The commotion. The earthquake which accompanied the resurrection of Christ had its counterpart in the moral commotion which this event occasioned. Thus— I. THE WATCH WERE MOVED . 1 . They were alarmed for their lives. 2 . They acted with the wisdom of the world. II. THE ELDERS WERE MOVED . 1 . The hypocrite is alarmed for his credit. 2 . But he vainly seeks to preserve it. (a) The disciples were not likely to attempt the stealing of the... read more
Then the eleven disciples. There is no note of time in the original, which gives merely, But the eleven, etc. The meeting here narrated took place on some day after the first Easter week. The number "eleven" shows the loss of one of the sacred college, whose complement was not filled up till just before Pentecost ( Acts 1:15-26 ). Went away into Galilee. St. Matthew takes pains to show the exact fulfilment of Christ's very special injunction and promise concerning Galilee (see verses... read more
Our Lord appears to the disciples in Galilee, and gives them a commission to teach and baptize. read more
The great meeting in Galilee. I. THE APPEARANCE OF THE LORD . 1 . The place. This was the one only meeting by appointment. The other appearances of the risen Saviour were sudden and unexpected. Both St. Matthew and St. Mark tell us that the Lord, just before his agony, had announced to his apostles that, after he was risen again, he would go before them into Galilee. After the Resurrection the angel first, and, then the Lord himself, had made the same appointment. Evidently... read more
They worshipped him. Evidently here they, or the majority of those present (for it is plain that others beside the apostles were there), adored him as God and Lord. This is the first time that this action of supreme worship is mentioned in connection with the disciples, though the women had offered the same homage to him ( Matthew 28:9 ). But some doubted ( οἱδε Ì —without οἱμε Ì ν — ἐδι ì στασαν ). (For the verb, comp. Matthew 14:31 .) The doubters could not have... read more
Doubts as to the Resurrection. If some doubted when they saw Jesus, it is not surprising that some doubt now that it is nearly nineteen centuries since our Lord was on earth among men in visible form. Therefore it is not just or charitable to turn savagely against people who are seriously perplexed. The only right and Christian course is to try to help them. I. THERE MUST BE MUCH MYSTERY IN RELIGION . It reaches out beyond our everyday experience, and deals with things of... read more
Jesus came. Some medieval exegetes have deemed that this verse refers to the time of the ascension; but there is no valid reason for dissociating this portion from the rest of the account. If we do this, we lose the great reason for the oft-enjoined meeting on the Galilaean mountain, which seems to have been expressly and with much care arranged to notify at large the fact of Christ's Resurrection and of his supreme authority, and to convey the Lord's commission to the apostles in the... read more
Power in the risen Christ's hands. I. No one of us needs proofs of the fact of our Lord's resurrection from the dead. Yet that resurrection remains an unsolved mystery. No one can explain it, but we inquire concerning its significance. One point only now engages our attention. Everybody who dies lives after death. Our dead friends are not dead. We never think of them as dead. They are dead in the sense of ceasing to respond to their present environment, but they are not passed out of... read more
The great commission. This is the grand missionary charter. Here is more than our justification for urging on missionary work, more than our encouragement for maintaining it; here is our positive duty to evangelize the world. Let us look at the source, the object, and the encouragement of this great commission. I. ITS SOURCE . The authority and commandment of Christ. 1 . The authority of Christ. Jesus speaks these words after his resurrection. He is now to be exalted to the... read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 28:18
Verse 18 18.And Jesus approached and spoke to them. His approach unquestionably removed all hesitation. Before relating that the office of teaching was committed to the disciples, Matthew says that Christ began by speaking of his power; and not without reason. For no ordinary authority would here have been enough, but sovereign and truly divine government ought to be possessed by him who commands them to promise eternal life in his ham to reduce the whole world under his sway, and to publish a... read more