Passage 📖: Matthew 28:11–20

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👋 Introduction to Today’s Lesson

Most of the fear we carry isn’t because we’re weak.

It’s because we’ve misunderstood who’s actually in charge — and how much power the things we fear really have over us.

Anxiety grows when authority feels unclear.

When voices feel louder than truth.

When power seems to belong to systems, people, or circumstances we can’t control.

The disciples knew that feeling well.

They had just come out of hiding.

The empire was still intact.

The religious leaders still held influence.

Nothing around them looked safer — even after the resurrection.

And yet, in this moment, Jesus doesn’t calm them by changing their circumstances.

He calms them by redefining authority itself.

What He says here doesn’t just launch a mission — it reframes fear, power, and what it means to live with confidence in an uncertain world.

If you’ve ever felt intimidated by what stands in front of you — this lesson is for you.

Last week, we witnessed the dawn of the resurrection.

At the empty tomb, God revealed that new creation had begun.

The stone wasn’t rolled away so Jesus could escape — He was already risen.

It was rolled away so the women could see.

Those who stayed faithful through the darkness became the first witnesses of resurrection, reminding us that proximity to God is measured by faithfulness, not status.

And when Jesus rose, He didn’t return with judgment or vengeance — He returned with mercy.

His first words weren’t condemnation, but reconciliation:

“Go tell my brothers.”

The resurrection showed us not only that Jesus is alive —

but that He comes back for the ones He loves, restoring before rebuking, and meeting fear with peace.

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While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:11–20 takes place on the same day as the resurrection, but it intentionally slows the narrative to show us what the resurrection immediately produces.

Up to this point:

At this moment, the resurrection is not in question.

What is now contested is how the resurrection will be understood and proclaimed.

Matthew structures this section to show three parallel responses to the resurrection:

This passage is not just about belief — it is about authority, truth, and allegiance.

Matthew opens with an important transition:

“While they were going…” (v. 11)

This phrase links two simultaneous events:

The guards are reporting what happened.

These are Roman soldiers, placed at the tomb at the request of Jewish leaders (27:62–66).

Key details:

When they report to the chief priests, Matthew says they told them “everything that had happened.”

This implies:

Importantly, Matthew does not say the leaders disputed the resurrection.

Instead, they explain it away.

This explanation is deeply flawed:

Matthew’s point is not to debate the lie, but to expose its motive:

Power preservation, not truth-seeking

Matthew adds a critical editorial comment:

“And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.” (v. 15)

This tells us:

From the start, the resurrection generates conflict, resistance, and propaganda.

Matthew now shifts scenes.

The disciples go to Galilee, the region where:

Galilee represents:

When they see Jesus:

“They worshiped Him, but some doubted.” (v. 17)

This is not unbelief, but hesitation, awe, and uncertainty.

Matthew portrays the disciples honestly:

Jesus responds not with correction, but with declaration:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.” (v. 18)

This statement:

The resurrection is not merely victory over death — it is the public unveiling of Jesus’ cosmic authority.

Because Jesus now holds all authority, He issues a command:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”

In first-century Jewish thought:

Key elements:

This is not about creating converts only, but shaping lives around Jesus’ teaching.

Jesus ends with:

“I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This mirrors the opening of Matthew’s Gospel:

Matthew intentionally bookends his Gospel with presence.

The resurrected Jesus does not withdraw — He remains actively involved with His people.

Matthew does not record the ascension.

He ends with:

The Gospel closes without resolution because the story continues through the Church.

The unanswered question Matthew leaves the reader with is not:

“Did Jesus rise?”

But:

“Whose story will you believe — and whose authority will you live under?”

When Jesus speaks these words, the disciples are still afraid.

They’re coming out of hiding.

Rome still rules.

Religious leaders still hold power.

Nothing around them looks safer.

They had watched their Teacher be executed by the strongest systems on earth.

To them, authority looked like courts, soldiers, and institutions that could kill.

So when Jesus appears alive and says,

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me” (Matthew 28:18),

He isn’t offering comfort — He’s redefining reality.

The powers they feared don’t have the final word.

Death was their strongest weapon — and it failed.

That’s why Jesus doesn’t begin with, “Don’t be afraid.”

He begins with, “All authority is Mine.”

Because courage doesn’t come from pretending danger isn’t real.

It comes from knowing who’s truly in charge.

And that truth still matters.

We live under systems and pressures that intimidate and silence.

So we often follow Jesus quietly, from a distance.

But the resurrection changes everything.

Jesus sends us back into the world knowing:

This is already His world.

Resistance is real — but it isn’t sovereign.

No system defines your worth.

No fear decides your future.

The risen King does.

And He sends you — not because you’re powerful,

but because He is.

When Jesus says,

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”

— Matthew 28:19

He is not introducing a new idea.

He is restarting an ancient one.

In first-century Jewish thought, “the nations” meant the Gentiles —

the outsiders, the foreigners, the people once thought beyond the covenant.

So this moment is shocking.

For centuries, Israel understood God’s work as centered on one people.

Now Jesus stands risen from the dead and says:

My Kingdom is not contained by ethnicity, geography, or bloodline.

And to understand how radical this is, we have to go all the way back to the beginning.

In the Garden of Eden, God gave humanity its first commission:

“Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue it.”

— Genesis 1:28

That wasn’t about domination.

It was about spreading God’s life, order, beauty, and presence into the whole world.

Humanity was meant to carry God’s way of life

from the garden

to the ends of the earth.

But sin fractured that mission.

The world filled — not with God’s peace — but with violence, injustice, and division.

Nations formed, languages split, people scattered.

Now, on the other side of the cross and resurrection,

Jesus stands as the new Adam, inaugurating new creation —

and He gives a commission that mirrors the first one.

But notice the difference.

In Genesis, humanity was told to fill the earth with life.

In Matthew, disciples are told to fill the earth with the life of Jesus.

“Go… to all nations.”

Every culture.

Every ethnicity.

Every language.

Every place once written off as “too far.”

This is Eden restored — but expanded.

Not a garden guarded by cherubim,

but a Kingdom breaking into the whole world.

And Jesus is clear:

This isn’t about exporting religion.

It’s about forming people into a way of life.

“Make disciples.”

Not converts.

Not consumers.

Not church attenders.

Disciples — people shaped by His teachings,

His love,

His mercy,

His justice,

His faithfulness.

This is how the world is subdued now —

not by force,

not by empire,

not by coercion —

but by embodied obedience.

The Kingdom advances when people live like Jesus

in every nation,

every city,

every neighborhood,

every workplace.

And here’s the pastoral weight of this moment:

Jesus is telling fearful, ordinary disciples —

people with no political power,

no armies,

no influence —

that they are being entrusted with the renewal of the world.

Not because they are impressive.

But because resurrection life now flows through them.

This means your faith is never meant to stay private.

It’s meant to be portable.

Wherever you go —

you carry the values of a new creation.

Wherever you live —

you bring the atmosphere of the Kingdom.

Wherever God places you —

you become a sign that Eden is returning.

The Great Commission is not about going far.

It’s about living faithfully — wherever you are —

so the world can see what God is like again.

This is the call:

To partner with God

in filling the earth

not with noise,

but with love.

Not with domination,

but with discipleship.

Not with fear,

but with resurrection life.

The Garden is expanding.

The Kingdom is moving.

And Jesus is inviting us

to take part in the restoration of the world.

Matthew does not end his Gospel with a miracle.

He ends it with a decision.

The resurrection has already happened.

The tomb is already empty.

The authority has already been given.

The only question left is not what God has done —

but who you will trust.

Because from the very beginning, two stories are being told side by side.

One story is fueled by fear —

guards bribed, lies rehearsed, power protected at all costs.

The other is carried by worship —

hesitant disciples, trembling faith, hearts learning to trust again.

Both stories hear the same news:

Jesus is alive.

But only one story leads to life.

And then Jesus speaks.

Not to crowds.

Not to kings.

Not to institutions.

To a small group of once-frightened followers —

some worshiping, some doubting —

and He says:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”

Not will be.

Not might be.

Has been.

Which means the world you are sent into

is not ruled by chaos, fear, or unchecked power.

It is ruled by a risen King.

And then He sends them — not with strategies, not with guarantees of ease —

but with a promise stronger than certainty:

“I am with you. Always.”

That is how Matthew wants us to leave the story.

Not clinging to proof.

Not hiding from resistance.

Not waiting until we feel ready.

But walking forward knowing this:

The resurrection did not remove opposition —

it redefined authority.

The mission is not sustained by your strength —

but by His presence.

You are not sent because you are confident.

You are sent because He is with you.

So when the world offers competing stories…

when fear pressures you to stay quiet…

when power tries to rewrite the truth…

Remember whose authority you stand under.

Remember whose presence walks with you.

Remember whose story you are living inside of.

The Gospel does not end with “Go.”

It ends with “I am with you.”

And that changes everything.

Go — not alone.

Go — not afraid.

Go — not unsure of who is in charge.

The risen Christ reigns.

The Kingdom is moving.

And He is still with us —

to the very end of the age.

Blessings,

Michael

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