Easter 2021

Announcements

I do want to remind everyone that from now on, our Sunday morning worship services will be held at this location—Moshannon Valley YMCA, 113 N 14th St. in Philipsburg. Now that we have significantly more space available, let me encourage you to invite friends and family—if we outgrow this room, it would be a good thing.

In addition, don’t forget that we’re starting a Wednesday evening Bible Study & Prayer at 7pm. For the time being, that service will be held virtually via Zoom. If you need any help downloading the app or need some help figuring out how to use the app, please speak with Natalie after the service. If you provide your email address to her, we can send you a weekly email with the link that you need to join us virtually, which might be easier for some of you.

Finally, let me remind you to continue worshiping through your giving. As our size increases and we move into larger buildings, our administrative and operating costs will increase. We are completely faith-based, which means that we operate only on what is given by our congregation. In order to help you give, we have three different ways for you to do so: (1) there is an offering box next to the door as you enter and leave this room—this is where you would give cash and check giving (checks should be written to Grace & Peace and if you want a giving receipt for your cash gift, please place it in an envelope with your name written on it); (2) you can give by debit, credit, or ACH transfers by texting the number 84321 with your $[amount] and following the text prompts; or (3) you can give online at www.graceandpeacepa.com by selecting the “Giving” option in the menubar. Everything you give goes to the building up of this local church and the spread of the Gospel throughout Central Pennsylvania.

Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Call to Worship

Our call to worship this morning is from Psalm 11, which is a shorter psalm written by David during a time of great difficulty in which he was tempted to simply run away. We aren’t entirely sure of the historical context of the psalm because it simply doesn’t tell us, but with the psalmist’s description of the wicked bending their bow and fitting their arrow to the string does seem to point towards a time of warfare—this could possibly be during David’s life either when he’s running from King Saul or when his son, Absalom steals his throne. Regardless of the exact timing of the Psalm, it is clear that great difficulty has come upon David and there is a very real temptation to simply run, but instead, David takes refuge in the Lord.

Please stand as we read Psalm 11 responsively—I’ll read the odd-numbered verses; and we’ll read the even-numbered verses together. After we read Psalm 11 together, please remain standing as we worship through our singing together.

Psalm 11 ESV

To the choirmaster. Of David. 1 In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, “Flee like a bird to your mountain, 2 for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; 3 if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” 4 The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. 5 The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. 6 Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. 7 For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.

Congregational Singing

Nothing but the Blood

Behold Our God

Behold the Wondrous Mystery

Scripture Reading

Our Scripture reading this morning is from 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, which was written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth and in this first chapter he’s trying to unite the church under the unified truth of the Gospel. The church in Corinth was divided because of various reasons but in-context, the most prevalent reason is a division amongst the believers about which teacher they followed. In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul reminds them that none of the human teachers are whom they are supposed to be following because none of them died for their sins. Rather, they are to be unified in the truth of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

He explains in our Scripture passage that the idea of the cross and Jesus’ death on the cross seems like foolishness to people who don’t believe in God, but for those who are being saved it is the very power of God. While people seek truth in various ways, the simple truth is that Jesus was crucified for our sins and thus, we should preach Christ crucified to all men.

1 Corinthians 1:18–31 ESV

18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Sermon

Introduction

This morning’s sermon is an expositional study of Matthew 28, which is Matthew’s account of the resurrection and two events that occur shortly after the resurrection. I know that for many of us who grew up attending a church or at least have been in a church for longer than a few years, we’ve heard the accounts of the resurrection several times and I know because of the repetition of the crucifixion and resurrection every year, it can seem redundant. It could cause us to question why we’re hearing the same thing every single year but let me remind you of Paul’s statement from our Scripture reading, that we preach Christ crucified because it is the power of God for salvation.

We annually commemorate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ because of what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross—for those that truly believe in Jesus, he has conquered sin for us, he has redeemed us from the penalty of sin, he has justified us and made us right in the sight of God. Again, an accomplishment that we could not achieve on our own and we should commemorate this moment, we should praise Jesus for this moment, and we should worship God for this moment. Don’t let the celebration of the resurrection be redundant in your hearts and minds, praise Jesus for what he has done.

As we read Matthew’s account of the resurrection, you’ll notice something in particular. Matthew’s account of the resurrection isn’t just a historical account of what happened, though it is a historical account of what happened. Matthew isn’t just telling a narrative story about what happened, even though it is a narrative story about what happened. Matthew is recording not just the event itself but the commission that Jesus gives all his disciples in response to the resurrection. Thus Matthew is recording what Jesus wants his disciples to do now that they’ve seen his resurrection.

By extension, Matthew tells us what Jesus wants to do in light of his resurrection. Let’s read together Matthew 28, I’ll then explain how we’ll break down the passage, and then we’ll dig into the Word of God this morning:

Matthew 28 ESV

1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” 11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

As we study Matthew 28, we’re going to take it into three parts: (1) is the actual resurrection account from Vs. 1-10, that the Marys went to the tomb and were met by an angel who tells them that Jesus has risen, as he said. Vs. 1-10, tells us that Jesus Keeps His Promises, which is a significant statement because it gives us future hope; (2) tells us of the response of the chief priests from Vs. 11-15, I’ve titled this simply, Not Everyone will Believe. In fact, many people like the chief priests would rather lie and trick people than actually believe in Jesus Christ. We’ll see what lengths the Jewish leadership would go to in order to attempt disproving Jesus; and (3) is what we typically call the Great Commission from Vs. 16-20, which is Jesus’ final command prior to his ascension into heaven. I’ve titled this section simply, Go and Make Disciples. This morning’s passage teaches us the truth of the resurrection in a manner that commissions us to go and make disciples—because of Jesus’ resurrection, despite the fact that not everyone will believe, we are to go and make disciples of Jesus Christ.

Prayer for Illumination

Jesus Keeps His Promises (1-10)

Matthew starts this first part of chapter 28 with the historical narrative of the resurrection itself, it is of note that none of the Gospels actually explain how the resurrection happened, all that we’re told throughout all four Gospels is that God raised Jesus from the dead. Beyond that one statement, we don’t have a clue how the resurrection happened and what Matthew records here isn’t actually the resurrection but more like the aftermath of the resurrection.

Matthew 28:1–10 ESV

1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

Matthew starts by tells us the setting of the event:

it was after the Sabbath, during the beginning of the day on the first day of the week—remember that the Jewish Sabbath is Saturday and their week starts on Sunday. So, Vs. 1, tells us that Jesus’ resurrection occured on a Sunday at dawn.

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary go to see the tomb. Matthew doesn’t mention exactly why they went to the tomb, but we know from Mark 16, that they had brought spices to anoint the body.

Anointing of a person’s body was typically done by family after their death—typically it would’ve been done a little earlier than when these women came to the tomb but remember during the Sabbath they aren’t permitted to work, and so they waited an extra day.

Anointing of a person’s body was done for a highly practical reason as an expression of love. They would pour spices over a dead body to counteract the odor of decay. This is of note, because it tells us that these women didn’t go to the tomb expecting to see that Jesus was resurrected. They expected to find Jesus’ body.

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary go to the tomb and as they come to the tomb a miraculous event occurs as the result of an angelic being coming to open the tomb. Vs. 2, “There was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.”

Earthquakes were common during the first-century in and around Israel. Most of them were minor earthquakes that didn’t do a lot of damage but occasionally much larger earthquakes occurred.

In the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection there are a couple of different earthquakes that occur.

The first earthquake occured just a few verses prior to Chapter 28, in Matthew 27:50, when Jesus cries out with a loud voice and “yielded up his spirit.” This earthquake along with the darkness over the land, and the resurrection of the dead is what convinced the centurions who presided over Jesus’ death that Jesus was the Son of God.

The second earthquake is this one, which is described as a great earthquake.

While minor earthquakes occured in Israel frequently, major earthquakes didn’t—major earthquakes only occurred on occasion and the only other one that occurred around the same point in history occurred 60 years before Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

Two major earthquakes occur within one week with the first having to do with Jesus’ death on the cross

And the second having to do with the opening of Jesus’ tomb by an angel of the Lord.

After causing this earthquake by opening the tomb, the angel simply sits on the stone.

It’s of note, that the angel didn’t open the tomb for Jesus—the opening of the tomb wasn’t for Jesus to come out and the Bible never tells us that Jesus had to wait for the tomb to be opened in order to be resurrected.

The tomb was opened for the witnesses to enter the tomb and see with their own eyes that Jesus was no longer there.

This angel is sitting on the stone and the Bible gives us a brief description of what he looked like, Vs. 3, “His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.”

I’m not entirely sure what the Bible means when it calls the angel’s appearance “like lightning.” I don’t know if it refers to the brightness of the angel or maybe the intensity of the angel’s appearance

But whatever the angel looked like exactly, it was enough to scare the guards, which if you think about, tells us just how terrifying angels really are.

These guards are seasoned Roman soldiers and as soon as they see this angelic being, Vs. 4, “[they] trembled and became like dead men.” They passed out.

If nothing else, this description of the angel’s appearance and the response of the soldiers should stop us from thinking of angels as cutesy babies floating in the clouds.

The women come to the tomb and they experience an earthquake because of the angel opening the tomb, the guards all pass out, and the angel speaks to the women. In Vs. 5, he starts with “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”

Understandingly, the angel starts with “Do not be afraid,” which makes sense since this angel looks like lightning, caused an earthquake, and scared all of the seasoned Roman soldiers.

He tells them not to be afraid because he knows that they’re all seeking Jesus and he tells him something that’s profound in its simplicity. He doesn’t just tell them that he isn’t there, he reminds them of Jesus’ own prophesy.

“He is not here, for he has risen, as he said.”

Not only is he not there because he had been resurrected, the angel reminds them that in being resurrected, Jesus fulfilled the promise that he made that after three days, he would raise himself up. Jesus keeps his promises.

But he doesn’t tell them to rely just on what he says, he tells them to “come, see the place where he lay.” Come in and see for yourself that Jesus is no longer here. Because, again, Jesus keeps his promises.

After seeing that Jesus is no longer in the tomb, the women do as the angel tells them to do and they “go quickly [to] tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead.” Vs. 8, “They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.”

After seeing with their own eyes that Jesus was no longer in the tomb, they go to tell the disciples. The Bible tells us that they left quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy.

Understandingly, they have mixed emotions over what’s happening—the fear itself could be partly due to their run-in with an angel of the Lord, but it could just be fear over not actually knowing what is happening. They came into a situation in which a spiritual being told them that the body of a person they cared for was no longer there, there should be some amount of fear.

But in their situation, their fear is coupled with joy—joy that Jesus is resurrected, joy that Jesus is alive.

In response to their fear and joy, they do what the angel tells them to do and they ran to tell his disciples.

In the process of running to tell the disciples, Vs. 9, tells us that “Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ and they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

The immediate response of the women when they see Jesus is to bow down at his feet and worship him—now that they know that Jesus is truly who he said he was, they really have no alternative but to bow down and worship him.

Now, I do want to point out one other thing before we transition into the next section and this is sort of a side-point, but I think it’s worth it. A lot of times unbelievers have a difficult time with the resurrection of Jesus which, let’s be honest, resurrection itself isn’t something that normally happens. It is a miraculous event and with the exception of a few times in Scripture, resurrection simply doesn’t happen.

Unbelievers have a difficult time with understanding how a Christian could believe that this could possibly be true, but Jesus’ resurrection is clearly something that we are to believe in order to be saved. And while there are several proofs to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I only want to point out three specific proofs that justify believing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ (two of which are specific to the Gospel account of the resurrection).

The historical fact that the grave was empty: The grave of Jesus was empty, but the grave clothes were left behind. The stone enclosing the tomb had been rolled away; the body of Jesus was never found; the grave was guarded by Roman soldiers; and no one ever claimed to have stolen the body. The fact that the grave clothes were left behind is significant, because the spices that were attached to the cloth had value. Anyone who had stolen the body, would have taken the clothes in order to sell the spices. The placement of the grave clothes as well as the stone, fits with resurrection as the cause, rather than human agency as the cause.

The fact that Jesus appears to a group of women first: Bear with me, I know that sounds odd, but think with me through what culture was like in the first century. In first century Israel, women weren’t treated the same way that men were treated. A perfect example of this would be when the Pharisees bring a woman caught in adultery to Jesus in order to stone her to death—have you ever wondered why just the woman was brought to be stoned? It takes two to commit adultery. It reveals that in their culture there was a divide in the way that men and women were treated to the extent that a woman’s word in the first century really didn’t mean much. If you wanted to prove your point, you really needed to have a man to come and validate the truth; and yet, Jesus chose to show his resurrected body to a group of women rather than men. If the resurrection was untrue and it was faked, it wouldn’t make sense to have the first group of people to see Jesus’ resurrected body be a group of women. If we were alive in the first century and we were trying to convince people that something miraculous happened, we would say that it happened in front of a group of men. The very fact that Jesus chose to show himself to a group of women first is evidence that it actually happened.

The fact that the disciples (with the exception of possibly Matthew and John) were all martyred for believing and teaching that Jesus was raised from the dead is significant. How do I know? Because if you were perpetuating a lie and you were being tried in order to determine whether or not you should die for what you believe and what you teach, how many of you would die for something that you knew wasn’t true? If you had lied and told someone you were extremely talented at playing the guitar and they told you that if you didn’t play a song perfectly they would kill you, why wouldn’t you just admit that you lied and that you can’t really play the guitar? The disciples lives were threatened and they could’ve saved their lives simply by recanting from their position and yet almost all of them were killed for what they believed and what they taught.

The facts that Jesus’ tomb is empty with his grave clothes remaining, that he appeared to a group of women first despite the cultural expectation of men being more reliable, and that his disciples died because they believed and taught that he was still alive provide evidence for our belief in the resurrection.

When we understand the significance of the resurrection, that as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1, the resurrection is the power of God through which he saves us and when we understand the Gospel through which God brings salvation to all who believe, we can understand why the first response of these women is to simply bow down and worship Jesus. When we understand the significance of Jesus still being alive, we can understand why (in their fear and joy) they simply worshiped and obeyed Jesus. Jesus keeps his promises, when he said that he could raise up his body in three days, he meant it; but the issue is that despite this truth, not everyone will believe. Read with me Vs. 11-15.

Not Everyone will Believe (11-15)

Matthew 28:11–15 ESV

11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

Some time after the group of women left the tomb to go and tell the disciples, some of the guards went into the city and spoke to the chief priests.

We don’t know exactly what they told the chief priests and quite honestly, there isn’t a whole lot that they could’ve told the chief priests because remember, the soldiers were unconscious.

If we take a close look at Vs. 1-10 again, the guards passed out in Vs. 4, so really all that the guards could tell the chief priests were that the women came to the tomb, there was a great earthquake, and this angel of the Lord came from heaven and rolled the stone away from the tomb. They could explain a little bit of detail, that the angel was like lightning and he was clothed in white but they weren’t actually conscious to hear the angel tell the women not to be afraid and that Jesus had risen from the grave.

We can assume that once the guards did wake up, that they investigated the tomb afterwards—they probably walked into the tomb and saw the burial clothes and realized that something significant happened.

It is interesting to note that the soldiers chose to go to the chief priests first—because remember, they don’t actually work for the chief priests, they’re Roman soldiers who were only stationed there because the priests had asked the government to place a guard there to prevent the robbery of Jesus’ body.

So the fact that they decided to go to the chief priests rather than their boss is unique—though it could have simply been because Roman soldiers were to be killed if they failed in their mission.

Their mission was to prevent people from stealing the body of Jesus Christ and while no one stole the body, the fact that the body was missing would probably be seen as failing in their mission.

They probably went to the chief priests in order to seek help knowing that they failed and the Roman military leadership would be seeking to kill them.

And the priests do help them sort of, they bribe the soldiers and tell them to start a rumor that “his disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep” and if the governor hears this, they’ll bribe him too.

Despite hearing from the soldiers that an angel of the Lord opened the tomb and despite hearing that the body was missing, rather than reconsider their position, the chief priests doubled-down.

They fabricate this lie, that the disciples stole the body while the soldiers were asleep but logically, the lie simply doesn’t make sense. Think through the lie with me:

If the soldiers were asleep, how would they have known what had happened to the body of Jesus?

And why would they admit that they were sleeping on the job when they knew the consequence of sleeping on the job would result in their death?

Nevertheless they agree to go through with the lie because of the money that was offered to them by the chief priests

Which if we just think this through a little bit, the chief priests are servants of the temple—more than likely the money that they’re utilizing to bribe people came from the temple itself and this isn’t the first time that they’ve paid someone off (remember they also paid Judas Iscariot to lead them to Jesus).

Not to mention they clearly have no doubt that they can bribe the governor, “we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble” which gives the impression that they’re pretty used to bribing the government whenever necessary

And it shows us just how truly corrupt the Jewish leadership was.

Despite being presented with evidence of Jesus’ resurrection, their response was to refuse admitting that they were wrong and then to spend large amounts of money to cover it all up

And despite the soldiers seeing an angel and an earthquake caused by that angel opening the tomb, they still agreed to go along with the schemes of the priests.

Despite being presented with evidence even beyond just in seeing Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection the chief priests, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and all who made up the Sanhedrin refused to believe in Jesus Christ.

Remember that Jesus had performed miracle after miracle to validate his divinity and his message

Jesus had taught accurately what the Scriptures say

Jesus through his life fulfilled over 300 prophecies from their Scriptures

But they still refused to believe that they could be wrong and that Jesus could truly be the Son of God.

Matthew then returns to the group of women that were to go and tell the disciples that Jesus was alive but he actually returns to that narrative after the women already told the disciples about Jesus’ resurrection. And what we see at the end of Matthew 28, which is how Matthew actually closes out his entire book, is the disciples going to Galilee to receive their final instruction:

Go and Make Disciples (16-20)

Matthew 28:16–20 ESV

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The passage ends with the eleven remaining disciples going to Galilee to the mountain in which Jesus had told them to go. To clarify one thing, this is actually a few weeks after the resurrection and the chief priests bribing the soldiers. The final five verses of Matthew give us what is typically called the Great Commission.

Oftentimes these are considered Jesus’ last words, but that’s not completely accurate because he also speaks just briefly in Acts 1 prior to his ascension into heaven.

I would argue however, that even though these aren’t Jesus’ last words to this disciples, this is Jesus’ final command to the disciples, which means that we have to take them seriously.

Danny Akin, “Last words are meant to be lasting words, words that make an impact—and Christ’s Great Commission . . . certainly does that.”

The eleven remaining disciples are in Galilee on a mountain and when they see Jesus, they respond in the same way that the women did earlier in the passage.

They worshipped him, which again, reminds us of the proper response to understanding Jesus’ resurrection and the Gospel. Once we understand what the Gospel means and what Jesus accomplished through his death, burial, and resurrection, the proper response is worship.

Though Matthew does make one troublesome statement that “some doubted.” And we have to clarify this issue because it doesn’t make sense that they would all worship him, when some of them doubted.

The word that’s translated as doubted is distazo can also be translated as “to waver” or to “be uncertain of.”

In this situation, the idea of doubt is not that of a lack of belief, it’s more of an uncertainty, which makes sense. They witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion and his burial. Some amount of hesitation is appropriate as they see him.

Craig Blomberg, “Perhaps, as elsewhere, something about Jesus’ appearance makes him hard to recognize at first. Perhaps they fear how he may respond to them. Perhaps their Jewish scruples are still questioning the propriety of full-fledged worship of anyone but Yahweh. Or (most likely?) they may simply continue to exhibit an understandable confusion about how to behave in the presence of a supernaturally manifested, exalted, and holy being.”

Their doubt isn’t necessarily a lack of faith, just an uncertainty in how to act in the presence of Jesus now that he has died, been buried, and has been resurrected.

The disciples respond in worship and then Jesus gives his final command to them, Vs. 18, “Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.”

This passage and really the whole book of Matthew ends with this final command from Jesus Christ, which means that we need to take time to really understand what Jesus is saying. Jesus makes the statement that “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

Which is a statement that Jesus can only make if he is actually God and, by this time, after witnessing the ministry of Jesus, his death, burial, and resurrection it ought to be clear to the disciples that he truly is God.

When Jesus makes the statement that all authority is given to him, he expresses the emphatic truth that he is king and he is ruler of all things. Jesus is in control and that authority was given to him by the Father.

Because all authority has been given to him, he issues a command to the disciples. Vs. 19, That the disciples are to “go . . . and make [more] disciples of all nations;” they are to baptize them and teach them.

The fact that Jesus tells them to go tells us that he expects them to make the effort in making disciples. That they are to actively bring people to know Jesus. The fact that he tells them to go tells us that he expects them to go to the people, rather than for them to wait for people to come to them.

He tells them to actively bring people to know him and then he specifies who they’re supposed to go to—In their direct context, it tells them that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is for more than just the Jewish people. They are to actively try to reach the Gentile people for Jesus Christ as well.

After they believe in Jesus Christ, the disciples are to baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

And through this whole process, they are to teach these new disciples to observe all that Jesus has taught them.

This means that Jesus is calling on them to intentionally reach other people for Jesus Christ, to baptize them after they believe, and to teach them all that Jesus has taught them.

Which sounds like a lot, because it is a lot. And it sounds like it will take a lot of effort and time to do, because it will take a lot of effort and time to do. It sounds like its verging on the impossible but it is possible.

How do we know this? Because Jesus includes these two important phrases—one right before telling them to make disciples and one right after.

He starts this command by saying “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

And he ends this command with “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

What Jesus is calling his disciples to do is simply impossible to do without the empowering of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

It is the fact that Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth that motivates them to do the work (as seen through Acts).

And it is the fact that he is with them always that enables them to do the work.

After Jesus’ resurrection in the Gospel according to Matthew, we see the reactions of four distinct people—the group of women and the disciples respond to Jesus with fear, joy, and ultimately worship; and the soldiers respond by conspiring with the chief priests to perpetuate a lie in their rejection of Jesus. Matthew 28, shows us their responses and then it closes off the entire book by recording Jesus’ last command to go and make disciples of every nation.

So how exactly do we apply this to ourselves today?

Application

Jesus Keeps his Promises (1-10)—from Vs. 1-10, we read about the miraculous event in which an angel rolls open the tomb and informs the group of women that Jesus is no longer in the tomb, but he had risen, as he said.

That one phrase, “as he said” is such an important phrase because it reminds us that Jesus had prophesied about his resurrection prior to his death. What this teaches us and what this shows us is that Jesus keeps his word and because we know that Jesus will keep his word, we can have hope for the future.

This means that we can have assurance if we truly believe, that he will keep his word and provide for us salvation and eternal life. Because Jesus keeps his word.

This means that we can have assurance if we truly believe, that he will make us holy as he is holy—he will make us like himself. Because Jesus keeps his word.

This means that we can have assurance if we truly believe, that he will seal us until the day of redemption.

If we truly believe, we can know that all things work together for good.

If we truly believe, we can know that Jesus will return because Jesus keeps his word.

We can know all of these things, because Jesus has kept his word in the past and Jesus will keep his word in the future.

So our application for this section of the passage is really quite simple, trust and rest in knowing that Jesus keeps his word.

As a believer today, there are plenty of issues in life that are uncertain—you can watch the news for five minutes and realize just how hectic the world is. But be assured that your future is secure in the hands of Jesus.

As a believer today, we can struggle with anxiety over several different issues and the struggle would be completely understandable—life is difficult and complicated. But there are certain things that you don’t have to be anxious about—your salvation is assured by Jesus, your progressive sanctification is assured by Jesus, your justification, your eventual glorification are assured by Jesus.

You can rest in knowing that Jesus keeps his word and when you rest in this truth, the anxiety will lessen—that doesn’t mean that you won’t struggle with anxiety, it means that whatever happens, you’re resting in Jesus.

The fact that Jesus keeps his word, is a cause for our praise, worship, and celebration.

We have a God that is consistently good, consistently righteous, and consistently just.

And in his goodness, righteousness, and justness he has chosen to covenant with us.

He didn’t have to do this, he choose to do this—simply because he loves us.

Rest in Jesus, praise, worship and celebrate him.

Not Everyone will Believe (11-15)—in the second section we read of the rejection of Jesus by the chief priests and soldiers. That when they realized what had happened, they conspired against the truth, lied about it, and spread rumors to persuade the people against the truth.

What this really shows us is that many people, despite overwhelming evidence, will still choose to not believe.

It isn’t hard for us to understand this because if we just sit for a moment, we can all think of someone that we know of that has been presented with the Gospel and for whatever reason, they just don’t want to believe.

In the case of the chief priests, their lack of belief is really driven by sin—they chose to reject Jesus because Jesus didn’t fit their ideas and their principles. They chose to reject Jesus in order to keep the modicum of power that they had.

In contrast, the group of women and the disciples were quick to simply bow down and worship Jesus.

So the question really is, where do you fit on this spectrum? We all have the same evidence through the Scriptures, have you chosen to accept and believe in Jesus or are you like the chief priests who despite seeing the evidence, still refuse to believe?

My encouragement for you is that if you have yet to repent of your sins, call on the name of Jesus, and believe in him—that you do what the women and disciples do in this passage. Repent from your sins, call on the name of Jesus, and believe.

Don’t allow sin to be the reason why you won’t come to Jesus. On the other hand, if your lack of belief is due to some doubt, you’re skeptical—let me encourage you to do two things: (1) find someone that is knowledgeable of Scripture and actually takes it seriously as the word of God and ask questions; and (2) let me encourage you to spend some time reading Scripture with the intent of simply understanding what the Bible itself says.

If you are a believer, let me just remind you that the response of the women and disciples to simply bow down and worship Jesus, is still a response that we should have every day. We should be submitting ourselves to Jesus and worshiping him everyday.

Which also includes submitting ourselves to the authority that Jesus has, which is all authority in heaven and on earth. What this means for us as believers is that we need to understand that God is the ultimate authority, not us.

We need to submit to him.

Go and Make Disciples (16-20)—in the final section, Jesus tells his disciples to go and make disciples of every nation, baptizing them, and teaching them all that he has taught them. While this is directly applicable to the disciples, every theologian that you speak to will agree with me in saying that this is applicable to us as believers today by extension. Which means that all who believe today are to go and make disciples of every nation, baptizing, and teaching them. This isn’t something that just the apostles were to do and this isn’t something that just pastors are to do, this is something for all of Jesus’ disciples to do.

So let me start by simply asking, are you intentionally seeking to make disciples of Jesus Christ?

This means, do you know the Gospel well enough to present the Gospel to other people?

This means, do you know the basics of Christianity well enough to help someone else understand the basics of Christianity?

Beyond just knowing these things, this means, are you having Gospel conversations with people?

Are you showing care and love to other people in a way that would want them to hear the Gospel from you?

Are you genuinely concerned with other people in a way that would want them to be discipled by you?

We’re told to make disciples but we can’t make disciples if we don’t know the basics and we can’t make disciples if we don’t care about other people enough to make disciples.

Part of making disciples is to teach them all that Jesus has taught us.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to know the ins and outs of systematic theology. Jesus doesn’t expect you to have a degree in Biblical Theology but it does mean that you ought to know the fundamentals well enough that you can teach others the fundamentals

As you seek to learn and grow in the faith; seek to also be teaching others in the faith.

And finally, because I know that going and making disciples sounds like a lot because it is a lot. And it sounds like it will take a lot of effort and time to do because it will take a lot of effort and time to do. It sounds like its verging on the impossible but it is possible

It is possible because Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth and because Jesus is with you always, to the end of the age.

Seek to make disciples because Jesus’ authority compels you to make disciples and Jesus’ presence through the Holy Spirit empowers you to make disciples.

Put simply, Matthew 28 in recording the resurrection and the response of the people about Jesus’ resurrection teaches us to (1) trust and rest in knowing that Jesus keeps his word, (2) recognize that not everyone will believe, but if you have believed to submit yourself to Jesus Christ, and (3) be compelled by Jesus’ authority and empowered by the Holy Spirit to go and make disciples of every nation.

Pastoral Prayer

Congregational Singing

In Christ Alone