Matthew 28:16

But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them.

Matthew in this place recorded the official appearance of Christ to his disciples after the resurrection. There were other appearances, as already noted; but the others were more personal or incidental. This meeting, scheduled in advance, at a prearranged place, mentioned twice by Jesus and once by an angel - this meeting was the great appearance. It was attended by over five hundred disciples, as related by Paul (1 Corinthians 15:6), and even infidels have been impressed by Paul's affirmation of that stupendous fact. He mentioned it as an undeniable truth and appealed to the hundreds then living who were witnesses of it, conceding at the same time that some had "fallen asleep." If Paul could so boldly affirm Christ's appearance to so many, it had to be true. The enemies of the Lord and of his holy religion would have welcomed nothing so much as a statement that they could challenge and prove to be false. They certainly would have challenged Paul's statement if they could have done so, but they could not; and it is a mountain fact that all of the denials of Christ's resurrection came long, long after the death of that entire generation that witnessed it. It is not certainly known where that mountain in Galilee was located, nor, for that matter, why Christ should have selected any location in Galilee.

Christ made an appointment to meet his disciples in Galilee, and that appointment HE KEPT. He kept it in spite of: (1) his sleeping disciples, (2) his betrayal, (3) their forsaking him, (4) his death, (5)his burial, (6) Peter's denial, (7) the big lie, and (8) the unbelief of many. The only persons who did not meet Christ on that mount in Galilee are those who did not go there to keep their appointment. In like manner, now Christ keeps his appointments with his disciples, in spite of similar lapses on their part; and what are those appointments? They are: (1) to meet him in baptism, (2) at the Lord's table, (3) in the trials of life, (4) in death, and (5) in the judgment to come. Only those who will not obey him shall miss the joy of meeting the Lord in those appointments; but in the case of the judgment, all shall keep that appointment, whether they desire to do so or not.