We have seen that the Book of Matthew is clearly a book concerning Christ versus religion. Now we come to the last chapter of this book. It is not a long chapter—indeed it is rather short—but its entire record is full of the contrast between Christ and religion. From the beginning to the end we may see the difference and the distance between Christ and religion.
In verse one we read, "In the end of the sabbath..." (King James Version). The sabbath, we know, was the symbol of the old Jewish religion. Therefore, when we read "In the end of the sabbath," it means at the end of the old religion. Hallelujah! The resurrection of Christ is the end of the old religion. A new age has dawned, the age of the resurrected Christ, not the old age of the old religion. We read further, "As it began to dawn toward the first day of the week..." Something was dawning—it was the resurrection of Christ. Something ended and something began.
Now notice that it was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary who came to see the sepulchre. There is much significance, we know, in whatever the Bible says. We must realize that in the Old Testament every great event was always revealed to men, not to women. It is rather difficult to find one case in the Old Testament where God revealed anything firstly to a woman. In the Old Testament women were not reckoned. But here we read that the new start of the new age was discovered not by men, but by women. And all the women here were of the same name—Mary. There were no males—just females. This was against the old way, against the religious regulation. The old way was always with the men, but the new way is always with the women. I hope that the brothers will say, Hallelujah!
Let me check with you all, especially the brothers. Are you male or female? Today in the new age we must answer, spiritually speaking, that we are all females, we are all Marys. This is the vision; this is the new beginning.
It is not a small thing to discover the resurrection of Christ. We must be clear that the resurrection had occurred already, but before the women went there it was not discovered. In the end of chapter 27 we read that the chief priests and Pharisees sealed the grave with a stone and set a watch. But they never witnessed the resurrection. The stone was still there, but Jesus was gone. Apparently nothing had happened. Nobody knew that Jesus was resurrected, but by the coming of these Marys it was discovered. We read that there was a great earthquake and an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled away the stone (v. 2). Why did he roll away the stone? To let Jesus out? No! It was to show the sisters that the tomb was empty.
The Lord's way today is not according to the old way. The age has changed. His resurrection was not discovered by men, but by women. Spiritually speaking, this is not the age of men, but the age of women. According to religion everything must be revealed to men; but here is something discovered by women. This is entirely contrary to religion.