01.12 - Section 12. Mat_28:1-20.

Section 12. Matthew 28:1-20.

Resurrection, Victory, and Joy The great apostle of the Gentiles, in restating the foundations of Christian truth, emphasises three great cardinal facts: —

1 That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

2 That He was buried.

3 That He rose again the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

"If Christ be not risen," argues the apostle, "then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." "But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept." Our Evangelist gives us the historical narrative with which these truths are connected. The first and second we have already considered. The third comes within the scope of the present chapter. Matthew 28:1-20 is the Victory Chapter, and it opens with all the pomp and circumstance connected therewith. Triumph is its keynote, joy its dominant, and all power its climax. Man might set his seal upon the grave of Christ, but here God sets His seal upon the work of Christ. Having gone down under all the wrath of God and exhausted it, He is raised from the dead by the glory of the Father.

Spite of stone, and seal, and soldier guard —

"Up from the grave He arose With a mighty triumph o’er His foes, Hallelujah." Of what use, then, all the scheming and planning of the priests? Much. They provide proof positive to the world of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The believer has, of course, another set of proofs which other Scriptures fully develop. But let us look at those His enemies supply. The Lord had so frequently foretold His resurrection, that, although His disciples ha .d forgotten it, yet His enemies could not. Hence all their plans to prevent it. That He was dead before being taken down from the Cross, is proved by Pilate’s refusal to allow the Body to be removed until assured by his own centurion that the Lord was already dead (Mark). The priests also testified to the fact when they demanded the watch — "He said, while he was yet alive." Now they knew He was dead. Again, they themselves, or by their servants, sealed His body in the tomb; and further, they drew a cordon of sixty soldiers round the sepulchre. Yet, notwithstanding all the precautions taken by the Jews to prevent it, early on the morning of the third day the stone was rolled away and the tomb was seen by all to be empty. The frightened soldiers announce it. The priests confess it. Fifty days afterwards the disciples proclaim it throughout the city, and the priests never once challenge their veracity. In Matthew 28:1-20 we have two different accounts of how this event took place, one by His friends and another by His foes.

Let us look at the latter first. Early in the morning some of the watch, fleeing from the terror of the angelic presence, entered the city to report the extraordinary event to their employers. The question now before their third council was no longer — How to keep Him in the tomb, but — How to conceal the admitted fact that the Lord was risen. Boldly they will attempt the impossible. In the face of a rent veil the priests invent the lie. In face of angel and earthquake and empty tomb the soldiers disseminate it. They told the truth to the priests. Bribed, and taught by the priests, they lied to the people — "His disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept." The words of the priests so evidently carry their falsehood in their face that the Evangelist does not trouble to refute them. Neither need we. But it is well we should mark this: There is no fact of history more credibly attested by human evidence than the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Therefore, when anyone, be he open infidel or religious "professor," denies this fact, he also denies with it the value of evidential testimony to all other facts of bygone time.

Nothing can be more conclusive than the way in which that great master of logic, the Apostle Paul, marshals the proofs of the resurrection for the Corinthian doubters; and the testimony of 500 witnesses cannot easily be overthrown. See the whole passage, 1 Corinthians 15:1-8. There is: —

1 The testimony of the Scriptures (Matthew 28:3-4).

2 The testimony of Cephas (Matthew 28:5).

3 The testimony of the Twelve (Matthew 28:5).

4 The testimony of about 500 brethren (Matthew 28:6).

5 The testimony of James (Matthew 28:7).

6 The testimony of all the Apostles (Matthew 28:7).

7 The testimony of Paul (Matthew 28:8). A sevenfold chain of evidence, convincing and conclusive. Modernism, when it denies the fact of the resurrection, proclaims itself to be not only infidel, but illogical. Scripture exposes both its wickedness and its weakness. But let us return to the narrative of inspiration.

Very early on the morning of the first day of the week, the two Marys again seek the one spot on earth round which their affections centre. So far as their knowledge went, their visit could only result in "seeing the sepulchre." Did not the stone conceal the grave and the guard defend it? But early though they went, a visitor had been there before them who could brush these things away as the mists before the morning sun. The angel had come from the land of light, and brought with him some of the characteristics of that land. His countenance was like lightning and his raiment as white as snow. We are going to that land, and it is our privilege to have the light of it in our hearts even now. That which brought fear to the keepers, brought joy to the women — deeper in that it was so wholly unexpected, and to still further deepen, as they would learn later, all that the resurrection meant to His followers. And they in turn are commissioned to carry the message to the disciples. This portion is very beautiful. The angel, in calm dignity, sitting on that which had covered an empty tomb. His very presence, without any exertion of power, is sufficient to overcome the guard. His intelligence in the mind of the Lord is as marked as his activity in the service of the Lord. He could instruct the women, and through them, the disciples, where to go to meet the Lord. Another Scripture describes angels as ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14). And even the Lord Himself, when on earth, was frequently the recipient of their ministry. On one occasion we read of an angel from heaven strengthening Him. The thought of the Creator and Lord of Angels being strengthened by an angel, gives a wonderful glimpse of the real manhood of our blessed Lord. Their mission of service to believers is often mentioned in the New Testament. We find them in Matthew 18:1-35 watching over the little ones. In Luke 15:1-32 we read of them rejoicing over the repentant ones. In 1 Corinthians 11:1-34 they are present with the worshipping ones; and in Luke 16:1-31 they are seen bearing the spirits of redeemed ones to paradise. Thus they are represented in the present age as the ministers of God’s grace to believers: in the coming day they will be the executors of His judgment upon the guilty. But if the presence and message of the angel filled the hearts of the women with mingled fear and joy, Another was about to meet them who would banish fear from their hearts for ever and communicate to them, in His soul-inspiring word of greeting, something of the joy that filled His own heart on that glorious morning.

"And as they went to tell his disciples, behold Jesus met them, saying, All hail."

We are so accustomed to be occupied with our needs, and to rejoice in our blessings, that we are in danger of failing to enter into His joy. And yet it is only as we enter into His joy that we perceive the basis on which our highest joys rest. He had to say, before the Cross, "I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished" (Luke 12:50). Now, on the further side of the Cross and the grave, standing on resurrection ground, He can associate with Himself, in resurrection life, those on whom His love has been set from all eternity. Redemption’s work completed, nothing intervenes to hinder all the love and grace of His heart flowing out to His own, in order to bring them into the place of established relationship with the Father and conscious nearness before Him: and not only so, but giving us a nature that enjoys the light of His presence, knowing that the glory of that light only manifests the perfection of our standing, which is nothing less than Christ Himself.

Doubtless but little of this could be known by the women in Matthew 28:1-20, but the great point here is, that they had found the One who was the centre of their heart’s affections, and "falling at his feet they worshipped him." Here is the first essential of all worship, and the greater the love, the higher the worship. The Lord confirms the angels’ instructions; but by changing one word, He adds a link of precious intimacy which never could have been known before the Cross. It is no longer "my disciples," but "my brethren." Disciples they still were, of course, but He was about to declare the Father’s Name to them, according to the prophecy of Psalms 22:22, and from henceforth become the Leader of their praises. The congregation of them that praise Him has but a small place in the world to-day, but the day is fast nearing when He will be the Centre of the Great Congregation, and "all the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee" (Psalms 22:27). At the Cross the foundation was laid of which this will be the glorious consummation. On that first Lord’s day morning the keynote was struck of that universal song of praise which will fill the redeemed earth. It will be expressed in the language of Psalm c., and men will learn, according to the theology of the psalmist, that Jehovah is God, and that Jehovah is good. Even "the creature itself will be brought into the glorious liberty of the sons of God" (Romans 8:21).

All this is intimately connected with the presentation of Kingdom truth in Matthew’s Gospel. The disciples are instructed to meet Him in Galilee, not in Jerusalem. The nation and its capital city no longer represent God’s centre upon the earth. A Kingdom is about to be instituted, the scope of whose operations will not be confined to one nation, but will go on expanding and increasing until every nation under heaven be brought under its beneficent sway. But before following the company into Galilee, it may be well to notice the ten different appearings of our Lord, to His disciples, after His resurrection. They are as follows: —

1 To Mary Magdalene alone (Mark 16:1-20; John 20:1-31).

2 To the women returning from the sepulchre (Matthew 28:1-20).

3 To Simon Peter alone (Luke 24:1-53).

4 To the two disciples on the Emmaus road (Luke 24:1-53).

5 To the Apostles at Jerusalem, Thomas being absent (John 20:1-31).

6 These first five appearings all took place on the first Lord’s day.

7 Eight days afterwards to the disciples, Thomas being with them (John 20:1-31).

8 To seven of the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias (John 21:1-25).

9 To the disciples in Galilee (Matthew 28:1-20; 1 Corinthians 15:6).

10 To James alone; time and place unknown (1 Corinthians 15:1-58). To the disciples at Jerusalem, on the day of the Ascension (Luke 24:1-53; Acts 1:1-26; 1 Corinthians 15:7). By comparing 1 Corinthians 15:6 with Matthew 28:10 it would seem that the appearing in Galilee was to the whole company of the brethren, and that the occasion was the institution of the Kingdom in world-wide character. Matthew began his career as a disciple by gathering in a "great company" into his own house. He is now to learn from the lips of the Lord that the blessing is to extend to every house under heaven, the scope of Kingdom blessing being nothing less than "all nations," in contrast with the mission in Matthew 10:1-42, which extended only to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel." But how much needed was this word of encouragement — "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." The disciples could not be ignorant of the fact that, all the powers of the world, backed by the power of Satan, were against them, as they had been against their Master, and they needed to be reminded that their Master was the Victor over every foe. He had already said to them, as another Gospel tells: "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). And the same apostle who records the fact gives us later the key of the overcoming life: "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even your faith" (1 John 5:4). The man of faith, walking in faith, is invincible. Satan has no dart strong enough to pierce the shield of faith. The world has no allurement sweet enough to attract the heart that is filled with the love of Christ. The world is an enemy’s land, but Satan, the prince of it, is a defeated foe, and ALL POWER is in the hands of our risen Victorious Lord. Oh, that every young believer would firmly grasp at the very outset of his Christian pathway this great and inspiring truth — the LOVE and POWER of Christ are both for ME, to-day, and all the days, until I see His face.

Now we get, in closing, the Great Commission. It will be noticed that each of the Gospels give this in different terms: the superficial reader may think, in contradictory terms. But not so. A little closer attention will show that all four are required to express the different aspects of the great work of grace that began in the world at Pentecost, is going on to-day, and will continue all the days, until the consummation of the age.

Beginning first with John’s Gospel (John 20:21), we have brought before us the Person who sends, and the fact that the disciple goes forth with the message of grace in the same manner, sent by the Lord, as the Lord Himself became the "Sent One" of the Father, "full of grace and truth." He came, suffered, died, rose again, showed them His hands and His side, became the Door, that by Him "if ANY man (no longer Jews only) enter in he shall be saved (John 10:1-42). Judaism knew nothing of this. It was a new and wondrous truth even to Apostles, and were we less familiar with the Gospel sound, it would be the same to us. In Luke we read (Luke 24:46-49): "Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things."

Here we get the foundation on which the proclamation rests, coupled with the moral condition produced by the reception of the testimony.

Mark sets before us, in few words, the responsibility of the hearer, with the results of either the acceptance or the rejection of the gospel of grace. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark 16:16).

Returning now to the Commission as given by our Evangelist, we find that Matthew carries us onward to the grand climax of all the ways of God in grace, with men. The Father’s Name is revealed, and "all nations" are to be baptized — no longer into John’s baptism, as in Matthew 3:1-17, or even Messiah’s baptism, as in John 4:1-54 — but "in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost." The whole wide world is the sphere of the testimony, and the day is coming when the Commission will have been executed, the Testimony received, and "they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord" (Jeremiah 31:34). "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea" (Habakkuk 2:14).

Till that moment the King, though absent in Person, has been, is, and will be present with every servant, in the face of every foe, every day, and all the days until the "end of the age," when "He shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Then —

"Kings shall fall down before Him, And gold and incense bring.

All nations shall adore Him — His praise all people sing.

Outstretched His wide dominion O’er river, sea, and shore, Far as the eagle’s pinion, Or dove’s light wing can soar."