Matthew 28:16-20 Into the Name

Matthew 28:16-20 (Evangelical Heritage Version)

16The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. 17When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some hesitated because they were uncertain. 18Jesus approached and spoke to them saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you. And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.”

Into the Name

I.

It was not an unusual thing for Jesus to want to do. He withdrew with his group of disciples so he could teach them and get them ready for the work ahead—the work of proclaiming the salvation he had won for all people.

It’s possible that this time up on a mountain in Galilee might have lasted about three weeks. Matthew doesn’t say exactly when this took place. In fact, Matthew doesn’t record much at all after the resurrection. He mentioned Jesus’ appearance to the women outside the tomb on Easter morning. He spoke of the orders the chief priests gave to the soldiers: “Your story is to be that Jesus’ disciples stole his body; he didn’t really rise from the dead.”

That’s all Matthew records about those days and weeks after Jesus rose from the dead, except this account of what has been dubbed “The Great Commission.” And with that, his Gospel account ends.

When did it happen? Many scholars have worked to harmonize the gospel accounts and arrange them in chronological order. All of them have this event just before Jesus’ ascension. To be sure, it was after Jesus appeared to the 10 on Easter evening behind locked doors. It was certainly after his appearance again with Thomas present the next Sunday.

You remember Thomas. He was given that unfortunate nickname “Doubting Thomas,” because he insisted he wouldn’t believe Jesus had risen from the dead unless he saw Jesus’ hands and feet and touched the wounds to verify the truth of the resurrection.

According to Matthew, Thomas apparently wasn’t alone, even weeks later. “The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. 17When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some hesitated because they were uncertain” (Matthew 28:16-17, EHV). Other translations are more blunt: “some doubted.”

Whether you call it uncertainty or doubting, all of the Eleven had seen Jesus multiple times since he rose from the dead. Thomas had done the “touching the wounds” test, because he wanted to trust, but verify.

How could some of them be uncertain? What Matthew says is almost embarrassing. There stands Jesus, right in front of them. It’s the very end of Matthew’s Gospel record. And he’s going to end with Jesus giving his Great Commission as the final thing Matthew records to “some” who still have hesitation? Some who still are uncertain? Some who doubt, even after all they have seen?

Doesn’t that still describe Trinity Sunday? Sometimes people try to pigeonhole the Triune God. They pick a clover leaf and use it to explain the Trinity—one leaf for each person—but you can split the leaves, while the Triune God is indivisible. They pick up an apple; there’s the skin, the flesh of the apple, and the core—but these, too, can be divided. Perhaps they try with a flame: there’s heat, fire, and light, all at once. These are not so easily divided, but the illustration still limps when you use it to describe the Triune God.

So some are uncertain. Some doubt. The Triune God refuses to fit into human categories. The First Reading was about the creation of the universe. The Father was there. The Spirit hovered over the waters. John tells us Jesus is the Word of God, which was the tool the Father used to create everything that has been made.

Such a vast and immense God makes us uncomfortable. We prefer gods we can predict and explain. Maybe even gods we can control.

II.

“Jesus approached and spoke to them saying, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’” (Matthew 28:18, EHV). Did that make the uncertain doubters tremble? Does it make you tremble?

The People of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai trembled when God spoke. Sinners instinctively are afraid of the most holy God.

Believers of today have their own uncertainties; their own doubts. We have our own ways of showing it.

There’s the Confession and Absolution every week in the worship service. How often do you treat it as a magic formula? Speak the words, whether you mean them or not, and you will be blessed with the forgiveness Jesus announces. Repent? It all sounds good when its just academic, but do you really want to repent?

Jesus speaks of Baptism in his Great Commission. You are a baptized Child of God. Luther said in his Catechism—and you learned it—that baptism has a meaning for our daily life. “Baptism means that the old Adam in us should be drowned by daily contrition and repentance, and that all its evil deeds and desires be put to death. It also means that a new person should daily arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.” Are you aware of a daily dying of the Old Self and rising of the New Self? Do you work to facilitate that dying and rising?

Part of Jesus’ instruction in his Great Commission said: “Keep all the instructions I have given you” (Matthew 28:20, EHV). Do you actively work at the “keeping,” or are you, again, just satisfied with the academic knowledge you have about Jesus?

Jesus doesn’t lower his standards after you have become a baptized Child of God. You are still subject to God’s Moral Law, given to all people of all time. Then, since you were baptized into Christ and learned about all he did for you, you are to show love for him by keeping all his instructions.

The mountain scene in Galilee of Jesus meeting with his disciples doesn’t seem so serene now. It’s more like Mt. Sinai—a holy God, fearful people, an impossible calling.

III.

When they were gathered there at the foot of Mt. Sinai, God knew his people couldn’t keep his Moral Law perfectly. He knew it all the way back when Adam and Eve violated his Moral Law that was summarized into one command: “Show love for God by not eating the fruit from that one tree.” They ate, and the world was plunged into sin. No one since Adam and Eve has been able to keep God’s Moral Law perfectly.

But the Triune God still loved people—all people.

God the Father made a plan for salvation. Throughout Old Testament history, he gave more and more details about his plan. He promised to send a Savior.

God the Son is the Savior the Father promised. Jesus had to be 100% human to live under God’s Moral Law, just as all people are to do. Unlike any other human being, he had to keep it perfectly. He did. Then he had to pay for the sins of all people. To make that payment, Jesus had to also be 100% God. He is. The whole plan came to a climax on Good Friday, when the God-Man, Jesus, hung on the cross to die as our perfect substitute. He cried out: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46, EHV). God the Father abandoned God the Son so that he would suffer the full punishment of hell in your place and mine.

God the Holy Spirit brings people to faith in what Jesus did for all, keeps them in the faith, and strengthens their faith. Luther summarized the Holy Spirit’s work in the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed this way: “I believe that I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.”

The entire Triune God planned your salvation, brought the plan to fruition, and brings you into the family of God. Jesus said: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you” (Matthew 28:18-20, EHV).

“All authority.” It’s not a frightening God, booming from Mt. Sinai. It’s God the Son, the God-Man Jesus, speaking to his followers on a mountain in Galilee.

He has the authority to forgive, because he already paid the price for all sins for all people. He has the authority to rescue us, because he laid down his life for us.

IV.

“Therefore go...” As those who already know Jesus and believe in him, even though sometimes we may be uncertain about things, we are to go.

“Gather disciples.” Most translations have “make disciples.” That translation isn’t wrong, but “gather” helps us to remember that the onus isn’t really on you and me to “make” the disciples. We just spoke of the work of the Holy Spirit. He is the One who “makes” the disciples.

“By baptizing them... and by teaching them.” Followers of Jesus know the most important news there ever has been or ever will be. Knowing that news, we want to teach others. We want others to be part of the family of God. We want them to be baptized Into the Name.

“And surely I am with you always until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20, EHV). You and I are not alone as we live the Christian life. We are not alone as we baptize and teach all the instructions our Triune God has given us.

The Triune God goes with his people. God the Father is with us always, richly and daily providing the things we need in life. God the Son is with us always; each day we need to be reminded again of the forgiveness he brings, because each day we sin much. God the Holy Spirit is with us always, sustaining our faith, reminding us every day that Jesus has paid for all those sins.

Every Christian lives inside the Name of the Triune God. The worship service began today as it usually does: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Every baptism places that Name on another sinner. Every benediction sends God’s people back into the world carrying that name.

So do you understand the Trinity? Did the clover help, or the apple, or the flame? Not really. The Triune God doesn’t make mathematical sense. God doesn’t ask you to understand the Triune God.

The mystery of the Triune God is not solved, it is proclaimed. And sinners—you and I—are brought Into the Name. Surely the Triune God will be with you to the very end of the age. Amen.