In this message we come to the King’s victory recorded in Matt. 28:1-20. Compared to chapters twenty-six and twenty-seven, chapter twenty-eight is short and simple. When we are in resurrection, everything is simple.
The resurrection of Christ was a matter of God’s righteousness. Have you ever considered the resurrection of Christ in this light? God was righteous to come in to judge Christ as our substitute on the cross. This judgment of Christ on the cross was just and righteous. By being judged by God, Christ fulfilled all the requirements of God’s righteousness. He bore our sins on the cross to fully meet all the righteous requirements of God. Thus, through Christ’s death on the cross, God’s righteousness has been wholly satisfied. In other words, the righteous God was judicially satisfied with Christ’s death on the cross. Therefore, Christ was buried in a new tomb that belonged to a rich man. This indicates that immediately after Christ’s judicial death and immediately after the satisfaction of God’s righteous requirements, Christ rested as the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Scriptures.
After Christ was buried, God was held responsible in His righteousness to release Christ from among the dead. Not many Christians realize this. Most think that the resurrection of Christ was only a matter of the divine power of God’s life. Few realize that the resurrection of Christ was not only a matter of power, but also a matter of righteousness. If God had not raised Christ up after His death on the cross to satisfy all the requirements of God’s righteousness, God would have not been righteous. It was righteous for God to release Christ from death. According to His righteousness, God had to judge Christ on the cross because Christ was bearing all our unrighteousness. But after God had judged Christ in full, God’s righteousness held Him responsible to release Christ from death and to raise Him up from among the dead.
In the Gospel of John there is the concept that Christ was resurrected by the power of an endless life. But this is not the concept of Christ’s resurrection in the Gospel of Matthew. The concept in Matthew regarding Christ’s resurrection is that it is related to God’s righteousness. John is a book on life, and life is a matter of power. But Matthew is a book on the kingdom, and the kingdom is a matter of righteousness. Therefore, according to Matthew, for Christ to be raised from the dead meant that God released Him according to His righteousness. Thus, Christ was both righteously judged and put to death and righteously raised up from the dead.
Eventually, Christ became not only the powerful King, but also the righteous King. If you read the prophecies concerning Christ’s kingship, you will see that His kingship is not very much related to power, but that it is closely related to righteousness and justice. Kingship is not a matter of power; it is a matter of righteousness. The heavenly Savior-King was righteously judged by God on the cross, and He was righteously raised up from the dead by Him to become the righteous King. He is altogether righteous. He is the righteous King for God’s righteous kingdom.
We need to have this concept as we read Matthew 28. In this chapter we cannot find a hint that the resurrection of Christ is related to power. However, if we read carefully, we can find that it is related to righteousness. Perhaps you have wondered why in this chapter, a chapter concerned with Christ’s resurrection, Matthew includes the account of the bribery of the Roman soldiers (vv. 11-15). This is mentioned for the purpose of exposing man’s unrighteousness. The opposite of unrighteousness is not power, but righteousness. Because of His righteousness, God was held responsible to raise Christ up from the dead. Therefore, Christ’s resurrection was according to God’s righteousness. This was the reason that Matthew inserted the historical account of the bribery of the soldiers. No other Gospel mentions this. Matthew includes it to show that Christ’s resurrection was related to God’s righteousness, which is versus man’s unrighteousness. Again I say that it is difficult to find in chapter twenty-eight any hint that Christ’s resurrection was related to power or to life.
At this point we need to consider Romans 4:25. This verse says, “Who was delivered because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification.” This verse links resurrection with righteousness. The Bible makes resurrection not only a matter of power, but also a matter of righteousness. Not only was God’s righteousness manifested in raising Christ from the dead, but we were justified because of Christ’s resurrection. Therefore, Christ’s resurrection is a proof both of God’s righteousness and of our justification. Hallelujah, in Christ’s resurrection God is the righteous God, and we are the justified people!
We have seen that resurrection is very closely related to God’s righteousness. The kingdom of the heavens is built and established upon God’s righteousness, which held God responsible to raise up the righteous Redeemer and to make us righteous. Hence, Christ’s resurrection is a realm of righteousness. In the sphere of Christ’s resurrection, God is the righteous God, and we are the justified people of God. Here we have the kingdom.
Many Christians today know only the kingdom of love or the kingdom of grace. In other words, they are familiar only with the realm of love and grace. They have no understanding of the realm of God’s righteousness. But God’s righteousness, not His love or grace, is the foundation of God’s kingdom. The kingdom of the heavens is built not upon God’s love or grace, but upon His righteousness. How precious, necessary, and vital the righteousness of God is! It is absolutely necessary for the kingdom life. If we realize this, the churches in the Lord’s recovery will be greatly strengthened. Hallelujah, our kingly Savior has been resurrected through the righteousness of God!
Let us now consider some of the details of Christ’s resurrection as presented in chapter twenty-eight of Matthew. Verse 1 says, “Now late on the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary the Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.” Christ was resurrected on the first day of the week. This signifies that His resurrection brought a new start with a new age for the kingdom of the heavens.
The resurrection of Christ was firstly discovered by two sisters, Mary the Magdalene and the other Mary. They discovered it by loving the Lord to the uttermost. Then they became the first two witnesses of the Lord’s resurrection.
Christ’s resurrection was pointed out by an angel (vv. 2-7). Verse 2 says, “And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended out of heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.” The earthquake signifies that the earth, the base of Satan’s rebellion, has been shaken by the Lord’s resurrection. The angel came to confirm the Lord’s resurrection by rolling away the stone that was sealed and to explain the resurrection to His seekers. The coming of the angel, which terrified the guards, indicates the power of the heavens. All this implies the authority mentioned in verse 18.
According to verses 5 and 6, the angel said to the women, “Fear not, for I know that you seek Jesus, Who has been crucified. He is not here, for He was raised, as He said.” What good news this was! What glad tidings!
Verse 7 says, “And go quickly and tell His disciples that He was raised from the dead, and behold, He goes before you into Galilee; there you shall see Him. Behold, I have told you.” As the heavenly King began His ministry from Galilee of the Gentiles (4:12-17), not from Jerusalem, the holy city of the Jewish religion, so after His resurrection, He would still go to Galilee, not to Jerusalem. This strongly indicated that the resurrected King had fully abandoned Judaism and initiated a new era for God’s economy of the New Testament.
According to verses 8 through 10, the resurrected Christ met with Mary the Magdalene and the other Mary. Verse 8 says, “And going away quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, they ran to bring word to His disciples.” They went away with fear because of the great earthquake and with great joy because of the Lord’s resurrection. Verse 9 says that the Lord Jesus met them and that they “came and took hold of His feet and worshipped Him.” This transpired after the Lord’s appearing to Mary the Magdalene (John 20:14-18).
Verses 11 through 15 indicate that the Jewish leaders with the Roman soldiers spread a false rumor about Christ’s resurrection. They gave the soldiers a large sum of money to say that the Lord’s disciples came by night and stole Him away while the guards slept. This word from the mouth of the religious leaders was a bare lie, indicating the lowest standard and falsehood of their religion. In verse 14 they said to the soldiers, “And if this be heard by the governor, we will persuade him and free you from worry.” The evil religionists always persuade the evil politicians to carry out falsehood. Verse 15 indicates that this false saying “was spread abroad among the Jews until this day.” As the lie concerning the Lord’s resurrection was spread abroad, so were the rumors concerning His followers and His church after His resurrection (Acts 24:5-9; 25:7).
Verse 16 says, “But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus appointed them.” The constitution of the kingdom was decreed on a mountain, the heavenly King’s transfiguration transpired on a high mountain, and the prophecy concerning this age was also given on a mountain. Now, for God’s economy of the New Testament, the disciples needed to go to the mountain again. Only on the high level of a mountain can we realize the New Testament economy.
Verse 17 continues, “And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him, but some doubted.” When the disciples saw the resurrected King, they did nothing but worship Him; yet some among them still doubted, or hesitated, wavered, in recognizing Him in His resurrection.
Verse 18 says, “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” In His divinity as the only begotten Son of God, the Lord had authority over all. However, in His humanity as the Son of Man to be the King of the heavenly kingdom, all authority in heaven and on earth was given to Him after His resurrection.
Matthew’s account of the resurrection is very different from John’s. According to John’s record, after His resurrection the Lord met with His disciples in a room where the doors had been shut (John 20:19). The disciples were frightened, being afraid of the Jews. Because they needed to be strengthened by life, the Lord came to them as life, breathed upon them, and told them to receive the holy breath (John 20:22). How different is Matthew’s account! According to Matthew, the Lord charged the disciples to go to a mountain in Galilee. Surely He met with them on that mountain during the day, not during the night. Furthermore, when He met with them on the mountain, He did not breathe upon them and tell them to receive the holy breath. Instead, He said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” In Matthew it is not a matter of breath, but a matter of authority. John’s concern was for life, and life requires breath. But Matthew’s concern was for the kingdom, and the kingdom requires authority. The Gospel of John reveals that we need life to care for the little lambs and to feed the Lord’s flock. But in Matthew 28 there is no word about feeding the lambs. In Matthew the Lord commands the disciples to disciple all the nations (v. 19) to make all the nations part of the kingdom. This requires authority. Therefore, in John resurrection is a matter of life, power, breath, and shepherding. However, in Matthew it is a matter of righteousness, authority, and discipling the nations.
Verse 19 says, “Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Because all authority had been given to Him, the heavenly King sent His disciples to go and disciple all the nations. They go with His authority. To disciple the nations is to cause the heathen to become the kingdom people for the establishment of His kingdom, which is the church, even today on this earth.
Notice that the Lord did not charge the disciples to preach the gospel, but to disciple the nations. The difference between preaching the gospel and discipling the nations is that to preach the gospel is simply to bring sinners to salvation, but to disciple the nations is to cause the Gentiles to become the kingdom people. We have been sent by the Lord not only to bring people to salvation, but also to disciple the nations. This is a matter of the kingdom.
In verse 19 the Lord speaks of baptizing the nations into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Baptism is to bring the repentant people out of their old state into a new one, by terminating their old life and germinating them with the new life of Christ, that they may become the kingdom people. John the Baptist’s recommending ministry began with the preliminary baptism by water only. Now, after the heavenly King accomplished His ministry on earth, passed through the process of death and resurrection, and became the life-giving Spirit, He charged His disciples to baptize the discipled people into the Triune God. This baptism has two aspects: the visible aspect by water and the invisible aspect by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38, 41; 10:44-48). The visible aspect is the expression, the testimony, of the invisible aspect; whereas the invisible aspect is the reality of the visible aspect. Without the invisible aspect by the Spirit, the visible aspect by water is vain; and without the visible aspect by water, the invisible aspect by the Spirit is abstract and impractical. Both are needed. Not long after the Lord charged the disciples with this baptism, He baptized them and the entire church in the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13) on the day of Pentecost (Acts 1:5; 2:4) and in the house of Cornelius (Acts 11:15-17). Then, based upon this, the disciples baptized the new converts (Acts 2:38), not only visibly into water, but also invisibly into the death of Christ (Rom. 6:3-4), into Christ Himself (Gal. 3:27), into the Triune God (Matt. 28:19), and into the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). The water, signifying the death of Christ with His burial, may be considered as a tomb to terminate the old history of the baptized ones. Since the death of Christ is included in Christ, since Christ is the very embodiment of the Triune God, and since the Triune God is one with the Body of Christ, so to baptize new believers into the death of Christ, into Christ Himself, into the Triune God, and into the Body of Christ is to do just one thing: on the negative side to terminate their old life, and on the positive side to germinate them with a new life, the eternal life of the Triune God, for the Body of Christ. Hence, the baptism ordained by the Lord here is to baptize people out of their life into the Body life for the kingdom of the heavens.
The word “into” in verse 19 indicates union, as in Romans 6:3; Galatians 3:27; and 1 Corinthians 12:13. The same Greek word is used in Acts 8:16; 19:3, 5 and 1 Corinthians 1:13, 15. To baptize people into the name of the Triune God is to bring them into spiritual and mystical union with Him.
There is one name for the Trinity. The name is the sum total of the divine Being, equivalent to His Person. To baptize anyone into the name of the Trinity is to immerse him into all the Triune God is.
Matthew and John are the two books in which the Trinity is more fully revealed, for the participation and enjoyment of God’s chosen people, than in all the other books of Scripture. John unveils the mystery of the Godhead in the Father, Son, and Spirit, especially in chapters fourteen through sixteen, for our experience of life; whereas Matthew discloses the reality of the Trinity in the one name for all Three, for the constitution of the kingdom. In the opening chapter of Matthew, the Holy Spirit (v. 18), Christ (the Son — v. 18), and God (the Father — v. 23) are upon the scene for the producing of the man Jesus (v. 21), who, as Jehovah the Savior and God with us, is the very embodiment of the Triune God. In chapter three Matthew presents a picture of the Son standing in the water of baptism under the open heaven, the Spirit as a dove descending upon the Son, and the Father out of the heavens speaking to the Son (vv. 16-17). In chapter twelve, the Son, in the person of man, cast out demons by the Spirit to bring in the kingdom of God the Father (v. 28). In chapter sixteen, the Son is revealed by the Father to the disciples for the building of the church, which is the life-pulse of the kingdom (vv. 16-19). In chapter seventeen, the Son entered into transfiguration (v. 2) and was confirmed by the Father’s word of delight (v. 5) for a miniature display of the manifestation of the kingdom (16:28). Eventually, in the closing chapter, after Christ, as the last Adam, had passed through the process of crucifixion, entered into the realm of resurrection, and become the life-giving Spirit, He came back to His disciples, in the atmosphere and reality of His resurrection, to charge them to cause the heathen to become the kingdom people by baptizing them into the name, the Person, the reality, of the Trinity. Later, in the Acts and the Epistles, it is disclosed that to baptize people into the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit is to baptize them into the name of Christ (Acts 8:16; 19:5, Gk.), and that to baptize them into the name of Christ is to baptize them into Christ the Person (Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3), for Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God, and He, as the life-giving Spirit, is available any time and any place for people to be baptized into Him. Such a baptism into the reality of the Father, Son, and Spirit, according to Matthew, is for the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens. The heavenly kingdom cannot be organized with human beings of flesh and blood (1 Cor. 15:50) as an earthly society; it can only be constituted with people who are immersed into the union with the Triune God and who are established and built up with the Triune God who is wrought into them.
In verse 20 the Lord told His disciples, “Behold, I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age.” The heavenly King is Emmanuel, God with us (1:23). Here He promised to be with us in His resurrection with all authority all the days until the consummation of the age, that is, until the end of this age. Hence, wherever we are gathered into His name, He is in our midst (18:20).
In the four Gospels, the Lord’s ascension is recorded only in Mark (16:19) and Luke (24:51). John testifies that the Lord, as the Son of God, even God Himself, is life to His believers. As such, He can never leave them and would never leave them. Matthew proves that He, as Emmanuel, is the heavenly King who is with His people continually until He comes back. Hence, in both John and Matthew, the Lord’s ascension is not mentioned.
As the King in the kingdom with the kingdom people, the Lord is with us all the days until the consummation of the age. Today is included in all the days. The Lord is with us today, and He will be with us tomorrow. Not one day will be an exception. He will be with us until the consummation of the age. This refers to the end of this age, which will be the time of the Lord’s parousia, the Lord’s coming. The consummation of the age, the end of the age, will be the great tribulation. We do not want to be here during that time. Rather, we prefer to be raptured into the Lord’s parousia, into His presence. This is a matter of the kingdom.
In the Lord’s resurrection with His righteousness the kingdom is present, and we have the authority, commission, and position, to disciple the nations. In this way the kingdom is spreading.
