Matthew 28:11-20

Matthew 28:11-20

The five verses for 11-15 are a fascinating side bar to the appearance of the resurrected Lord. Perhaps the greatest irony in history, that the high priest have guards placed to prevent the disciples from stealing the body, ends up proving that the disciples did not steal the body. A second irony is that the accusation of the priests that Jesus was a deceiver (27:63) is turned on them and we see that they persisted in their deception or at least attempted to. If the guards slept how could they know who stole the body? How could a whole unit of guards sleep through such an operation?

A major theme of Matthew has been the superseding of the old with the new: the denouncing of the temple system and the priest being replaced with something higher. Matthew, in the same spirit, focuses all of the post-Easter ministry of Jesus away from Jerusalem.

We can take comfort that even in the presence of the resurrected Lord “some were doubtful”. This is not the same as unbelief-the resolve to not believe and the submission associated with and would come with believing. To doubt is literally "to have two minds". They were perhaps fearful and hopeful, glad to be with Jesus and afraid to be with Him after their denial and rejection of Him. While unbelief is rejection such as Judas and the priest, doubt is confusion. The determination to follow Jesus even if we are fully committed means we may struggle with “what” or “how”; it is often to struggle with doubt.

Jesus clarifies their doubt. It is in the context of the disciples’ doubt that Jesus gives the great commission. When in doubt (which is not a rarity in our lives) fulfill the great commission. On the mount of temptation Satan offers to Jesus, “All the kingdoms of the world and their glory.” Jesus having followed the path of obedience now has all the authority in Heaven and on Earth. Typically, what Satan offers is a small parody of what God will give us if we are faithful to Him. Based on His authority the Lord commands and commissions His disciples to go and make disciples. Again we see a cycle complete. Jesus began in 4:18-22 calling and making disciples and that is now to be repeated. This discipleship is the commitment of absolute loyalty and fidelity to the person of Jesus and His name. Notice that in reference to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit the name is grammatically singular. Discipleship is never completed and certainly not with the act of baptism. There follows after baptism teaching of the command of Jesus and the required obedience. There is the high ethical life that the Lord expects.

Matthew begins with the pronouncement of “Emmanuel”, God with us. The circle is now complete, “I am with you.” This is not meant so much as an emotional support but as a confirmation of equipping for the task of making disciples of all the world.

"Lord, be with me as I go and make disciples. AMEN"

Matthew 28:1-10

Matthew 28:1-10

It is interesting that the account of the resurrection is so brief. In fact, the moment of the resurrection is not mentioned at all. By the time chapter 28 begins the resurrection has already occurred. It might seem a bit odd that the post-resurrection history is so short. Matthew spends 140 verses on the Lord’s Supper, passion and execution. Before that he took 228 verses on the last week of public ministry and in teaching the disciples. But he only spent 20 verses on the post resurrection- 40 days and only 20 verses. That is hardly the way we would report an event today. Our human curiosity would be asking, “What was it like to be dead?” “Who did you see?” “What was it like to come to life again?”

But the Holy Spirit inspired Matthew to pursue a different track. He pursues two very simple themes. First is that the tomb is empty. The stone was removed from the tomb entrance not to let Jesus out, but to let us in. He who has just defeated death didn’t need help getting out of the tomb. Interestingly, for at least the last part of their watch the guards were guarding a vacant tomb. The romanticized pictures we have of Jesus walking out of the tomb on Easter morning is not supported by the statement of Scripture. The stone rolled away to show what had already happened. The massive stone was tossed to one side, the glorious angel, and the fainting guards were all about an empty tomb-no one was there. We are not told where Jesus was at that moment. For the unbeliever, skeptic, or the agnostic there is the empty tomb that must be dealt with. Either it was empty for supernatural reasons or for natural ones. The natural reasons are simply too unbelievable.

The second theme is the resurrected Lord. The post resurrection accounts of Jesus vary widely, but that should not surprise us. This is the first time anything like this has ever happened and it might take a little getting used to. After the women left the tomb Jesus met them and greeted them. That greeting was a typical greeting. It was so casual, so ordinary. We might expect “zing”, more “wow”, more “sha-bam”. But Jesus simply walks up and says, “Hello.” There is something special about that casualness. For the believer this resurrected Christ greets people with a casual hello. He is acting as if the resurrected life is the new normal and it is. While there is a “not yet” aspect of the resurrection life there is an aspect in which the new normal for us is the resurrection. There are many implications for that which we haven’t grasped yet, but all the same, “Welcome to the new normal.”

"Lord, thank You for and help me to live this new normal this resurrection life. AMEN"