Jesus is Risen!

He Lives!

He was crucified, dead, buried – but death could not hold Him down!

He was raised because of our justification!

These are the great truths of Jesus’ resurrection.

But after telling us of the resurrection, Matthew does something curious. He skips ahead from that first Resurrection Sunday to Jesus’ encounter with His disciples in Galilee.

• We don’t hear about road His encounter with two followers on the road to Emmaus
• We don’t hear about Thomas’ doubts
• We don’t hear of Jesus asking Peter three times, “Do you love me?”

Instead, Jesus and the disciples meet, Jesus gives Great Commission – then the end of the book.

Is this, perhaps, anticlimactic?

No. This fits perfectly with Matthew’s emphases throughout this Gospel.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are not comprehensive biographies of Jesus. None attempts to tell us everything Jesus said or did. They don’t even attempt to tell us all the important things Jesus said or did.

Rather, each is presenting to us certain themes, certain truths about Jesus: His life, His ministry, His work. And by the Holy Spirit each selects material to support those truths.

So Matthew, carried along by the Holy Spirit, completes this book powerfully, highlighting many of his major themes, and leaving us with a commissioning to follow.

So let’s look to see how this brief text – 5 verses, 94 words in the ESV – is a culmination of Matthew’s portrayal of Jesus.

Here Matthew highlights 8 themes from throughout the book: Two vital truths, four commands (which we will consider under five headings), and one promise:

• Vital Truth 1: Human Weakness
• Vital Truth 2: Jesus’ Authority
• Command 1: Go
• Command 2a: Disciple
• Command 2b: Disciple the Nations
• Command 3: Baptize
• Command 4: Teach them to Obey All I Have Commanded
• The Promise: His Presence

Vital Truth 1: Human Weakness

Matthew 28:17: “They saw him and worshiped him but some doubted.”

What?

The risen Jesus is standing right in front of them. They handled Him. They felt His bones and muscles. They watched Him eat and saw Him breath. Some doubted? What could this mean?

We get some help from looking up the Greek verb translated “doubt.” One possible meaning of this verb is, “To be uncertain about taking a particular course of action, to hesitate” (BDAG Lexicon). This Greek word occurs only one other time in the New Testament, in Matthew 14:31. Peter steps out of the boat, and walks on water toward Jesus. But he then looks at the waves and begins to sink. Jesus saves him, and then asks, “Why did you doubt?” That is: “Why were you uncertain? Why did you hesitate?”

So there need be no contradiction between saying the disciples worshiped and the same disciples doubted. Worship and hesitation can go together. We know that in our own experience. We say or sing,

“Jesus, You are Lord! You are risen from the dead! You reign!” And we also say, “I have no idea how to handle this crisis in my life.” “I am sorely tempted to this sin.” Or, “I’m hesitant to share the Gospel with my neighbor, with my friends.” Such hesitancy happens all the time, to all of us.

Why does Matthew include this note of doubt at the end of his Gospel? Human weakness has been a major theme throughout the book. He is highlighting that theme once last time. Let’s consider a few earlier instances:

In chapter 16, Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter replies, “You are Christ, the son of the living God.” Jesus says that Peter is blessed, that the Father Himself has revealed this to him.

Yet immediately thereafter, when Jesus begins to speak of the cross, Peter rebukes Jesus, telling Him that such suffering will never happen. Jesus responds, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me!”

Peter is, on the one hand, God’s chosen agent. But in his weakness, he also become Satan’s chosen agent.

In chapter 26, Jesus prophesies that all the disciples will fall away because of Him. Peter and the other disciples all protest that they will follow Him even to death. Yet, just as Jesus says, they all fall away.

Then, later that same night, after they walk to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asks His three closest disciples to watch and pray with Him. They all fall asleep – not just once, but twice.  Jesus says, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).  

Such is human weakness.

We must acknowledge our weakness or we have no hope.For Jesus also says, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).

But when we do acknowledge our weakness and depend on Him for strength, we have great hope. We see this lived out in the feeding of the 5000 in chapter 14. Jesus, seeing the hungry crowds, tells the disciples, “You give them something to eat!” They respond, “We have only 5 loaves and 2 fish!” But Jesus takes that small amount of food, blesses it, breaks it, and continues to hand food to the disciples to feed the crowd. The disciples have no resources to meet the need. But by Jesus’ power they do indeed give the crowd something to eat. All are satisfied.

So Jesus tells His disciples (and Matthew tells us): “Doubt yourself! Doubt your courage! Doubt your tenacity! Doubt your faithfulness! But don’t doubt Jesus! Don’t hesitate to follow Him. Lean on Him!”

The next vital truth helps to explain why:

 

Vital Truth 2: Jesus’s Authority

Matthew 28:18 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

Not some authority. Not authority only on the earth, or only in heaven. All authority. In heaven, over spiritual forces, and on earth – over all persons, all armies, all governments. The Father and the Son agree that the Son will exercise this authority. It is His.

Jesus is the King who will reign forever.                 This is the most central theme in the book of Matthew (and thus this sermon series is entitled, “Walk with the promised Savior and King,”

Recall that Matthew opens this book by calling Jesus the son of David – the promised Son who will reign forever and ever as God promised (2 Samuel 7:16). Then Jesus speaks time and again of the Kingdom of Heaven (31 times in Matthew). Indeed, His first public teaching was, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).

Then Matthew demonstrates that Jesus has great authority even in His earthly life – He has authority over demons, over disease, over food (as we just saw), over the forces of nature, and even over death itself.

Matthew also highlights the authority of Jesus’ teaching. Recall the recurring phrase in the Sermon on the Mount, “You have heard that it was said to those of old . . . but I say to you.” And after Jesus completes that sermon, the people are astonished, “For he was teaching them as one who had authority” (Matthew 7:29).

In Matthew 11:27 Jesus Himself claims this complete authority:

All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

At His trial, Jesus confesses before the High Priest, “From now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven” – thus claiming to be that long-promised Messiah.

Finally, even in His moment of humiliation on the cross, Pilate has written above His head, “Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Pilate thus states a truth that he doesn’t believe.

My friends, all authority belongs to Jesus. Whether you acknowledge Him or not, He is Lord. He is King. He is Sovereign. He rules. Every knee will bow before Him. Every tongue will confess that He is Lord. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

Then as that final, greatest authority, He issues us commands:

Command 1: Go

First, a footnote. Some of you have heard that main verb in verses 18-19 is “disciple” – and that that verb is a command, an imperative, while all the other verbs, including “go,” are participles in Greek. That’s a true statement – but sometimes that truth is used to draw a false implication: “Jesus is not telling us, ‘Go!’ Rather, He is saying, ‘As you go, in the normal course of your life, make disciples.’”

If we look at the text, we can see clearly that limiting the command in that way is wrong. Surely we are to make disciples in the normal course of our lives. But clearly, if we are going to disciple all nations, some of us must go! Just as clearly, if we are going to disciple others, we must baptize, we must teach to obey Jesus’ commands. Thus “go,” “baptize,” and “teach to obey” are all commands.

End of footnote.

Note that the command to go is not presented for the first time here in chapter 28. Recall that in Matthew 9:37-38, Jesus tells His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (emphasis added).

Then a few verses later in chapter 10, Jesus sends out the twelve to “the lost sheep of house of Israel.”

So even during Jesus’ lifetime on earth, He commands His disciples to go. Now, upon His death and resurrection, He sends them (and us) out further.

Jesus says, “I have all authority. Therefore go!”

 

Command 2a: Disciple

In the English Standard Version, this command reads, “Make disciples of all nations.” “Make disciples” translates one Greek verb that means “to disciple.” The translators do this since “disciple” as a verb is considered archaic or obsolete (see, for example, the entry at dictionary.com). But I think we lose something when add the word “make” (I’ll explain why under the next heading). So I’ll use “disciple” as the verb in this discussion.

We are to disciple. How are we to do that?

We are to look at what Jesus has been doing for the previous three years! He has been discipling the disciples. How does He do that? He teaches them, then sends them out to teach. He models for them, then corrects them, even rebukes them when necessary. He opens up the Word to them – the Old Testament at that time – and explains what it means, telling them what is most important and showing them how to live it out. He teaches them the great importance of obedience, and He teaches them how to obey.

In this way, the disciples become part of His intimate family. For remember when Jesus’ mother and half-brothers want to see Him. With His disciples gathered around Him, He asks:

Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!  For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:48-50)

And as Jesus explains in Matthew 16:24-25, in becoming part of His intimate family, His disciples find true life:

If anyone would come after me, [he must] deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

So Jesus tells us: Disciple others – so that they might be part of Jesus’ family, so that they might find true life, so that they might find true joy.

Go! Disciple!

Command 2b: Disciple The Nations

Consider again the translation of verse 18. If we render the Greek verb “make disciples,” then we are forced to add a preposition absent from the Greek: “Make disciples of all nations.” This leads to a potential misunderstanding of the command. When we read, “Make disciples of all nations,” we may think that the key is making disciples, and reaching the nations is just an added extra. We may think we can fulfill the command simply by discipling those around us.

But in Jesus’ command, “nations” is the object of the command “disciple.” The command is, “Disciple all nations.” We cannot fulfill that command by discipling only those people who are part of our own culture.

This too is a key theme in Matthew. Look at Matthew 1:1 once again. Matthew calls Jesus not only the Son of David, but also the Son of Abraham. Remember God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3: “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” God promises that through Abraham’s descendant, Jesus, all types of people will be blessed – those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, as the book of Revelation puts it. Every culturally distinct group. Every group to which Gospel will not spread if people only evangelize those like them. The Gospel of Jesus must penetrate every culture, every ethnicity, every language group. People of all types will worship Jesus.

In Matthew 12:20-21, Matthew quotes Isaiah, using the same Greek word translated “nations” in 28:18:

A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory;  and in his name the [nations] will hope.”

All the nations will indeed hope in Jesus.

Then there is the great promise in Matthew 24:14:

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

In 28:18, Matthew tells us the means God will use to accomplish the promise of 24:14: Jesus’ followers must go and disciple all nations. Only then will the end come.

Finally, at the cross we see the beginning of that great harvest of those from every nation. The Gentile centurion and the soldiers around him, upon seeing the crucifixion and its effects, cry out, “Surely this was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54).

God will bring those from every people group to Himself. He gives us, His church, the authority, power, and sanction to bring it about. He sends us out for the sake of His Name, for His great renown, so that all the peoples might glorify His Name. We all have a role to play in the discipling of all nations – whether that role is going ourselves, or mobilizing others to go, or supporting and praying for those who go.

So Go! Disciple all nations!

 

Command 3: Baptize

Why does Jesus include “baptize” as part of this commission? We must disciple all nations, and we’ve seen that the command to go is necessary if we are to accomplish that. Similarly, teaching others to obey Jesus’ commands is surely part of discipling them. But why include baptize in these commands? Is baptism that important?

Matthew introduces baptism back in chapter 3, in his discussion of John the Baptist. John baptized those who repent, confessing their sins. For John, baptism is a picture of turning, of being washed, of being cleansed. Jesus preaches a similar message, calling people to repent and be cleansed.

But baptism takes on added significance after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Consider three aspects of the picture of baptism after the resurrection:

1)      Baptism is still a picture of repentance, but now it is more clearly also a picture of our taking up our cross and following Jesus, as we die to self and are united with Jesus in His death. This is pictured as we go down into the water.

2)      Baptism is still a picture of washing, of cleansing. But after Jesus’ death we know the means of cleansing: We are purified by the blood of Christ. In His sacrifice on the cross, He pays the penalty of all of the sins of all who believe in Him.

3)      The third picture of baptism was not part of John’s baptism. We are raised to walk in newness of life, empowered by the continual presence of Jesus with us (Romans 6:4).

So baptism is a picture of our entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven, our becoming subjects of the King, loyal and beloved; our turning from all other worldly ties and enlisting in the service of our new King – the King with all authority.

So, yes, baptism should indeed be part of this set of commands.

Go! Disciple all nations! Baptize!

Command 4: Teach them to Obey All I Have Commanded

Jesus here elaborates on the meaning of “disciple.”

Read the command carefully. Note that Jesus does not say, “Teach them all I have commanded you.” If that was the command, we could fulfill it by making sure that all those we are teaching are able to pass a multiple choice test on the commands of Jesus. We would only be responsible for teaching Bible knowledge.

But that’s not what Jesus says. Instead, He tells us to teach them to obey all that He has commanded. Clearly we have to know what Jesus commanded if we are going to obey – so Bible knowledge is important. But knowledge of what Jesus commanded does not necessarily lead to obedience to those commands.

What does Jesus command?

In a sense, all of the Old Testament!

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.  (Matthew 5:17-18)

Jesus fulfills – and tells us how to fulfill – all Old Testament commands. All the Old Testament tells us of the character of God. Some of the Old Testament – such as the sacrificial system – pictures the work Jesus accomplished on the cross. Some of Old Testament was misunderstood by the people of Jesus’ day – and by many today – so Jesus clarified, rightly interpreted, and summarized the Law. He said that all the Law and the Prophets depend on two great commandments: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40).

So Jesus commands us to obey Him – and when we obey Him we fulfill what is behind all the Old Testament commandments.

Indeed, if we are to be His faithful and wise servants, we must obey all that He commands:

Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?  Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.  Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. (Matthew 24:45-47)

But if we do not obey, if we think He is delayed in returning and we can get away with disobedience,

[His master] will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 24:51)

Jesus has been explicit about the need for obedience from the beginning of His ministry. Recall what He says near the end of the Sermon on the Mount:

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  (Matthew 7:21)

But He also makes clear that He is the source of forgiveness – He has come to call sinners to repentance, not to condemnation (Matthew 9:13). So we are not to think, “Oh my! I can’t possibly love God every minute of every day, or love every person I encounter! I’m condemned!” Instead, we are to remember what Jesus says:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

He does indeed require us to take a yoke upon us. But the yoke is well-fitted for us, made to conform us to His likeness, made to do us good, not harm. He forgives the humble, repentant sinner. And He pulls on that yoke together with us. He teaches us. He disciples us.

As He teaches us to obey, we are to teach other to obey. Jesus Himself teaches others through us. Indeed, Jesus is working to help them and us obey

That leads to our last heading:

 

The Promise: His Presence

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20)

Literally, Jesus says, “I am with you all the days;” that is, “I am with you every minute of every day until I come again.”

He is with us.

Jesus is with us now and will always be with us.

Does that remind you of something back in chapter 1?

What name for the Messiah does Matthew quote from the prophet Isaiah?  “They shall call his name Immanuel (which means God with us)” (Matthew 1:23).

So, as many have noted, Matthew begins his gospel by saying that Jesus will be called “God with us,” and then ends his gospel by promising that His name is accurate: He will be with us. He will never leave us. He will never forsake us.

Jesus has hinted at this coming truth during His ministry. Recall Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” And in chapter 10, when prophesying about His disciples being arrested and tried before governors and kings, He says they must not worry about what to say, for it will be given to them, “for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matthew 10:10).

•  So, yes, obedience seems impossible. None of us can fulfill the two great commandments by our own power.
• Yes, the task of discipling all nations seems unattainable.
• Yes, the opposition we face is great.
• Yes, we are weak and fallible.

But Jesus says: “Fear not!”

He watches over you

And even more: He is with you. He is truly Immanuel.

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, look at the text one more time. See the obvious outline:

• Vital Truth 1: Human Weakness
• Vital Truth 2: Jesus’ Authority
• Command 1: Go
• Command 2a: Disciple
• Command 2b: Disciple the Nations
• Command 3: Baptize
• Command 4: Teach them to Obey All I Have Commanded
• The Promise: His Presence

Respond by saying:

• “Yes, Lord Jesus. I believe.
• “I acknowledge my weakness, my need to be filled by You, my need to be empowered by You. I acknowledge that left to myself I will mess up my life, I will destroy all that’s good in it.
• “I acknowledge your absolute authority, your power over all that might threaten me. I acknowledge that I owe you everything, and thus am rightly your servant, your slave.
• “So I will play my role in going and discipling all nations. I will go or send or mobilize. I will be a reproducing disciple here, speaking the Gospel and teaching others to speak and obey all your commandments. I will pray for and be involved in spreading the Gospel to all nations, including the many nations God has brought to Charlotte.
• “And I know through the Lord’s Supper: As surely as I taste this cup, as surely as I chew this bread, so surely You will be with me; so surely You will fill me; so surely, You will fulfill your great plan through us, Your church.”

This is the Gospel of Matthew.

This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Come to Him.

[This sermon was preached 9/21/14. The audio is available here.]