Introductory remarks:
Chapter twenty-eight begins with Mary of Magdela and the other Mary coming to the tomb where Jesus was buried, to anoint His body, but find He has now arisen.
Shepherd writes:
"Jesus was buried shortly before sunset on Friday afternoon, lay in the grave through Saturday, and rose from the dead before sunrise on Sunday morning. The Gospels record seven times that He had said He would rise from the dead on the third day. This could not mean after seventy-two hours. The method of calculating time among the Jews, Greeks, and Romans would make the three days in the tomb mean one whole day and part of each of the two other days.
For three days after the burial, the Jews had the custom of visiting the sepulcher to see if the soul - which, by popular tradition hovered about the sepulcher - had returned to the body. But the apostles wisely avoided visiting the tomb of Jesus and uselessly exposing themselves to the suspicion and fury of the determined and triumphant rulers of the Jews, who would be glad to do them what they had done to Jesus."
This chapter is outlined thus: the resurrection of Jesus vs. 1-10; the report of the guard, vs. 11-15; the commissioning of the disciples vs. 16-20.
The Resurrection of Jesus
(Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-10)
Verse 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 sepulcher."
LGT "Now late on the Sabbath, as it was getting dark toward [the] first [day] of [the] week, Mary the Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the sepulcher."
The Jewish Sabbath is on Saturday and the first day of the week is Sunday, so the women were coming to the tomb early Sunday morning to anoint the body of Jesus. Christ arose on the first day of the week, so our Christian Sunday is always a memorial of Christ's resurrection.
Verse 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."
LGT "And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for an angel of the Lord, having descended out of heaven, having come rolled away the stone and was sitting upon it."
The earthquake was a sign that the Lord had risen. "The earth trembled with sorrow at the death of our Lord, but here it leaped for joy at His resurrection." "The stone was rolled away, not to let the Lord out, but to let the women and disciples in" (H.A. Ironside).
Verse 3, "His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow,"
LGT "And His appearance was as lightning, and His raiment white as snow."
The word 'countenance' in the English language means the 'face', but here it refers to the angel's entire manifestation. The point of this verse is to establish to us that the angel appeared visibly.
Verse 4, "And for fear of him the keepers shake, and became as dead men."
LGT "And for fear of him, the ones keeping guard trembled, and became as dead [men]."
"The keepers, through fear of the angel, were shaken as by an earthquake, and became as dead men - stupefied, helpless, totally incapacitated for action by way of preventing what is assumed, though not directly stated, to have happened. The resurrection is not described" (The Expositor's Greek New Testament).
Verse 5, "And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified."
LGT "But the angel answering said to the women, You all fear not: for I know that you are seeking Jesus, the crucified."
The angel speaks to sooth the women, for he knows that they are seeking the Crucified One. The other Gospel accounts fill in the details that Matthew leaves out; there were two angels, but Matthew only records one, probably because only one spoke to them. As I said in the last chapter, this is not a synopsis, but simply an exposition on Matthew's account.
Verse 6, "He is not here; for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay."
LGT "He is not here, for He is risen, just as He said: come see the place where He lay."
This verse is the very center of our faith, as the Apostle Paul said, If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins (1 Cor. 15:17). "His body was not there. It will not do to say that Jesus arose in spirit and appeared alive though his body remained in the tomb. The empty tomb is the first great fact confronting the women and later the men. Various theories were offered then as now. But none of them satisfy the evidence and explain the survival of faith and hope in the disciples that do not rest upon the fact of the Risen Christ whose body was no longer in the tomb" (Robertson).
Verse 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."
LGT "And quickly going say to His disciples that He is risen from the dead: and, behold, He goes before you into Galilee, there you shall see Him: lo, I have told you."
One of the angels commands the women to go quickly and tell the disciples that Jesus has risen as He had predicted, but after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee (Matt. 26:32).
Verse 8, "And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word."
LGT "And having gone away quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, they ran to announce [it] to His disciples."
"With fear and great joy;"
The women ran out immediately with great anxiety 1st at what they had witnessed at the empty tomb, and then 2nd with great joy at the news that Christ had risen; so they were filled with mixed emotions and were filled with delight that they had the Good News to tell the disciples.
Verse 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."
LGT "And, behold, Jesus met them, saying, Hail. And they having come to [Him], seized hold of His feet and worshipped Him."
In John's Gospel Christ told Mary Magdalene not to touch her, however, here He is presented to the women after He had ascended to His Father, that is, He is now glorified. Jesus greeted the women with a word 'hail' meaning 'Joy to you.' The women fell at His feet and worshipped him; Jesus allowed this because He is the Son of God, but better yet, He is now their big Brother.
Verse 10, "Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me."
LGT "Then He says to them, Do not be afraid: Go and tell My brethren that they go into Galilee, and there I shall see them."
I believe there is something very wonderful that Matthew has recorded here about the women being first to see the Lord after His resurrection. It seems as though the Lord is rewarding them for not leaving Him as the disciples had at the cross. John was the only one of the disciples that did not abandon the Lord; remember that John recorded that Jesus committed His mother to John's home, and told him to take her and care for her.
The Report of the Guard
Verse 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."
LGT "And as they were going, lo, some of the guard, having gone into the city, reported to the chief priests everything that was done."
As the women go on their errand, then some of the soldiers go on their own; the soldiers only knew that the stone was rolled away and that Christ was no longer in the tomb. The soldiers feared for their lives, for the penalty of losing the body would have been death. The report they gave the Sanhedrin was true as far as they knew.
Verses 12, 13, "And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept."
LGT "And having been gathered together with the elders, having taken counsel, they gave much money to the soldiers, saying, Say that His disciples having come by night, stole Him, we being asleep."
For the Sanhedrin to concoct such a story suggests that they believed that Jesus really had resurrected as He predicted. It was a very simple minded thing for these religious rulers to think that a Roman soldier would endanger their own lives for money, so they made them feel secure that they would come to their aid. Robertson believed that the Sanhedrin were not convinced of the resurrection; however, I believe they were, for the simple reason there is a big difference between believing something, and truly accepting something; a person can believe that Jesus was truly an historic person, without accepting Him as the Son of God. The Sanhedrin had passed the point of return in their evil deeds; they had made such outrageous charges against our Savior, that it was too late now to turn back and admit that they crucified the Lord of Glory.
Verse 14, "And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you."
LGT "And if this be heard by the governor, we will persuade [him], will make you free from care."
The counsel says that they will persuade Pilate and alleviate the soldiers of any of their cares. Robertson says about the lie of the disciples stealing the body of Jesus, "This lie lives on through the ages with the Jews, in their unbelief." The priest believe that their money could work with the soldiers as it had with Judas, and I am sure in their minds they were planning on bribing Pilate as well.
Verse 15, "So they took the money, and did as they were taught; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day."
LGT "And they, having taken the money, did as they were taught: and this report is spread abroad among [the] Jews until the present."
The soldiers did as they were instructed and invented an alibi that the body of Jesus was stolen, and Matthew writes that it lives on even until the century he wrote his Gospel.
McGee adds:
"A bribe aided in persuading them to offer this feeble excuse. This was the first century alibi to explain away the resurrection of Christ. Unbelief has now had nineteen centuries to think it over, and there are other alibis. However, none yet have been offered that can explain away the documentary evidence."
The Commissioning of the Disciples
(Mark 16:14-18; Luke 24:36-49; John 20:19-23; Acts 1:6-8)
Verse 16, "Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them."
LGT "But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, into the mountain which Jesus appointed to them."
The article before 'mountain,' seems to suggest that the disciples and Jesus had a meeting place familiar to both. Judas, being dead, there were eleven disciples left, until Paul will join their ranks.
Verse 17, "And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted."
LGT "And seeing Him, they worshipped [Him], but some doubted."
These disciples were not as demonstrative as the women were when Christ appeared to them, for they fell at His feet and seized His feet; these disciples worshipped, but some still were in doubt as to His resurrection.
Verse 18, "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."
LGT "And having come to [them] Jesus spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and upon the earth."
Jesus came near to them and spoke lalein, which means that He broke silence; the disciples were worshipping Jesus, and He came near to them and made an astounding statement, All authority has been given Me in heaven and earth. Robertson notes that He had authority over the earth, but now He speaks with a timeless aorist, and makes the statement that He now rules Heaven and earth for all eternity.
Verse 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."
LGT "Go out therefore and disciple all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,"
This phrase is literally disciple all nations. Christ was able to send His disciples out because He was given the authority to do so (Vs. 18). McGee believes that this commission belongs also to the church; if it does, than, every believer must go.
I believe that this commission was given only to those disciples He had personally chosen. This was Christ's instruction before the Bible was completed as the next phrase bares record.
"Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
This is water baptism that signified that they were disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ before the bible was completed; Paul was commissioned to give Church doctrine; I do not believe that the church during this grace age was given doctrine in the Book of Acts or the Gospels. As I have mentioned many times, Eternal Salvation is the same in every dispensation from the Garden of Eden on; however, specific doctrine for service has changed within each dispensation. Paul has directed the church of this grace age to study the Word; love God; love the brethren; and to be ready, through the daily intake of Bible doctrine, to give an answer to every man that ask us of the hope that lies within. God definitely use the church today, but not corporately, but individually; God uses the individual believer beyond their own awareness to His own glory; God has not limited Himself within the church corporation; God has never, nor does He today, save anyone outside of His Holy Word, either directly or given out by His dear children; this does not mean that we are to be personal evangelists who are to persuade unbelievers to become Christians; if unbelievers do not believe God's Word, they certainly will not believe God's children's word; all God expects from His family on earth is to submit to the Truth of His Word, and be ready always to give an answer to the world. I am not against missionary work, as long as it is in the realm of making disciples, that is, informing those who are willing to hear, that is, those who have an ear to hear, and not to press the issue that we are commissioned to save the world; the Lord Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost; the world is not seeking God; we are not aware of what is going on in men's minds behind the scenes, but God is aware, and does act accordingly.
Verse 20, "Teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
LGT "Teaching them to keep all things whatsoever I commanded you. And, lo, I an with you all, until the completion of the age."
"Teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you:"
Most evangelicals group this command of Christ with Paul's doctrines, and I don't feel qualified to argue; but as I have said before, I am only qualified to do an exposition on the passage before us through research of the background of the particular writing, and the historical setting, and the language used; this particular account is given to the eleven chosen ones; by the way, Matthew does not give an account of the ascension of Jesus Christ, and this may be on account of the Messianic flavor of Christ's Millennial reign, that is, that Matthew had in mind that Christ would soon return to set up His thousand year reign. The last phrase of this verse gives us further proof that Matthew was looking towards Christ's millennial reign.
"And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
The original Greek language makes this verse more generalized than the KJV, until the completion of the age, (hoes sunteleias tou aionos). I believe Christ is referring to the Apostolic age when the gospel will have been preached to the entire world; the Gospel is still being preached in the world, but not under the same apostolic gifts; The Word of God is sharper than a two edged Sword, Hebrews 4:12. The Word of God is the Power that is at work in this world, and it is our privilege to share it with whoever may show an interest. Instead of beating the Gospel drum, and seeking to convert the world as our responsibility, we should consider it our privilege to share the Good News of the Gospel euangel with anyone interested; first with our family, and then also to any one else that might be interested. Christ promised to be with His eleven as they went out with the Great Commission; then after Pentecost and the completion of the Scriptures the church is indwelt with the Holy Spirit, that is, through Spirit Baptism, the moment a person accepts Christ. We believers in this age of grace are united vitally with the Lord Jesus Christ through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and with this Union, He is also with us to the end f our age.
In closing this wonderful Book of Matthew I would like to make it very clear that many of the comments I have made that seem to oppose the great teachers of the Church, I want to say that these are the conclusions I have come to, and that I have not written them in blood, but I am open to any reasonable criticism. I also want to make it very clear that I do not take issue with any teacher who teaches that Salvation is on the basis of faith alone in Christ alone. God bless my dear family.
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