"God has raised him to life, just as Jesus said he would."

The Sabbath was over, and it was almost daybreak on Sunday when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.  Suddenly a strong earthquake struck, and the Lord's angel came down from heaven.  He rolled away the stone and sat on it.  The angel looked as bright as lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.  The guards shook from fear and fell down, as though they were dead.

The angel said to the women, "Don't be afraid!  I know you are looking for Jesus, who was nailed to a cross.  He isn't here!  God has raised him to life, just as Jesus said he would.  Come, see the place where his body was lying.  Now hurry!  Tell his disciples that he has been raised to life and is on his way to Galilee.  Go there, and you will see him.  That is what I came to tell you."

The women were frightened and yet very happy, as they hurried from the tomb and ran to tell his disciples.  Suddenly Jesus met them and greeted them.  They went near him, held on to his feet, and worshiped him.  Then Jesus said, "Don't be afraid!  Tell my followers to go to Galilee.  They will see me there."

While the women were on their way, some soldiers who had been guarding the tomb went into the city.  They told the chief priests everything that had happened.  So the chief priests met with the leaders and decided to bribe the soldiers with a lot of money.  They said to the soldiers, "Tell everyone that Jesus' disciples came during the night and stole his body while you were asleep.  If the governor hears about this, we will talk to him.  You won't have anything to worry about."  The soldiers took the money and did what they were told.  The people of Judea still tell each other this story.

Jesus' eleven disciples went to a mountain in Galilee, where Jesus had told them to meet him.  They saw him and worshiped him, but some of them doubted.

Jesus came to them and said:

I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth!  Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples.  Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you.  I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.

                                                                                         Matthew 28:1-20

Contemporary English Version The Holy Bible (New York , NY: American Bible Society 1995)