<\/p>
INTRODUCTION <\/p>\n
Jesus death was not the end of His ministry, and neither is His resurrection.\u00a0 He rises to commission His disciples to carry on His work to the Gentiles.\u00a0 \u201cGo\u201d said the angel; \u201cgo,\u201d Jesus repeated to the women; now, again, \u201cGo\u201d (28:7, 10, 19). <\/p>\n
THE TEXT <\/p>\n
\u201cNow while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened . . . .\u201d (Matthew 28:11-20). <\/p>\n
FALSE REPORT <\/p>\n
Jesus\u2019 resurrection is undeniable.\u00a0 There was an angel, an earthquake, and the stone was rolled away, and the guards witnessed it all.\u00a0 Only those determined to ignore the obvious could deny the resurrection, but the Jews are determined.\u00a0 Money has been a potent force for evil in the Passion story.\u00a0 Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, and now the Jews pay off the soldiers to spread a false report about the disappearance of Jesus\u2019 body (28:11-15).\u00a0 Jesus gave only one sign to \u201cthis generation,\u201d the sign of Jonah (Matthew 12:38-41).\u00a0 But the men of Nineveh were more responsive than the Jews, for they repented when Jonah rose from the death waters and preachers to them.\u00a0 The Jews don\u2019t.\u00a0 They conspire to make sure that no other Jews know about the sign. <\/p>\n
THEY WORSHIPED HIM <\/p>\n
As instructed, the disciples go to Galilee, where Jesus comes to them.\u00a0 The Magi were the first to worship the king of the Jews (2:2, 11).\u00a0 Now that Jesus has been raised, the eleven remaining disciples join in (28:16).\u00a0 This is no ordinary bow; they prostrate themselves in total submission to Jesus, acknowledging that he is God.\u00a0 He was identified as \u201cImmanuel\u201d at the beginning of the gospel (1:23), and now He promises that His divine presence will remain with the disciples forever (28:20; cf. Deuteronomy 31:23)). <\/p>\n
ALL AUTHORITY <\/p>\n
In Daniel 7, the prophet sees a vision of one like the Son of Man inheriting all authority of all the nations.\u00a0 The Risen Jesus is that Son of Man.\u00a0 His death and resurrection have changed everything.\u00a0 Matthew hammers on the point with the repetition of the word \u201call\u201d: Jesus has all authority, sends His disciples to make disciples of all nations, tells them to teach all His commandments, and promises His presence through all ages (vv. 18-20).\u00a0 These \u201calls\u201d are linked: Because Jesus has all authority, He sends His disciples to all nations, and all His commandments are weighty. <\/p>\n
GO! <\/p>\n
Matthew\u2019s gospel recapitulates the history of Israel.\u00a0 Here in these last verses, Jesus is the great World Emperor, the new Cyrus, who commissions His disciples to \u201cgo\u201d (cf. 2 Chronicles 36:22-23).\u00a0 Instead of returning to their homeland, however, Jesus sends them out <\/em> , to places they\u2019ve never been before.\u00a0 They can go with confidence: Wherever they go, He\u2019ll be waiting for them; wherever they go, they\u2019ll be in a place under His dominion.\u00a0 Throughout the gospel, Jesus has had disciples, He has been making disciples.\u00a0 Now that He\u2019s risen, His spreads out this task.\u00a0 Disciples will henceforth make disciples of all nations, by baptizing and teaching all them all that Jesus taught.\u00a0 All that to say: Go! <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" INTRODUCTION Jesus death was not the end of His ministry, and neither is His resurrection.\u00a0 He rises to commission His disciples to carry on His work to the Gentiles.\u00a0 \u201cGo\u201d said the angel; \u201cgo,\u201d Jesus repeated to the women; now, again, \u201cGo\u201d (28:7, 10, 19). THE TEXT \u201cNow while they were going, behold, some of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-nt-matthew"],"yoast_head":"\n