Matthew, chapter 28, comments

 

Matthew 28:1 ¶  In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2  And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 3  His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: 4  And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. 5  And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. 6  He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7  And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. 8  And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. 9  And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. 10  Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.

The first day of the week, the day of Christ’s resurrection, has always held an important place in the history of the Christian church. Notice here how God uses a natural force, an earthquake, as the method by which His angel, His appearance, which we can be assured is Christ Himself unrecognized by the women, as an angel is an appearance of someone whose actual physical person is somewhere else, removes the stone.

Christ is the appearance of God; the angel of the Lord, His presence, as God the Father is a Spirit.

Isaiah 63:9  In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

Galatians 4:14  And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

Who led the Hebrews out of Egypt.

Judges 2:1 ¶  And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

Also notice His appearance.

Revelation 1:14  His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15  And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

The guards, whether they were Roman soldiers, Temple guards, or a combination of both, quaked in fear and could not act, frozen in their panic. For what could have been battle hardened veterans serving in a very hostile part of the empire this appearance must have been pretty remarkable.

The angel of the Lord declares that Christ is risen, that He is not there for them to see, and that they were to go tell the others that He will meet them in Galilee. First, though, Christ shows who He is to the women. Then, He repeats the order to tell the disciples to meet Him in Galilee as He had already told them He would meet them there.

Matthew 26:32  But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.

As I said before I did not want to make my study of Matthew a harmonization of the Gospels. There are variations in the eyewitness accounts, which there should be if they are genuine. People remember things differently and witness things differently. It is a testimony to the Holy Spirit’s involvement in the preservation of the Bible that scribes and translators did not feel justified in making every account line up with every other. It is also clear that the Gospel writers did not copy each other as skeptics sometimes say. So, there are some differences in the description of what happened. I would say that is due to the difference of whether a writer was there physically or was reporting the event as it was told to them by someone else. If four different people give an account of an event and the accounts are exactly the same then they all got together to create the narratives they present and are not trustworthy but if there are variations in their accounts the situation is more believable.

Notice also in verse 8, the great fear and the great joy the women had. Certainly, these two feelings show this to be an overwhelming event.

Matthew 28:11 ¶  Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. 12  And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, 13  Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. 14  And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. 15  So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

In verse 27:65 Pilate suggests they have a watch so make the tomb as sure as they can. Verse 11 suggests that it was the Temple Watch as they report to the Chief Priests and yet the bribe is said to be paid to the soldiers so again we have the question of whether or not it was the Temple Guards alone or a combination of the The Guards and Roman soldiers or just Roman soldiers. However, Roman soldiers asleep at their guard duty would have required a punishment of execution. Whatever the case, the Jews believed Jesus’ body had been taken by His followers based on this lie.

Matthew 28:16 ¶  Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17  And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. 18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Verse 16 shows that not every one of the eleven were convinced that He had risen from the dead. Some doubted. But here was the evidence right in front of them. Jesus has risen and returned to interact with His disciples.

For verse 18 I want to point out two different statements that Jesus made.

Matthew 11:27  All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

Matthew 16:28  Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

It is through the risen Jesus that man can approach God.

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Acts 4:12  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

The Lord Jesus Christ, the risen Saviour of mankind, is how God achieves His ministry of reconciling mankind, whosever will, to Himself. Christ is the bridge between Heaven and Earth, Jacob’s ladder, if you will.

We now await His return to call us, His church, out and to rule over the kingdoms of the earth.

1Corinthians 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Revelation 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

But in the meantime we are given a task, an assignment. It is popularly called The Great Commission. Some hyperliteralists insist that only the chosen Apostles were called to teach all nations and this would not even include Paul, so it is a nonsensical belief that we are not all called to this task.

Christ references the three parts of God, popularly called the Trinity, a word not found in the Bible.  There are other references to the three parts of God. Examples within a single verse are;

2Corinthians 13:14  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

1John 5:7  For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

His disciples were commanded to teach all nations teaching them to observe all things that Christ had commanded.  For you Greekophiles we have teach and teaching from two different words in Greek so as much as many evangelicals get twisted in knots around “make disciples of” let me just say that the command to teach strongly suggests the making of a disciple. I don’t understand how you can be taught truthfully and fully the doctrines set forth in the Bible and not be wholly convinced of their truth and follow Jesus as a result.

While we are doing this Christ will always be with us. As I write commentaries on the Bible that are seen around the world I am counting on this promise. I can’t do it without His consent or help even as I tell people that it doesn’t matter whether they think I’m right or wrong in my interpretations but that they just go and do likewise.

Hebrews 13:5b  …for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

So the Gospel According to Matthew ends.