TOM · The Owner's Manual · New Testament

Matthew 28

Chapter 28 in 30 seconds

The tomb is empty. An angel rolls away the stone and sits on it, which is a flex. The first witnesses are women, the guards are paid to lie, and the risen Jesus meets His disciples on a mountain and gives them the Great Commission: go make disciples of all nations.

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In this chapterThe Big QuestionThe Trinity · after verse 20

The Resurrection// Mark 16:1–8; Luke 24:1–12; John 20:1–9

¹After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.

MT 28:1[NOTABLE]In that culture a woman's testimony counted for little. A made up story would not pick women as the first witnesses.
MT 28:1[FULFILLS]Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things at the hands of elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise the third day ← MT 16:21; MK 8:31; LK 9:22

²Suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled away the stone, and sat on it. ³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴The guards trembled in fear of him and became like dead men.

MT 28:2[MIRACLE]Angel rolled away the stone; appearance like lightning

⁵But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay. ⁷Then 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.’ See, I have told you.”

MT 28:6[FULFILLS]The Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, like Jonah in the belly of the great fish ← MT 12:39-40; MT 16:4; LK 11:29-30
MT 28:6[FULFILLS]The Son of Man would be raised from the dead ← MT 17:9; MK 9:9
MT 28:7[FULFILLS]After I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee ← MT 26:32; MK 14:28

⁸So they hurried away from the tomb in fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples. ⁹Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” They came to Him, grasped His feet, and worshiped Him. ¹⁰“Do not be afraid,” said Jesus. “Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee. There they will see Me.”

MT 28:8[NOTABLE]In that culture a woman's testimony counted for little. A made up story would not pick women as the first witnesses.
MT 28:9[MIRACLE]The risen Jesus meets the women

The Report of the Guards

¹¹While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. ¹²And after the chief priests had met with the elders and formed a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money ¹³and instructed them: “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ ¹⁴If this report reaches the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”

¹⁵So the guards took the money and did as they were instructed. And this account has been circulated among the Jews to this very day.

The Great Commission// Mark 16:14–18

¹⁶Meanwhile, the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain Jesus had designated. ¹⁷When they saw Him, they worshiped Him, but some doubted.

MT 28:16[FULFILLS]After I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee ← MT 26:32; MK 14:28

¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

MT 28:18[FULFILLS]The Lord's Anointed King ← 1SA 2:10MEDIUM
MT 28:18[FULFILLS]Exalted by God because of His sacrifice ← IS 53:12a
MT 28:19[NOTE]THE TRINITY. See The Trinity.

The Big Question

The Trinity

One God, Three Persons

Matthew 28:19 · 3:16 to 17 · Deuteronomy 6:4 · 2 Corinthians 13:14

WHAT JESUS SAID: Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 28:19. One name, not three names, and three persons in it.
WHAT IT MEANS: There is one God, Deuteronomy 6:4. The Father is God. The Son is God, John 1:1 and 20:28. The Holy Spirit is God, Acts 5:3 to 4. They are not three gods, and not one person wearing three masks. Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches all teach it.
ALL THREE IN ONE SCENE: At Jesus' baptism the Son comes up out of the water, the Spirit comes down like a dove, and the Father speaks from heaven, 3:16 to 17. Paul blesses in all three names, 2 Corinthians 13:14.
HINTS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT: God says, let Us make man in Our image, Genesis 1:26. Christians see a hint of the Trinity; Jewish readers say it is a royal we or God speaking to His heavenly court. Isaiah 48:16 has the Lord God and His Spirit sending someone.
PICTURES THAT BREAK: Every simple picture breaks somewhere. Water, ice and steam sounds like one person changing forms, which is the Oneness view. The three leaf clover tied to St. Patrick is a later legend. The church says it is a mystery we can state but not fully picture.
WHERE THE WORD CAME FROM: About AD 180 Theophilus, bishop of Antioch, used the Greek word trias, a group of three, for God, His Word and His Wisdom (To Autolycus 2.15). About AD 213 Tertullian of Carthage used the Latin word trinitas and spoke of three persons and one substance (Against Praxeas). The Council of Nicaea in AD 325 said the Son is of the same being as the Father, and Constantinople in AD 381 confessed the Holy Spirit as Lord, worshiped with the Father and the Son.

The Word Is Not in the Bible · So Is the Trinity Made Up?

Matthew 28:19 · John 1:1 · 1 Thessalonians 4:17

THE CLAIM: The word Trinity is not in the Bible, so the church made it up.
TRUE, BUT: The word is not there. Neither is the word Bible. Rapture comes from the Latin of 1 Thessalonians 4:17. A word is a handle for an idea. The real question is whether the Bible teaches the idea, and the church chose the word to sum up what it found all over the New Testament.
WHO SAYS OTHERWISE: Oneness Pentecostals: one God who shows up as Father, Son and Spirit, much like Sabellius taught about AD 215. Jehovah's Witnesses: the Son is the first thing God created, close to Arius about AD 318. Latter-day Saints: three separate beings. Islam: do not say three, Quran 4:171. Judaism: God is one, and Jesus is not God.
A DISPUTED SOURCE: Eusebius, about AD 300, sometimes quoted 28:19 as go and make disciples of all nations in My name, and some say the longer wording was added. But every Greek copy of Matthew that has this verse has Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and the Didache, from about AD 100, already baptizes in all three names (Didache 7).
WHAT ABOUT 1 JOHN 5:7?: The King James Version has the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. Almost no Greek copies have it, so most modern Bibles leave it out. The Trinity does not depend on it. See 1 John. For John 1:1 and a god, see the John pages.
WHAT ALL SIDES AGREE ON: There is one God, and the Bible must decide.

Matthew 28

The Resurrection// Mark 16:1–8; Luke 24:1–12; John 20:1–9

The Report of the Guards

The Great Commission// Mark 16:14–18

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