Big Idea: Matthew narrates Jesus’ resurrection, demonstrating God’s vindication and authorization of Jesus’ mission, and Jesus’ commission of his followers to disciple the nations through baptizing and teaching obedience to all that he has taught.
Understanding the Text
Chapter 28 narrates Jesus’ resurrection (28:1–15) and his commissioning of the disciples (28:16–20). The resurrection story picks up plot elements introduced at the end of chapter 27, including the presence of certain women at the cross and the tomb (27:56, 61; 28:1), the placing of guards at the tomb (27:62–66; 28:4), and an earthquake (27:51–52; 28:2). The women and the eleven disciples encounter the risen Jesus and worship him (28:9, 17), concluding the Gospel as it began, with worship of Jesus (2:2, 11). In the final scene Matthew asserts that Jesus, who has demonstrated messianic authority in his healings and miracles (e.g., chaps. 8–9), now is given “all authority” (28:18). The mission that Jesus gives to his disciples now includes “all nations” (28:19; cf. 10:5–6), culminating the theme of Gentile inclusion (e.g., 1:3, 5–6; 2:1; 4:15). And the promise of Jesus’ presence with his followers to the “very end of the age” links to the description of Jesus as “God with us” (1:23).
Interpretive Insights
28:2 There was a violent earthquake. As Jesus’ death was accompanied by the earth shaking (sei? [27:51]), so an earthquake (seismos) attends his resurrection. Matthew thereby indicates the cosmic implications of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
28:6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. This affirmation of Jesus’ prediction of his resurrection picks up the three passion predictions in 16:21; 17:22–23; 20:17–19, each of which mentions Jesus’ resurrection.
28:7 go quickly and tell his disciples. It would have been noteworthy to Matthew’s original audience that women were the first witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection, given that male testimony was considered preferable to female witness, since women were considered weaker in character and less rational than men and so less reliable (e.g., Josephus, Ant. 4.219; cf. Origen,Cels.2.55).
28:9 They . . . clasped his feet and worshiped him. Matthew highlights worship of Jesus by the women and the eleven disciples after his resurrection (28:9, 17). In and of itself, resurrection of a person does not compel worship (i.e., it does not prove divinity), but Jesus’ resurrection in light of the link with his future vindication by God (see 16:28; 26:64; Dan. 7:13–14) means for Matthew that Jesus participates in the divine identity and is worthy of worship (see comments on 28:18).
28:10 Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me. Jesus has offered future hope of reconciliation with his disciples when he predicts that they will desert him (26:32). Here that restoration is intimated by his reference to the eleven as his “brothers.”
28:12 the chief priests had met with the elders. Even at the end of the Gospel the chief priests and elders continue to attempt to derail Jesus’ ministry and mission (cf. 21:23; 26:3, 47; 27:1, 12). They bribe the soldiers to falsely attribute Jesus’ missing body to a plot hatched by his disciples.
28:15 And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. With this comment, Matthew steps outside the story world of the narrative and speaks more directly to his audience. The evangelist’s use of “Jews” distinct from his own community finds precedent in Josephus’s use of the same term for part of the Jewish people.1
28:17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. The eleven disciples respond ambivalently to Jesus: they worship, but some also doubt.[2] The nature of their doubt is not indicated (e.g., some have suggested that they wonder if it is really Jesus because his resurrected body is not fully recognizable to them). So it might be most consistent exegetically to interpret this doubt (distazo) as a further expression of the disciples’ characterization as those of “little faith,” since the only other occurrence of the word occurs at 14:31, where it is defined by “little faith” (oligopistos). Even in this climactic scene of Matthew’s Gospel, the disciples are not those of exemplary faith, but they do rightly worship Jesus (cf. 14:33). By portraying the disciples in worship here, Matthew begins and ends his narrative with people worshiping Jesus (2:2, 11).
28:18 All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Matthew has identified Jesus with the “son of man” figure from Daniel at key narrative points (e.g., 10:23; 16:28; 24:30; 26:64). Daniel 7:13–14 is also evoked here with Jesus’ reference to “all authority” being “given” to him (edothe . . . exousia [Dan. 7:14 LXX; Matt. 28:18]) and also in the reference to “all the nations” (Dan. 7:14; Matt. 28:19). The universal authority given to Jesus upon his resurrection/vindication implies his inclusion in the divine identity, given that universal authority is something attributed to God alone in the Jewish Scriptures.3
28:19–20 go and make disciples of all nations. The key exhortation Jesus gives to his disciples is to “disciple” the nations, with the verbal form used here (matheteuo [also 13:52; 27:57; cf. Acts 14:21]). All the accompanying verbs (“go,” “baptize,” “teach”) are participles in the Greek text and so attend or augment Jesus’ primary command to disciple the nations. The inclusive reference to “all nations” (panta ta ethne [see 25:32]) indicates that the scope of the church’s mission is universal (mirroring the scope of Jesus’ authority in 28:18). The apostolic mission during Jesus’ ministry was limited to Israel (10:5–6, 23; 15:24), but the church’s mission after his resurrection includes both Jew and Gentile (see comments on 25:32).
baptizing . . . and teaching. Jesus’ commission to disciple all the nations involves two activities of ministry: baptizing and teaching. Baptism is a sign of covenantal inclusion and so initiates a person into identification with the Messiah and into the messianic community. Teaching constitutes a central aspect of discipling, as understood in a Jewish context in which disciples would study and learn under a teacher or leader.[4] Teaching has also been an important aspect of Matthew’s Christology; Jesus is portrayed as the consummate teacher (e.g., 7:28–29).
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This trinitarian baptism formula is clearly rooted in a monotheistic sensibility. The reference to “the name” (to onoma) is singular followed by the tripartite distinction “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” indicating the Christian affirmation of the name of the one God.
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. Jesus’ reference to everything that he has commanded certainly refers to all teachings that Matthew has included in his Gospel. Yet given Matthew’s careful arrangement of Jesus’ teaching primarily into five major discourses (chaps. 5–7, 10, 13, 18, 24–25), these discourses are likely brought to mind for the reader here. Jesus’ kingdom teachings are to be obeyed by his followers as they live out their covenant loyalty to and with Jesus. Although Jesus has commended faithful obedience to the Law and the Prophets throughout his ministry, after his resurrection a development occurs so that it is Jesus’ teachings—themselves a true expression of the Torah—that are to guide the lives of his disciples.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew’s concluding line promises Jesus’ presence to his followers, providing a frame to the whole Gospel that began by introducing Jesus as “God with us” (1:23; see also 18:20). Jesus’ presence ensures the success of the disciples’ ministry of baptizing and teaching, since it is Jesus himself who will be with them in mission. “Jesus’ effective presence . . . is the final assurance that his teaching will be both preserved and spread to all the nations.”[5] Jesus has spoken of the authority that the Twelve and the church will receive (16:19; 18:18). In this commissioning scene it becomes clear that their authority is a derivative one. Jesus, who has been given all authority, goes with them, so that they participate in his authority only as they remain with him and follow his lead.
Theological Insights: Jesus and Divine Prerogatives
Matthew asserts that Jesus is granted universal lordship upon his resurrection (28:18; cf. 11:27). According to Richard Bauckham, this is one of two central divine prerogatives (only God holds them) that, according to the New Testament writers, belong to Jesus. In this way, Jesus the Messiah is portrayed as sharing in the divine identity.[6] Other New Testament texts that affirm Jesus’ universal authority include John 3:35; 13:3; 16:15; 1 Corinthians 15:27–28; Philippians 3:21. Worship of Jesus is often a counterpart to his universal authority, as seen at Philippians 2:9–11. Matthew emphasizes worship of Jesus by beginning and concluding his Gospel with Jesus being worshiped (2:2, 11; 28:9, 17), tying worship to his universal authority at 28:17–18. The second divine prerogative, according to Bauckham, is participation in creation. This prerogative, exercised by the Son, is highlighted in John 1:1–4; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:15–17; Hebrews 1:3.
Teaching the Text
1. Jesus’ resurrection is the sign of God’s vindication of Jesus’ identity and mission as the Messiah. Matthew has highlighted Daniel 7:13–14 at a number of key points in his Gospel to indicate that Jesus understood himself as the “son of man” from Daniel’s vision who would be vindicated by God and given universal authority. Jesus has connected his time of vindication with his resurrection (16:28; 26:64), and Matthew affirms this connection in chapter 28, where Jesus is resurrected and given “all authority in heaven and on earth” (28:18). We can know that Jesus is God’s true Messiah because of his resurrection to universal reign.
So how does this help us preach Jesus’ resurrection? Modernist suspicions about the miraculous, including and especially resurrection, have often set the agenda for preaching Jesus’ resurrection primarily in apologetic terms, with the goal being proofs for it. This is not inappropriate, but an apologetic for the resurrection is not at the heart of what Matthew provides. He is much more interested in the meaning of the resurrection for his Christology. And understanding Jesus’ resurrection as his vindication by God gets at this meaning. Jesus’ resurrection shows us that he is the Messiah, and that his particular way of living out that messianic mission—in service and death for others—is God’s way of making all things right and ushering in the kingdom. And that is a message that we can preach all year long, not simply at Easter time.
2. Jesus, as universal king and Lord, promises his presence to his followers and is worthy of their worship. The promise of Jesus’ presence with his followers to “the very end of the age” is eminently teachable. Given a certain tension in the New Testament between Jesus’ absence after his ascension (e.g., John 16:5–7) and his involvement in the life of the church (e.g., Acts 16:7), Matthew’s thematic offering of Jesus as God with us (1:23; 18:20; 28:20) is a rich resource for helping the church conceive of living in light of Jesus’ presence in the present.
3. Matthew calls people to respond to Jesus as Messiah and Lord by following him in discipleship. As Michael Wilkins expresses it, “To ‘be discipled’ means that one who is a disciple continues to learn from Jesus about the kingdom of heaven (13:52; 27:57).”[7] The metaphor of following lends itself to understand Christian faith as a journey. Learning from Jesus, or what Luke Johnson calls “learning Jesus,” is a lifelong endeavor and commitment based on God’s initiative in our lives. As Johnson expresses it,
We are pursuing the implications of a strong belief in the resurrection for knowledge of Jesus. If we are dealing not with a dead person of the past but with a person whose life continues, however mysteriously, in the present, then it is better to speak of “learning Jesus” than of “knowing Jesus.” We are concerned with a process rather than a product.8
Illustrating the Text
Jesus’ resurrection is the sign of God’s vindication of Jesus’ identity and mission as the Messiah.
Quote: N. T. Wright, in Matthew for Everyone, sums up nicely the way that Jesus’ resurrection helps to interpret the whole of Matthew and vindicates Jesus’ identity and mission.
Take away the resurrection of Jesus . . . and you leave Matthew without a gospel. The cross is the climax of his story, but it only makes the sense it does as the cross of the one who was then raised from the dead. The great discourses of the gospel—the Sermon on the Mount, and all the rest—are his way of saying that Jesus is . . . Israel’s Messiah. He is the one who is giving Israel and the world the new Law through which God’s new way of being human has been unveiled before the world. But all this is true only because the one who proclaimed God’s blessings on his followers, the one who announced God’s woes on those who went their own ways, and the one who spoke God’s kingdom-message in parables, is now the risen Lord.9
Jesus, as universal king and Lord, promises his presence to his followers and is worthy of their worship.
Quote: Richard Fox provides an interesting, alternate perspective on the commonplace question “What would Jesus do?”
Evangelical Protestants like to ask, “What would Jesus do?” but many Catholics and non-evangelical Protestants prefer to ask, “What does Jesus do?” In their eyes Christ makes his body and his Holy Spirit available to believers in the sacraments, and he models selfless surrender to his Father’s will. Since the nineteenth century, Word-centered Protestant evangelicals have focused on Jesus as speaker and doer, not mystical presence or submissive servant.10
Holding both visions—Jesus as speaker and doer and Jesus as presence with us—would resonate with Matthew’s christological portrayal.
Summary: 16:21–28:20. Matthew portrays Jesus setting out toward Jerusalem and predicting his impending suffering, death, and resurrection. While they travel to Jerusalem, Jesus teaches his disciples about a way of living that adequately reflects the reality of the kingdom in his ministry and mission. It is a way of life that renounces status and position in order to serve others in the believing community, especially the little ones and the least of these. Jesus rides into Jerusalem as a peaceable and humble king and demonstrates his messianic authority over the temple and the Jewish leaders. These leaders plot his demise, as he answers all their challenges and tests with wisdom and God-given authority. Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple and links that event to his coming vindication by God. As the Passover arrives, Jesus celebrates and redefines that festival by reference to his coming death and resurrection. Throughout his arrest, trials, and crucifixion, Jesus remains the faithful son who gives his life as “a ransom for many.” His resurrection demonstrates God’s vindication of his mission and message.