Matthew 28 Jesus' Empty Tomb and The Great Commision

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Jesus Has Risen

As I have mentioned before the fact that the women are the first witnesses of the empty tomb of Jesus gives the bible more credibility. If someone were making up the story they would have probably had the men get there first. Why? Because a women was not allowed to be a witness in court. 

The angel told the women that Jesus was not there but had gone ahead of them to Galilee. They also told them to go and tell the disciples to meet him there as well. They were both afraid but also filled with joy. On the way they ran into the resurrected Jesus. He said, "Greetings! Do not be afraid but go to my brothers to meet me in Galilee". 

Jesus didn't call them "disciples" but "brothers" indicating the close relationship he had with them. It also shows how much he trusted the women to go and tell them. I love the phrase, "I am going ahead of you!" As we seek to do ministry for Jesus and spread His Word, He is always ahead of us. 

The Guards’ Report 

When the guards reported this to the chief priests, rather than it leading them to wonder if Jesus was really the Messiah, they wanted to cover their tracks. After all they would look pretty bad if they handed over Jesus for saying He was the Son of God, and he actually was. So they paid them off with a "large sum of money". 

The problem with the guard's story was that the disciples could not have rolled back the stone without waking up the disicples,. And were not even physically capable of doing it. Also the guards were literally "guarding the tomb with their lives". If Jesus got away they could have killed for their irresponsibility. 

This is yet another proof of the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus. There is no logical way to explain the empty tomb. The only rational explanation was that Jesus really did rise from the dead and he really was who he said he was "the son of God"! 

The Great Commission

Jesus' last words to the disciples before he ascended to heaven are some of the most important words in the bible. The mission he gave the disciples to "go and make disicples of all nations" should be the mission statement for every Christian church. It is the only mission Jesus gave to the disciples and consequently the only one he has given to us. 

Jesus says first of all that all authority in heaven has been given to him and now he was giving it to the disciples so they could do the things he did. As we carry out the Great Commission in the churchm we are backed by Jesus' power and authority, therefore we can have confidence in what we are doing. 

So how do we make disciples of all nations? Jesus gives a very clear answer. First, by baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When people say the "Trinity" is not in the bible, I don't think they have read this passage. To baptize means to "completely cover" or "immerse". When we baptize someone we are completely covering them with everything God is as God the Creator, God the Redeemer, and God the Sustainer. Baptism is God's choosing us. The direction of baptism is God coming to just like the Spirit descended from heaven upon Jesus and then the Father said, "This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased!"

The second aspect of making disciples is to teach them to obey all that Jesus had commanded. We can see what Jesus commanded by reading about his life in the gospels. Being a disciple means to pattern our life after Jesus. We become the kind of people who Jesus would be if he were us. We are a Christ follower. Our words and deeds reflect what Jesus would do and say. Like any learner we will mistakes and not do what Jesus told us to do. We will not always love our neighbor as ourselves. We will not always only focus on our treasures being in heaven. We will not always leave the 99 sheep to go out to find the one that was lost. After all, is that good for business?

Discipleship is talked about in almost every church I have known, but the questioin is are we doing it and how well are we doing it? Are we making any disciples? Are we making any disciples who are making other disciples? Too often the answer is not very many and only a few are making other disciples. Why is this?

One reason is we often really have NO PLAN for making disciples. We hope they will magically show up in our churches and maybe they will even make some more disciples like themselves. Second, is that it is really hard to make disciples. Being a pastor for over 25 years, my principal passion and calling has been to make disciples who make disciples. I am sure I have made some disciples over the years who by now have made other disciples, but I am not content with that. I want to continue to develop in our church that will naturally produce disciples who make disciples. 

While it is hard work there are churches who are doing it well. It is usually because they have a plan and are intentional about it and they employ a large part of their church resources to carry out that plan. 

I think we also make discipleship way too complicated. As I said before being a disciple is always asking the question, "What would Jesus do?" And then living that out in the power of the Holy Spirit. Importantly we need to do it in a community of other Christ followers who are also endeavoring to be the kind of people Jesus would be if he were them. We need to continue to immerse ourselves in the gospel stories so we train our minds to think about how Jesus responds in any and every situation. We need to trust that if Jesus gave us the authority to make disciples we can actually do it? 

Making a disciple is simply coming along another person and sharing your life with them. Doing your best to be an example of a Christ follower, but also being authentic enough to be honest when you are not. I think discipleship best happens in groups of 2-3 meeting weekly to discuss the gospels and other letters in the bible, being honest about what is really happening in your life, and finally praying for each other and for others you might disciple in the future. 

Like I said, this is the only purpose Jesus gave us and the only strategy to carry it out. We sometimes get all caught up in defining baptism (infants or adults, sprinkling versus immersion) and we get so academic about bible study (end times theories, post trib/pre trib, post millenial/pre millenial) that we end up not making any disciples who make disciples. 

Are you growing in your discipleship to Jesus? Do you have any kind of plan to become more like him? Do you meet with other Christ followers for fefllowship, encouragement and accountability? Are you praying about someone you might disciple? I think when we get to heaven this will be a big part of degree of faithfulness Jesus assigns to us. We are not saved by making disciples, we are saved to make disciples.