От Матфея 26:3

GLORIOUS ANGELIC ANNOUNCEMENT ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, THAT CHRIST IS RISEN--HIS APPEARANCE TO THE WOMEN--THE GUARDS BRIBED TO GIVE A FALSE ACCOUNT OF THE RESURRECTION. ( = Mar 16:1-8; Luk 24:1-8; Joh 20:1). (Mat 28:1-15) In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn--after the Sabbath, as it grew toward daylight. toward the first day of the week--Luke (Luk 24:1) has it, "very early in the morning"--properly, "at the first appearance of daybreak"; and corresponding with this, John (Joh 20:1) says, "when it was yet dark." See on Mar 16:2. Not an hour, it would seem, was lost by those dear lovers of the Lord Jesus. came Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary--"the mother of James and Joses" (see on Mat 27:56; Mat 27:61). to see the sepulchre--with a view to the anointing of the body, for which they had made all their preparations. (See on Mar 16:1-2). And, behold, there was--that is, there had been, before the arrival of the women. a great earthquake; for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, &c.--And this was the state of things when the women drew near. Some judicious critics think all this was transacted while the women were approaching; but the view we have given, which is the prevalent one, seems the more natural. All this august preparation--recorded by Matthew alone--bespoke the grandeur of the exit which was to follow. The angel sat upon the huge stone, to overawe, with the lightning--luster that darted from him, the Roman guard, and do honor to his rising Lord.

26:3 The residence of Caiaphas, the high priest, was near the Temple in Jerusalem’s Upper City. Since it was not the normal meeting place, this gathering was ad hoc, urgent, and probably secretive. The council chamber, the traditional meeting place for the Sanhedrin, was located either at the southern end of the Court of the Israelites in the Temple, or on the western edge of the Temple hill. • Joseph Caiaphas, son-in-law of Annas (see John 18:13), was high priest from AD 18 to 36 (John 11:49), the longest tenure of any high priest from the time of Herod’s rule until AD 70. His father-in-law, Annas, had been deposed but continued to be called high priest as well (see Luke 3:2; John 18:13, 19-24).