Matt.28:1,2 – Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.
Rom.1:4 – who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,
It’s impossible to over estimate the power of God that was released when Jesus was raised from the dead. As Jonathan Edwards would say, “infinite upon infinite”, if God’s power is indeed infinite how could we begin to grasp it? I suppose all of us believe in God’s infinite power in theory but when we run into this power for ourselves it is an entirely different story. That first Easter morning proved this to be true, none of the closest followers of Jesus really expected a resurrection, at least not now and not quite so overwhelming. When the women made their way to the tomb that first Easter morning they were confronted with a stone that had impossibly been removed, an empty tomb, and two angels waiting on guard at the tomb, apparently the Roman soldiers had run for their lives. This was the first taste for any humans of the power of the resurrection, their lives could never be the same.
Over the next few weeks the disciples had several encounters with the resurrected Lord themselves. Then there was the ascension of Jesus to the right hand of God and the rushing mighty wind at Pentecost, and the incredible harvest of converts in Jerusalem. All that was left for them to do now was to tell their story. They were all witnesses of the power of the resurrection and that became their message, He was dead but now He is alive forever. Paul said that their preaching was now a demonstration of the resurrection power of Jesus, what else could explain the impact they were having on their world? Jesus was alive and He was confirming this by the resurrection power on display through His signs and wonders.