6/1 Great Commission

Key Ideas:

All authority? Now we REALLY don’t want you to leave!

Some doubted

Overwhelming goals lead to ambitious tactics

General Thoughts

Worship-to fall down/kneel down/prostrate

Doubted-Only used twice in NT. Here and when Peter doubts on the water

Were there two groups? One who worshipped and a second who doubted? Peter walked on the water AND doubted at the same time

Notes From “But Some Doubted”

Matthew 2. Resurrection! (28:1–20)

Distazō refers more to hesitation than to unbelief. Perhaps

Matthew says nothing about disciples not recognizing Jesus

“worship” is translated as showing submission, other definitions as implied

Hesitate/Doubt-Verb means to be in two minds about what to do (hesitate) and/or what to think (doubt)

I AM with you always-eternal, beyond here and there, then and now. To all nations is much bigger than to all tribes, but smaller still than all time and space

The Gospel according to Matthew C. The Great Commission, 28:16–20

This Gospel opened with the assurance that in the coming of Jesus God was with his people (1:23), and it closes with the promise that the very presence of Jesus Christ will never be lacking to his faithful follower

Matthew 2. Resurrection! (28:1–20)

Was a larger gathering than just the Eleven present? What kind of “doubt” does Matthew have in mind? The latter question is more easily answerable. Distazō refers more to hesitation than to unbelief

The Gospel according to Matthew C. The Great Commission, 28:16–20

We have no knowledge of a time when the church was without baptism or unsure of baptism. It is difficult to explain this apart from a definite command of Jesus.

The Gospel according to Matthew C. The Great Commission, 28:16–20

We should notice that the word name is singular; Jesus does not say that his followers should baptize in the “names” of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but in the “name” of these three. It points to the fact that they are in some sense one.

The Gospel according to Matthew C. The Great Commission, 28:16–20

Matthew goes on to say, but some hesitated, the meaning of which is not immediately obvious. Many translations have “some doubted,” and this may indeed be the meaning, but “hesitated” seems more likely (so JB).

The Gospel according to Matthew C. The Great Commission, 28:16–20

This raises another question. It is difficult to think that the hesitation was coming from the eleven, considering all that had happened to them during the recent past. It may well be that others than the eleven were present, perhaps even the group of more than 500 of whom Paul writes (1 Cor. 15:6). This would give more scope for people who believed and people who doubted than if the group had been limited to the eleven who had been closest to Jesus. France argues strongly that only the eleven were present, but it is not easy to see how the hesitators could have been some of the eleven after the dramatic removal of Thomas’s doubts (John 20:24–29).

The Gospel according to Matthew C. The Great Commission, 28:16–20

Now he has received the fullest possible authority, for it is authority in heaven and on earth. He is making clear that the limitations that applied throughout the incarnation no longer apply to him. He has supreme authority throughout the universe.