April 2, 2021April 5, 2021
by in Messages, Pastor Dave
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Sunday, April 4, 2021
Matthew 28:1-9, 10-20
“All For Love”

Service Overview: The love of Jesus cannot be exaggerated. Just as love compelled him to go to the cross, so too love brought him back from the grave. And now, Jesus’ love calls all to respond to his love and be transformed. Because of the resurrection, there is new life, new hope, and new purpose; all because of love.

Memory Verse for the Week: “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” 1 John 4:9 (NIV)

Background Information:

  • Chapter 28 is not simply a closing group of anecdotes about the life of Christ but is the powerful climax of everything else he has written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The central event of that climax, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is also the central event of God’s redemptive history. The resurrection is the cornerstone of the Christian faith, and everything that we are and have and hope to be is predicated on its reality. There would be no Christianity if there were no resurrection. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2115)
  • Because sleeping on duty was a punishable offense, one would doubt that the guards would normally publicly admit it; but because the missing body could spell their execution either way, they have reason to please the authorities, who promise conditional amnesty. (Craig S. Keener, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Matthew, 408)
  • All the gospels stress the significance of the women as the first witnesses of the empty tomb. This is hardly likely to be a fictional invention, in a society where women were not generally regarded as credible witnesses, especially as the singling out of the women for this honor detracts from the prestige of the male disciples. (R.T. France, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: Matthew, 947)
  • The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the central fact of Christian history. On it, the church is built; without it, there would be no Christian church today. Jesus’ resurrection is unique. Other religions have strong ethical systems, concepts about paradise and afterlife, and various holy scriptures. Only Christianity has a God who became human, literally died for his people, and was raised again in power and glory to rule his church forever. (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Matthew, 569)
  • The testimonies of the Roman authors Seutonius and Juvenal confirm that within thirty-one years after Jesus’ death, Christians were dying for their faith. From the writings of Pliny the Younger, Martial, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius, it is clear that the believers voluntarily submitted to torture and death rather than renounce their faith.  (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 29)
  • The resurrection is the hinge on which all Christianity turns. It’s the foundation on which everything else rests, the capstone that holds everything else about Christianity together. Which means—crucially—that when Christians assert that Jesus rose from the dead, they are making a historical claim, not a religious one.  (Greg Gilbert, Who Is Jesus?, 125)

 

Message Part 1  |  Matthew 28:1-9

How can we see love on display through the resurrection?

  1. As the Father’s love for mankind is reflected in what preceded it.
    (Ps. 86:15; Is. 59:1-2; Ecc. 7:20; John 3:16; Rom. 3:23; 5:12; 6:23; James 1:15; 1 John 4:10)

The supreme demonstration of God’s love was the sending of his Son to die for our sins and to rise again so that sinners might have the right to approach God and might have the pleasure of his presence forever. (John Piper, God is the Gospel, 14)

God’s purpose of love was to save sinners, and to save them righteously; but this would be impossible without the sin-bearing death of the Saviour. (John Stott, The Cross of Christ, 77)

 

  1. As Jesus’ love is proven in going through with it.
    (John 10:10; 12:24; 15:9-17; 19:17; Romans 5:8; 1 Peter 2:21; 3:18; 1 John 4:19)

If anything proves the kingship of Jesus Christ, it is is resurrection from the dead. The final chapter in Matthew’s gospel is a record of victory. It is a thrilling fact that believers today share in that victory. (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, 84)

As we face the cross, then, we can say to ourselves both ‘I did it, my sins sent him there’ and ‘he did it, his love took him there’. (John Stott, The Cross of Christ, 61)

The Christian belief is not that some people sometimes get raised from the dead, and Jesus happens to be one of them. It is precisely that people don’t ever get raised from the dead, and that something new has happened in and through Jesus which has blown a hole through previous observations. The Christian thus agrees with scientists ancient and modern: yes, dead people don’t rise. But the Christian goes on to say that something new and different has now occurred in the case of Jesus. This isn’t because there was an odd glitch in the cosmos, or something peculiar about Jesus’ biochemistry, but because the God who made the world, and who called Israel to be the bearer of his rescue-operation for the world, was at work in and through Jesus to remake the world. The resurrection was the dramatic launching of this project. (N.T. Wright, Matthew For Everyone, Part 2, 202)

 

  1. As Jesus’ life and sacrifice are proved sufficient in defeating sin and death in it.
    (Romans 8:38-39; 1 Corinthians 15:3; Hebrews 2:14; 9:12; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:2)

The resurrection is God’s mighty yes to all that Jesus claimed, taught, and did. It reverses the verdict of the Cross, exposes the guilt of men , and heralds the ultimate triumph of the kingdom of God. (William E. McCumber, Beacon Bible Expositions, Matthew, 220)

We need not wonder that so much importance is attached to our Lord’s resurrection: it is the seal and headstone of the great work of redemption which he came to do. It is the crowning proof that he has paid the debt which he undertook to pay on our behalf, won the battle which he fought to deliver us from hell, and is accepted as our surety and our substitute by our Father in heaven. (J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew, 259)

 

Message Part 2  |  Matthew 28:10-20

How are we called to respond in light of this love?  

A. Just as love led Jesus to die and rise again, all are called in love to respond by turning to, trusting in, and living for Jesus.
(Rom. 6:4; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 5:2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 4:9-11)

Salvation is not simply a pietistic experience of assurance that we are “justified by faith,” or “forgiven,” or “saved,” but is the assurance of a saving relationship with Christ whom we confess as Lord and serve as Lord by following His teachings. (Myron S. Augsburger, The Communicator’s Commentary: Matthew, 331)

Because Jesus’ future reign (Matthew 28:18) has begun in the lives of his followers in the present age (v. Matthew 28:20), his people should exemplify his reign on earth as it is in heaven, as people of the kingdom, people of the future era (Matthew 6:10). (Craig S. Keener, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Matthew, 411)

They are to be counted true Christians who live in a practical obedience to his word, and strive to do the things that he has commanded. The water of baptism and the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper alone will save no man’s soul. It profits nothing that we go to a place of worship and hear Christ’s ministers, and approve of the Gospel, if our religion goes no further than this. (J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew, 263)

The concepts of “repent” and “believe” are necessarily linked. You need to repent (change your mind, turn around) to believe something new—the good news of Jesus.  (Noel Jesse Heikkinen, Wretched Saints, 75)

 

B. In light of Jesus’ love and resurrection, all those in him are called to be all-in on his Great Commission.
(Mat. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 19:10; Rom. 1:16; 10:10-17; 1 Cor. 9:22; 1 Peter 3:15)

The great mission of the church is to so love, learn, and live as to call men and women to Jesus Christ. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2144)

The cross transforms everything. It gives us a new, worshipping relationship to God, a new and balanced understanding of ourselves, a new incentive to give ourselves in mission, a new love for our enemies, and a new courage to face the perplexities of suffering. (John Stott, The Cross of Christ, 11)

It may well be questioned whether a man knows the value of the gospel himself, if he does not desire to make it known to all the world. (J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew, 328)

Christ’s command means that we all should be devoting all our resources of ingenuity and enterprise to the task of making the gospel known in every possible way to every possible person. (J.I. Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, 38)

 

 

Final thought…
Jesus was raised to life to justify those who would trust in and follow him, and in doing so has called those same people to live a new life of hope, purpose, and mission in him; all for love.
(Proverbs 11:30; Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:16; Romans 6:6; 1 Corinthians 1:17-18)

Because we have a living hope, we can experience hopeful living. A dead hope grows weaker and weaker before it eventually dies. But because Jesus Christ is alive, we have a glorious future (see 1 Peter 1:3–5). (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, 85)

Let all true Christians lay hold on these words and keep them in mind. Christ is “with us” always: Christ is “with us” wherever we go. He came to be “Emmanuel, God with us” when he first came into the world: he declares that he is ever Emmanuel, “with us,” when he comes to the end of his earthly ministry and is about to leave the world. He is with us daily to pardon and forgive, with us daily to sanctify and strengthen, with us daily to defend and keep, with us daily to lead and to guide: with us in sorrow and with us in joy, with us in sickness and with us in health, with us in life and with us in death, with us in time and with us in eternity. (J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew, 264)

Every tragedy provides us with an opportunity to see Jesus in a new way. As we experience sorrow, we can recall Christ’s suffering for us. Our pain is a result of living in a fallen world; his pain was the result of his love for us who inhabit this sinful world. Our pain is deserved, or at least unavoidable; his pain was freely chosen. Our pain reminds us that beyond it lies all the blessing that Christ provided for us by his pain. Because Jesus died, we can be forgiven. Because he lives, we too shall live! Christ’s resurrection gives us hope for a future restoration with loved ones and the gift of new bodies in the heavenly kingdom. (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: John, 389)

 

Spiritual Challenge Questions…

Reflect on these questions in your time with the Lord this week, or discuss with a Christian family member or Life Group.

  • What promises, situations or people in your life inspire hope in you?
  • What would you be thinking if you had heard what the angel had to say to the women? What questions would you have had for the angel?
  • What is significant about this angel appearing to the women at the empty tomb? The Bible says the women left the tomb and ran with a mixture of fear and joy. What does this image mean to you?
  • How has the truth of the resurrection impacted your life? How has it impacted the lives of those around you?
  • If a believer told you Jesus was only talking to the disciples here and we need not fulfill this Great Commission, how would you answer?
  • In what ways are you serving to obey Jesus in his call to make disciples?

 

Quotes to note…

The message of Scripture has always been a message of resurrection hope, a message that death is not the end for those who belong to God. For the believer, death has never been an end but rather a doorway that leads to eternity with God. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2115)

The supreme way in which God chose to glorify Himself was through the redemption of sinful men, and it is through participation in that redemptive plan that believers themselves most glorify God. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2143)

With this same authority, Jesus still commands us to tell others the Good News and make them disciples for the kingdom. We are to go—whether it is next door or to another country—and make disciples. It is not an option, but a command to all who call Jesus “Lord.” We are not all evangelists in the formal sense, but we have all received gifts that we can use to help fulfill the Great Commission. As we obey, we have comfort in the knowledge that Jesus is always with us. (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Matthew, 578)

From the Resurrection onward, the gospel that Jesus had preached became the gospel that was Jesus. The disciples now recognized that Jesus Christ came not only to preach a gospel but to be a gospel. (Myron S. Augsburger, The Communicator’s Commentary: Matthew, 322)

The resurrection takes the question “Is Christianity valid?” out of the realm of philosophy and makes it a question of history. (Josh McDowell, More Than A Carpenter, 125)

If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all he said; if he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? (Timothy Keller, The Reason for God, 210)

And lest anyone question the reality of Christ’s resurrection, the apostle Paul provided evidence that Christ has risen. Paul reported that eyewitnesses had seen Christ after the resurrection. They included Peter, the other disciples, and more than five hundred people at once some of whom were still living in Paul’s day and could be questioned about what they saw (1 Cor. 15:4—7). Paul also viewed himself as an eyewitness. He placed the resurrection of Jesus Christ at the very heart of the Gospel. (Thomas C. Oden, This We Believe, 136)

Perhaps the transformation of the disciples of Jesus is the greatest evidence of all for the resurrection, because it is entirely artless. They do not invite us to look at themselves, as they invite us to look at the empty tomb and the collapsed graveclothes and the Lord whom they had seen. We can see the change in them without being asked to look. The men who figure in the pages of the Gospels are new and different men in the Acts. The death of their Master left them despondent, disillusioned, and near to despair. But in the Acts they emerge as men who hazard their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and who turn the world upside down. (John Stott, Basic Christianity, 58)

On the basis of Jesus’ death and resurrection, God can freely forgive man, for the penalty has been paid by God Himself. But again, God does not force this pardon on anyone. We are not puppets. God offers forgiveness to us; it is up to us to accept or reject. The final point tells how we may appropriate the new life God offers. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 148)

“Come and see!” was followed by “Go and tell!” We must not keep the resurrection news to ourselves. (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, 85)

 

Notice that our Lord’s first two resurrection appearances were to believing women. These faithful women were not only the last to leave Calvary, but they were also the first to come to the tomb. Their devotion to Jesus was rewarded. (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, 85)

 

For a Roman soldier to fail in his duty was an offense punishable by death (Acts 12:19; 16:27–28). But the soldiers were shrewd: They did not report to Pilate or to their superior officers; they reported to the Jewish chief priests. They knew that these men were as anxious to cover up the miracle as were the soldiers themselves! Between the chief priests, the elders, and the soldiers, they put together a story that would explain the empty tomb: The body was stolen. (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, 86)

 

By examining this story, we see that it actually proves the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Jesus’ body was stolen, then it was taken either by His friends or His enemies. His friends could not have done it since they had left the scene and were convinced that Jesus was dead. His enemies would not steal His body because belief in His resurrection was what they were trying to prevent. They would have defeated their own purposes if they had removed His body. And, if they had taken it, why did they not produce it and silence the witness of the early church? (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, 86)

 

Christianity is a missionary faith. The very nature of God demands this, for God is love, and God is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). Our Lord’s death on the cross was for the whole world. If we are the children of God and share His nature, then we will want to tell the good news to the lost world. (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, 86)

 

The Greek verb translated go is actually not a command but a present participle (going). The only command in the entire Great Commission is “make disciples” (“teach all nations”). Jesus said, “While you are going, make disciples of all the nations.” No matter where we are, we should be witnesses for Jesus Christ and seek to win others to Him (Acts 11:19–21). (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, 87)

 

The term “disciples” was the most popular name for the early believers. Being a disciple meant more than being a convert or a church member. Apprentice might be an equivalent term. A disciple attached himself to a teacher, identified with him, learned from him, and lived with him. He learned, not simply by listening, but also by doing. Our Lord called twelve disciples and taught them so that they might be able to teach others (Mark 3:13ff.). (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, 87)

 

The psychological transformation of the disciples could not have occurred apart from the vacancy of that tomb. (William E. McCumber, Beacon Bible Expositions, Matthew, 220)

 

God Often Sends His Message Through the Least (Matthew 28:1) (Craig S. Keener, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Matthew, 405)

 

Roman guards from whom a prisoner escaped could be executed (Codex Justinian 9.4.4; Lake and Cadbury 1979:139; compare Acts 16:27-28; 28:42), and while the priests would not execute guards (Acts 5:22-24), some Jewish authorities followed the practice (Acts 12:19). One could sometimes strike deals, however, and some careless sentries escaped execution (Tac. Hist. 5.22; see also R. Brown 1994:1311, though he does not argue for the historicity of the guards). (Craig S. Keener, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Matthew, 407)

 

If the disciples did not protect Jesus while he was alive, surely they would not have risked their lives to rob his tomb after his death (grave robbing was a capital offense—for example, SEG 8.13). Nor could they have rolled away the massive stone without waking the guards. Penalties for falling asleep on guard duty could be severe, and guards who claimed to have slept through the stealing of the body, yet suffered no harm, would sound very suspicious. (Craig S. Keener, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Matthew, 408)

 

Jesus’ instructions include an imperative (a command) surrounded by three participial clauses: one should make disciples for Jesus by going, baptizing and teaching. Making disciples involves more than getting people to an altar; it involves training them as thoroughly as Jewish teachers instructed their own students. Most of modern Christendom falls far short on this count. (Craig S. Keener, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Matthew, 411)

 

Had he never come forth from the prison of the grave, how could we ever have been sure that our ransom had been fully paid ( 1 Corinthians 15:17 )? Had he never risen from his conflict with the last enemy, how could we have felt confident that he has overcome death and him that had the power of death, that is the devil? 2:14 )? But thanks be unto God, we are not left in doubt: the Lord Jesus really “rose again for our justification.” (J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew, 259)

 

When we die, where we are buried and what kind of a funeral we have matters little: the great question to be asked is this, “How shall we rise again?” (J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew, 260)

 

Weak, frail, erring as the disciples were, Jesus still calls them his brethren. He comforts them, as Joseph did his brethren who had sold him, saying, “I am your brother Joseph.” Much as they had come short of their profession, sadly as they had yielded to the fear of man, they are still his “brethren.” (J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew, 261)

 

It is still the bounden of every disciple of Christ to do all he can in person, and by prayer, to make others acquainted with Jesus. Where is our faith if we neglect this duty? Where is our charity? It may well be questioned whether a man knows the value of the Gospel himself if he does not desire to make it known to all the world. (J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew, 262)

 

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the single greatest event in the history of the world. It is so foundational to Christianity that no one who denies it can be a true Christian. Without resurrection there is no Christian faith, no salvation, and no hope. “If there is no resurrection of the dead,” Paul explains, “not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain” (1 Cor. 15:13-14). (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2116)

 

Even the most irreligious person who knows anything about Christian history and doctrine knows that Christians believe Jesus Christ rose from the dead. But the unbelieving world has many reactions to that belief, most of them negative and all of them wrong. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2117)

 

The women did not have confidence in Jesus’ resurrection, but they had great love and great devotion for Him. What they lacked in faith they compensated for in loving compassion, and what they lacked in understanding they made up for in courageous devotion. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2120)

 

The angel did not move the stone in order to let Jesus out of the tomb, as many Easter stories and paintings suggest. If Jesus had the power to raise Himself from the dead, which He did (John 10:18), He certainly had the relatively minor power required to escape a sealed grave. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2120)

 

The guards were so awestruck that at first they shook for fear of him. Shook translates a Greek term that has the same root as “earthquake” in verse 2, indicating that the soldiers experienced personal earthquakes of both mind and body. But after a brief moment of shaking, they then became like dead men, paralyzed with fear. The idea seems to be that they not only became rigid but unconscious, completely traumatized by what they saw. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2121)

 

While the women were in the tomb, another angel joined the first, “one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying” (John 20:12). Their positions are reminiscent of the two golden cherubim who were on either side of the Mercy Seat on the Ark of the Covenant (Ex. 25:18). The two angels in the garden were posted at either end of the tomb of Jesus, who, by the sacrifice He had just made of His own life, became the true and eternal Mercy Seat for sinful mankind. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2122)

 

It would seem more than justified for the Lord to have allowed the disciples to suffer in fear, despair, and agony for a week or so before telling them the good news. They had stubbornly refused to believe that Jesus would die and be raised, although He had told them of His death and resurrection many times. But in His gracious mercy God sent the women to tell the disciples as soon as possible, so they would not have to experience another moment of misery and grief. He did not rebuke them for their lack of faith and for their cowardice but rather sent them messengers with a gracious word of hope and comfort. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2123)

 

It seems obvious that the women were the first to hear the angelic announcement of the resurrection simply because they were there. Had the disciples been there, they, too, would have heard the good news directly from the angel rather than indirectly from the women. This is analogous to the reality that the closer a believer stays to the Lord and to His work, the more he is going to witness and experience the Lord’s power. Those who are there when the Lord’s people gather for worship and prayer, who are there when His Word is being taught, who are there when the lost are being won to Christ, who are there when others are being served in His name, who are regular in their times of private prayer—those are the ones who will most often experience firsthand the work of God. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2124)

 

Despite the disciples’ lack of faith, their cowardice, and their defection, the Lord graciously spoke of them as His brethren. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2126)

 

The basic truth of the resurrection undergirds a number of other truths. First, it gives evidence that the Word of God is totally true and reliable. Jesus rose from the dead precisely when and in the way He had predicted (see Matt. 12:40; 16:21; 17:9, 23). Second, the resurrection means that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, as He claimed to be, and that He has power over life and death. Third, the resurrection proves that salvation is complete, that on the cross Christ conquered sin, death, and hell and rose victorious. Fourth, the resurrection proves that the church has been established. Jesus had declared, “I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it” (Matt. 16:18). “The gates of Hades” was a Jewish colloquialism that represented death. His resurrection proved that death itself could not prevent Christ from establishing His church. Fifth, the resurrection proves that judgment is coming. Jesus declared that the heavenly Father “has given all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22), and since the Son was now risen and alive, His judgment is certain. Sixth, the resurrection of Christ proves that heaven is waiting. Jesus promised, “In My house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). Because Christ is alive by the resurrection, believers have the assurance that He is now preparing a heavenly dwelling for them.  (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2127)

 

denying the resurrection goes against the very grain of the human heart and soul. Solomon wrote that God “has also set eternity in their heart” (Eccles. 3:11). Something within man is not satisfied with present earthly living. He instinctively reaches out for immortality, for a life that transcends his present life and that will continue after he dies. Throughout history countless religions and philosophies have proposed means for man to achieve immortality, to find a better life beyond the grave. Yet, strangely, there seems always to have been more religious than irreligious people who consciously deny the only hope for immortality. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2129)

 

Matthew’s narrative of this strange episode reveals that even that deceitful scheme became a rich and compelling apologetic not against but for the resurrection. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2132)

 

The heart that is hardened to God will not be persuaded by any miracle or by any amount of evidence, no matter how compelling. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2133)

 

Counseled together was a formal phrase used of official decisions (see also Matt. 12:14; 22:15; 27:1, 7), and at this meeting the Sanhedrin decided on a three-point resolution: to bribe the soldiers, to spread a lie about the body, and to protect the soldiers from possible reprisal by Pilate (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2134)

 

The Sanhedrin’s lie was still common among the Jews of the second century. The church Father Justin Martyr wrote in chapter 103 of his Dialogue with Trypho, “You [Jewish leaders] have sent chosen and ordained men throughout all the world to proclaim that a godless and lawless heresy had sprung from one Jesus, a Galilaean deceiver, whom we crucified, but his disciples stole him by night from the tomb . . . and now deceived men by asserting that he has risen from the dead and ascended into heaven” (The Ante Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973], p. 253). That same falsehood can be heard even today. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2135)

 

Evidence for the resurrection is supplied by the very story that denies it. And because it came from Jesus’ enemies rather than His friends, it should be all the more convincing to skeptics. Intending to conceal the truth, the Sanhedrin and the soldiers actually reinforced it. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2136)

 

It would have been utterly impossible for eleven unlearned and unsophisticated men to have succeeded in eluding a search for any length of time. The simplest way to have disproved the resurrection was to locate the body and put it on display for all the world to see. Yet there is no evidence that the Sanhedrin even attempted to find the body they claimed the disciples had stolen. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2136)

 

Had the resurrection been a hoax, it would have been an easy one to expose. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2137)

 

Matthew’s account simply but forcefully shows that any explanation but the actual bodily resurrection of Jesus contradicts the facts and offends reason. The truth of the resurrection is so absolute that even a lie against it helps prove it. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2138)

 

If a Christian understands all the rest of the gospel of Matthew but fails to understand this closing passage, he has missed the point of the entire book. This passage is the climax and major focal point not only of this gospel but of the entire New Testament. It is not an exaggeration to say that, in its broadest sense, it is the focal point of all Scripture, Old Testament as well as New. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2141)

 

This central message of Scripture pertains to the central mission of the people of God, a mission that, tragically, many Christians do not understand or are unwilling to fulfill. It seems obvious that some Christians think little about their mission in this world, except in regard to their own personal needs. They attend services and meetings when it is convenient, take what they feel like taking, and have little concern for anything else. They are involved in the church only to the extent that it serves their own desires. It escapes both their understanding and their concern that the Lord has given His church a supreme mission and that He calls every believer to be an instrument in fulfilling that mission. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2141)

 

When sinners are saved, God is glorified, because their salvation cost Him the death of His own Son, the immeasurable price that His magnanimous grace was willing to pay. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2143)

 

the believer who desires to glorify God, who wants to honor God’s supreme will and purpose, must share God’s love for the lost world and share in His mission to redeem the lost to Himself. Christ came into the world that He loved and sought to win sinners to Himself for the Father’s glory. As Christ’s representatives, we are likewise sent into the world that He loves to bring the lost to Him and thereby bring glory and honor to God. John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2144)

 

There is only one reason the Lord allows His church to remain on earth: to seek and to save the lost, just as Christ’s only reason for coming to earth was to seek and to save the lost. “As the Father has sent Me,” He declared, “I also send you” (John 20:21). Therefore, a believer who is not committed to winning the lost for Jesus Christ should reexamine his relationship to the Lord and certainly his divine reason for existence. John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2145)

 

 

 

A person who is not Christ’s true disciple does not belong to Him and is not saved. When a person genuinely confesses Christ as Lord and Savior, he is immediately saved, immediately made a disciple, and immediately filled with the Holy Spirit. Not to be Christ’s disciple is therefore not to be Christ’s at all. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2152)

 

Scripture knows nothing of receiving Christ as Savior but not as Lord, as if a person could take God piecemeal as it suits him. Every convert to Christ is a disciple of Christ, and no one who is not a disciple of Christ, no matter what his profession of faith might be, is a convert of Christ. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2152)

 

the church is not to wait for the world to come to its doors but that it is to go to the world. The Greek participle is best translated “having gone,” suggesting that this requirement is not so much a command as an assumption. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2154)

 

Although the act of baptism has absolutely no saving or sacramental benefit or power, it is commanded by Christ of His followers. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2155)

 

The person who is unwilling to be baptized is at best a disobedient believer, and if he persists in his unwillingness there is reason to doubt the genuineness of his faith (see Matt. 10:32-33). If he is unwilling to comply with that simple act of obedience in the presence of fellow believers, he will hardly be willing to stand for Christ before the unbelieving world. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2155)

 

A person is saved by God’s grace alone working through his faith as a gift of God (Eph. 2:8). But by God’s own declaration, the act of baptism is His divinely designated sign of the believer’s identification with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Baptism is a divinely commanded act of faith and obedience. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2156)

 

The church’s mission is not simply to convert but to teach. The convert is called to a life of obedience to the Lord, and in order to obey Him it is obviously necessary to know what He requires. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 2157)

 

10 Like the angel (v.5), Jesus stills the women’s fears and gives them a similar commission. Some have held that “my brothers” raises the status of Jesus’ eleven surviving disciples. This ignores the use of the term in Matthew; for apart from the places where “brothers” denotes a natural relationship, the term is employed of spiritual relationships-even before the Passion~explicitly referring to the fellowship of those who acknowledge Jesus as Messiah (18:15; 23:8; cf. 5:22-24; 7:3-5; 18:21, 35). (D.A. Carson, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, 589)

 

Why, then, Matthew’s record of a resurrection appearance in Galilee? The answer surely lies in the combination of two themes that have permeated the entire Gospel. First, the Messiah emerges from a despised area (see on 2:23) and first sheds his light on a despised people (see on 4:1~16); for the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor in spirit (5:3). For this reason, too, the risen Jesus first appears to women whose value as witnesses among Jews is worthless (see on 27:5~56, 61; 28:1, ~7). Second, “Galilee of the Gentiles” (4:15) is compatible with the growing theme of Gentile mission in this Gospel (see on 1:1; 2:1-12; 4:1~16; 8:~13; 10:18; 12:21; 13:37; 15:21-28; 24:14 et al.) and prepares for the Great Commission (28:18–20). (D.A. Carson, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, 590)

 

There is no sure way of dating the writing of this periscope by the closing words, “to this very day” (v.15). To conclude from this periscope that Matthew had in mind a period ten or fifteen years after the Fall of Jerusalem (so Bonnard) stretches the evidence too far. Matthew simply intends this paragraph to be an explanation of the stolen-corpse theory and an apologetic against it. He may also be drawing out a startling contrast: the chief priests use bribe money to commission the soldiers to spread lies, while the resurrected Jesus uses the promise of his presence to commission his followers to spread the gospel (vv.16–20). (D.A. Carson, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, 590)

 

It is very difficult to believe that the soldiers of Pilate would admit falling asleep (v.13): that would be tantamount to suicide. But the temple police could more easily be bribed, even though it took “a large sum of money” (v.12), and could more easily be protected from Pilate’s anger. The plan devised (see on 12:14; 27:1) by the chief priests and elders (v.12; see on 21:23) proves to Matthew that their pious promises to believe if Jesus would only come down from the cross (27:42) were empty. Once again the instinctive concern of the Jewish leaders relates to expedience and the people’s reaction, not to the truth. (D.A. Carson, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, 591)

 

The accounts of the finding of the empty tomb in all four gospels display an intriguing mixture of agreement and independence.3434 Negatively, all agree in refraining from giving any account of Jesus actually leaving the tomb (contrast Gos. Pet. 9-10 [34-42]), and simply report how the women found it already empty. Positively, all agree on an early morning visit to the tomb by one or more women (one of whom is Mary the Magdalene), on the tomb being empty, and on an encounter with an angel or angels,3435 but each develops the narrative around these elements in different ways. (R.T. France, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: Matthew, 946)

 

The action of the angel in removing the stone from the entrance to the tomb draws attention even more clearly than in the other gospels to the fact that Jesus has already left the tomb, while the stone was still in place. (R.T. France, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: Matthew, 947)

 

Having been no more than passive spectators when the angel appeared and the tomb was opened (vv. 2-4), they must now account for the failure of their watch. The very thing they were posted there to prevent (27:64) has happened. The cover-up story which the priests and elders concoct as a result then enables Matthew to explain the current charge of grave robbing which we noted (in the introductory comments to 27:62-66) as the likely reason for Matthew including the guard in his account at all. It was because this story was still current in Jewish circles, as a countermeasure to Christian preaching of Jesus’ resurrection, that it was important for Christians to set the record straight. But at the same time the fact that the priests must resort to this lie underlines that the tomb really was empty; even the priests cannot deny that fact. (R.T. France, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: Matthew, 952)

 

The angel invited the women to look into the inner burial chamber and see the place where he lay. John records that the linen cloths that had been wrapped around Jesus’ body were left as if Jesus had passed right through them. The handkerchief was still rolled up in the shape of a head, and it was at about the right distance from the wrappings that had enveloped Jesus’ body (John 20:6-7). A grave robber couldn’t possibly have made off with Jesus’ body and left the linens as if they were still shaped around it. (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Matthew, 571)

 

As the women ran from the tomb, in their path appeared Jesus himself! The women took hold of his feet (a Near Eastern custom for a subject showing obeisance to a king) and worshiped him, giving homage to their Savior, Lord, and King. (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Matthew, 573)

 

In almost every example of God breaking into life on earth, the opening words are, “Fear not Have no fear, I am with thee,” Our Father knows that we need constant reassurance. Catherine Marshall

 

Jesus told the women to pass a message on to the disciples—that they should go to Galilee, as he had previously told them (26:32). Galilee was where Jesus had called most of them and where he had said they would become “fishers of men” (4:19 NIV),  and it would be where this mission would be restated (John 21). (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Matthew, 573)

 

The religious leaders’ worst fears had been realized (27:63-64)—Jesus’ body had disappeared from the tomb! Instead of even considering that Jesus’ claims had been true and that he truly was the Messiah risen from the dead, the chief priests and elders devised a plan and paid a bribe to the soldiers in order to explain away what had happened. What irony that the chief priests were forced to bribe the guards to spread the very lie that the chief priests had tried to prevent! This may have seemed like a logical explanation, but they didn’t think through the details. Why would Jesus’ disciples, who already had run off on him at his arrest, risk a return at night to a guarded and sealed tomb in an effort to steal a body—an offense that could incur the death penalty? If they had done so, would they have taken the time to unwrap the body and leave the grave clothes behind? (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Matthew, 574)

 

Matthew’s honesty is remarkable. Some of the disciples struggled with doubt. No Christian grows in faith without some doubt. The five-year-olds who took in every Bible story will become the fifteen-year-olds who want to know how, what, why, when, and where. And they will grow, too, and press for deeper answers along the way. When you doubt, don’t be discouraged. It’s not a sin nor a failure. It’s a normal part of spiritual growth. Keep talking with thoughtful Christian friends and teachers, keep studying and praying, keep serving the Lord, and keep asking questions and looking for answers. God gave you a mind to discover his truth. Don’t let anyone tell you that discovery is wrong. (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Matthew, 576)

 

To baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit affirms the reality of the Trinity, the concept coming directly from Jesus himself. He did not say baptize them into the “names,” but into the “name” of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While the word “Trinity” does not occur in Scripture, it well describes the three-in-one existence of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (See also Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:4-6; 2 ThessaIonians 2:13.) (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Matthew, 578)

 

As Schweizer says, “If God had first to prove Himself in man’s eyes He would no longer be God.” (Myron S. Augsburger, The Communicator’s Commentary: Matthew, 326)

 

The fact is that a group of people were convinced that they had seen the risen Lord. It resulted in a terrified band of fugitives becoming messengers, with total disregard for danger to themselves as they spread the gospel of the risen Jesus throughout the world. The significance of the empty tomb to the whole event is that it is not immortality without a body that we affirm, but the bodily Resurrection of Jesus (Luke 24:39). Myron S. Augsburger, The Communicator’s Commentary: Matthew, 326)

 

The risen Christ is building His church, using us as His agents of reconciliation. We are ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20), proxies for the Messiah, witnessing by deed and word to His saving grace. (Myron S. Augsburger, The Communicator’s Commentary: Matthew, 332)

 

The women who had lingered at the cross came early to the tomb, bringing spices that they might anoint His body. They thought He was dead. In fact, they wondered how they would move the huge stone that blocked the entrance to the tomb (Mark 16:3). It is remarkable that they did not believe in His resurrection when He had taught this truth repeatedly (Matt. 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; 26:32). (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, 84)

 

The stone was not rolled away to permit Jesus to come out, for He had already left the tomb. It was rolled back so that the people could see for themselves that the tomb was empty. (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, 85)

 

The remarkable change in the early believers is another proof of His resurrection. One day they were discouraged and hiding in defeat. The next day they were declaring His resurrection and walking in joyful victory. In fact, they were willing to die for the truth of the resurrection. If all of this were a manufactured tale, it could never have changed their lives or enabled them to lay down their lives as martyrs. (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, 85)

 

Over five hundred witnesses saw Jesus alive at one time (1 Cor. 15:3–8). These appearances of the risen Christ were of such a nature that they could not be explained as hallucinations or self-deception. (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, 85)

 

Both historically and theologically we regard the Resurrection as the ultimate interpretive event of Christology, for in the Resurrection His death is meaningful in its victory, and His ministry is confirmed as having introduced an actual Kingdom. (Myron S. Augsburger, The Communicator’s Commentary: Matthew, 322)

 

In the Jewish reckoning of time, a day included any part of a day; thus, Friday was the first day, Saturday was the second day, and Sunday was the third day. Unlike the Jewish leaders, they certainly had no expectation that the disciples would steal the body (27:62-66). When the women arrived at daybreak on Sunday, the third day, Jesus had already risen. (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Matthew, 570)

 

The chief priests use bribe money to commission the soldiers to spread lies, while the resurrected Jesus uses the promise of his presence to commission his followers to spread the gospel (vv. 16—20). (Frank E. Gæbelein, The Expositors Bible Commentary, Vol 8, 590)

 

From the Resurrection onward, the gospel that Jesus had preached became the gospel that was Jesus. The disciples now recognized that Jesus Christ came not only to preach a gospel but to be a gospel. The themes of their message were now: (1) the Messianic Age has come; (2) the gospel is the ministry, death, and Resurrection of the Messiah; (3) Jesus is now at God’s right hand as Lord; (4) Jesus has verified His role by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; (5) Jesus has created, and continues to create, a new community; and (6) Jesus will return as Judge. (See I Cor. 15:3—5; Gal. 3:1; I Cor. 1:23; Rom. 8:31—34, 2 Cor. 5:16.) (Myron S. Augsburger, The Communicator’s Commentary, 322)

 

Let us take comfort in this thought. Trial, sorrow, and persecution are often the portion of God’s people; sickness, weakness, and pain often hurt and wear their poor earthly tabernacle: but their good time is yet to come. Let them wait patiently, and they shall have a glorious resurrection. When we die, and where we are buried, and what kind of a funeral we have, matters little: the great question to be asked is this, ‘How shall we rise again?’ (J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew, 325)

 

Because Christ was raised from the dead, we know that the kingdom of heaven has broken into earth’s history. Our world is now headed for redemption, not disaster. God’s mighty power is at work destroying sin, creating new lives, and preparing us for Jesus’ second coming. (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Matthew, 569)

 

Christian faith is then, not only an assent to the whole gospel of Christ, but also a full reliance on the blood of Christ; a trust in the merits of his life, death, and resurrection; a recumbency upon him as our atonement and our life, as given for us, and living in us; and, in consequence hereof, a closing with him, and cleaving to him, as our “wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,” or, in one word, our salvation. (John Wesley, Sermons on Several Occasions, 19-20)

 

The power of God that brought Christ’s body back from the dead is available to us to bring our morally and spiritually dead selves back to life so that we can change and grow. (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Matthew, 569)

 

As the one who decisively conquered death, Jesus is the one to whom we must turn for victory over man’s most dreaded enemy. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 141)

 

Jesus Christ is risen victorious from the dead. His resurrected body became more glorious, not hindered by ordinary human limitations. Thus He ascended into heaven. There He sits as our exalted Lord at the right hand of God the Father, where He intercedes for us until His enemies shall be brought into complete subjection. He will return to judge all people. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (2015 Free Methodist Book of Discipline, Par. 104, p. 9-10)

 

The Resurrection of Christ is the guarantee of resurrection unto life to those who are in Him. (2015 Free Methodist Book of Discipline, 25)

 

When [Mary] saw the stone rolled away from the door of the tomb, she concluded that somebody had broken into the tomb and  stolen the body of her Lord. We may criticize Mary for jumping to conclusions, but when you consider the circumstances, it is  difficult to see how she would have reached any other conclusion. It was still dark, she was alone, and, like the other followers of  Jesus, she did not believe that He would return from the dead. (Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, 310)

 

It is Peter, impulsive and courageous as ever, who goes in all the way and sees the grave clothes lying there neatly, all in place.  “Still in the folds” is the Greek phrase. Even the head cloths are separated from the rest of the garments. It is as if the dead one  had simply stepped out into life. (Roger L. Fredrikson, Mastering the New Testament: John, 282)

 

Matthew’s Gospel records that after Jesus was buried by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, the chief priests and Pharisees  again went to Pilate. This time they requested that the tomb be made secure. The religious leaders remembered Jesus’ claims to  rise again on the third day so they wanted to make sure that no one could get into the tomb (or maybe that no one could get out).  (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: John, 383)

 

The religious leaders took a further precaution, asking that guards be placed at the tomb’s entrance. Their explanation to Pilate:  “His disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be  worse than the first” (Matthew 27:64 nrsv). The religious leaders didn’t know that at that moment the disciples were cowering in  fear for their lives, not even thinking about the Resurrection. (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: John, 383)

 

It was immediately clear that no ordinary explanation made sense. What robber or enemy would strip a decomposing corpse and  leave behind the valuable linens and spice, even taking the time to fold up (neatly?) the burial cloth? (Joseph Dongell, John: A Bible  Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition, 234)

 

In His resurrection Jesus has not only broken the bonds of sin and death, but also the limitation of space and time and the weaknesses of earthly existence. By the power of God He has wrought a new creation, a new order. (Roger L. Fredrikson, Mastering the New Testament: John, 284)

The ultimate demonstration of Christ’s power over death, and hence proof of His deity, was His resurrection. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, John 12-21, 368)

 

Many people wonder how God could create a world with so much evil in it. But they seem to overlook the fact that most of that evil is the result of man’s free choices. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 12)

 

Have you noticed that when the supernatural touches the natural the message is always “Peace” or “Fear not”? His word to them now, when His deity touches their humanity, is “peace” This is the peace that comes from being justified by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ, which gives us peace with God. (J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible Commentary Series, John vol2, 327)

 

Let us keep in mind that God wants and expects us to be conquerors over the powers of darkness, not only for the sake of personal victory and for the liberation of other souls from the chains of Satan (though this is very important) but for His glory, so that His triumph and victory over His enemies may be demonstrated! (Corrie ten Boom, Defeated Enemies, 7)

 

Those in glory must often wonder about our tears. They see from such a different vantage point. (Roger L. Fredrikson, The Communicator’s Commentary: John, 284)

 

 

 

Those who love Christ most are those who have received most benefit from him. (J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on John, 196)

 

The lives of Christians today demonstrate that the resurrection is still changing people. It changes fear into love, despair into joy. The resurrection changes people from being spiritually dead to being alive to God. It changes guilty condemnation into a celebration of forgiveness and freedom. It changes anxiety into a hope that goes beyond the grave. It can change our sinful hearts so they want to follow the Lord Jesus, and the power of the resurrection is relentlessly killing sin in every true Christian. (Adrian Warnock, Raised With Christ, 13)

 

If you do not know Him and worship Him, if you do not long to reside where He is, if you have never known wonder and ecstasy in your soul because of His crucifixion and resurrection, your claim of Christianity is unfounded. It cannot be related to the true Christian life and experience at all. (A. W. Tozer, Whatever Happened to Worship, 114)

Unless God breathe upon these dry bones, they shall never live. But the breath of the Almighty can cause a resurrection where every thing betokens a condition utterly hopeless. Those who believe in God should never despair. There is help in him. These dead can live. (B.T. Roberts, Pungent Truths, 68)

 

One indisputable certainty of life is that it will someday end. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, John 12-21, 360)

 

As the one who decisively conquered death, Jesus is the one to whom we must turn for victory over man’s most dreaded enemy. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 141)

 

We cannot make too much of the death of Christ, but we can make too little of His resurrection. (Arthur W. Pink, Exposition of the Gospel of John, 1068)

 

Evidence that does not lead to experience is nothing but dead dogma. (Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, 312)

 

The empty tomb and graveclothes pointed beyond every natural explanation to some sort of resurrection, even more glorious than that of Lazarus. The tomb of Lazarus had to be unsealed by human hands, and his graveclothes unwound in the same fashion. But no human hand assisted in the release of Jesus from these restraints which had been overcome with ease. (Joseph Dongell, John: A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition, 234)

 

The change in the disciples shows they had not invented the resurrection. After the crucifixion the disciples were confused, defeated, fearful, and burdened with sorrow. Suddenly they changed, becoming fearless preachers of Jesus’ resurrection. They suffered bravely and confidently for this fact. They went from the depths of despair to the boldest certainty. This incredible change in the disciples showed that they were not merely lying, but were absolutely convinced that Jesus had risen from the dead. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 27)