1In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 3His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: 4and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. 5And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. 6He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. 8And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. 9And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. 10Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
“Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children” had been at the crucifixion (27:56). Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were also there when Jesus’ body was laid in the tomb and the great stone was rolled to the door of the sepulchre (27:61). They rested on the Sabbath day and then came back very early that Sunday morning.
All four of the Gospel writers tell of the resurrection of Christ, and each of the four Gospel writers records details that are unique. These unique details are also a verification that the four accounts are independent reports of what happened.
By comparing the four accounts, it seems clear that the women made more than one visit to the tomb that Sunday. Mark records that the women came to the sepulchre and found the stone rolled away. Then, entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. (Mark 16:5). This “young man” whom they saw told them that Jesus had risen and that they should tell His disciples that they would see Him in Galilee. Yet, Mark also adds, ...neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid (Mark 16:8). Perhaps that is why John records that Mary Magdalene told Peter and John, “They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him” (John 20:1-2). They went to the disciples but were too afraid to tell about the angel or what the angel had said.
After saying that the women left the sepulchre in fear and told no one, Mark wrote, Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils (Mark 16:9). Thus, Mark records Jesus’ appearance to Mary as a separate encounter. It seems reasonable that these women, who had been present at Jesus’ crucifixion, at the placing of His body in the tomb, and at sunrise on Sunday morning would return to the sepulchre yet again that day.
John records that Peter and John went to the tomb to see for themselves and then left (John 20:3-10). Mary was again present because John records, But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping. It seems likely that the other women were there, too. John further records: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus (John 20:11-14).
At the women’s first coming to the tomb, they left too afraid to speak and still in sorrow concerning His death. Apparently, Jesus’ appearance to Mary and then to the other women was at their second visit to the sepulchre. Probably Matthew’s account summarizes both visits, describing the women’s intial arrival at daybreak and then resuming with their return. At their return, they saw the angel whose appearance was like lightning. This angel may have been one of the two angels that Mary had seen inside the grave. The angel told them again that Jesus was risen and would go before them into Galilee. Jesus also had earlier told the disciples, “But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee” (Matthew 26:32). After this second visit to the tomb, the women left “with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.” Their hope had become greater than their fear.
The guards at the tomb were terrified – both because the grave was empty and by the appearance of the angel that sat on the stone. The angel told the women, “Fear not ye,” but the angel did not tell the guards not to fear.
Mary saw Jesus before the other women did (John 20:14-17). Perhaps in her excitement she had taken the lead as they went to tell the disciples that He was risen. Jesus met her on the way. Then the other women saw Him, too. Jesus’ greeting to them is translated, “All hail.” In the Greek text, this greeting is the word “Rejoice!” This imperative is sometimes used simply as a word of greeting. Jesus told the women not to be afraid and to tell His disciples to go to Galilee, where they would see Him. In His words to Mary and the other women, Jesus referred to the disciples as “my brethren.” We remember that He said in 12:50: “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
When the women returned to tell the disciples, Peter apparently went a second time to the sepulchre. It may have been then that Jesus appeared to him (Luke 24:12, 34).
11Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. 12And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, 13saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. 14And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. 15So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
Again, even with the witness of the Roman guards who had seen the angel sitting on the stone at the empty tomb, the chief priests showed no interest in finding out the truth. They also felt no hesitation about bribing the soldiers to say that Jesus’ disciples had stolen His body. When the lie became widespread and was believed among the Jews, they probably felt that they had been successful in protecting their positions and prestige. Yet, just forty years later, the Romans would destroy the temple and the city, and the nation would be scattered, a judgment from God which continues until today.
16Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
The evening of His resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples in Jerusalem, in the place where they were in hiding. He said, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have” (Luke 24:39). Thomas was not with the disciples at the time Jesus appeared to them. Eight days later Jesus appeared to the disciples again, and Thomas was there (John 20:26). Afterward, He also appeared to Peter and six other disciples at the Sea of Galilee, where they had gone to fish (John 21:1-14).
At some point after that, the disciples went to the mountain in Galilee which Jesus had designated and saw Him there. They bowed before Him in worship, but some were still hesitant to believe. Jesus said to them, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” The word translated “power” in this is the word “authority.” What did Jesus mean? He, the eternal Son of God, always had all authority in heaven and on earth. But when He was sent into the world, He took on flesh (John 1:14). He was born from a woman as a human being. With undiminished Deity, He lived in dependence on the Holy Spirit to empower Him in His humanity. Now, having completed His work of redemption, He has been exalted as the God-Man. Jesus, the Lamb of God, will forever be worshipped (Philippians 2:9-11; Revelation 5:13). Now, not only in His Deity, but in His forever-joined Deity and humanity, He has all authority in heaven and on earth. It is the initiatory fulfillment of the prophecy of Daniel 7:13-14:
“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”
If Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth, why are things in the world still so bad? The Father told the Christ, “Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (Psalm 110:1). Jesus is today seated at His Father’s right hand (Hebrews 1:3,13). In Revelation 5:6-7, we see the Lamb standing and receiving the scroll of His inheritance from the Father. Then, in Revelation 11:17-18, the twenty-four elders say, “We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.”
Jesus already has all authority in heaven and on earth. He is waiting for the time when it is the will of the Father that He, the Son of Man and the Son of God, take up His great power and reign. But the coming of that day will also mean the coming of God’s wrath on sinful humanity. Peter wrote, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9). Things are bad on planet earth because the time of God’s judgment has not yet come. These days are a time of opportunity for those who have not yet believed in the Lord Jesus Christ to do so.
19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
In Jesus’ command to the disciples, there are four verbs: “go,” “teach,” “baptize,” and “teach.” The first, third, and fourth of these verbs are participles. The second one is the main verb. That means that the form of the sentence is ,”Having gone, teach – baptizing and teaching.” In the Greek sentence, the second word “teach” is different from the fourth word “teach.” The second word is a command to “disciple.” That is the main verb of the sentence. Jesus commanded His disciples to make disciples. The “going” is not the command; it is assumed. We go where He leads us to go, whether it be across the street or across the ocean. The steps in the process of making disciples are given in the third and fourth verbs: “baptizing” and “teaching.” Baptism implies evangelism. Teaching is for growth in a new believer.
For the disciples hearing Jesus’ command that day on the mountain in Galilee, probably the most startling thing in Jesus’ words was that He told them to make “all nations” disciples. When He’d earlier sent them out to preach that “The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” He told them, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” That is, He had earlier specifically told them not to go to all the nations; rather, they were to go only to Israel.
What changed? At the time that they were preaching, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” the kingdom was still being offered to Israel. But, when Israel rejected the King, the nation’s opportunity to receive the kingdom at that time ended. In describing Jesus’ meeting with the disciples after His resurrection, Luke wrote, Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, and said unto them, 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 (Luke 24:45-47). Both in the parables He gave before His death and in His instruction to the disciples after His resurrection, Jesus prepared them for the change that would take place. Israel, which was to have taken the word about the Messiah to the other nations, had itself failed to receive the Messiah in faith. Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 16:18 that He would build His church. He also told His disciples in John 10:16, “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” Israel had failed, but the good news that the Messiah had come and had made a way for the forgiveness of sins must still go to all the nations.
The baptism that Jesus commanded is also new. It is not the same as the baptism of John. John’s baptism was to call the nation of Israel to repent and prepare to receive the Messiah. The baptism which Jesus commanded is one in which believers of all nations are publicly identified with the name of the triune God. Jesus’ disciples had often heard Him speak of the Father and had heard Him say that He was one with the Father (John 10:30). He had also told the disciples that the Holy Spirit would be given and had equated the presence of the Spirit with His own presence (John 14:16-18). Now, on the mountain in Galilee, He commands the disciples to baptize believers from all the nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. All three have one Name. The Father is the Yahweh of the Old Testament, the Son is the Yahweh of the Old Testament, and the Holy Spirit is the Yahweh of the Old Testament.
If people from all the nations are to be baptized in the name of the triune God, the Gospel message of the coming of the Son of God and of Christ’s work at the cross must be proclaimed in all the world. That is first. The second step in making disciples is to teach those who believe. Jesus said that His disciples were to teach them “to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” To teach someone God’s Word is not the same as to teach that person to keep God’s Word. To teach someone to keep God’s Word first presupposes that that person is a believer. Second, it implies instruction by example, as well as by word, and requires that the one who is teaching live in dependence on the Holy Spirit.
It seems amazing that Jesus would commit the work of making disciples in all the nations to those eleven men – or to us. When Jesus was arrested, all the disciples forsook him, and fled (Matthew 26:56). Even at the time Jesus came to them after His resurrection, they were hiding: Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. (John 20:19). What hope could there be for their success in reaching the whole world?
The only hope for the eleven disciples’ success or for ours is in Jesus’ closing statement: “...lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” In this sentence, “world” is the Greek word “age.” Until the end of this age, when Jesus personally returns to establish His kingdom, He is with us. The Greek sentence places emphasis on the word “I.” Jesus said, “I am with you.” He used the present tense. His presence with us is for every moment of all of our days. This was the only hope then for the eleven disciples’ success, and it is the only hope for our success. By His Spirit given to us, He is with us. And He has all authority in heaven and on earth.
Note: All Scriptures are quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.