Matthew 28:2

And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it.

The Emphatic Diaglott makes clear that the earthquake in this place was different from that while Christ was upon the cross and which tore the rocks apart. The earth is not mentioned, but it says, "There was a great shaking." The other passage notes that the earth "trembled." Just what the difference was is not known.[1]

Poetic reference to this place was made by Whittier:

Ah well, for us all some sweet hope lies Deeply buried from human eyes; And in the hereafter some angel may Roll the stone from its grave away.[2]

This passage plainly reveals the power that broke the governmental seal on the tomb of Jesus. The flimsy falsehood of the Pharisees to the effect that the disciples did it while the soldiers were asleep is preposterous. G. Frederick Owen noted that:

Soft, moist clay was placed about the stone and the entrance to the tomb; the official seal was pressed into this clay, thus sealing it officially. It would be a great crime to break this seal fixed by government authority, and would bring severe punishment.[3]

Nor should it be supposed that the angel rolled away the stone to let the Lord out, but rather to let the witnesses in! The proof of the statement that an angel rolled the stone away is in itself. If an angel did not do it, who did? After the custom of such things, the stone was larger than could have been removed by less than several men. If any group of men had done it, one may be certain that the Pharisees would have found it out, preferred charges, and pressed them to the limit. That even a whole group of women could not have removed the stone is seen in Mark's account that "They were saying among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the tomb?" (Mark 16:3). Apparently they had no knowledge of the seal and the guard.

[1] Emphatic Diaglott (Brooklyn, New York: Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society).

[2] John Greenleaf Whittier, "Maud Muller" (from Bartlett's Quotations).

[3] G. Fredrick Owen, Archeology and the Bible (Westwood, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1961), p. 73.