Grasp the GospelMatthew 28 Study Notes
General
According to Matthew 28:5-6, what does the angel tell the women when they arrive at the tomb?
Answer: "He is not here; He has risen, just as He said!"
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary arrive at the tomb to find a great earthquake has already occurred, and an angel of the Lord has rolled away the stone and is sitting on it (28:1-2). The angel calms their fear and delivers the announcement the entire Gospel has been building toward: Jesus is not there, because He has risen, exactly as He had said, and invites them to see the place where He had lain (28:6). The angel points out that this matches exactly what Jesus had told them beforehand — nothing about this was improvised or accidental.
- Matthew 28:6 (BSB)“He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay.”The angel's announcement of the resurrection at the empty tomb.
- Luke 24:6 (BSB)“He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you while He was still in Galilee:”Luke's parallel account confirms the identical announcement and the same emphasis on Jesus having predicted this outcome in advance.
- 1 Corinthians 15:4 (BSB)“that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”Paul later summarizes this same event as central, foundational gospel truth, fulfilled "according to the Scriptures" rather than as an unexpected surprise.
Theological
The angel's statement in Matthew 28:6 — "He is not here; He has risen, just as He said" — emphasizes what about the resurrection's relationship to Jesus's own prior teaching?
Answer: The resurrection fulfills Jesus's own repeated predictions, confirming His words as trustworthy rather than presenting an unforeseen reversal
The angel's announcement that Jesus rose just as He had said (28:6) deliberately ties the empty tomb back to Jesus's own repeated predictions throughout Matthew's Gospel that He would rise on the third day. Luke's parallel reinforces the same point, explicitly recalling what Jesus had told them while He was still in Galilee (Luke 24:6). Paul later treats this resurrection, occurring in fulfillment of the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:4), as the very center of the gospel he received and passed on. The resurrection is therefore presented consistently across the New Testament not as a surprising reversal of Jesus's fate, but as the vindication of everything He had already said would happen.
- Matthew 28:6 (BSB)“He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay.”The angel's announcement of the resurrection at the empty tomb.
- Luke 24:6 (BSB)“He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you while He was still in Galilee:”Confirms the same emphasis on Jesus's own prior prediction being fulfilled, not overturned, by the resurrection.
- 1 Corinthians 15:4 (BSB)“that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”Places the resurrection within the framework of fulfilled Scripture, consistent with the angel's "just as He said."
General
What is the final promise Jesus makes to His disciples at the very end of Matthew's Gospel (28:20)?
Answer: "I am with you always, even to the end of the age"
After commanding the disciples to make disciples of all nations and teach them to obey everything He commanded, Jesus closes His Gospel-long mission with a promise of His own continued presence: that He will be with them always, even to the end of the age (28:20). This isn't a task handed off and abandoned — it's a mission Jesus remains personally present for, all the way to its completion. The Gospel that opened by naming Jesus "Immanuel... God with us" (1:23) ends on the same note: God still with His people.
- Matthew 28:20 (BSB)“and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”Jesus's closing promise of His continued presence with His disciples.
- Hebrews 13:5 (BSB)“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you."”Echoes the same promise of God's unbroken presence, applied by the author of Hebrews to ordinary Christian contentment and endurance.
- John 14:16 (BSB)“And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever--”Explains the means of this ongoing presence: Jesus's promise is fulfilled through the Holy Spirit, given to be with His disciples permanently.
Theological
Jesus's closing promise in Matthew 28:20 — "I am with you always, even to the end of the age" — forms a deliberate frame with which earlier statement in Matthew's Gospel?
Answer: The naming of Jesus as "Immanuel... God with us" in Matthew 1:23
Matthew opens his Gospel by presenting Jesus's birth as fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy of "Immanuel," meaning "God with us" (1:23), and closes it with Jesus's own promise that He will be with them always, even to the end of the age (28:20) — a deliberate inclusio framing the entire Gospel around the theme of God's abiding presence with His people. This presence is not merely sentimental; John 14:16 identifies its ongoing means as the Holy Spirit, sent to be with them forever, and Hebrews 13:5 applies the same unbroken promise of divine presence to the daily life of believers generally. The Great Commission's success is thus grounded not in the disciples' own resources, but in the continuing, personal presence of the one who holds all authority in heaven and on earth (28:18).
- Matthew 28:20 (BSB)“and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”Jesus's closing promise of His continued presence with His disciples.
- Hebrews 13:5 (BSB)“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you."”Shows this same promise of unbroken divine presence applied generally to believers, consistent with Jesus's closing words in Matthew.
- John 14:16 (BSB)“And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever--”Identifies the Holy Spirit as the means by which Jesus's promised presence continues after His ascension.
General
In Matthew 28:18-19, what does Jesus claim about His own authority, and what does He command the disciples to do?
Answer: He claims all authority in heaven and on earth, and commands them to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Meeting the eleven disciples on a mountain in Galilee, Jesus makes a sweeping claim: all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him (28:18). On the strength of that authority, He sends them out with a mission that reverses the earlier, more limited instruction to go only to Israel, commanding them to make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (28:19). The mission is now explicitly global, and the baptismal formula names Father, Son, and Spirit together as the one name into which disciples are baptized.
- Matthew 28:18 (BSB)“Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.'”Jesus's claim to universal authority, the basis for the Great Commission.
- Matthew 28:19 (BSB)“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”The Great Commission's command and its Trinitarian baptismal formula.
- Daniel 7:14 (BSB)“And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”The prophecy of universal, everlasting dominion given to the Son of Man, which Jesus's claim of "all authority" directly fulfills.
- 2 Corinthians 13:14 (BSB)“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”Shows the same three-fold naming of Father, Son, and Spirit together elsewhere in the New Testament, confirming this Trinitarian pattern was not unique to this one command.
Theological
Jesus's claim to "all authority in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18), combined with the baptismal formula naming Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in 28:19, together support what doctrine?
Answer: The full authority and deity of Christ, and the Trinitarian identity of the one God into whom disciples are baptized
Jesus's claim of universal authority directly fulfills Daniel's vision of the Son of Man receiving dominion, glory, and kingship over every nation and language, an everlasting kingdom that will never be destroyed (Daniel 7:14) — language the Old Testament reserves for God's own rule. The baptismal command that follows in 28:19 names the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit together as a single name, not three, into which disciples are baptized — a formula presupposing that all three are properly named alongside one another as the one God being confessed. Paul's own three-fold naming of grace, love, and fellowship tied to Christ, God, and the Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14) shows this pattern recurring elsewhere in the New Testament, confirming it as settled apostolic teaching rather than an isolated formula.
- Matthew 28:18 (BSB)“Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.'”Jesus's claim to universal authority, the basis for the Great Commission.
- Matthew 28:19 (BSB)“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”The Great Commission's command and its Trinitarian baptismal formula.
- Daniel 7:14 (BSB)“And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”Grounds Jesus's claim to all authority in a prophecy of divine, universal, everlasting dominion.
- 2 Corinthians 13:14 (BSB)“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”Confirms the same Trinitarian pattern of naming Father, Son, and Spirit together elsewhere in apostolic teaching.
General
According to Matthew 28:11-15, what story did the chief priests pay the guards to tell about the empty tomb?
Answer: That Jesus's disciples came at night and stole His body while the guards were asleep
When some of the guards report to the chief priests what actually happened, the priests don't investigate — they pay for silence and a cover story instead. They instruct the guards to claim that Jesus's disciples came by night and stole the body while they were asleep (28:13), and promise to protect them from any trouble with the governor (28:14). Matthew notes dryly that this false account has circulated among the Jews ever since (28:15) — acknowledging the rumor existed, while making clear how it originated: as a paid fabrication, not an investigation.
- Matthew 28:13 (BSB)“and instructed them: 'You are to say, His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.'”The chief priests' instructions to the guards for the cover story.
- Matthew 28:15 (BSB)“So the guards took the money and did as they were instructed. And this account has been circulated among the Jews to this very day.”Matthew's note on the origin and persistence of the false report.
- Proverbs 12:22 (BSB)“Lying lips are detestable to the LORD, but those who deal faithfully are His delight.”States the moral verdict on exactly this kind of deliberate, paid fabrication, in contrast to the guards' own initial truthful report.
- Acts 4:33 (BSB)“With great power the apostles continued to give their testimony about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And abundant grace was upon them all.”Shows the contrast Matthew implies: while a bribed lie circulated quietly, the apostles' bold, public testimony to the same resurrection carried recognized power.
Theological
The chief priests' bribery of the guards in Matthew 28:11-15 is theologically significant chiefly because it reveals what?
Answer: Even direct, credible testimony to the resurrection did not overcome a prior refusal to believe, which chose fabrication over investigation
The guards' report comes from the very men Pilate had stationed specifically to prevent a staged theft (27:64-66) — hostile, official witnesses with every incentive to report a theft if one had occurred. Instead of investigating this account, the chief priests immediately move to suppress it with money and a fabricated alternative (28:12-14), confirming Proverbs' verdict that lying lips are detestable to the LORD (Proverbs 12:22) applies precisely here. The episode illustrates a pattern seen elsewhere in the Gospels: the problem was never a lack of evidence, but an unwillingness to accept its implications. The apostles' own bold, public testimony to the same resurrection (Acts 4:33) stands in deliberate contrast to this quiet, purchased cover story.
- Proverbs 12:22 (BSB)“Lying lips are detestable to the LORD, but those who deal faithfully are His delight.”Names the moral character of the priests' response: deliberate falsehood chosen over honest reckoning with the evidence.
- Acts 4:33 (BSB)“With great power the apostles continued to give their testimony about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And abundant grace was upon them all.”Contrasts the guards' suppressed, paid silence with the apostles' confident, public proclamation of the same event.
General
According to Matthew 28:8-10, what did Mary Magdalene and the other Mary do when Jesus met them on their way from the tomb?
Answer: They grasped His feet and worshiped Him
As the women hurry away from the tomb, gripped by both fear and great joy, to tell the disciples, Jesus Himself meets them on the way (28:8-9). Their response is immediate and physical: they fall down, grasp His feet, and worship Him. Jesus repeats the angel's earlier reassurance not to be afraid, and sends them with a message for His brothers to go to Galilee, where He will meet them (28:10). The women go from mourners at a tomb to the first witnesses and messengers of the resurrection within moments.
- Matthew 28:8 (BSB)“So they hurried away from the tomb in fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples.”The women's emotional state as they leave the tomb to report what they had seen.
- Matthew 28:9 (BSB)“Suddenly Jesus met them and said, 'Greetings!' They came to Him, grasped His feet, and worshiped Him.”Jesus's first resurrection appearance, to the women, and their immediate worship.
- Matthew 28:10 (BSB)“'Do not be afraid,' said Jesus. 'Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee. There they will see Me.'”Jesus's instruction to the women to carry His message to the disciples.
- John 20:17 (BSB)“"Do not cling to Me," Jesus said, "for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and tell My brothers, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.'"”John's parallel account of Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene confirms both the physical reality of the encounter and the same commission to tell "My brothers."
- Romans 1:4 (BSB)“and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”Explains why worship, not mere relief or celebration, is the appropriate response: the resurrection itself declares Jesus's identity as the Son of God.
Theological
The women's act of worshiping Jesus in Matthew 28:9, immediately after His resurrection, is theologically significant chiefly because it shows what?
Answer: Jesus receives worship without correction or objection, consistent with His identity as the divine Son vindicated by the resurrection
Throughout Scripture, faithful angels and apostles alike refuse worship when it is mistakenly offered to them, redirecting it to God alone. Jesus does the opposite here: He receives the women's worship without correction (28:9), consistent with Paul's statement that the resurrection itself powerfully declared Jesus to be the Son of God (Romans 1:4). John's independent account of this same encounter (John 20:17) confirms its basic reality while adding Jesus's own words distinguishing His unique relationship to the Father from that of His disciples, speaking of the Father as His own in a way distinct from how He describes Him as theirs. The scene functions as an early, unmistakable acknowledgment of who the resurrected Jesus actually is.
- Romans 1:4 (BSB)“and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”States plainly that the resurrection itself is the declaration of Jesus's divine sonship, grounding the appropriateness of the women's worship.
- John 20:17 (BSB)“"Do not cling to Me," Jesus said, "for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and tell My brothers, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.'"”Confirms the encounter independently while preserving Jesus's own distinct language about His relationship to the Father.