Law & Grace - Matthew 28:1-20 Where do we go from here?

Matthew 28, 16 through 20 will actually be the completion of our study of the book of Matthew. We will be going through this passage here today, and fortunately, since we're going to end the service with a baptism, it addresses baptism. Isn't that great? So we'll be able to talk about it, so that's good. And we will proceed starting next week into selected passages in the New Testament addressing our ongoing theme, the Law and Grace series here.

You have in your handout on the front page a summary of the resurrection appearances of Christ as well as the seeing the open tomb. Last Sunday Julius the Centurion testified about the resurrection of Christ from the perspective of a guard at the tomb and so that is shown here on your handout in these locations. And so he testified well to that. Today we're going to be looking at just one of the passages here, and that's this one at the last five verses in Matthew, in Matthew 28, 16 through 20. Now here is a kind of a timeline summary of what took place from the time Christ was resurrected until the time he ascended.

You have that on the top of page two in your handout. And so initially there was the resurrection, the viewing of the empty tomb, and various immediate appearances at that point in time. You had also Peter and John running to the tomb to inspect that yes, in fact, the tomb is empty. What's interesting is after that they went home. I have no idea why they did that, but anyway.

Jesus' appearance before Mary Magdalene. And then basically a week later, Thomas, doubting the word of the rest of them, said, unless I touch those wounds and see it, I'm not believing. Jesus offered it, and Thomas says, my Lord and my God. Then Jesus appears to seven of the disciples there in Galilee. And this was not a fluke that he went there. He actually told them, that's where I'll see you next. And so then that was shown in John 21. Then Jesus appears to others in Galilee, and we'll be looking at that passage today. Then to over 500 as the Apostle Paul records for us.

And then to James, Jesus' brother. Now James was not a believer until he saw Christ resurrected. Can you imagine James, and by the way it's recorded earlier in John that James and the rest of Jesus' brothers would just as soon, Jesus went to Jerusalem and got killed. Can you imagine Jesus resurrected appearing to James?

That really changed his life. Then finally, 40 days after Christ's resurrection, the ascension from the Mount of Olives in view of the 11. So anyway, we'll be focusing here on this appearing to the 11 in Galilee here in this Matthew 28, 16 through 20 passage. One of the points we'd like to make though, and this is from John 21, is people didn't just happen to glimpse Jesus. Jesus deliberately revealed himself. He manifested himself as John puts it.

He manifested himself deliberately and it was interesting. He was able to remain unseen by people or seen by people but not recognized. Isn't that interesting? or seen by others and recognized. So that was something that he controlled. People didn't just happen to accidentally glimpse him. He controlled what people saw and what they recognized. Jesus didn't just kind of happen along and people were clever enough or lucky enough or by chance they caught view of him.

He controlled it. OK, in this passage here, we're then looking here at the 11. And Jesus had told them in advance, I'll see you in Galilee. He'd told them he'd meet them there. And so that's where they went, the 11, not 12, because Judas took his own life, the one who betrayed him. He even told them what mountain they should meet them on, although we're not told which one that was.

So they know, even if we don't. This is a view looking over Galilee from Arbela. It may have been that one. We don't know. When the disciples saw Jesus, they worshipped him, but there's a certain hesitation. This, however, worshipping him should set aside any doubt as to whether Jesus was actually deity. Important point.

The Seventh-day Adventists and the Jehovah's Witnesses both teach that Jesus is Michael the Archangel. And because of that, should we worship archangels? No. As a matter of fact, angels refuse worship. This is the passage from Revelation 19.10 where John accidentally starts worshiping an angel and the angel says, do not do that. Stop. Worship God. So a key pointer. Jesus is not Michael the archangel. And he is, in fact, deity, and that's why he is worthy of worship. And when Thomas said, my Lord and my God, he was not making a mistake.

Now, so it says somewhere doubtful. I think it's important to explain. What are they doubtful about? That word conveys hesitation on their part. And what is that you think about it? Here are the disciples Would you just openly worship Jesus or would you still have questions in your mind? How about questions like yeah, but it wasn't that long ago that I ran It wasn't that long ago That I told people that I don't even know this guy. It wasn't that long ago That I hid It wasn't that long ago I was afraid for my life. Should I, in just days and weeks, feel okay with worshiping the Lord?

And so I think it's the basis for their hesitation. They had all sorts of questions about themselves and, as we'll see, they had questions of Jesus that they felt that they needed answered. To them, they didn't understand things very well yet, and Christ's death, burial, and resurrection was an interruption in what they thought was God's program, rather than realizing, no, Christ dying and being buried and raised was God's program. So here in Acts, it reveals how they stood about things, even at the day that Jesus was ascended 40 days out. The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up to heaven after he had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom he had chosen. To these he also presented himself alive after his suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

Gathering them together, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, which, he said, You heard from me, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." So when they had come together, they were asking him, saying, Lord, is it at this time you're restoring the kingdom to Israel? See, they had questions. Now, this restoring the kingdom to Israel, that's what this was all about, right? No. He said to them, It is not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest part of the earth.

So here Jesus came up and spoke to them, this is Matthew 28.18, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on the earth. So he's announcing to them that his death, burial, and resurrection now qualifies him to have restored authority. Remember, he had authority before, right? But he had stepped down to the earth in order to become the God-man, the unique, fully God and fully man, and now was going to be restored to his heavenly position, having accomplished what he had been sent to accomplish. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. Look at the all's in here. All authority, all the nations, all that I command you, I'm with you always.

Now, I'm sure many whole sermons have been preached with the idea of go, go, go, but that's not what it says. It's literally, in the English, has the idea of, as you're going. It's not a command. There is no command to go. That having been said, it's presumed that the disciples, turned apostles, would go. It's presumed, not commanded, unto the nations to make disciples.

This is in contrast to when Jesus told his disciples, remember, he sent them out two by two, go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So now this is a different command, right? This is no longer go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and don't go on a road that leads to the Gentiles. This command he's giving them is the reverse of that. Now you're to go everywhere. Unto the nations. Now, a different assignment. Not the same one.

The command as an imperative is to make disciples. That's the command. Make disciples. You do that. Not go. The going is presumed. But making disciples. So we have a question. Are the apostles to make disciples after the Jewish mold? Or to make disciples after another pattern? Hmm. Got another question. Once the apostles give the gospel and the person is saved, Have the apostles completed their assignment from Christ? Have they made disciples and are they done? Well, let's take a look at those. Making disciples is not once for all.

They were made disciples once they were converted because it was assumed that they would continue on to learn. What's clear as one reads through Acts is one is saved by believing that Christ, the Son of God, died for our sins and was buried and rose again. Those things are clear. Once a person believed, however, they became a disciple because it was assumed that they would continue to learn and to grow.

2 Peter 3.18 says that, well, grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. You don't just get born again and now I'm done.

Here is Acts 14 where Paul, the apostle, it says, Acts 14, 21 through 23, after they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith. So they made many disciples. Those disciples are converts who are converted with the idea that they're going to be taught and learn and grow from that point forward.

Being a disciple in the Jewish context in the Gospels where it's, boy, you've got to follow the law of Moses and not one jot or tittle of that law will be changed. And you follow it all. No exceptions. and being a disciple in the church are two different things. Here Jesus is telling the disciples in the Jewish context, you don't even change one little jot or tittle in the law. Follow all of it.

Here in the Christian context, Paul writes to the church at Rome and what does he say? You died to the law. That's radical different. That's not the same gospel. The word disciple is not used once in the New Testament after the book of Acts. Isn't that interesting? Not once. Not even just a little bit. However, what is used is the verb form of the same word.

An example we give here is Ephesians 4.20. Paul writes to the church at Ephesus, but you did not learn, as a disciple, Christ in this way.

Jesus told them then to baptize into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Now, let me ask you this. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. How many names is that? I think we count three. But why did he say name and then give the Father and Son the Holy Spirit? Hmm. That's very interesting.

Baptizing of church-aged disciples was done after someone believed and then saved as a physical picture of what had taken place. So we're baptizing, as we're going to have happen here in just a few minutes, we're baptizing people into the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is a teaching here that is sometimes called the Trinity. That's a word that's not in the Bible, but it's a teaching that is clearly in the Bible.

The way to look at it is, though we have the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit, there are three persons, all three being deity, they are of one essence. Now we're not used to thinking that way, are we? Usually we think, okay, one person, one essence. You're not used to thinking, well, there's Vern and he's three people, one... No, that's not the way it works, right? God is uniquely three persons and one essence. And we're not accustomed to thinking that way, but the Bible clearly teaches it. It's consistent with what the Bible teaches. We have an illustration here that you may want to examine, particularly looking at some of the passages that are listed there. I'll let you do that on your own.

Teaching them. Now, this is a key thing. If they're disciples, they don't just get converted and sit there. You don't just run off to the next one to get the next convert. You teach them. That's what the apostles were told to do. Teaching them. They weren't just to make converts and stop there.

Some churches, it doesn't matter what the passage is that the pastor starts with, you know how it's going to end. Because they're going to have them come up and they're going to have altar calls and altar calls. And by the way, where's the altar? We don't have one. They're not sacrificing any animals up here. At least I hope not.

And then, What happens is those get born again, right? And all you do is you focus on people being born again, you end up with a whole bunch of babies, right? How's that going to work? And that's an important point. A great many churches lose sight of the fact that the babies need to grow up. And they have to be fed, and they have to be cared for so that they grow. Growing, once a person is saved, is what it's all about.

The apostles were not to just make converts and then pursue an experience. Oh, well, you've got to have this, you know, second baptism and third, and you've got to have this experience. And boy, if you haven't had holy barking and holy barfing, you haven't had anything, right? By the way, I'm not kidding about that. The apostles were to teach those who were converts in the faith, equipping them for service. This is Ephesians 4, 11, 12, and 13. Equipping them for service. And that's what we have a task to do here.

Now, what about the all I have commanded you? Were the apostles to go and only teach what Jesus had taught them? Were they supposed to go out there and say, don't you change one jot or tittle of the law? You live by the whole law. Is that what the apostles were supposed to do? Or, does this mean the apostles were only to go through the lost sheep of the house of Israel because that's what Jesus told them to do?

Even though it contradicted what he just told them here. Hmm. Does this mean that the disciples don't need any new revelation because Jesus gave it to them? Is that what it means? What Jesus meant, the only thing that makes sense, teach all that I've commanded you regarding the church, what applies to the church. Jesus was not telling the soon to be apostles to teach people everything exactly as Jesus had taught them because that was focused upon Israel. What he was saying to them was that they should teach the church-age disciples all the things he had said that applied to the church.

By the Holy Spirit, they would come to know more of what that meant. You imagine, here's Peter. It's a decade after Jesus has ascended. Here's Peter. And the Lord gives him a vision, and basically to use Miranda's little joke here, you know, eat this ham! Uh-uh! Eat this ham! Uh-uh! You know? And so by that, the Lord revealed a decade after Christ had ascended, the Gentiles were to receive this Gospel too. That was new.

So it wasn't all that Jesus commanded throughout the whole Gospels as the entire content. It was in fact, here are the things about the church that I've told you. All those things, including that the Holy Spirit will be given and He will teach you more things. We have, and I'll have this as the final outline, this chiasm.

And we have, from there, a line, instructions to the Twelve, authority and message for the Church, Matthew 18, that's the first place the Church is brought up, and that's a place where he told them things about the Church. There's also this initiation of ministry. We have, outside of Matthew, the 14th, 15th, and 16th chapters of the Gospel of John are directed to the church. The 17th chapter is Christ's prayer about the church. So those things about the church, that's what he's referring to. Now, so this chiasm, just to make sure everybody's up to speed here, is kind of like a mirror image in written form, and that serves as our outline as we complete the study of the book today.

Finally here, He says, I am with you always. Now, this is important for us to understand. Though Jesus was to depart from them in a matter of days physically, so I imagine if they took this physically that it would be a complete surprise to have them go up and leave them. Jesus would be with them and with us spiritually until the end of this, the church age. The disciples, the apostles themselves wouldn't even be around. but he's with you and with me up to the end of this the church age. Christ is in us and we are in him and that's the key to how life is to be lived out and that's why Jesus told them that.

Christ did not give the apostles nor did he give us a delegated assignment. This is very important. This is very important. God is not coming up to you and saying, look here Christian, I want you to do this, check back with me later. That is not how God operates. Christ is in us and we are in Christ and that's how God operates. He is with us always in those two ways and God does not intend for us to do things independently and then check back with Him later and see how we did. He wants our living to be done with us in Him and Him in us in mind.

Okay, let's pray. Lord, we do thank you as we look at this passage and as we see Jesus indicating some very important truths. His presence with us Our being in Him and Him being in us, that continuing presence is key to our life and key to carrying out what you have for us. And we thank you for that. We thank you and we pray that those truths would be sinking in to our hearts and minds and we would be learning and in fact growing in the grace and knowledge of Him. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.