Matthew 28 Studies

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each chapter is divided into a number of studies and each study or passage has a simple four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Matthew 28:1-7

A. Find Out:

1. Who went where and when? v.1

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

2. Who appeared to do what, appearing like what? v.2,3

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.

3. What effect did this have on the guards? v.4

The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

4. Yet what did he say to the woman? v.5

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified

5. What news did he then convey? v.6

He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

6. What did he tell them to do, and why? v.7

Then go quickly and tell his disciples: `He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

B. Think:

1. Who saw the angel? Why do you think Matthew includes this?
2. How does Matthew convey that this was an angel and not a man?
3. How is the divine strategy revealed?

C. Comment:

Matthew allows us no room to suppose that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was a mere human event, possibly Jesus not having died but being revived and then helped by the disciples! Yes, some of the women are involved here but only as onlookers. Observe the details of Matthew’s account.

First there is an earthquake. A slight coincidence that it should happen at the moment the women come along? But the source of this “earthquake” is declared by Matthew not to be a mere rumbling of the ground but a consequence of the presence of heaven come down in the form of an angel. It is the angel who rolls back the massive stone that sealed the tomb, and then sits on it, as if to make his claim on this event, as if to say, “I did this!”. This being is not only terribly powerful, but he also has the fearful glow of heaven about him, so bright it’s almost too bright to look at. The impact of his presence on the guards is laughable. There is no question as to who he is; they are terrified!

But as with all messengers from heaven, he comes with care and concern for the people of God. He reassures the women and then reveals the divine strategy: Jesus who has now risen will shortly be going up to Galilee to continue with his disciples.

D. Application:

1. The resurrection is a divine event. Don’t you dare make it less!
2. The resurrection reveals the power and presence of heaven on earth.

Passage: Matthew 28:8-15

A. Find Out:

1. How did the women leave the tomb? v.8

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

2. Who did they encounter & how did they respond to him? v.9

Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped him.

3. What did he instruct them to do? v.10

Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

4. Meanwhile what were the guards doing? v.11

While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.

5. Who told them to say what? v.12,13

When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, `His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’

6. How were they reassured? v.14

If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”

B. Think:

1. Why do you think the women were afraid?
2. How does Jesus confirm God’s strategy?
3. How do the Jewish leaders seem to run true to form here?

C. Comment:

What seems surprising from Matthew’s account is how little he records of Jesus’ resurrection appearances. It is almost as if he takes the whole thing for granted that he just gives a bare outline of what happened. Perhaps in his writing he knew that Jesus’ resurrection was not disputed among the early church and so it didn’t need to be detailed in any big way. He simply recounts, very briefly the women meeting with Jesus and Jesus instructing them. For Matthew it is almost as if he is answering a detractor’s question, “Why wasn’t Jesus seen much in Jerusalem before he ascended?”. So, Matthew tells us that both the angel and Jesus announced his plan to take his disciples back up to Galilee where he could teach them, undisturbed by the religious leaders based at Jerusalem.

Matthew also tells us why it was that the Jews believed in a grave snatching solution to the problem of the disappearing body. These ungodly and unrighteous leaders continued as they had done before. If they had broken the law in trying and crucifying Jesus, what is a little lying and bribery to cover up the truth.

D. Application:

1. The resurrection of Jesus is clearly documented in the New Testament, again and again. It is a fact of history. Worship him.
2. One sin soon leads on to another, one sin has to be covered by another sin, and another, and another…..

Passage: Matthew 28:16-20

A. Find Out:

1. Where did the twelve go and why? v.16

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.

2. What mixed reactions were there to Jesus? v.17

When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

3. What did Jesus say about himself? v.18

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

4. What did he tell them to do? v.19,20a

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in A the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

5. What final encouragement did he give them? v.20b

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age

B. Think:

1. What do you think Jesus meant when he said he had all authority?
2. How is the work of making a disciple seen to have an initial element and an ongoing element to it?
3. How can Jesus “be with us” today?

C. Comment:

The remaining eleven key disciples (don’t forget there were in fact many more disciples than just the eleven) go back up to Galilee as they have been instructed and there they encounter Jesus. Matthew’s account is brief and perhaps that may be one of the reasons John later wrote, giving a more detailed account of what happened up there. Matthew is the one who seeks to show Jesus as the Messianic king and so he closes his Gospel with these vitally important words.

First, note that Jesus now claims that (by implication) through the work of the Cross all authority to rule has now been given to him by the Father. He is now the supreme ruler on earth! Believe it!

Second, note that he says he’ll be with them always, yet within a few weeks he ascends into heaven. Pentecost was surely the outpouring of the very presence of Jesus in the form of his own Holy Spirit. He is with us – in us!

Finally, note his final instructions, what the disciples are to do: they are to carry on the work he had started and make disciples of people from all nations. As people came to him the existing disciples were to baptise the new disciples, just as he had done with them previously, and they were to teach them, just as he had done.

D. Application:

1. Jesus is Lord over all the earth. Worship and praise him.
2. Our call is to make disciples, not merely believers.