Matthew 28:17-20 NIV

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Matthew 28:17

When the Eleven finally saw Jesus, they worshipped Him. Yet some of them still had unresolved questions about how they should respond to Him. The word "doubted" (Gr. edistasan) means "hesitated" (cf. Matthew 14:31). [Note: I. P. Ellis, "’But some doubted,’" New Testament Studies 14 (1967-68):574-80.] Apparently Jesus’ resurrection did not immediately dispel all the questions that remained in the minds of His disciples. Perhaps, also, some of them still felt embarrassed about deserting Him and... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Matthew 28:18

Jesus proceeded to address the Eleven. Matthew did not record them saying anything, which focuses our attention fully on Jesus’ words. Notice the repetition of "all" in Matthew 28:18-20: all authority, all nations, all things, and all the days. Matthew stressed the authority of Jesus throughout his Gospel (Matthew 7:29; Matthew 10:1; Matthew 10:7-8; Matthew 11:27; Matthew 22:43-44; Matthew 24:35)."Not merely power or might (dunamis), such as a great conqueror might claim, but ’authority’... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Matthew 28:19

Jesus’ disciples should go and make disciples because Jesus now has universal authority. He gave them a new universal mission in keeping with His new universal authority. Previously He had limited their work to Israel (Matthew 10:1-8; cf. Matthew 15:24). Now He sent them into all the world. They could go confidently knowing that Jesus has sovereign control over everything in heaven and on earth (cf. Romans 8:28). Note the similarity between the original cultural mandate to be fruitful,... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Matthew 28:20

Discipling also involves teaching followers everything Jesus commanded His disciples. Notice that the content is not the Old Testament law but Jesus’ commands. This does not mean that the Old Testament is unimportant. Jesus validated the whole Old Testament during His ministry (Matthew 5:17-20). However the focus now becomes Jesus as the source of revelation rather than secondary sources such as the Old Testament prophets (cf. Hebrews 1:1-4). Likewise the revelation of the rest of the New... read more

John Darby

Darby's Synopsis of the New Testament - Matthew 28:17

28:17 doubted. (a-13) Or 'were at a loss [what to think],' 'hesitated.' read more

John Darby

Darby's Synopsis of the New Testament - Matthew 28:19

28:19 [therefore] (b-2) The word 'therefore' has very doubtful authority. read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 28:1-20

The ResurrectionFor the Resurrection see special article. 1-10. The Resurrection and appearance to the women (Mark 16:1; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). If it be remembered that a considerable number of women visited the tomb—Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James, Salome (Mk), Joanna (Lk), and ’the other women with them’ (Lk)—the fragmentary accounts of the evangelists are not very difficult to arrange in order. (1) Mary Magdalene and the other women visit the tomb immediately after the resurrection, and... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 28:17

(17) They worshipped him—i.e., fell prostrate at His feet. The act, as has been said, was not new in itself, but it seems certain that our Lord’s manifestations of His Presence after the Resurrection had made the faith of the disciples stronger and clearer (comp. John 20:28), and so the act acquired a new significance.Some doubted.—It seems hard at first to conceive how those who had been present in the upper chamber at Jerusalem (John 20:19-26) could still feel doubt; but the narrative of John... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 28:18

(18) All power is given unto me.—Literally, all authority was given, the tense used being that in which men speak of something that occurred at a given point of time. We may possibly connect it with St. Paul’s use of the same tense in the Greek of Philippians 2:8. The exaltation came, the authority was given, as at the moment of the Resurrection, and as the crown of His obedience unto death. read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 28:19

(19) Teach all nations.—Better, make disciples of all the heathen. The Greek verb is the same as that which is rendered “instructed” in Matthew 13:52, and is formed from the noun for “disciple.” The words recognise the principle of a succession in the apostolic office. The disciples, having learnt fully what their Master, their Rabbi, had to teach them, were now to become in their turn, as scribes of the kingdom of heaven, the teachers of others. It is, to say the least, suggestive that in this... read more

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Matthew 28:17

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Matthew 28:18

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Matthew 28:19

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Matthew 28:20

Darby's Synopsis of the New Testament - Matthew 28:17

Darby's Synopsis of the New Testament - Matthew 28:19

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 28:1-20

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 28:17

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 28:18

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 28:19

Group of Brands