I was listening to Hugh Nibley’s lecture on 3 Nephi 9-10 about the day Jesus appeared to Mary. There had been a big earthquake when Christ died, and some people thought the stone blocking His tomb was moved by the quake. They were afraid, and when they saw Jesus, they thought he was a ghost. Jesus appears to Mary and says, don’t be afraid.
It was very early on the Sabbath, when it was still dark. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the tomb (notice the Book of Mormon at the time of the crucifixion), and there was a tremendous earthquake as they went. Earthquakes are very common in that part of the country; that’s right on a very active earthquake belt. It’s the jauf, the great depression sunk in there. That’s the great rift that runs through Africa and right up through Palestine there. There was a terrific earthquake [Matthew 28:2], and an angel of the Lord came down and rolled the stone away from in front of the tomb. And then what happened? They saw him. People rationalize and say, “Well, obviously it was the earthquake that rolled the stone away.” But no, they said they saw him, [verse 3] “And his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow.” They always talk about the garments white as snow. That’s uniform. That is the basic white that’s worn in the celestial kingdom.
Those who were there to perform the ordinances were scared to death, and they shook like the earth and fell down as if they were dead. [This refers to] those who were sent to watch the tomb, to carry out the necessary protection of the tomb—probably the Roman soldiers. It doesn’t say they were the Roman soldiers, but they passed out and fell as if dead at the sight of the angel. They couldn’t take it.
Verse 5: “And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye.” See, the angel always says, “Don’t be afraid.” There’s the cultural shock. He says, don’t be afraid of me at all for I know that it is Jesus who was crucified whom you’re looking for. You won’t find him here. He’s risen and gone just as he said he would.2 Come on and look if you don’t believe me. They’re always being asked to look and test and see with their eyes, etc. Come here and look. This is the place where they laid him. See, he isn’t there, immediately having risen up. After they have seen it, then he says, now you hurry off as fast as you can and tell what you’ve seen to the disciples, that he has risen from the dead. And then that he would meet them in Galilee.
Now, you see, this was just an angel, but they were absolutely overwhelmed at what had happened, naturally. And he was to meet them there. And they left the tomb with fear and rejoicing. They were frightened. They were overawed and very happy at the same time, with great fear and rejoicing. They ran away as fast as they could and announced it to the apostles that Jesus had actually risen. And “behold, Jesus met them.” He was standing right smack in front of them and met them face to face saying, good morning, how are you this morning? The word was chaire. It means cheer. Our word cheer comes from that. And when they saw him they grabbed him by the feet so he couldn’t go any farther, and Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid”—again, you see. You go and tell what you’ve seen to my brethren, and tell them that they should go to Galilee and meet with me. They’ll have a chance to see me there. (transcript)
There is a lot more in the transcript, you can listen to it above or read it.
