THE JEWS DETERMINE TO LIE – 25:11-15:
The soldiers took the bribe and left, doing as “they were taught.” That same verb is used in verse 20. Here (ver. 15), the soldiers lie as “they were taught.” In verse 20, the disciples are to teach the truth as they were taught.
APPLICATION:
The lie about the disciples stealing the body of Jesus was still being told by Jews 100 years after the close of the NT, according to the Christian named Justin Martyr (Dialogue with Trypho 108.2). But when the disciples completely did not expect the resurrection, how would they have found the courage to sneak through a contingent of Roman soldiers to steal the body of Jesus? Also, when they started preaching the resurrection of Jesus, beginning in Acts 2, why did not the Jewish authorities, with the aid of Roman soldiers whose law the disciples would have thus violated, prosecute the Christians with evidence that they had stolen the body? The accusation is preposterous and unhistorical. When as many as sixteen soldiers allowed Peter to escape their custody in Acts 12:19, all of them were put to death!
SO WHAT? – 28:16-20:
Some hesitated, one of whom John will identify in his account as “Doubting Thomas” (see Luke 24:10-11; John 20:24-29). Who else it was who hesitated, how long they hesitated, how their hesitation was alleviated we are not told anywhere.
We see indicated here in this paragraph Jesus’ understanding that He fulfilled the prediction found in Daniel 7:13-14. The authority of Jehovah God will be picked up here by Jesus Christ. He has “all authority.”
The way disciples are made, Jesus says is to immerse people into Him (see Rom. 6:1-7) for the forgiveness of sins (see Acts 2:38), by the authority (“in the name”) of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The grammar of verse 19 is important. “After going” is a participle in the past tense. It carries the force of the main verb (“make disciples”) which is an imperative. In order to “make disciples,” Jesus uses two verbs in the form of a participle: “immersing” and “teaching” (ver. 20). It is clear from Jesus’ words, here, that one is made a disciple by immersing. If one is not immersed (for the “forgiveness of sins,” see Acts 2:38), that person is not a disciple. If one does not continue learning, he or she is not a disciple.
Secondly, disciples are made by teaching those immersed all that Jesus had commanded them to know, feel, and do. Discipleship, then, is a life-long process of growth.
APPLICATION:
To be immersed “in the name of the Lord” means to be immersed by His authority and into a relationship with Him (Rom. 6:3-4); it does not necessarily mean that the words “in the name of Jesus Christ” must be spoken at the time of immersion.
A Christian must continue learning all that Jesus commanded and continue to be reminded of all that Jesus commanded so that the Christian can continue living a life of obedience to Jesus’ commands.
The story of God’s relationship with mankind began with Him walking with Adam and Eve in the “cool of the day” (Gen. 3:8). That relationship was interrupted by sin (see Isaiah 59:1-2), but the promise of God’s future presence runs throughout the OT: Gen. 28:15; Exo. 3:12; Joshua 1:5, 9; Isa. 41:10. The angel Gabriel promised that Jesus’ nature would be “God with us” (Immanuel; Matt. 1:23). Jesus now promises that He will be with His disciples until the age of physical existence comes to an end (28:20).
We also see, as a culmination point, that Jesus had always intended to take His gospel beyond the Jewish nation and Matthew regularly hinted at that universal mission: 2:1-12; 3:9; 4:15-16; 8:11-12; 10:18; 12:21; 13:38; 21:28-32, 41-43; 22:8-10; 24:14, 31; 26:13. This is in fulfillment of the allusion in 1:1 to the promise God made to Abraham to bless all the nations through Abraham’s seed (Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18), whom we now know to be Jesus of Nazareth.
Christ is the center of our lives because He is risen from the dead! That means: We worship Him! We submit to Him! We make disciples of Him by baptizing and teaching. We live in Him until the end of life!
Paul Holland
