Lift Up Your Eyes

Isaiah 40:12–31 & Matthew 28:16–20

Introduction

Matthew begins his Gospel with a promise:

"They shall call his name Immanuel" (Matt. 1:23)

which means:

"God with us."

And Matthew ends his Gospel with a promise:

"Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matt. 28:20)

That is the key to understanding this passage.

In fact, it is the key to understanding Matthew's entire Gospel.

More than that, it is the key to understanding the whole Bible.

Because the greatest problem in the universe is separation from God.

We were created to know God, walk with God, delight in God, and live in his presence (Gen. 1–2).

But sin entered the world (Gen. 3).

Death entered the world (Rom. 5:12).

Human rebellion entered the story.

The devil entered the story.

The world, the flesh, and the powers of darkness all combined to drive humanity away from the God for whom we were made.

The whole story of the Bible is really one great question:

How can a holy God dwell with sinful people?

How can people separated from God by sin, death and judgment be brought back into his presence?

The tabernacle pointed to it.

The temple pointed to it.

The sacrifices pointed to it.

The priesthood pointed to it.

But all of them pointed beyond themselves to someone greater.

Jesus Christ.

The Son of God comes into the world as Immanuel—God with us (Matt. 1:23).

He lives the life we could never live.

He dies the death we deserved.

He defeats sin at the cross (Col. 2:13–14).

He conquers death in the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:54–57).

He triumphs over the powers of darkness (Col. 2:15).

And now, standing before his disciples as the risen Lord, Matthew brings his Gospel to its glorious conclusion.

The promise with which he began becomes the promise with which he ends.

Immanuel.

God with us.

"I am with you always."

Everything in this passage flows from that promise.

1. See the Risen Jesus

Matthew tells us:

"When they saw him they worshipped him, but some doubted." (Matt. 28:17)

At first glance that sounds strange.

After all, these are the disciples.

They have spent years with Jesus.

They have seen his miracles.

And now they are standing face to face with the risen Lord.

So what does Matthew mean when he says that some doubted?

When we hear the word "doubt," we often think of someone choosing between belief and unbelief.

But that is probably not what is happening here.

The word Matthew uses is distazō (διστάζω).

It appears only twice in Matthew's Gospel.

Here in Matthew 28:17 and earlier when Peter walks on the water (Matt. 14:31).

The word can certainly describe doubt, but not necessarily unbelief.

It carries the sense of hesitation, wavering, uncertainty, or being torn between two responses.

It is the picture of someone struggling to take in what stands before them.

Think about it.

Only a few days earlier Jesus had been crucified (Matt. 27:50).

They had watched him die.

They had hidden in fear (John 20:19).

Now he is standing before them alive.

Everything they thought was finished has suddenly begun again.

They are worshipping him, but they are also overwhelmed.

Everything Jesus said is true (Matt. 16:21).

The resurrection has happened.

The kingdom is beginning.

The nations are about to become their mission field.

Everything has changed.

Matthew uses distazō only one other time.

Peter steps out of the boat and begins walking toward Jesus (Matt. 14:29).

Then he notices the wind and the waves.

Fear takes hold.

He begins to sink.

Jesus reaches out and says:

"O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matt. 14:31)

Peter was not an unbeliever.

He had enough faith to get out of the boat.

His problem was not unbelief but hesitation.

His eyes moved from Jesus to the storm.

That helps us understand what is happening in Matthew 28.

The disciples are not rejecting Jesus.

They are struggling to take in the reality of the risen Christ standing before them.

And Matthew has already shown us this pattern earlier in the chapter.

The women come to the tomb expecting to find a dead body (Matt. 28:1).

Instead they discover a risen Saviour (Matt. 28:5–10).

They see what appears to be the end.

God reveals it is actually a new beginning.

The details are different.

Peter sees waves.

The women see a tomb.

The disciples see an enormous task.

But the spiritual problem is the same.

Human beings become overwhelmed by what they can see.

Peter sees danger.

Jesus sees Peter walking on the water.

The women see death.

Jesus sees resurrection.

The disciples see weakness.

Jesus sees a kingdom.

And perhaps that is where some of us are today.

Sometimes we look at our family.

Our health.

Our future.

Our church.

Our community.

Our nation.

And we see only tombs.

We see grief.

Disappointment.

Uncertainty.

Things that appear impossible.

But notice what is really going on.

Peter's problem was not a lack of effort.

Peter's problem was sight.

He saw the waves more clearly than he saw Jesus (Matt. 14:30–31).

Israel's problem was not a lack of effort.

They saw Babylon more clearly than they saw the Lord who calls the stars by name (Isa. 40:26).

The disciples' problem is not unbelief.

They see their weakness more clearly than they see the risen Christ standing before them.

The women see a tomb.

Jesus sees resurrection.

The disciples see weakness.

Jesus sees a kingdom.

The problem is not merely weakness.

The problem is sight.

That is why the answer to our distazō is not "try harder."

The answer is not "be better."

The answer is not greater self-confidence.

The answer is for Jesus to fix our eyes upon himself.

To reveal who he truly is.

The risen Jesus.

The exalted Jesus.

The Son of Man who receives authority, glory and sovereign power (Dan. 7:13–14).

The Lord who rules the nations and calls the stars by name (Isa. 40:26).

Because revelation changes sight.

And when our sight is fixed upon Jesus, worship follows.

That is why God says through Isaiah:

"Lift up your eyes on high and see." (Isa. 40:26)

That is why the Psalmist says:

"I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where does my help come?" (Ps. 121:1)

That is why Paul prays:

"that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened" (Eph. 1:18).

And that is why the disciples worship.

Because worship is what happens when Jesus opens our eyes and reveals himself to us.

Matthew 28 reminds us:

The tomb is empty (Matt. 28:6).

Jesus is alive (Matt. 28:6–10).

Where today do you need Jesus to raise your eyes above your circumstances?

Where have you become fixed on the waves?

The disappointment?

The fear?

The uncertainty?

Because the answer to our weakness is not simply to try harder.

The answer is to see Jesus more clearly.

To see the risen Lord who stands above every circumstance.

To lift our eyes from ourselves and fix them on him.

2. See the Reigning Jesus

Jesus then says:

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." (Matt. 28:18)

Those words are so familiar that we can miss how astonishing they really are.

All authority.

Not some authority.

All authority.

In heaven and on earth.

The question is:

Who can say that?

Our reading from Isaiah gives the answer.

Who measured the waters in the hollow of his hand? (Isa. 40:12)

Who weighed the mountains? (Isa. 40:12)

Who rules the nations? (Isa. 40:15–17)

Who calls the stars by name? (Isa. 40:26)

Who gives strength to the weary? (Isa. 40:29–31)

Only the Lord.

Isaiah's point is simple.

There is no one like him.

No ruler compares to him.

No nation threatens him.

No power rivals him.

Then Jesus stands before his disciples and says:

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."

Matthew wants us to understand who is standing before these disciples.

One of Matthew's favourite ways of doing that is through the title:

"Son of Man."

Matthew uses the title around thirty times in his Gospel, and every occurrence comes from the lips of Jesus.

Again and again Jesus speaks of the Son of Man having authority to forgive sins (Matt. 9:6), being Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8), suffering and dying (Matt. 17:22–23), rising again (Matt. 17:23), coming in glory (Matt. 24:30), and sitting on his glorious throne (Matt. 19:28).

The title comes from Daniel 7.

Daniel sees:

"one like a son of man" (Dan. 7:13)

coming before the Ancient of Days.

And to this Son of Man is given:

"authority, glory and sovereign power" (Dan. 7:14).

All nations serve him.

His kingdom never ends.

As we hear the title Son of Man, we often assume it emphasizes Jesus' humanity.

But that is not what would have struck a first-century Jewish audience.

What was astonishing was that this Son of Man receives the authority, glory and kingdom that belong to God himself.

That creates a tension because throughout Isaiah the Lord insists:

"I will not yield my glory to another." (Isa. 42:8)

Yet Daniel sees this Son of Man receiving divine authority and glory.

The apparent contradiction is resolved in Jesus.

The Jesus who repeatedly called himself the Son of Man throughout Matthew's Gospel now stands before his disciples as the fulfilment of Daniel's vision.

The enthroned King to whom all authority, glory and sovereign power have been given.

He receives all authority because he is not merely human.

He is the eternal Son who shares the very identity, glory and rule of God himself.

The Jesus who walked the roads of Galilee is the Lord Isaiah saw enthroned above the nations.

The Son of Man Daniel saw receiving an everlasting kingdom.

The One who calmed the storm is the One who created the stars.

The One who walked among them is the Lord of heaven and earth.

And then Jesus says:

"Go therefore..." (Matt. 28:19)

Notice the order.

The command comes after the revelation.

First Jesus reveals who he is.

Then he tells them what to do.

Mission flows from revelation.

The disciples see eleven weak men.

Jesus reveals the King of Daniel 7.

The disciples see impossibility.

Jesus reveals the One to whom all authority in heaven and on earth belongs.

The disciples see their limitations.

Jesus reveals his kingdom.

Nothing about their circumstances has changed.

Rome is still Rome.

The nations are still unreached.

They are still eleven ordinary men.

What changes is what they see.

Or rather, who they see.

The problem is not merely weakness.

The problem is sight.

Revelation fixes their eyes upon Christ.

And once they truly see him, everything else is reinterpreted through him.

Revelation produces worship.

Worship produces transformation.

Transformation produces confidence.

And confidence in Christ sends us into mission with our eyes fixed on Jesus and not on our circumstances.

3. See the Present Jesus

Jesus then says:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matt. 28:19)

Notice:

Name.

Singular.

The Greek word is onoma (ὄνομα).

One Name.

Yet:

Father.

Son.

Holy Spirit.

The answer to humanity's deepest problem is the presence of God.

And here that presence is revealed in all its fullness.

The God who walked with Adam in the garden (Gen. 3:8).

The God who dwelt among Israel in the tabernacle (Ex. 25:8).

The God who came among us in Christ (John 1:14).

Is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

One God.

One Name.

One Presence.

Three persons.

Then Jesus concludes:

"Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matt. 28:20)

Matthew began:

"God with us." (Matt. 1:23)

Matthew ends:

"I am with you always." (Matt. 28:20)

The Gospel is framed by presence.

The disciples hear the commission (Matt. 28:19–20).

But before they go, they must wait for the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4–8).

Why?

Because the mission of God can only be accomplished through the presence and power of God.

The disciples receiving the Great Commission are not spiritual superheroes.

Matthew says:

"They worshipped him, but some hesitated." (Matt. 28:17)

Jesus commissions worshippers who still have questions.

Jesus sends weak people.

Jesus sends tired people.

Jesus sends frightened people.

Jesus sends people who know they are not enough.

The qualification for mission is not strength.

The qualification is knowing the risen Christ.

That is exactly what Isaiah is saying:

"He gives power to the faint." (Isa. 40:29)

Notice that God does not promise strength to the strong.

He gives strength to the weak.

He gives power to the faint.

He renews the weary (Isa. 40:30–31).

The church fulfils the Great Commission not because we are strong enough.

The church fulfils the Great Commission because the risen King is with us.

The disciples saw eleven weak men.

Jesus saw Pentecost (Acts 2:1–41).

The disciples saw their limitations.

Jesus saw the nations.

The disciples saw what they lacked.

Jesus saw what he would provide.

The disciples saw themselves.

Jesus saw what he would do through them.

The story of the early church is not what ordinary people can do for Jesus.

It is what the risen Jesus can do through ordinary people.

The mission never stopped being Jesus' mission.

The Church does not have a mission.

Jesus has a mission, and by grace he includes us in it.

Conclusion

The women saw a tomb.

Jesus saw a resurrection.

Peter saw waves.

Jesus saw Peter walking on the water.

The disciples saw weakness.

Jesus saw a kingdom.

Israel saw Babylon.

God saw the stars.

What do you see?

Do you see only the diagnosis?

Only the uncertainty?

Only the weakness?

Only the storm?

The problem is not merely weakness.

The problem is sight.

We see our circumstances.

We see our limitations.

We see our fears.

But Jesus comes to lift our eyes higher.

The answer to our distazō is not "try harder."

The answer is not "be better."

The answer is for Jesus to reveal who he truly is.

To open the eyes of our hearts (Eph. 1:18).

To lift our eyes above the waves.

Above Babylon.

Above the tomb.

Above our fears and circumstances.

And reveal himself as he truly is.

The risen Jesus.

The reigning Jesus.

The present Jesus.

The Lord who is high and lifted up (Isa. 6:1).

The Son of Man who possesses all authority in heaven and on earth (Dan. 7:13–14; Matt. 28:18).

The One who says:

"Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matt. 28:20)

The Psalmist says:

"I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where does my help come?" (Ps. 121:1)

And the answer comes:

"My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth." (Ps. 121:2)

So lift up your eyes.

And see him.

Amen.