Matthew 28

Matthew 28:1-10

Matthew 28:1-10 The Women at the Sepulcher, Matthew 28:1-8. (Mark 16:1-18; Luke 24:1-11)J.W. McGarvey

1. In the end of the sabbath.— The English version is here self-contradictory: for if the event mentioned occurred “in the end of the Sabbath,” it could not have occurred “as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week.” The word rendered “in the end” (ὀøὲ), usually means late, and is sometimes translated “in the evening.” (Mark 11:19; Mark 13:35.) But it is sometimes used with the genitive in the sense of after (see Robinson’s N. T. Lexicon), and such must be its meaning here: “after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn,” etc. and the other Mary.— The one mentioned above, Matthew 27:61. The two Marys, having remained at the sepulcher on the evening of the burial until Joseph and Nicodemus departed, now return, as Matthew expresses it, “to see the sepulcher.” Their more especial object was to complete the embalming of the body (Mark 16:1); but as Matthew had said nothing of their previous preparation of spices, he chooses now to speak in vague terms of their object in coming.
2. a great earthquake.— It was probably great in intensity, but not in extent. It was produced by the power of the angel who descended and rolled back the stone, as appears from the use of for (ãáñ), in the next clause. 3, 4. for fear of him.— Both the appearance and the action of this angel were majestic in the extreme. He came down from heaven like a stream of light; he stood at the door of the sepulcher, with raiment white as snow and a countenance gleaming like lightning; with resistless hand he rolled back the great stone, at whose fall the ground trembled with an earthquake; then he calmly took a seat on the stone and turned his gleaming face upon the soldiers, as if to say, See what I have done! No wonder that “the keepers did shake and become as dead men.”
3. the angel answered.— We learn from Mark and Luke that the angel first spoke to the women after they went into the sepulcher (Mark 16:5-6; Luke 24:2-5); consequently we are to understand that after the flight of the guards and just before the arrival of the women, the angel left his seat on the stone and went inside the sepulcher. All that occurred previous to the arrival of the women was learned from the report of the guards, who at first gave a true and full account of what they had witnessed. (Matthew 28:11.)
4. Come, see the place.— Not the sepulcher, but the particular spot within it where the body was laid. They had already entered the sepulcher and seen that the body was gone. (Luke 24:3-4.) The angel had now become visible, and invites them to examine the spot marked, as we learn from John (20:7), by the napkin, which had been about his head, lying in one place, and the linen clothes in another. The presence of these grave-clothes confirmed the statement that he had risen, for had he been carried away they would scarcely have been left behind. The sepulcher, it must be observed, was not a narrow grave, but a chamber of considerable size, in which at this moment not less than four women and two visible angels were moving about.
5. tell his disciples.— The word disciples, in Greek, is in the masculine gender, and distinguishes the male from the female disciples. The women are charged with the double announcement that Jesus had arisen, and that he would go before the disciples into Galilee. They would naturally return to Galilee after the Passover week expired, because there were their homes.
6. and did run.— The “fear and great joy” with which they were excited gave swiftness to the feet of the women as they ran to tell the news to the male disciples, and never before had such a message burned within the heart of man or woman. Jesus Appears to the Women, Matthew 28:9-109. Jesus met them.— He had the instant before parted from Mary Magdalene, to whom he appeared first. (See note on Mark 16:9.) la seems that no one saw him come out of the sepulcher, not even the soldiers. Whether he was invisible at the moment, or was not seen because the soldiers were overwhelmed by the appearance of the angel, we can not tell. held him by the feet.— The women, according to the custom of the Jews when greatly overpowered with religious emotion, prostrated themselves before him, and in this posture took hold of his feet as he stood on the ground.
7. Then said Jesus.— The interview was but momentary. The women identify him, he repeats the message already given by the angel about the meeting in Galilee, he instantly disappears, and then the women hasten on their errand more excited than before. The Resurrection - Matthew 28:1-10 Open It1. In your opinion, what is the most significant event in history?
8. If you could go back in time and witness any historical event, which one would you choose? Why?
9. What is the most awesome display of power you have ever seen? Explore It4. When did the events of this passage occur? (Matthew 28:1)
10. Who went to Jesus’ tomb? (Matthew 28:1)
11. What significant events took place that morning? (Matthew 28:2)
12. Where did the angel go, and what did he do? (Matthew 28:2)
13. What did the angel look like? (Matthew 28:3)
14. What effect did the angel have on the guards at the tomb of Jesus? (Matthew 28:4)
15. What amazing news did the angel announce to the women at the tomb? (Matthew 28:5-6)
16. What invitation did the angel give the women? (Matthew 28:6)
17. What command did the angel give Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary”? (Matthew 28:7)
18. How did the women feel as they left the tomb? (Matthew 28:8)
19. What kind of meeting took place as the women were going to tell the disciples about Jesus? (Matthew 28:9)
20. How did the women respond when Jesus met them? (Matthew 28:9)
21. What words of challenge and comfort did the women receive? (Matthew 28:10) Get It17. If you can mentally place yourself at the tomb of Christ on that first “Easter morning,” what emotions would you be feeling?
22. Why is the Resurrection important to us as Christians?
23. What attitude should we have in light of the fact of Jesus’ resurrection?
24. How might you answer a skeptic who argued that Jesus didn’ t really rise from the dead?
25. Why should we be interested and motivated to tell others about this amazing historical fact?
26. How does Jesus’ warm, loving attitude— even toward the disciples who deserted him— give you comfort? Apply It23. When and where could you spend a few minutes meditating on the truth of this passage over the next week?
27. In what practical and realistic ways can you become more effective this week in spreading the good news about Christ?

Matthew 28:11-15

Matthew 28:11-15 Report of the Watch, Matthew 28:11-15J.W. McGarvey 11. when they were going.— Here Matthew informs us of the exact relative time at which “some of the watch” arrived in the city and reported to the chief priests what they had seen: it was “when the women were going “to deliver their message, and it was after their meeting with Jesus. Notice that, not all, but some of the watch went to the chief priests, the remainder going doubtless to their own quarters. Some went to the chief priests because they knew that it was at their instance that the sepulcher had been guarded. 12. and had taken counsel.— This was doubtless a hurried gathering of such chief priests and elders as were near by, not including such men as Joseph and Nicodemus, who would be unfavorable to the villainy in contemplation. 13. Say ye.— The object of the chief priests, as is common with men who persist in crime, was to keep hid from the eyes of men the proof that they had put to death an innocent person. They were oblivious of the power and wrath of God, and they proceeded to still further inflame the divine wrath by putting a lie into the lips of the soldiers and hiring them to tell it. while we slept.— The new story bore its falsity on its face. It was an affirmation as to what was done, and by whom it was done, while the affirmants were asleep. Moreover, it was the affirmation of an impossibility; for it is impossible, even had they been asleep, that a company of men sufficiently numerous to perform the task, could have walked up to the sepulcher, rolled away the great stone, and borne the body away, without awaking some of the guards, who were stationed about the door of the sepulcher for the very purpose of preventing such a removal of the body. Matthew’s account of the origin of this story is confirmed by the character of the story: it is utterly incredible that such a story could be told by honest men for an honorable purpose. 14. we will persuade him.— It would have been hazardous for the soldiers to tell the new story without some guarantee of protection, for it contained an admission that they had fallen asleep while on guard, and this, in the Roman army, was punishable with death. This fact, be it noticed, adds to the improbability that the story itself is true. The chief priests promised to persuade Pilate and protect the soldiers, in case of their arraignment, and this they could safely promise, both because Pilate was interested like themselves in concealing the fact of the resurrection, and because, if it came to the worst, they would not be afraid to confess to him the lie which they had put into the lips of the soldiers. 15. is commonly reported.— Up to the day that Matthew wrote his narrative, this false report was current among the unbelieving Jews. If the truth of a historical proposition can be established by the absurdity of its contradictory, the resurrection of Jesus is established by the absurdity of all efforts to account in another way for the disappearance of his dead body. His enemies of that generation, men of learning and of ingenuity whose honor was involved in the issue, were able to invent no better account of said disappearance than this absurd story put into the mouths of the soldiers; and men of subsequent ages have made no improvement on this original falsehood. One of the latest efforts of the kind, that of Monsieur Kenan, though more imaginary, is not less absurd. This philosopher (?) says: “The strong imagination of Mary Magdalene here enacted a principal part. Divine power of love! sacred moments in which the passion of a hallucinated woman gives to the world a resurrected God!” The Guards’ Report - Matthew 28:11-15 Open It1. How much of what goes on in the world (in government, in business, on the street, in families) is hidden or covered up? 2. When you hear two wildly different versions of the same event, how do you determine which one is true? 3. What bit of news or information do you remember more than any other? 4. As a child, what elaborate cover-ups did you devise in order to hide your misbehavior? Explore It5. While the women were going out to spread the good news, what did the guards from the tomb do? (Matthew 28:11) 6. What groups met to discuss the “emergency” of Jesus’ missing body? (Matthew 28:12) 7. What did the meeting of religious leaders produce? (Matthew 28:12) 8. What did the chief priests give the soldiers? Why? (Matthew 28:12-13) 9. Whom did the chief priests bribe? Why? (Matthew 28:12-13) 10. Whom did the chief priests and elders use? Why? (Matthew 28:12-13) 11. What did the religious leaders tell the soldiers to say? (Matthew 28:13) 12. How did the religious leaders reassure the guards that they would not get in trouble with the Roman government? (Matthew 28:14) 13. What did the soldiers think about the plot? (Matthew 28:15) 14. To what degree was the story made up by Jesus’ enemies spread and believed? (Matthew 28:15) Get It15. How do you think the soldiers felt as they made their way back to headquarters? 16. To what do you account the Jewish leaders’ stubborn unwillingness to acknowledge the Resurrection? 17. If you had been living at the time, how might you have “poked holes” in the “official account” of the Resurrection? 18. What are some other man-made explanations for the Resurrection? 19. How does money or the promise of wealth alter our ability to think clearly and reason purely? 20. Why are we willing to go to great lengths to cover up unpleasant truths? 21. In what area(s) of your life have you been covering up the truth and living a lie? Apply It22. What can you do this week to prepare for discussions with those who don’ t believe Jesus rose from the dead? 23. What first step do you need to take today to live with more integrity, no matter how much it costs you?

Matthew 28:16-20

Matthew 28:16-20 The Meeting in Galilee, Matthew 28:16-20J.W. McGarvey 16. where Jesus had appointed.— Here we learn that the mountain on which the oft promised meeting in Galilee was to take place (Matthew 26:32; Matthew 28:7; Matthew 28:10), had already been designated by Jesus; and we may safely infer that the time had also been named, for otherwise the disciples would not have known when to assemble at the appointed place. 17. but some doubted.— The doubt is accounted for in part by the fact that he first appeared at a distance, as appears from the words, “he came and spoke to them” (Matthew 28:18), and in part by the fact that others were there besides the eleven. This is undoubtedly the time at which he was seen by “above five hundred brethren at once” (1 Corinthians 15:6); for it was the only appointed meeting, and the appointment gave opportunity for all who would to be present. In so large a crowd it is not surprising that some even of the eleven did not recognize him at the first moment of his appearing. 18. All power.— More correctly rendered all authority. The assertion that all authority in heaven and on earth was given to him was a proper prelude to the command which follows, for the possession of such authority was requisite to the effective issuing of such a command. 19. teach all nations.— The term rendered teach (μαθατεύω) means to make disciples. The clause should be rendered, “Go, disciple all nations.” A disciple is one who accepts the teaching of Jesus; and men are made such by preaching the gospel to them. baptizing them.— Not baptizing the nations, but baptizing those discipled. Them, in the Greek, is in the masculine gender (αὐτοὺς), and can not refer for its antecedent to nations (ἔθνη), because the latter term is in the neuter gender. Its antecedent is the masculine noun disciples (μαθήτας), implied in the verb (μαθατεύω), make disciples. (For another example of this construction, see note on Matthew 25:32.) in the name.— As is well remarked by Alford, “It is unfortunate again here that our English Bibles do not give us the force of this είς. It should have been into (as in Galatians 3:27, al.), both here and in 1 Corinthians 10:2, and wherever the expression is used.” So depose Lange, Olshausen, and the best critics generally. It has been objected, especially by Dr. Conant (Notes on Bible Union Version), that into the name is not good English. The objection may as well have been urged against such expressions as “into Moses,” “into Christ,” “into his death.” There is no fault to be found with any of these expressions, unless it be their obscurity, and this cannot be avoided except by a circumlocution. The name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit means the combined authority of all the manifestations of God.

To be baptized into this, is to be brought by baptism into actual subjection to it. He that is baptized is brought into subjection by that act to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; and in consequence of this subjection he receives the remission of his sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38.) 20. teaching them.— Here the word teaching is a proper rendering, and it indicates the third step to be taken with those to whom the apostles would preach. Having made disciples by persuading men to accept the teaching of Jesus, and having baptized such into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, they were next to teach them all that Jesus had commanded— all the duties of the Christian life. I am with you alway.— This promise includes more than his mere presence. When we urge men to a dangerous and difficult undertaking, and say, We will be with you; we promise them our co-operation and support. Such is the meaning of Jesus: he is with his people to help them and to protect them. The promise is limited only by “the end of the world.” The term rendered world (ἄιὼν) frequently means age: but whether we render it world or age in this place the meaning is the same, for the age referred to must be the Christian age, and this will end with the world itself. The promise was made primarily to the eleven, but inasmuch as they were not to live till the end of the world, it properly extends to the entire Church of which they were the recognized representatives. While the world stands, therefore, Christ, possessed of all authority in heaven and in earth, is pledged to be with his Church. This is a most appropriate conclusion for a narrative whose object it was to record some of the labors, sufferings, and triumphs by which Jesus laid the foundation of his Church, and from which the promise of his presence derives all of its heavenly consolation. Argument of Section 9This section contains at least two historical proofs of the divinity of Jesus. The first is found in the demonstrations of divine power which accompanied his death. The miraculous darkness which covered the land for three hours previous to his last breath, was an unmistakable sign from heaven. The invisible hand which at the moment of his last cry rent in twain the veil of the temple, could have been no other than the hand of God or that of an angel sent from heaven. The earthquake, bursting solid rocks and opening the chambers of the dead, was a divine response from the earth to the divine token of wrath which hung over the face of the sky. All these are unmistakable manifestations of God’s displeasure, and none of them could have accompanied the death of Jesus had he been an impostor. The conclusion forced upon the mind of the centurion, and extorting from him the exclamation, “Truly this was the Son of God,” is the conclusion which must be echoed back from the soul of every honest man who reads the story. The second proof in the section, and the grand final demonstration, is found in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. That he did arise is attested by conclusive evidence. The women can not have been mistaken as to the statement of the angel at the sepulcher, nor as to the appearance of Jesus to them on the way. Their testimony on these two points is true unless they lied, and they had no motive prompting them to lie. Their statement, too, is such, in its details, as they could not have invented: to suppose that they invented it is a far more violent supposition than to suppose it is true. Again, the eleven can not have been mistaken in asserting that Jesus appeared to them on the mountain in Galilee and spoke to them the words of the commission; nor can the commission itself have been an invention of men, and especially of these men.

Matthew was himself one of the eleven, and an eyewitness to this part of the proof. The resurrection of Jesus being thus established as a fact, his Messiahship and his Sonship are established beyond all reasonable doubt. ConclusionWe here conclude our comments on a narrative which, whether we consider its merits as a mere narrative; the momentous character of the leading proposition which it advocates; or the completeness and amplitude of the historical demonstration which it furnishes, has no superior among the writings of earth, and no rival except its own three companions. To the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, be glory everlasting for this inestimable gift of his grace! The Great Commission - Matthew 28:16-20 Open It1. What is the most exciting news you have received in the last month? 2. What images spring to mind when you hear the words “missionary” or “evangelism”? 3. What is the loneliest time you have ever experienced? Explore It4. Who went to Galilee? When? (Matthew 28:16) 5. Where did the disciples gather? Why? (Matthew 28:16) 6. Why did the disciples assemble on the specific mountain they chose? (Matthew 28:16) 7. Who appeared to the disciples? When? (Matthew 28:16-17) 8. What responses did Jesus’ appearance elicit? (Matthew 28:17) 9. What did Jesus say about Himself? (Matthew 28:18) 10. Where did Jesus tell His disciples to go? (Matthew 28:19) 11. What did Jesus tell His disciples to make? (Matthew 28:19) 12. What activities were the disciples to be involved in? (Matthew 28:19-20) 13. With what words of comfort did Jesus leave His disciples? (Matthew 28:20) Get It14. What insight into the triune nature of God do you find in this passage? 15. Why do you think some of the disciples doubted when they saw Christ? 16. What causes Christians to doubt God today? 17. How do you think you might have reacted to the appearance of the risen Christ? 18. What does it mean to us that Jesus has “all authority”? 19. Over what does Jesus have all authority? 20. Over whom does Jesus have all authority? 21. What does it mean to “make disciples”? 22. What role do you have in making disciples? 23. How can knowing that Jesus is always with us make a difference in our daily lives? 24. What specific teaching of Christ do you need to obey more consistently? Apply It25. What older and wiser Christian can you approach in the next couple of days to ask for help in spiritual learning, training, and growing? 26. What step can you take this week in the process of making disciples?