Sermons

Jesus is Risen! He Lives! He was crucified, dead, buried – but death could not hold Him down! He was raised because of our justification! These are the great truths of Jesus’ resurrection. But after telling us of the resurrection, Matthew does something curious. He skips ahead from that first Resurrection Sunday to Jesus’ encounter with His disciples in Galilee.

• We don’t hear about road His encounter with two followers on the road to Emmaus
• We don’t hear about Thomas’ doubts
• We don’t hear of Jesus asking Peter three times, “Do you love me?”

Instead, Jesus and the disciples meet, Jesus gives Great Commission – then the end of the book. Is this, perhaps, anticlimactic? No. This fits perfectly with Matthew’s emphases throughout this Gospel. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are not comprehensive biographies of Jesus. None attempts to tell us everything Jesus said or did. They don’t even attempt to tell us all the important things Jesus said or did. Rather, each is presenting to us certain themes, certain truths about Jesus: His life, His ministry, His work. And by the Holy Spirit each selects material to support those truths. So Matthew, carried along by the Holy Spirit, completes this book powerfully, highlighting many of his major themes, and leaving us with a commissioning to follow. So let’s look to see how this brief text – 5 verses, 94 words in the ESV – is a culmination of Matthew’s portrayal of Jesus. Here Matthew highlights 8 themes from throughout the book: Two vital truths, four commands (which we will consider under five headings), and one promise:

• Vital Truth 1: Human Weakness
• Vital Truth 2: Jesus’ Authority
• Command 1: Go
• Command 2a: Disciple
• Command 2b: Disciple the Nations
• Command 3: Baptize
• Command 4: Teach them to Obey All I Have Commanded
• The Promise: His Presence