, it was according to God's dispensation, so that the Resurrection would take place with the witness of this by the enemies and then, as the tomb was sealed and guarded. It is worthy of investigation how the Jews knew when they said that he would rise again on the third day. The Lord never spoke about this clearly and directly. Therefore, it must be thought that they learned this from the transformation of Jonah, for Christ said: As Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days, so I was in the belly of the earth; or from these words of His: "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days." They did not understand this before, but thought that He spoke thus about the Jewish temple, and blamed Him for it. But now they have understood that He called His body a temple, and they are already afraid and call Him a deceiver, not abandoning their malice even after His death.

And after the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord, who had come down from heaven, came and rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb and sat on it; his appearance was like lightning, and his garments were white as snow; Being afraid of him, the guards trembled and stood as dead; And the angel, turning his speech to the women, said, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus crucified; He is not here – He is resurrected, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay, and go quickly, tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead and is going before you in Galilee; there you will see Him. Now, I told you. And they came out of the tomb in haste, and with fear and great joy they ran to tell His disciples.

"After the Sabbath is over" is an expression that is unambiguous with the expression of Luke (24:1) "very early" and with the words of Mark (16:2) "very early, at sunrise" (for here the sun must be understood as the morning rays of the sun, the dawn). Thus, with the onset of the eighth hour of the night, it is generally believed that the beginning of the next day and morning begin, which is why there was, on the one hand, the time "after the end of the Sabbath," and on the other hand, the beginning of the Sunday day. The Evangelist calls this last day "the first day of the week": this is because in general the days of the week were called Saturdays, Sunday is the first of the days of the week, the closest to this first day is the second (from Saturdays), the next is the third, and so on. The Lord rose at a time when the stone was still lying on the tomb. After the Resurrection of the Lord, an angel also comes to roll away this stone and open the entrance to the tomb for women. The earthquake was so that the guards would wake up and understand the extraordinariness of what had happened, that is, the miracle of the Resurrection. The Lord has risen for three days. But how are the three days counted? At the eighth hour of Friday, the Lord was crucified; From this hour to the tenth there was darkness: this (the time of darkness) shall be reckoned as night. Then, from the ninth hour, there was light again; That's counting for the day. This is like a day (day and night). Further, the night of Friday and the day of the Sabbath make up the second day. Then followed the night of the Sabbath and the morning of Sunday, signified in Matthew by the words "at the dawn of the first day of the week"; morning is counted for the whole day; Here is the third day. You can count the same three days in another way: on Friday the Lord gave up the spirit – this is one day; Saturday he stayed in the tomb – another day; Sunday night is resurrected, but for its part, Sunday is considered a special day. And here are all three days. Thus it is customary to say of the dead: for example, if one died at ten o'clock in the afternoon, and the other at one o'clock on the same day, it is usually said that both of them died on the same day. I can show you another way to count three days and three nights. Listen! On Thursday evening, the Lord celebrated the Supper and said to the disciples: "Take, eat... My body." From this it is evident that He, as having authority, will lay down His soul according to His will, at the same time He slain Himself, when He taught His Body to His disciples; for without slaughter the body is not eaten. Consider, then, that in the evening He gave His Body: that night and the day of Friday until the eighth hour constitute a day; then from the eighth hour to the ninth there was darkness, and from the ninth hour until evening there was light again; Here is another night and a day. Further, again the night on the Friday and the day of the Sabbath; Here is the third day. After the evening of the Sabbath, the Lord had already risen. Thus, we get all three days ("three days and three nights" – Matt. 12:40). Matthew says of the Angel that he sat on a stone, while Mark testifies that he, having rolled away the stone, sat inside the tomb on the right side. Do they contradict each other? No, the Angel at first, it must be assumed, appeared sitting on a stone, and then, when the women entered the tomb, he preceded them and again appeared already sitting on the right side inside the tomb. He said to the women: "Do not be afraid," that is, let the guards be afraid, they are worth it, but you, disciples of the Lord, do not be afraid. After he has freed them from fear, he begins to preach to them the gospel of the Resurrection. And so it should have been – first to banish fear, and then to tell the good news. The angel is not ashamed to call the Lord crucified; for He boasts of the cross, which has brought us all blessings, as a kind of victorious weapon.

And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, and said, Rejoice! And they came and took hold of His feet and worshipped Him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; Go and tell my brethren to go into Galilee, and there they will see me.

Since the female sex was condemned to sorrow, the Lord by His Resurrection brought joy to the female sex and blessed the women. For this reason, out of deep reverence and as a sign of special honor, they "took hold of His feet," not daring, in their modesty, to touch other parts of the Lord's body, except the lowest. However, some say that they deliberately "took hold of His feet" in order to ascertain whether He was really resurrected, and whether it was not a dream or a spirit; and they thought it was spirit. So this time both Marys touched His feet. If John says that Mary Magdalene, although she tried to touch, was not allowed; it was because she wanted to always be with Him as before. Or rather, she was not allowed to touch Christ because it was unnecessary; for after she, according to Matthew, had already touched His feet, what was the need to touch another time? And therefore, as desiring superfluous, it is not allowed.

And as they went, some of the guards entered the city, and announced to the chief priests all that had happened. And they gathered together with the elders, and took counsel, and gave sufficient money to the soldiers, and said, Tell them that his disciples came by night and stole him while we slept; and if the news of this reaches the governor, we will convince him, and we will save you from trouble. And they took the money, and did as they had been taught; And this word has spread among the Jews to this day.

The guards announced everything, namely, that an earthquake had occurred, that the stone had fallen off of its own accord, and that they themselves were as dead from fear. But the Jews are not taught by what the soldiers testified to them; on the contrary, they still infect the soldiers with passion, that is, love of money, and advise them to say that which is most impious and foolish, that is, that the Lord has been stolen. But, you madmen! How could the disciples steal when they were locked up in fear and did not dare to go out and show themselves? If they had stolen, how would they have dared to die for Him afterwards, preaching that He had risen? How would you agree to suffer for a lie?