[And He Walks With Me] Matthew 28
1 While the Sabbath technically ended at sundown Saturday night. Mark 16:1 reveals that the women went to purchase supplies when the Sabbath was over and shops reopened, which meant it was dark by the time they could have started for the tomb. It would have been difficult for the women to safely visit the tomb in the dark, and although they would be working inside the tomb, their work would be much easier with sunlight streaming through the cave entrance rather than just a couple of lamps.
The other Mary was Mary the mother of James and Joseph in 27:56, 61. See notes at 27:55-56.
To modern readers, the timeline of the crucifixion and resurrection can be confusing because, while the crucifixion happened the day before the Sabbath (i.e., Friday) and the resurrection occurred the day after the Sabbath (i.e., Sunday), the resurrection is often described as happening “three days later” or “on the third day.” In fact, the two events were separated by no more than about 40 hours, and modern readers understand Sunday as coming two days after Friday. The discrepancy is rooted in two subtle contextual details. First, the mathematical concept of zero as a number would not be formalized until the fifth century CE. This was a large part of the second contextual detail, that days were counted inclusively, meaning that any portion of the first and last days of the interval were counted as full days. To illustrate this, ancient people were like small children playing board games: they still counted the space they were on. Thus, Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried on Friday before sundown, day 1. The Sabbath, day 2, ran from Friday sundown until sundown Saturday. And day 3 began at sundown Saturday.
2-4 There was nothing particularly unusual about earthquakes in the Jerusalem. See note on 27:51. Even so, the timing of this quake to coincide with the remarkable entrance of the angel led Matthew to recognize its supernatural cause. The use of the term because (Gk., gar (γὰρ – G1063)) indicates a causal relationship between the two and may suggest that the angel used the earthquake as the means by which the stone was removed.
Several elements of the angel’s appearance were even more shocking than modern readers may realize. (1) He descended from heaven. It is important to remember that, while there were myths of heroes (e.g., Hercules), both flight and the modern superhero were still two thousand years in the future. No one had ever seen anyone fly. (2) He approached the tomb with absolutely no regard for the soldiers guarding it. They are not even mentioned until after the angel was sitting on the stone, and then, they were so shaken by fear of him that they became like dead men. (3) He rolled back the stone by himself and casually was sitting on it as if it was no big deal. While tombs were designed so that the round stone would roll down a groove and settle into place, it took several men to move the stone up the groove and open the tomb. (4) His appearance was like lightning. Eighteen centuries before electricity, only two things glowed in the dark: fire and lightning. People could reproduce fire, but lightning was a whole different level of illumination. Moreover, while earthly lightning could illuminate the landscape for an instant, this angel’s light was steady and lasting. This was a clear indicator of his supernatural nature, but also may have served an important practical role as he flooded the whole area with light, bright as day, so the women could see everything that was – and was not – happening. (5) His clothing was as white as snow. Bleach was not invented until 1789. Therefore, the closest any launderer could come to pure white fabric was still dingy. Snow was the whitest thing the ancients knew. Each of these things on their own were clear indicators of a supernatural being. All of them together served to put an exclamation point on that observation. This was no mere mortal. He was undeniably an angel.
Roman troops were famous for their courage and obedience. They were trained to not freeze when entering into hand-to-hand combat with an enemy. They were not shaken by fear by any earthly thing.
5-6 Modern Christians who have heard the gospel accounts their entire lives will often miss the significance of the angel’s message, but it is imperative to recognize how ridiculous it was in and of itself. The women just saw the angel open the tomb, which had been sealed and guarded by soldiers since Friday night. How was Jesus not here? Further, the notion that he has risen was utterly absurd. The Romans were professional killers, and the women saw the guards pierce Jesus with a spear (see John 19:31-37). There was no way he was alive when they removed him from the cross, and given the absolute lack of medical technology, people were not resuscitated after a few minutes, let alone a couple of days. Yet, the angel offered two key pieces of evidence to support his proclamation. The first was himself, a clearly supernatural being. It was much easier to accept the possibility of the resurrection when the person who explained it to you could fly. See notes on vss 2-4. The second was their own eyes. They saw the tomb opened. Now, the angel invited them to come and see the place where he lay. More literally, the imperfect tense verb would be translated “was laying.” In the past, but not now. Now, he was gone because he was risen, alive, and every bit as supernatural as the angel. It is much easier to accept the possibility of the resurrection when you see the empty tomb with your own eyes. Indeed, there was no other way for the women to explain it because, even if Jesus had somehow survived the crucifixion, he still would have been trapped in that tomb until the stone was removed. It should be no surprise, then, that the gospel remains ridiculous in the ears of worldly people who do not have the advantages of hearing it from an angel or seeing the empty tomb with their own eyes. Reasonable minds require some sort of evidence to make the resurrection at least not unreasonable, but two thousand years removed from this scene, what evidence can be found? In fact, the most compelling arguments for the veracity of the resurrection have always been the God-enabled transformation of sinners into saints, Spirit-empowered boldness and ministry, and the peace of God, which is greater than circumstances would warrant given purely natural means. Such things do not happen naturally, and they stand as a powerful testimony: if these things are happening in and around the people bearing this ridiculous message, then maybe the ridiculous message is not so ridiculous after all.
7 Having heard the good news and seen for themselves that Jesus was not there, the women were now instructed to go quickly and tell his disciples. That is, the women became the first evangelists, charged with delivering the news to the Eleven and convincing them of its truth. Moreover, they were told to tell the disciples that Jesus was going ahead of [them] to Galilee and they will see him there. That is, if they could accept that Jesus was resurrected, then there were things to be done. They would need to obey. Faith must be more than cognitive assent. Authentic faith will produce in the follower of Christ the desire and resolve to obey.
The fact that women were the first people entrusted with the good news of the resurrection is key evidence in the case for women as preachers, teachers, and leaders in the Church. Opponents will insist that this is an exceptional situation, but they must explain why the risen Lord, no longer restricted by physical limitations, did not simply appear where the male disciples were. Indeed, the fact that the angel entrusted this task to the women prompted St. Thomas Aquinas to describe Mary Magdalene as the apostle to the apostles.
8 Once again, Matthew understated the situation. See note on 1:18-19. Compounding this, modern readers who have read or heard the story their entire lives simply skim past this simple, matter-of-fact statement. However, it is fitting for Christ followers to pause periodically and sit for a moment in verses like this. While it was technically accurate that they were departing quickly, one can only imagine that, after what they had just seen and heard, it was something of a mad scramble. While they certainly felt fear and great joy, there must have also been confusion, giddiness, shock, disbelief, grief, and many more things. The women must have thought themselves crazy or dreaming, and yet, they all saw and heard the same thing. It is no wonder the different gospel accounts present this departure differently. Matthew, for example, reported they ran to tell his disciples the news. However, Mark declared they said nothing to anyone, since they were afraid (16:8). Luke kept things cool: Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest (24:9). John 20:2, on the other hand, conveyed the frantic desperation the women must have felt as they tried to figure out how they would convince the Eleven to come and see what was going on. Instead of telling Peter and co. about the angel, etc., they went running and blurted, They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him! Taken together, the modern reader begins to understand the jumbled mess that this moment must have been in the hearts and minds of these women as they first learned of the greatest news ever told. We would do well to camp in this verse and truly grapple with the women’s experience lest the resurrection be reduced to a purely abstract, theoretical thing. Sit in this verse until the resurrection is real.
9-10 Again, the different gospels record this differently. Mark records no post-resurrection appearances. Luke skips the garden appearance to share the experience of the disciples en route to Emmaus. John focuses on Mary Magdalene and expands on this encounter. Again, the four gospels recorded the event from four different perspectives for four different audiences. The differences, then, are not contradictions or inconsistencies but purposeful choices that provide corroborating evidence and complementary details.
The angel in vs 7 said Jesus would meet the disciples in Galilee, but now in vss 9-10, he met the women. He repeated the angel’s instruction from vs 7, that the disciples would meet Jesus in Galilee, but both Luke and John reveal that he appeared to the disciples multiple times before they ever left Jerusalem. Jesus has a habit of underpromising and overdelivering. He rarely reveals the full magnitude of what he is going to do until we have stepped out in faithful obedience.
11-15 Word of the resurrection reached the chief priests and co. when some of the guards… reported… everything that had happened. And what a fantastic report that must have been! Yet, once again, instead of embracing the messiah right in front of them, the priests and elders… agreed on a plan. Essentially, the soldiers were bribed to tell people that Jesus’ disciples stole the body. This lie would be circulated among the Jews for centuries because, superficially, it seems plausible. Upon closer inspection, however, it is almost more incredible than the truth. You see, the story hung on the entire squad falling asleep. This was unlikely: even if one guard dozed, it is doubtful the entire group would fall asleep so soundly that they missed a crew of disciples arriving, opening the tomb, and carrying the body away. Moreover, it was deadly. These guards were ordered to secure the tomb, and the penalty for disobeying an order or falling asleep on duty was death. This is why the elders had to give them a large sum of money (12) and promise to keep [them] out of trouble (14). The fact they remained alive to attest the rumor, then, is highly problematic for the story. If the story was true, then the guards would not be alive to tell people because the Romans would want to execute them and the Jews would have no reason to stop them.
16-20 Both Luke and John record a number of post-resurrection appearances while the disciples were still in and around Jerusalem. 1 Corinthians 15:6-8 indicates that Jesus once appeared to more than 500 people and to James alone, although none of the gospels record these. Matthew, in particular, wrote his gospel primarily for a Jewish audience and therefore provided only two positive witnesses in the form of the angelic testimony (vss 2-7) and the women’s confirming encounter (vss 8-10) and an explanation for the story circulated among Jews (vss 11-15). This was necessary to satisfy the requirements of Deuteronomy 19:5: A fact must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. Yet, it is remarkable that Matthew did not include his own encounters with the resurrected Jesus (e.g., Luke 24:36-49; John 20:26-29; 21:1-14). Instead, he focused on the testimony of an angel, who could never be tracked down for confirmation, and a woman, who was not allowed to testify in a Jewish court, and he allowed the mere fact that he recorded the gospel to stand as his quiet affirmation that it all happened. In a way, though, this actually adds credibility to the account. Matthew clearly recognized that the resurrection would forever be the most unbelievable point in the gospel, but rather than line up corroborating witnesses or add details in a futile attempt to make the story more believable, he accepted that no amount of testimony would negate the fact that his readers ultimately needed faith. And he trusted that, if they had reached this point and believed the rest of his account (e.g., the virgin birth, the miracles), then the resurrection was just another reasonable step of faith: of course, a man who could do those things could come back from the dead. Ultimately, though, Matthew also recognized that the single greatest piece of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus will never be a written or spoken account of the event itself. Rather, it will always be the life that is transformed by the risen Christ working in his follower through the power of the Holy Spirit.
It should also be noted that Matthew has throughout his gospel established a pattern of understating the most important points. He does not waste time trying to explain things that are inexplicable, and he allows the reader to grapple with their ramifications.
There were only eleven disciples remaining because Judas killed himself after betraying Jesus. See Matthew 27:3-10; Acts 1:18-19. This seemingly trivial detail holds great significance in that Judas was excluded, but each of the others also betrayed Jesus. They all fled from the garden (see 26:56), and Peter, in particular, famously denied him three times (see 26:69-75). Yet, they were still counted.[341] This suggests that Judas was excluded only because he was dead, and God’s grace is not nearly as fragile as some would believe. The Christian may, through consistent rejection of Christ’s character and command (i.e., sin), fall away from grace (see Hebrews 6:4-8), but it is not broken by one weak moment or anomalous sin.
17 The disciples’ response to seeing Jesus is remarkable: they worshiped, but some doubted. The Greek term rendered worshiped is prosekunesan (προσεκύνησαν – G4352). Literally, it means “to kiss the hand to (toward) one, in token of reverence,” but it came to be used among Persians to mean “to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence.”[342] The disciples’ entire experience with Jesus, from his teachings and miracles to his death and resurrection, was designed so that they would recognize him as the Son of God, and worship was the appropriate response to this. Yet, doubt remained. The Greek word rendered doubted is edistasan (ἐδίστασαν – G1365), meaning “to waver (in opinion)” or “to doubt.”[343] Exactly what Matthew meant by this is a matter of some debate. While some scholars believe this doubt stemmed from puzzlement and fear which prevented a number of the disciples “from giving over their full confidence to the One whom they understand Jesus to be,” others believe it arose merely from “uncertainty or hesitancy about a particular course of action” (i.e., what they should do now).[344] Given the situation, it would seem that both interpretations are plausible and may have actually co-existed within the disciples at this moment. A third group of scholars suggests that the some who doubted were disciples who were disciples distinguished from the eleven (vs 16) in that they had not yet seen the risen Jesus and therefore still doubted who Jesus is and/or the veracity of the resurrection. These scholars observe that this sort of doubt is incompatible with worship,[345] but the juxtaposition of the two concepts would seem to indicate otherwise. Indeed, there is no need for faith unless one has at least some reason to doubt. This is what the author of Hebrews meant when he/she said, Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen (11:1). The difference between what is hoped for and what is seen is 100% certainty. Thus, the enemy of faith is not doubt but certainty, and where there is no doubt, neither can there ever be faith.
18-20 Matthew’s gospel has been building to these final verses in which Jesus passes the torch of his ministry to his disciples. This Great Commission serves as the gospel’s climax as Jesus reveals what he expects those who believe in and follow him to do and the gospel writer poses the implicit question: Will you do it?
Time and again in the gospels, Jesus rejected people who entered into the conversation with no intention of believing and asked questions to trap him rather than to learn and understand. However, when Jesus came near the disciples who both worshiped and doubted (17), he demonstrated that he does not expect his followers to have everything figured out with complete and utter certainty and confidence. Indeed, he honors this mixture! This is what he meant in Matthew 5:3 when he pronounced, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
In English, sentences typically have a formulaic structure of subject-verb-predicate. In Greek, the original language of the New Testament, this order is not nearly as important because the form of the words dictates their function. For example, the subject could be at the end of the sentence as long as it is in the nominative case. Consequently, Greek speakers and writers often shuffled the order of the sentence in order to emphasize certain aspects. Here, the phrase which Jesus emphasized was Edothe moi (Ἐδόθη μοι) meaning “It is given to me.” The verb here is in the aorist tense, meaning that it happened at a specific point in the past, and passive voice, suggesting that the action was done by God the Father. The term also suggests legitimacy: it was proper and right for Jesus to possess all authority. In fact, this legitimacy was reinforced and emphasized with the use of the word exousia (ἐξουσία – G1849) for authority. This term indicated both the ability to do things and the right to do them.[346]
Notice the repeated use of all / everything / always. The Greek term for these was pas (πᾶς – G3956), and it appeared four times in vss 18-20. Repetition was a common way to emphasize something in the Bible. In this case, Jesus aimed to emphasize his absolute authority over all nations, to command all things, throughout all time.
19-20 These vss must be understood as a primary command with three clarifying participles explaining what that will entail. The primary command is to make disciples. How do we do this? By going, baptizing, and teaching. Each of these describes a phase of the disciple-making process.
To make disciples is to adopt the same strategy as Jesus when he called his first disciples. This was nothing short of “calling individuals to absolute commitment to the person of Jesus as one’s sole Master and Lord.”[347] Being a disciple carried the additional expectation of eventually propagating the master’s teachings to another generation of disciples. That is, disciples were expected to be wholly committed to Jesus and make more disciples who were also wholly committed to Jesus.
Going evoked one of the major differences between Jesus and other teachers. Whereas most teachers of the day expected students to come to them, Jesus went out to prospective disciples and invited them to follow. Now, Jesus commissioned his disciples to adopt the same strategy. In doing so, he made clear that being his disciple was not to be a static thing where one stays forever in one place. Instead, his disciples will be moving, growing, and serving wherever they went. It made clear that being his disciple was not to be a passive thing but that they were to take the initiative to engage those who do not yet follow on their terms, in their comfort zones, and invite them to step out of such things into Christ.
Baptizing was not original to Jesus. See note on Matthew 3:11. It is, however, important to understand what it entailed. From its earliest origins, the act of submerging someone into water symbolized burying them as if they were dead to their former belief structure and way of life, and the act of bringing them up again symbolized their unswerving commitment to a new belief structure and way of life. That is, a person who was baptized was adopting an entirely new primary identification. No longer were they Jewish (or pagan, male, female, wealthy, poor, etc.), but they were first and foremost Christ followers. Jesus went on to specify that his disciples would baptize people in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Although it was probably not fully recognized by the disciples at the time, this trinitarian formula marked a significant departure from their Jewish beliefs. Jews are staunchly monotheistic, but here, Jesus raised the Son (i.e., himself) and the Holy Spirit, whom the angels had heard about but only barely experienced, to the same level. Indeed, the Trinity and all of its implications and ramifications are the most distinctive tenet of Christianity. For all these reasons, plus the fact that the earliest Christians were generally baptized immediately after making the decision to follow Jesus, baptism and salvation in the New Testament were often conflated into a singular event. Thus, baptizing here is tantamount to making new followers of Jesus.
Teaching was the third aspect of this commission. Several things must be noted at this juncture. First, teaching was not the same as dictating or bullying. The best teachers present concepts in a variety of ways so that their students will understand, and then they help their students apply those principles in real life. They expect confusion, questions, and mistakes. They go back and review because students forget. And they are generally patient and gentle in all of this. So also, followers of Christ must be patient and gentle as they teach. Second, discipleship was not merely about cognitive understanding. It was not enough for new disciples to memorize Jesus’ commands. They needed to observe or obey them. This expectation should be baked into our discipleship efforts. And third, they were specifically supposed to observe everything [Christ had] commanded. That is, they could know what Mohammed or some other prophet commanded, but they were to do what Christ commanded. Not just a cherrypicked portion of what Christ commanded, either. Everything. That is, we must not be satisfied simply with making that initial decision to follow Christ. Rather, we must pursue him until every aspect of our lives is under his lordship and we are fully congruent with his character and command.
Another distinctive of the Great Commission is found in who the disciples were to disciple. All nations did not carry the same sociopolitical overtones in the first century as it does today. The disciples understood that there were people outside the Roman Empire, but everyone and everything they knew was within its bounds. Political boundaries, therefore, were meaningless. The word Jesus used here, however, was ethne (ἔθνη – G1484) and primarily concerned people groups and ethnicity. Consequently, it was a much broader term, encompassing anything and everything that distinguished one group of people from another. This would obviously include political boundaries, but the disciples understood this to mean that the gospel was for Samaritans and Gentiles as well as Jews. It was for people of every language and skin tone. It did not matter how they dressed or what they ate. Christ followers are commissioned by Jesus to share the gospel with all kinds of people, wherever they may be found.
And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age served as a critical reminder that this mission was not the disciples’ alone. This is not a lament of what was in the past-tense nor a fanciful dream of how things will be – future tense – when we reach glory. No, it is a present-tense reality that Jesus remains actively engaged in the disciple-making process, and the preposition with suggests how. First, the term suggests proximity. Jesus was no longer going to be physically close to the disciples, but through the Holy Spirit, he would be spiritually close. In fact, as we learn to obey all he has commanded and work to invite others to follow Christ, he draws near to us (see James 4:8). Our recognition of his character is improved, our understanding of his will is expanded, and the bonds of our relationship and faith are strengthened. Second, the term suggests alignment. That is, as long as the disciples worked to make disciples in this way, Jesus would be on their side, cheering them on. This is crucial because it means that Jesus is not there as a scout or critic, scoring us on how well we did or pointing out every flaw in our performance. Rather, when we are doing well, he can be heard over the rest of the crowd, cheering for us to do our God-enabled best, and when we are doing poorly, and the rest of the crowd has grown silent or even disappeared, he remains the lone voice encouraging us to get up and try again. Third, the term suggests direct support. In John 15:26, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to testify about him. That is, the Holy Spirit will be an active participant in the process of making disciples, helping us to execute the mission he gave us. All of this is crucial because, as Roger Hahn observed, we live in “a period of time when the present, evil age… [overlaps] the age of the Messiah, the kingdom of God. In that overlap, the Church lives in confidence because of Jesus’ final promise: surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”[348] The Great Commission, then, is akin to the liberation of Europe during World War II. Victory may be secure, but there are still a great number of battles between here and there. There will be challenges, setbacks, and outright defeats, but Jesus remains with us every step of the way. This promise is affirmed by the Greek term idou (ἰδού – G2400), meaning “behold” or “see.”[349] This word served to emphasize what Jesus was about to say, but it also evokes the notion of Hebrews 11:1: Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. Namely, something which is seen is absolutely certain. That is, as we engage in this mission, we will find more and more evidence that Jesus is, in fact, with us, leading to increasing confidence until we are more sure of him and his presence than anything else. Notice, however, the one catch! The conjunction and serves several functions. It is a connecting word, meaning that the presence of Jesus is absolutely guaranteed. That is, he is always close even when we ignore him, on our side even when we do things that are contrary to our own interests, and cheering us on even when our efforts are not yielding the results we desire. Yet, it also indicates a causal connection, indicating that Jesus’ presence is somehow contingent upon our effort to make disciples. Put another way, if we will not fully commit ourselves to going, baptizing, and teaching, then we should not expect him to be fully committed to being with us. This may seem like a contradiction unless you think of him as the one fan who keeps cheering even after the team has given up. The fan is still there and faithful to the cause; it is the team that has the problem.
[341] Wilkins 2004, Matthew 28:16-17
[342] “G4352 – proskyneō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (KJV)”, n.d.
[343] “G1365 – distazō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (KJV)”, n.d.
[344] Wilkins 2004, Matthew 28:16-17
[345] Wilkins 2004, Matthew 28:16-17
[346] McCown 1992, Matthew 28:1-20
[347] Wilkins 2004, Matthew 28:18-20
[348] Hahn 2013, Matthew 28:16-20
[349] “G2400 – idou – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (KJV)”, n.d.