Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 28:20
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen.
20. I am with you alway ] The Lord Jesus had already taught His disciples during the forty days how He could be present with them and yet be unseen by them. They could then the more easily believe this promise.
the end of the world ] See note ch. Mat 13:39.
Amen ] Omitted in the leading MSS. The last words of St Matthew’s Gospel fall solemnly on the ear, the sense of the continual presence of Christ is not broken even by an account of the Ascension. No true subject can doubt that the King is enthroned in Heaven.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Lo, I am with you – That is, by my Spirit, my providence, my attending counsel and guidance. I will strengthen, assist, and direct you. This also proves that Christ is divine. If he is a mere man, or a creature, though of the highest order, how could he promise to be with his disciples always, or at all? They would be scattered far and wide. His disciples would greatly increase. If he was with them always, he was God; for no finite creature could thus be present with many people scattered in different parts of the world.
Unto the end of the world – The word rendered world, here, sometimes means age or state and by some it has been supposed to mean, I will be with you until the end of this age, or during the continuance of the Jewish state, to the destruction of Jerusalem. But as the presence of Christ was no less necessary after that than before, there seems to be no propriety in limiting the promise to his own age. It may therefore be considered as a gracious assurance that he would aid, strengthen, guide, and defend all his disciples, but more especially his ministers, to the end of time.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 28:20
And, lo, I am with you alway.
Christ continually present with His Church
I. That the Saviour is speaking of more than that presence, which is inseparable from the nature of his own essential and eternal godhead. In the case of our Lord the Godhead is so modified by its alliance with the Humanity-modified not in itself, for there no modification would be possible-but in its action upon the Church,-that what is brought into contact with us, is the human sympathy of the Saviour, glorified by its connection with the Deity of His person.
II. The fact that communion with the Saviour is made possible by the advent of the comforter; that the coming of the Spirit is, to all intents and purposes, a coming of the Saviour to the people who love Him. The personality that is in Him whom we address, must vibrate to the touch of the personality that is in us,-or else communion will not have taken place. This has been made possible, though Christ is absent in the body, by the advent of the Holy Ghost. No one will be disposed to question that the personality of God can reveal itself to the personality of man without the intervention of a visible form, and without the employment of articulate language. There are modes of fellowship between spirit and spirit with which we are unacquainted, yet real and efficacious. He is said to dwell in the believer. We speak not of grace but of living communication. And where the Spirit comes Christ comes; and where the Spirit and Christ come the Father comes.
III. This coming of Christ to His people, precious as it is, is suited to a state of imperfection and discipline. We look forward to something beyond that which we enjoy now. There was the coming of Christ in the flesh. That passed away. It gave way to the coming by the Spirit. That is better, more spiritual, but insufficient. We look forward to the final, exhaustive coming. (G. Calthrop, M. A.)
The present Saviour
Some benefits of Christs perpetual presence with His people, especially when that presence is realized.
1. It is sanctifying.
2. Sustaining.
3. Comforting. (J. Hamilton, D. D.)
Christs parting promise
I. The promise-I am with you alway. What did Christ mean by this.
1. Can we attach to the words a meaning similar to that conveyed when speaking of the dead. We say that they still live in the hearts of those who knew and loved them. After the lapse of years we can often recall with vividness the features of one departed.
2. Men may live in their works. Is Christ only present as other good men are? We who believe in Christ as a supernatural revelation regard this parting promise as implying infinitely more than this. It meant the indwelling of a Personal energy distinct from any memory of Him. Is it replied that this is incomprehensible; life is incomprehensible. Christ is not a power generated in nature.
II. The fulfilment of the promise. (C. M. Short.)
The presence of Christ
1. That presence is spiritual. Not the consecrated host. The believers in the upper room had nothing to appeal to their senses.
2. This presence of Christ consists in something more than there is in His word. Caesar, Plato are still with us in their words; but there is infinitely more in the presence of Christ. Behind the written word there is the living word, the invisible Saviour who manifests Himself to the heart.
3. This presence is especially promised to the Church, and is the secret of its triumph over infidelity and persecution.
4. But what makes men doubt the presence of Christ in the Church is the sight of the inward state of the Church itself.
5. But what Christ announces to the Church He announces to the individual soul.
6. Affliction may be a proof of the Lords presence.
7. Is there anything on earth grander than faithful love? I am with you alway. (E. Bersier, D. D.)
Christ present, though appearances may seem to the contrary
In gloomy winters day no tree moves its verdant top in our fields; no flower casts its perfume to the winds; everything appears dead in nature. Will you tell me that the sun has not risen? No, although he has disappeared behind a curtain of clouds, he makes his powerful action everywhere felt; and without the sun, which you do not see, there would remain for you only an icy shroud, and the darkness of night. The soul has its winter also, when the Sun of Righteousness no longer sheds on it more than a pale glimmer, when obedience is performed without joy. (E. Bersier, D. D.)
Desirableness of Christs presence
I. Christs presence is exceedingly desirable to the saints.
1. The presence of Christ is an evidence of His love.
2. Christs presence is attended with the most desirable effects; none can enjoy it without deriving the greatest advantages from it.
3. Present communion with Christ is an earnest of everlasting fruition.
II. A seemingly departing Christ may be constrained, as it were, to abide with His people.
1. By the exercise of a lively faith.
2. By fervent prayer.
3. By a suitable conduct towards him. (B. Beddome.)
Christs presence essential
Nothing could supply the room of Christ to His Church; not the gospels, though they record His eventful life and death; not the epistles, though they contain the full revelation of His own truth; not ministers, though they are His ambassadors; not ordinances, though they are the channels of grace, and so many meeting places between our souls and Him whom our souls love. None of these, nor all of these together, can be to the Church, in the stead of its own Divine Redeemer and Head. Without His continued presence and aid, the Church would speedily come to an end. People may talk as they please about the omnipotence of truth, and the adaptation of Christianity to man, but in a world like this, hostile to the truth, and alienated from God, no security short of that presented in the actual indwelling of Christ in His Church, His own kingdom and house, will be sufficient. To this we owe it, that there has been a Church in the world up to this hour; to this we owe it, that there shall be a Church in it to the end of time. (A. L. R. Foote.)
The ever-present Saviour
1. This is the language of One who had been through the passage of death and known the bitterness of separation.
2. It is difficult to realize this invisible presence; it is more real when realized. It is spiritual, always with us.
3. It conveys the idea that before the mind of the speaker all the days lay ranged in their order to the last.
4. It is an inner presence.
5. Most minds, whatever they be, do best in fellowship. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The charm of the Divine presence
Suppose a friend who combines everything which goes to make your idea of friendship-intellectual, wise, modest, fond, true, good. Suppose such a person just set to your particular taste-in harmony with every thought; his society like a continual strain of music. You lean on his judgment-you are happy in his love. What a bloom on life-what a sunlight-what a charm-what a necessity that person would become to you! But what is that compared to Christ-to a man who has once learned the secret of finding His presence a reality? who knows and loves Him as his own near, dear, loving Saviour-the Brother of his soul-much more than another self. The very fact that He is there-though He did nothing, though there were no actual intercourse, though He were not seen-has an untold spell upon you. Did you never feel what the presence of a very little child would be, though there were not another man in the world? Think of what even a silent presence can be! But it is not silent. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Christs perpetual presence
I. What an insight we have here into the essential nature of Christianity itself, and what a guarantee for its permanence and power. It is something more than an outward revelation of facts, more than a community of brethren: it is a life.
II. May we not see in this promise the designed preventative against or remedy for certain evils sure to infest and corrode the life of His kingdom.
III. It is of the guarantee of the permanence and power of Christianity in Christs constant presence that I would now speak. The higher the principle of life the longer it is in coming to maturity; but also the surer when maturity is reached. This explains the slow progress of Christianity. (J. T. Stannard.)
Christs presence our stimulus
There is a touching fact related in the history of a Highland chief of the noble house of McGregor, who fell wounded by two balls at the battle of Prestonpans. Seeing their chief fall, the clan wavered, and gave the enemy an advantage. The old chieftain, beholding the effects of his disaster, raised himself up on his elbow, while the blood gushed in streams from his wounds, and cried aloud, I am not dead, my children; I am looking at you, to see you do your duty. These words revived the sinking courage of his brave Highlanders. There was a charm in the fact that they still fought under the eye of their chief. It roused them to put forth their mightiest energies, and they did all that human strength could do to turn and stem the dreadful tide of battle. And is there not a charm to you, O believer, in the fact that you contend in the battle-field of life under the eye of your Saviour? Wherever you are, however you are oppressed by foes, however exhausted by the stern strife with evil, the eye of Christ is fixed most lovingly upon you. (D. Wise,)
Christs presence all-sufficient
When Christ saith, I am with you alway, you may add what you will: to protect you, to direct you, to comfort you, to carry on the work of grace in you, and in the end to crown you with immortality and glory. All this and more is included in this precious promise. (John Trapp.)
Presence superior to memory
He promises His presence. How different the case would be if He had only said, The memory of My life and work shall be with you always. What a difference there is between a mere memory and a presence. At first, indeed, when we have just lost a relation or a friend, memory, in its importunity and anguish, seems to be and to do all that a presence could do, perhaps even more. It gathers up the past and heaps it on the present; it crowds into the thoughts of a few minutes the incidents of a lifetime; it has about it a greatness and a vividness which was wanting while its object was still with us. But even a memory decays. That it should do so seems impossible at first. We protest to ourselves and to the world, that it will be as fresh as ever to the last day of our lives. But memory is only an effort of the human mind, while a presence is independent of it; and the human mind has limited powers which are easily exhausted; it cannot always continue on the strain; and so a time comes when the first freshness passes away, and then other thoughts, interests, and occupations crowd in upon us and claim their share of the little all that we have to give. And so, what seems to us to be so fresh and imperishable is already indistinct and faded. Oh!, think of any private friend, think of any of the celebrated men whose names were on the lips of every one, and who had died within the last two or three years! At first it seemed as if you might predict with confidence that the world would go on thinking and talking about them for at least a generation; but already, the sure and fatal action of time upon a living memory, however great and striking, is making itself felt; and even in our thoughts about them they are passing rapidly into that world of shadows, where shadows soon die away into the undistinguishable haze and gloom beyond them. It is otherwise with a presence; whether we see the presence or not, we know that it is here. If our friend is in the next room, busily occupied and unable to give us his time just now, still, the knowledge that he is close at hand, and can be applied to if necessary, is itself a comfort and a strength to us; we can go to him if we like. His being here places us in a very different position from that which we should occupy if he had left us; if we could only think of him as having been with us in times past, though really absent now. A presence, I say, is a fact independent of our moods of mind, a fact whether we recognize it or not; and in our Divine Saviours presence there is indeed a fulness of joy which means hope, work, power, eventual victory. (Canon Liddon.)
Christs presence secures the Churchs victory
This is a factor in the life and work of Christs Church with which persons do not reckon who look at her only from the outside, and judge of her strength and prospects as they would judge of any human society. They say that she will die out because this or that force, which has, no doubt, weight in the affairs of men, is for the time being telling heavily against her. If large sections of public feeling, or literature, or the public policy of some great country, or the influence of a new and enterprising philosophy, or the bias of a group of powerful minds are against her, forthwith we hear the cry, The mission of the apostles is coming to an end; the Church of Christ will presently fail! Do not be in too great a haste, my friends, about this. You have yet to reckon with a force invisible, and perhaps, as far as you are concerned, unsuspected, but never more real, never more operative than it is at this moment. You have forgotten the Presence of Christ. He did not retreat to heaven when His first apostles died; He promised to be with them to the end of time; He spoke not merely to the eleven men before Him, but to the vast multitude of successors who defiled before His eyes down to the utmost limits of the Christian ages: Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world! With us by His Spirit; with us in the great sacrament of His love; with us amid weaknesses, divisions, failures, disappointments. He is with us still, and it is His Presence which alone sustains His envoys, and which gives to their work whatever it has had, or has, or has to have, of.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 20. Teaching them to observe all things] Men are ignorant of Divine things, and must be taught. Only those can be considered as proper teachers of the ignorant who are thoroughly instructed in whatsoever Christ has commanded. Persons who are entrusted with the public ministry of the word should take care that they teach not human creeds and confessions of faith, in place of the Sacred Writings; but those things, and those only, which Jesus has commanded.
And, lo, I am with you alway] ‘ – literally, Behold, I am with you every day. A minister of Christ should consider, that while his soul simply and uniformly follows Jesus, he shall be made a constant instrument of bringing many sons and daughters to glory. The dark, it is true, must be enlightened, the ignorant instructed, the profligate reclaimed, the guilty justified, and the unholy sanctified; and who is sufficient for this work? HE with whom the Son of God is EVERY DAY, and none other.
Unto the end of the world.] Some translate, , to the end of this age; meaning the apostolic age, or Jewish dispensation; and then they refer the promise of Christ’s presence to the working of miracles, and explain this by Mr 16:17-19. By my name they shall cast out demons, c., c. But though the words are used in this sense in several places, see Mt 13:39-40 Mt 13:49; Mt 24:3, yet it is certain they were repeatedly used among the primitive ecclesiastical writers to denote the consummation of all things; and it is likely that this is the sense in which they are used here, which the Anglo-Saxon has happily expressed: [Anglo-Saxon] – And I, be with you all days, until world ending; and this is indispensably necessary, because the presence and influence of Jesus Christ are essentially requisite in every age of the world, to enlighten, instruct, and save the lost. The promise takes in not only the primitive apostles, but also all their successors in the Christian ministry, as long as the earth shall endure.
Amen.] This word is omitted by some of the oldest and most authentic MSS., and by some versions and fathers. When it is considered that the word amen simply means so be it! we may at once perceive that it could not be added by our Lord. For our Lord could not pray that his own will might be done, or his own promise fulfilled. The word is, therefore, utterly impertinent as a part of the sacred text, and could neither have been added by our Lord, nor by the evangelist. The amens at the end of the sacred books have no other authority than what they derive from the transcribers of copies; and, at best, are only to be considered as the pious wish of the writer, or of the Church, that the promises contained in the sacred volume may be accomplished. Indeed, it seems often to have no other meaning than our finis at the end of our books.
In the MSS. and versions there are various subscriptions, or epigraphs, to this Gospel: the following are the principal: –
“The Gospel according to Matthew – written by him in Jerusalem – in Palestine – in the east – in the Hebrew dialect – in Hebrew – eight years after the ascension of Christ-interpreted by John – by James the brother of the Lord.”
The subscription in some copies of the Arabic version is very full: “The end of the copy of the Gospel of Matthew the Apostle. He wrote it in the land of Palestine, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in the Hebrew tongue, eight years after the bodily ascension of Jesus the Messiah into heaven, in the first year of the reign of Claudius Caesar, king of Rome.”
These are sufficient to show how little credit should be attached to the subscriptions found at the end of the sacred books, either in the MSS., or in the versions.
1. IN concluding my notes on this evangelist, I cannot express myself better than in the words of the late Mr. Wakefield, to whom this commentary has been in many instances indebted. “I have now finished my observations on the Gospel of Matthew: a piece of history, it must be acknowledged, the most singular in its composition, the most wonderful in its contents, and the most important in its object, that was ever exhibited to the notice of mankind. For simplicity of narrative, and an artless relation of facts, without any applause or censure, or digressive remarks, on the part of the historian, upon the characters introduced in it; without any intermixture of his own opinion, upon any subject whatsoever; and for a multiplicity of internal marks of credibility, this Gospel certainly has no parallel among human productions.”
2. One thing the pious and intelligent reader has, no doubt, already noticed: there is not one truth, or doctrine, in the whole oracles of God, which is not taught in this evangelist. The outlines of the whole spiritual system are here correctly laid down: even Paul himself has added nothing; he has amplified and illustrated the truths contained in this Gospel; but, even under the direct inspiration of the Holy Ghost, neither he nor any other of the apostles have brought to light any one truth, the prototype of which has not been found in the words or acts of our blessed Lord, as related by Matthew, in the work which has already passed under review. The Gospel by St. Matthew is the grand text-book of Christianity; the other Gospels are collateral evidences of its truth, and the apostolic epistles are comments on the text. In the commencement of this work, I stated my wish, “to assist my fellow labourers in the vineyard to lead men to HIM who is the fountain of all excellence, goodness, truth, and happiness; – to magnify his LAW, and make it honourable; – to show the wonderful provision made in his GOSPEL for the recovery and salvation of a sinful world; – to prove that God’s great design is to make his creatures HAPPY; and that such a salvation as it becomes God to give, and such as man needs to receive, is within the grasp of every human soul.” — General Preface, before Genesis. And having thus far done what I could, in reference to these great and important purposes, here I register my thanks to the ever-blessed God, Father, Word, and Holy Spirit, that he has permitted me to cast my mite into this sacred treasury, to add my feeble testimony to his Eternal Truth; and has spared me, in the midst of many infirmities and oppressive labours, to see the conclusion of this Gospel, a consummation which I had long devoutly wished, but which I had scarcely hoped ever to see realized.
May the Divine Author of this sacred book give the reader a heart-felt experience of all the truths it contains; make and keep him wise unto salvation; build him up in this most holy faith; and give him an inheritance among the blessed, through Christ Jesus, the Friend of mankind, and the Saviour of sinners, who is the object and end of this glorious system of truth! And to Him, with the Father and Eternal Spirit, be glory and dominion, thanksgiving and obedience, for ever and ever, Amen and amen!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
20. Teaching themThis isteaching in the more usual sense of the term; or instructing theconverted and baptized disciples.
to observe all thingswhatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, IThe “I”here is emphatic. It is enough that I
am with you alway“allthe days”; that is, till making converts, baptizing, andbuilding them up by Christian instruction, shall be no more.
even unto the end of theworld. AmenThis glorious Commission embraces two primarydepartments, the Missionary and the Pastoral, with twosublime and comprehensive Encouragements to undertake and gothrough with them.
First, The MISSIONARYdepartment (Mt 28:18): “Go,make disciples of all nations.” In the corresponding passage ofMark (Mr 16:15) it is, “Goye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.”The only difference is, that in this passage the sphere, inits world-wide compass and its universality of objects, ismore fully and definitely expressed; while in the former the greataim and certain result is delightfully expressed in thecommand to “make disciples of all nations.” “Go,conquer the world for Me; carry the glad tidings into all lands andto every ear, and deem not this work at an end till all nations shallhave embraced the Gospel and enrolled themselves My disciples.”Now, Was all this meant to be done by the Eleven men nearest to Himof the multitude then crowding around the risen Redeemer? Impossible.Was it to be done even in their lifetime? Surely not. In that littleband Jesus virtually addressed Himself to all who, in every age,should take up from them the same work. Before the eyes of theChurch’s risen Head were spread out, in those Eleven men, all Hisservants of every age; and one and all of them received Hiscommission at that moment. Well, what next? Set the seal of visiblediscipleship upon the converts, by “baptizing them into thename,” that is, into the whole fulness of the grace “of theFather, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” as belonging tothem who believe. (See on 2Co 13:14).This done, the Missionary department of your work, which in its ownnature is temporary, must merge in another, which is permanent. Thisis
Second, The PASTORALdepartment (Mt 28:20): “Teachthem”teach these baptized members of the Church visible”toobserve all things whatsoever I have commanded you,” Myapostles, during the three years ye have been with Me.
What must have been the feelingswhich such a Commission awakened? “WEwho have scarce conquered our own misgivingswe, fishermen ofGalilee, with no letters, no means, no influence over the humblestcreature, conquer the world for Thee, Lord? Nay, Lord, do not mockus.” “I mock you not, nor send you a warfare on your owncharges. For”Here we are brought to
Third, The ENCOURAGEMENTSto undertake and go through with this work. These are two; one in thevan, the other in the rear of the Commission itself.
First Encouragement: “Allpower in heaven“the whole power of Heaven’s love andwisdom and strength, “and all power in earth“powerover all persons, all passions, all principles, all movementstobend them to this one high object, the evangelization of the world:All this “is given unto Me.” as the risen Lord ofall, to be by Me placed at your command“Go yetherefore.” But there remains a
Second Encouragement: “Andlo! I am with you all the days”not only to perpetuity, butwithout one day’s interruption, “even to the end of the world,”The “Amen” is of doubtful genuineness in this place. If,however, it belongs to the text, it is the Evangelist’s own closingword.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Teaching them to observe all things,…. All ordinances, not only baptism, but the Lord’s supper; all positive institutions, and moral duties; all obligations, both to God and men; all relative duties that respect the world, or one another, those that are without, and those that are within; and these are to be taught them, and therefore to be insisted on in the ministry of the word; and not merely in order that they may know them, and have the theory of them, but that the may put them into practice:
whatsoever I have commanded you; every thing that Christ has commanded, be it what it will, and nothing else; for Christ’s ministers are not to teach for doctrines the commandments of men; or enjoin that on the churches, which is of their own, or other men’s devising, and was never ordered by Christ; and for their encouragement he adds,
and lo! I am with you always, even unto the end of the world: meaning, not merely to the end of their lives, which would be the end of the world to them; nor to the end of the Jewish world, or state, which was not a great way off, though this is sometimes the sense of this phrase; but to the end of the world to come, the Gospel church state, which now took place; or to the end of the present world, the universe: not that the apostles should live to the end of it; but that whereas Christ would have a church and people to the end of the world, and the Gospel and the ordinances of it should be administered so long, and there should be Gospel ministers till that time; Christ’s sense is, that he would grant his presence to them, his immediate disciples, and to all that should succeed them in future generations, to the end of time: and which is to be understood not of his corporeal presence, which they should not have till then, but of his spiritual presence; and that he would be with them, in a spiritual sense, to assist them in their work, to comfort them under all discouragements, to supply them with his grace, and to protect them from all enemies, and preserve from all evils; which is a great encouragement both to administer the word and ordinances, and attend on them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Teaching them ( ). Christians have been slow to realize the full value of what we now call religious education. The work of teaching belongs to the home, to the church (sermon, Sunday school, young people’s work, prayer-meeting, study classes, mission classes), to the school (not mixing of church and state, but moral instruction if not the reading of the Bible), good books which should be in every home, reading of the Bible itself. Some react too far and actually put education in the place of conversion or regeneration. That is to miss the mark. But teaching is part, a weighty part, of the work of Christians.
I am with you ( ). This is the amazing and blessed promise. He is to be with the disciples when he is gone, with all the disciples, with all knowledge, with all power, with them all the days (all sorts of days, weakness, sorrows, joy, power), till the consummation of the age ( ). That goal is in the future and unknown to the disciples. This blessed hope is not designed as a sedative to an inactive mind and complacent conscience, but an incentive to the fullest endeavor to press on to the farthest limits of the world that all the nations may know Christ and the power of his Risen Life. So Matthew’s Gospel closes in a blaze of glory. Christ is conqueror in prospect and in fact. Christian history from that eventful experience on the Mountain in Galilee has been the fulfilment of that promise in as far as we allow God’s power to work in us for the winning of the world to Christ, the Risen, all powerful Redeemer, who is with his people all the time. Jesus employs the prophetic present here (, I am). He is with us all the days till he comes in glory.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
End of the word [ ] . Rev., in margin, and lit., consummation of the age. The current age is meant; and the consummation is coincident with the second coming of Christ, after the Gospel shall be been proclaimed throughout the world. “The Savior ‘s mind goes not farther; for after that, evangelizing work will cease. No man, after that will need to teach his neighbor, saying ‘Know the Lord ‘” (Jer 31:34) (Morison ” On Matthew “).
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
Mat 28:20
. Teaching them to observe all things. By these words, as I have formerly suggested, Christ shows that, in sending the apostles, he does not entirely resign his office, as if he ceased to be the Teacher of his Church; for he sends away the apostles with this reservation, that they shall not bring forward their own inventions, but shall purely and faithfully deliver from hand to hand (as we say) what he has entrusted to them. Would to God that the Pope would subject to this rule the power which he claims for himself; for we would easily permit him to be the successor of Peter or of Paul, provided that he did not usurp a tyrannical dominion over our souls. But as he has set aside the authority of Christ, and infects the Church with his childish fooleries, this shows plainly enough how widely he has departed from the apostolic office. In short, let us hold that by these words teachers are appointed over the Church, not to put forward whatever they may think proper, but that they, as well as others, may depend on the mouth of the Master alone, so as to gain disciples for him, and not for themselves.
And, lo, I am with you always. As Christ gave to the apostles a commission which they were unable to discharge by reliance on merely human power, he encourages them by the assurance of his heavenly protection. For before promising that he would be with them, he began with declaring that he is the, King of heaven and earth, who governs all things by his power and authority.
The pronoun I must be viewed as emphatic; as if he had said that the apostles, if they wished zealously to perform their duty, must not consider what they are able to do, but must rely on the invincible power of those under whose banner they fight. The nature of that presence which the Lord promises to his followers ought to be understood spiritually; for it is not necessary that he should descend from heaven in order to assist us, since he can assist us by the grace of his Spirit, as if he stretched out his hand from heaven. For he who, in respect of his body, is at a great distance from us, not only diffuses the efficacy of his Spirit through the whole world, but even actually dwells in us.
Even to the end of the world. It ought likewise to be remarked, that this was not spoken to the apostles alone; for the Lord promises his assistance not for a single age only, but even to the end of the world. It is as if he had said, that though the ministers of the gospel be weak and suffer the want of all things: he will be their guardian, so that they will rise victorious over all the opposition of the world. In like manner, experience clearly shows in the present day, that the operations of Christ are carried on wonderfully in a secret manner, so that the gospel surmounts innumerable obstacles.
So much the more intolerable is the wickedness of the Popish clergy, when they take this as a pretext for their sacrilege and tyranny. They affirm that the Church cannot err, because it is governed by Christ; as if Christ, like some private soldier, hired himself for wages to other captains, and as if he had not, on the contrary, reserved the entire authority for himself, and declared that he would defend his doctrine, so that his ministers may confidently expect to be victorious over the whole world.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(20) All things whatsoever I have commanded you.The words obviously point, in the first instance, to the teaching of our Lord recorded in the Gospelsthe new laws of life, exceeding broad and deep, of the Sermon on the Mount, the new commandment of Love for the inner life (Joh. 13:34), the new outward ordinances of Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. But we may well believe that they went further than this, and that the words may cover much unrecorded teaching which they had heard in the darkness, and were to reproduce in light (Mat. 10:27).
I am with you alway.Literally, all the days, or, at all times; the words emphasising continuity more than the English adverb. The days that were coming might seem long and dark and dreary, but He, their Lord, would be with them, in each of those days, even to the far-off end.
Even unto the end of the world.Literally, of the age. The phrase is the same as that in Mat. 13:39-40; Mat. 13:49; Mat. 24:13. In Heb. 9:26 it is used of the time of the appearance of Christ in the flesh, as the beginning of the last age of the world. Like all such words, its meaning widens or contracts according to our point of view. Here the context determines its significance as stretching forward to the end of the age, or aeon, which began with the first Advent of the Christ and shall last until the second.
We ask, as we close the Gospel, why it ends thus? why there should be no record of a fact so momentous as the Ascension? The question is one which we cannot fully answer. There is an obvious abruptness in the close of the book as a book. It may be that it was left unfinished. It may be that the fact of the Ascension entered into the elementary instruction of every catechumen, and was therefore taken for granted; or that it was thought of as implied in the promise of Christs perpetual presence; or, lastly, that that promise seemed, in its grandeur and its blessedness, to be the consummation of all that Christ had come to accomplish, and therefore as the fitting close of the record of His life and work.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. Lo, I am with you That is, with the ministry he commissions. From which we infer three things: 1. That there is an order of men commissioned by Christ to continue, by some sort of succession, to the end of the world.
2 . We have a test by which the Church and the world can estimate a true ministry. Christ is with them. If Christ be not with them they are not in the true succession, however well signed their ministerial diploma or well traced their ordination pedigree. Ordaining hands cannot convey by a mechanical or muscular conductor the presence of Christ. To test whether the presence of Christ be with them, our Saviour gives a new rule: “By their fruits ye shall know them.” A wicked minister can never, therefore, be in Christ’s true succession. 3. We have a blessed promise for the truly commissioned minister. Christ’s presence is with him! And for a holy ministry collectively, whose duty is to convert the world, Christ’s presence is with them in the length and breadth of that great enterprise.
Unto the end of the world The word here is and not . The latter signifies the world more properly as a material fabric; the former refers more to the living world. It is often equivalent to age, or dispensation. It here signifies the present human system, the living world. It is equivalent, then, in duration, to the sacramental promise: “Ye do show forth the Lord’s death until he come.” 1Co 11:26.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Teaching them to observe all things whatever I commanded you.”
Their mission is also to be one of teaching. They are now to fulfil their role as Scribes of the Kingly Rule of Heaven bringing forth what is new (what Jesus has brought) and what is old (the Scriptures) (Mat 13:52). The Messianic movement into the world is not to be by warfare or force of arms. That is how false religions spread. It is to be by proclamation of the truth, by the sword of the word. Men must be won by truth and love, not be forced to respond at the point of the sword of men. Only the former can produce true men of God. The latter produces religious robots, and even terrorists. And they must be taught to observe all that Jesus has commanded them, especially as revealed in Matthew’s Gospel. Just as Jesus taught these men as His disciples (Mat 5:1-2), so must they teach those who become disciples of Jesus through them. The Sermon on the Mount is thus an essential part of the Good News as they go out to bring men to submit to Him, not only that they might be blessed (Mat 5:3-9), but also that they might call Him ‘Lord, Lord’, and do what He says (Mat 7:13-29). For their constant prayer is to be, ‘May your Kingly Rule come, and your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven’ (Mat 6:10). From now on men are to seek first the Kingly Rule of God and His saving righteousness (Mat 6:33). For Kingly Rule belongs to the Lord, and He rules over the nations (Psa 22:28).
‘All that I have commanded you.’ This applies to this day as well as His day. It is all-inclusive. Anyone whose teaching excludes obedience to all the commands that Jesus Himself taught is clearly on the wrong track.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 28:20. Teaching them, &c. Christ commands that nothing should be taught which he himself had not taught: whence it is evident thatevery thing fundamental may be found in the Gospel; and that even the apostles themselves could not teach any thing as necessary to salvation, which Christ himself had not asserted to be so. The ascension of our blessed Lord seems to have been a fact so well known to all the Christians in Palestine, that there was no necessity for St. Matthew to mention it. It seems to be implied, and to have been declared to his disciples, from this passage, which is intended to obviate the objection which would arise from considering that circumstance; and our Lord may be represented as saying, “I am indeed going to heaven, and shall not appear visibly among you; but I shall always be virtually present with you.” St. Mark and St. Luke, writing to those who lived out of Judea, very properly mention the ascension, and were under a necessity of doing so. Our Saviour adds, I am with you always even to the end of the world; that is, to the final dissolution of this temporary system. “I am with you: I the eternal Son of God; I, who have the angels at my beck, and make the devils to tremble with my looks; I, who in your sight have caused the storms to cease, the blind to see, the lame to walk, the dead to rise, only with the word of my mouth; I, who have all power in heaven and earth committed to me,am with you;not I will be with you; but I am with you,in the present tense;minding them thereby of his divine essence and power, to which all things are present; and therefore, as he elsewhere says, Before Abraham was, I am; so here, I am with you, at all times, to the end of the world, as really as at this present: it follows, I am with you, my apostles, who now receive commission to go and convert all nations to the Christian faith, to baptize and teach mankind my commands. I am with you , every day. Wherever you are, whenever you do any thing in my Spirittowards the executing the commission which I have given you, I am with you in the doing of it; and that too to the very end of the world, that is to say, so long as I have a church upon earth, which will be till my coming again to judge the world. All this while I promise to be with you, and consequently as long as the world shall last,” See Bishop Beveridge’s first Sermon, vol. 1: on Christ’s Presence with his Ministers. Though the word Amen, with which each of the Gospels ends, seems chiefly to have been intended as an intimation of the conclusion of the book, and as an asseveration of the certain truth of the things contained in it; yet, considering the connection of the word with the preceding promise, which was undoubtedly the greatest strength and joy of St. Matthew’s heart, it is very natural to suppose, that it has some such reference as this to that promise: “Amen! blessed Jesus, so may it indeed be; and may this important promise be fulfilled to us; and to our successors in the ministry, to the remotest ages in its full extent.” St. John uses the like turn in more express language, in the last verse but one of the Revelation; surely I come quickly; Amen, Even so, come Lord Jesus.
Inferences.The grave is an unusual stage for the display of glory; the best that Job could say of it, when in the anguish of his soul he most desired it, was, “There the wicked cease from troubling; there the weary are at rest.” And some others, distressed like him, may think death eligible, and long for the grave as a refuge from misery. Generally speaking, however, the grave is an object of horror too loathsome to be described. There lie the ruins of man sinking into corruption and putrefaction. So offensive, ignominious, and loathsome is the grave, in the ordinary course of nature. But it was the peculiar privilege of our Lord, that his rest, his sepulchre, should be glorious, Isa 11:10. For it was the theatre of his resurrection. To methodize our thoughts upon this subject, it may be proper to consider the glory of our Lord’s resurrection in two views; first, as it illustrates him; and, secondly, as it influences us; for it is of the essence of glory to be diffusive, and to stream forth from its subject upon all objects within its sphere; which occasions these distinct considerations of the glory of this his resurrection, in its source, and in its influence.
1. We shall discover somewhat of the personal glory of Christ, in the circumstances of his resurrection related by the Evangelists: and here it is material to observe, that not only the prophets, but he himself had often foretold it; a circumstance which was particularly remarked by the angel who first brought the glad tidings to the two Marys, at their early visit to his sepulchre, He is not here, he is risen, as he said, Mat 28:6 that is, “according to his own prediction;” a circumstance of great moment for establishing our faith in this mystery, and preventing or answering the cavils of infidelity.
And first, He had frequently told it to his disciples, as appears from many passages in the Gospel, wherein he commonly foretels his death and resurrection together, perhaps to mitigate a little the scandal of the cross, by the glories which were to ensue; and at the same time to prepare their faith by the one for the other. At first his sufferings could not but appear highly improbable to his disciples; for they could not conceive how a person like him, vested with omnipotence, should suffer by Jew or Gentile, much less that he should die under their hands: yet they saw this verified within five days after his triumphant entry into Jerusalem; and this in reason should have confirmed their faith in the remaining part of the prophesy which concerned his resurrection; for so our Lord intended it should, as he declared upon a like occasion; I have told you before it come to pass, that when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am He. Joh 14:29.
But had the disciples alone been acquainted with these predictions, sceptical men might have had some pretences against their testimony; at least we should have lost many substantial proofs of the resurrection, which the vigilant malice of the Jews has furnished; and therefore our Lord took proper occasions to inform them of it. Indeed the Jews in general understood sufficiently that he appealed to such a resurrection for the final confirmation of his divine mission, as appears particularly from their address to Pilate for a guard to watch his sepulchre; wherein they mention his foretelling his resurrection as a thing that was notorious: Pilate, readily consenting to their request, left the guards to their disposal; for, if he had given them directions himself, they might still have had some room to pretend that right measures were not taken for securing the sepulchre; and therefore by the especial appointment of Providence, to remove all the subterfuges of infidelity, they had the ordering of the guard themselves.
Thus authorised by the governor, and animated by the passion which transported them, they neglect nothing. The tomb is closed with a great stone; that stone is sealed, and the whole sepulchre invested, and, as it were, besieged by soldiers. No precaution was omitted. There was no want of care to reproach themselves with, that there might be no want of evidence wherewith to reproach the truth: a needless provision this, against a few poor fishermen, who were naturally timorous; who had abandoned their Master at the first appearance of danger; who were since sunk into consternation and despair at his death; and whose hopes were all buried in the tomb with him; who were so far from an inclination, as well as capacity, for so hazardous an enterprize, that they were strangely backward even to believe the miracle itself, when it was accomplished; and Thomas in particular was so obstinate in his unbelief, that he would not be persuaded of his Master’s revival, till he had the testimony of all his senses.
It was reasonable to expect, that our Lord’s persecutors should have first heard of his resurrection from his disciples; but as they had contrived matters, they received the news of it from their own watch flying in dismay from the angelic vision. Thus God, who in the order of his providence converts the evil purposes of men to his own glory, made the Jewish malice contribute to establish the certainty of our Lord’s resurrection by such proofs, as could not have happened but by their opposition. And this was needful, that his glory should at last break forth with a lustre sufficient to dissipate any reasonable doubt and surmise. For all his foregoing transactions from the manger to the tomb, although infinitely excellent, were comparatively little glorious; because their merit was in a considerable measure veiled by his humility. Now glory is merit displayed; it is a manifestation of excellence; and the resurrection is therefore, by way of eminence, the glorious mystery, because it was the manifestation of the excellency of Christ; it was a demonstration of his Divinity, which emerged, as it were, from the abyss of humiliation into which it was sunk. Here he shewed, that what he had done and suffered was truly meritorious, because it was voluntary, We know that he had willingly laid down his life, when we see him by his own power take it up again; and we learn to value his death as a free-will offering for our redemption, when we contemplate his resurrection. Expiring on the cross, he seemed to go the way of all flesh, and fall like the rest of Adam’s sons, by a common and unavoidable fate: but we cannot longer doubt that he sought death as a conqueror, when we see him return in triumph from the grave. St. Paul speaks of this as a fundamental of Christianity, that the resurrection of Christ certifies us of his Divinity. He was declared, says he, to be the Son of God with power, by his resurrection from the dead; and indeed there can be no doubt of this, while we believe that he raised himself from the dead. Now, what a splendor and glory does this cast upon all the parts of his precedent life, which, if we consider him only as what he often stiles himself, the Son of man, is indeed exceedingly pious, holy, and virtuous, to a degree never before attained: but when his resurrection shews him to be the Son of God, it is all amazing. That the Son of God should be born in a stable, that the Son of God should live in poverty, and die in pain;what instruction! what an example! what encouragement! but above all, how glorious is that Son of God, amid such miracles of goodness, such prodigies of divine love and condescension, for which the angels can never sufficiently admire him; for which all his saints shall eternally adore him!
So glorious, and infinitely more than words can express, is the resurrection of our Lord, with regard to himself, as it asserts his Divinity, and puts the seal to all his revelations. But glory, as we observed, is of a diffusive nature, issuing forth in bright influences upon all objects within its sphere; and therefore we are next to consider our Lord’s resurrection with regard to ourselves, and shew the certain consequence of it, which is our own resurrection from the dead. The world had now lasted four thousand years, at the time of Christ’s death; and all generations hitherto had sunk into the grave, unknowing in general what would become of them. We must except here the patriarchs and saints of the Jewish church, who, by an anticipated revelation of a Redeemer, had their hopes full of immortality. But the bulk of mankind were in the dark concerning a future state. Good men might wish, and wise men expect, a life to come; but these wishes, and these expectations, were perplexed with much doubt and misgiving. Death was as a gulf, whereof they saw only the entrance, and could discern nothing beyond. But the glories of our Lord’s resurrection have enlightened the grave, and so dissipated the shades of death, as to shew that to be only a passage or thoroughfare, which before seemed a gulf and an abyss. For life and immortality were brought to light by the Gospel of Christ, who declared not only that there was a resurrection, but that he himself was the resurrection, or that power whereby men shall be raised from the dead,and the life, Joh 11:25. As the sun is light in itself, and the great source of day to all the worlds around it, so Christ is resurrection to himself, and the great cause and author of resurrection to all mankind; who, after they have undergone the common sentence of death passed upon them in Adam, the first head of our race, are by this second representative of the human species restored to immortality; for since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead; for as by Adam all died, even so by Christ shall all be made alive. And indeed it is a very natural prerogative of Christ, as Judge of the world, that he should by his own power summon all men to his tribunal: of which he himself gives a most particular account, Joh 5:21-26., &c.
The resurrection and a future judgment are fundamental principles of morality, and they are in the Gospel not only taught but demonstrated. The Divinity raised Christ’s human body out of the grave, to convince us that he will also raise us at the last day. This is a miracle in kind, involving the thing in question, most pertinent, cogent, and irrefragable; so that we cannot but conclude with St. Paul, That God has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that Man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead, Act 17:31.
Seeing then that we have this assurance, do we hope or do we fear a resurrection? for we must expect it. If upon just grounds we hope for it, happy are we; but if we fear it, may we be warned in time to remove those fears, by such faith in this great Redeemer, and such holiness of life, as may give comfort and joy to the soul in the prospect of futurity! It is my duty here to persuade every reader to this, and to advise and direct him in the performance of it: but I can only persuade and advise; he himself must work out his own salvation, for it is God that worketh in him.
REFLECTIONS.1st, The resurrection of Jesus being the grand hinge on which our hope of salvation turns, it must afford the most singular satisfaction to observe the amazing force of evidence wherewith this glorious event is attested. Had he still lain in the grave, and had death maintained his dominion over him, our faith had been vain, and we must have perished in our sins: but, glory be to God, he hath raised up Jesus from the dead, and hath thereby begotten us to a new and lively hope. Some testimonies of this fact are here produced: many more will be found in the other Evangelists. We have,
1. The visit made to the sepulchre by those holy women who had attended Jesus to the cross and to the grave, even Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James; and they came now to see the sepulchre, if it was as they left it, bringing spices to embalm the body; this was in the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week. Christ had lain in the grave part of our Friday, all Saturday, which was the Jewish sabbath; and on the Sunday morning, the third day, very early, probably about four o’clock, he arose, after dwelling among the dead about six and thirty hours; long enough to shew his death real, yet not so long as that his body should see corruption. Psa 16:10. See the Annotations.
2. As they went, and talked about the difficulty of removing the stone at the mouth of the sepulchre, which seems to have been more ponderous than they could roll away, behold! to their astonishment, there was a great earthquake, which, had the guards indeed slept, must needs have roused them; for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, as the officer of the Most High. He accordingly came, and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it, defying all the powers of earth or hell to roll it on again; waiting there to welcome the poor women who were on their way, and striking terror and dismay into the stout-hearted soldiers. His countenance was bright as the lightning, and his raiment white as snow, the emblem of purity and victory. Trembling in every limb, the guards shook like the earth which rocked under their feet, and, pale as death, with haste fled from the tremendous presence of this angelic minister.
The other Evangelists mention two angels: one sat on the stone without, and invited and led the women into the sepulchre, where they found another; the one of which stood at the feet, and the other at the head of the grave, where the body had lain.
3. The women, being come to the sepulchre, were at first affrighted at the sight (Mar 16:5.); but the angel, kindly accosting them, endeavoured to silence their fears. Fear not ye; whatever terrors seize the sinners in Zion, the lovers of the Lord Jesus need not tremble; for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified, and they who seek a crucified Jesus, have nothing to fear; have every thing to hope: none ever sought his face in vain. He is not here, that you should any longer bedew his corpse with tears: no; he is risen for your comfort, as he said he should on the third day. Then graciously inviting them to come and see the place where the Lord lay, that they might be convinced he was not there, he probably led the way into the sepulchre, whither they followed him, and saw the other angel, mentioned Joh 20:12. And hereupon the angel dismisses them with a message to the disconsolate disciples; Go quickly, and be the messengers of this glad news; tell his disciples, now dejected and despairing, to their surprise and joy, he is risen from the dead; and behold, for the confirmation of your own faith and theirs, he goeth before you into Galilee, where you and they must follow him; and there shall ye see him, converse with him, and receive the fullest assurance of his resurrection. Lo! I have told you; remember to deliver these tidings, and be assured of the truth of what I have spoken.
4. Agitated with surprise and joy at what they had seen and heard, and eager to communicate the glad news, they ran to the disciples; and in their way Jesus himself met them, and with kindest salutation accosted them, All hail, all peace, happiness, and joy be with you! With lowliest reverence they cast themselves instantly at his feet, and in a transport of love embraced them, adoring him as their risen Lord and Saviour. Then Jesus, further to confirm their hearts, and remove every fear, bids them not be afraid; they need apprehend neither danger nor delusion, but must deliver the message his angel had put into their mouths, Go tell my brethren; by such an endearing name was he pleased to distinguish his disciples; that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me. Note; (1.) Christ is not ashamed to call his servants brethren. (2.) Faith in a risen Redeemer effectually silences a sinner’s fears: in him we see the great atonement accomplished, and are filled with joy and peace in believing.
2nd, The resurrection of Jesus is proved by a cloud of unexceptionable witnesses, among whom his very enemies held a distinguished place.
1. The guard, who had fled, had just reached the city as the women were on their return thither; and some of them, probably the officers who commanded the detachment, went directly to the chief priests; and to their astonishment related all that had passedthe earthquake, the descent of the angel, the removal of the stone, and perhaps the rising of Jesus; and if any thing could ever have shocked their obdurate hearts, one should conceive the report of such incontestible eye-witnesses of the fact would have convinced them of their wickedness, and turned them to the Lord. But they were determined in impenitence and unbelief, and therefore given up to a reprobate mind. Hereupon,
2. The chief priests and elders consulted together, and resolved to support what they had done at all events; and therefore, to invent the most plausible pretext to evade the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus, knowing the powerful effects of money, and how ready men are to sell the truth, nay their very souls, for it, they bribed the guard high to tell a lie as absurd as wicked, that his disciples came by night, and stole him away while they slept. And as the men might justly apprehend such a confessed criminal neglect in them, as sleeping upon guard, might be attended with rigorous punishment if it came to the governor’s ears, the rulers engage to interpose their influence, and to save them harmless. But the whole contrivance was so barefaced, that it carried its own confutation, except to such as chose their own delusions. Can it be conceived, that where the trust was so important, and death the penalty of neglect, a centinel would sleep? But if one man may be supposed to be overtaken, would a whole band of men be all asleep at once? If they had been so, would those timid disciples, who had fled at the first approach of danger, when their Master was alive, now dare rush into the jaws of death, to rescue his corpse? Could such a number of them as was requisite to roll away the stone, and remove the body, have been able to accomplish such a thing without awaking one of the soldiers that lay around the tomb? and if they slept, how could they possibly know that his disciples came and stole him away? Nay, their very living to support the falsehood, was a full proof against them; for, had they slept as they pretended, these very priests had been the first to have had them put to death for their neglect, instead of interesting themselves to screen them from punishment.
3. The bribe extorted from the heathen soldiers an easy compliance: they took the money, and said and did as they were taught. And this senseless story, being industriously propagated by the priests, was readily followed by those who wished to be deceived, and continued long after to be commonly reported among the Jews, to render the disciples odious, and prevent the effects of their ministry. Note; (1.) Money is the grand bait for the grossest crimes: the raging love of that once rooted in the heart, swallows up every consideration of truth, honesty, and justice. (2.) No outward evidence is sufficient to overcome the infidelity of the heart, where the sinner is determined to oppose the powerful operations of the Holy Ghost. Were we to choose what proofs we would, greater could not be given than these men beheld, and yet not one of them was converted. No signs or wonders will convince those who wilfully and obstinately reject the Gospel. (3.) A malicious lie once raised, is in its consequences often fatally extensive; but woe to the author!
3rdly, According to the directions of their Master, the eleven Apostles went into Galilee to the mountain appointed, having summoned a general meeting of all the disciples, whose number amounted to above five hundred. There Jesus again appeared unto them, and, fully convinced now of his being the Son of God, they paid him divine adoration. But some among them still doubted, weak and wavering, and scarce able to credit the testimony of their senses: so very slow of heart were they to believe, and so little disposed to be credulous in a matter of such infinite importance. But Jesus soon removed all their doubts, conversing familiarly with them, and giving them the most indubitable proofs of the identity of his person, and the certainty of his resurrection. Hereupon, as he was now about to take his farewell of earth, he invests them with his authority, sends them out under his influence, directs them in their work, and assures them of his blessing on their labours.
1. He asserts the authority with which, as Mediator, he is invested, and in virtue of which he puts them in trust with his gospel. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. As Mediator, he had received the universal sovereignty; angels, principalities, and powers above were made subject unto him; and on earth all things and persons were put under his government; which was a most encouraging consideration to them who were about to go forth in his name, since his support would make them more than conquerors. Note; When we are discouraged with the view of our own weakness and insufficiency, we should look by faith to the all-sufficiency of Jesus, and be comforted.
2. He gives them a commission out of the plenitude of his power. Go ye therefore, and all who shall in succeeding ages be put in trust with the same Gospel, teach all nations. They are to carry the glad tidings into all lands, and make disciples every where, baptizing them and their households, who should be converted by their ministry, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, admitting them by this rite into the visible communion of the Church: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; declaring to them the riches of the grace, and the extent of the privileges of the Gospel; with all the mighty obligations to obedience resulting from faith, which worketh by love; enjoining the word of Jesus as the only rule of duty, to which nothing is to be added, and whence nothing must be diminished; and urging the disciples to adorn the doctrine which they profess, by that conscientious observance of all those moral duties and positive ordinances, which may prove the truth of the grace which is in them, bring glory to God, and credit to their holy religion.
3. He assures them of his constant spiritual presence, to teach, comfort, and prosper them in all their labours of love. Lo! I am with you; be assured of it, as the most undoubted truth, though my bodily presence be removed, my spirit shall abundantly supply that loss; in all difficulties and dangers I will support you; in all emergencies I will direct you; I will give you success in all your labours, and consolation in all your sufferings; and that alway, even unto the end of the world. Not only all your days shall you find me near to help you, but to the end of time your faithful successors in the ministry shall experience my continual support and blessing, in the preaching of that Gospel which you deliver unto them. Amen. Verily I say unto you, who am the faithful and true witness, I will fulfil my promises. Or this may be the Evangelist’s word, expressing his own, and the church’s faith and prayer, that so it may be, and so we believe it shall be. What Christ hath promised, we may confidently expect to receive, and pray in faith, nothing doubting.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 28:20 , . . .] without being conjoined by , therefore not co-ordinate with, but subordinate to the , intimating that a certain ethical teaching must necessarily accompany in every case the administration of baptism: while ye teach them to observe everything , etc. This moral instruction must not be omitted FN [44] when you baptize, but it must be regarded as an essential part of the ordinance. That being the case, infant baptism cannot possibly have been contemplated in , nor, of course, in . either.
, . . .] Encouragement to execute the commission entrusted to them, Mat 28:19 .
] with strong emphasis: I who am invested with that high to which I have just referred.
] namely, through the working of that power which has been committed to me, Mat 28:18 , and with which I will continue to protect, support, strengthen you, etc. Comp. Act 18:10 ; 2Co 12:9-10 . The are the disciples to whom the Lord is speaking, not the church ; the present tense (not ) points to the fact of His having now entered, and that permanently, into His estate of exaltation. The promised help itself, however, is that vouchsafed by the glorified Redeemer in order to the carrying out of His own work (Phi 3:21 ; Phi 4:13 ; Col 1:29 ; 2Co 12:9 ), imparted through the medium of the Spirit (John 14-16), which is regarded as the Spirit of Christ (see on Rom 8:9 ), and sometimes manifesting itself also in signs and wonders (Mar 16:20 ; Rom 15:19 ; 2Co 12:12 ; Heb 2:14 ), in visions and revelations (2Co 12:1 ; Act 12:17 ). But in connection with this matter (comp. on Mat 18:20 ) we must discard entirely the unscriptural idea of a substantial ubiquity (in opposition to Luther, Calovius, Philippi). Beza well observes: “Ut qui corpore est absens, virtute tamen sit totus praesentissimus.”
. .] all the days that were still to elapse . . , i.e. until the close of the current age (see on Mat 24:3 ), which would be coincident with the second advent, and after the gospel had been proclaimed throughout the whole world (Mat 24:14 ); “ continua praesentia,” Bengel.
[44] N1 , , Euthymius Zigabenus, who thus admirably points out that what is meant by , . . ., is not the teaching of the gospel with a view to conversion. The (Gal 3:2 ) and the (Rom 10:17 ) are understood, as a matter of course, to have preceded the baptism. Comp. Theodor Schott, who, however, without being justified by anything in the text, is disposed to restrict the . , on the one hand, to the instructions contained in the farewell addresses (from the night before the crucifixion on to the ascension), and , on the other, to a faithful observance on the part of the convert of what he already knew. Comp., on the contrary, Mat 19:17 ; Joh 14:15 ; Joh 14:21 ; Joh 15:10 ; 1Ti 6:14 ; 1Jn 2:3 f., 1Jn 3:22 f., 1Jn 5:2 f.; Rev 12:17 ; Rev 14:12 ; Sir 29:1 , in all which passages means observe, i.e. to obey , the commandments. Admirable, however, is the comment of Bengel: “Ut baptizatis convenit, fidei virtute .”
REMARK 1.
According to Joh 21:14 , the Lord’s appearance at the sea of Tiberias, Joh 21 , which Matthew not only omits, but which he does not seem to have been aware of (see on Mat 28:10 ), must have preceded that referred to in our passage.
REMARK 2.
Matthew makes no mention of the return of Jesus and His disciples to Judaea, or of the ascension from the Mount of Olives; he follows a tradition in which those two facts had not yet found a place, just as they appear to have been likewise omitted in the lost conclusion of Mark; then it so happened that the apostolic terminated with our Lord’s parting address, Mat 28:19 f. We must beware of imputing to the evangelist any subjective motive for making no mention of any other appearance but that which took place on the mountain in Galilee; for had he omitted and recorded events in this arbitrary fashion, and merely as he thought fit, and that, too, when dealing with the sublimest and most marvellous portion of the gospel narrative, he would have been acting a most unjustifiable part, and only ruining his own credit for historical fidelity. By the apostles the ascension, the actual bodily mounting up into heaven, was regarded as a fact about which there could not be any possible doubt, and without- which they would have felt the second advent to be simply inconceivable (Phi 2:9 ; Phi 3:20 ; Eph 4:10 ; 1Pe 3:22 ; Joh 20:17 ), and accordingly it is presupposed in the concluding words of our Gospel; but the embodying of it in an outward incident, supposed to have occurred in presence of the apostles, is to be attributed to a tradition which Luke, it is true, has adopted (as regards the author of the appendix to Mark, see on Mar 16:19 f.), but which has been rejected by our evangelist and John, notwithstanding that in any case this latter would have been an eyewitness. But yet the fact itself that the Lord, shortly after His resurrection, ascended into heaven, and that not merely in spirit (which, and that in entire opposition to Scripture, would either exclude the resurrection of the actual body, or presuppose a second death), but in the body as perfectly transformed and glorified at the moment of the ascension, is one of the truths of which we are also fully convinced, confirmed as it is by the whole New Testament, and furnishing, as it does, an indispensable basis for anything like certainty in regard to Christian eschatology. On the ascension, see Luk 24:51 , Rem.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
REFLECTIONS
OH! for grace to receive and believe the record God hath given of his dear Son. Surely, the Lord hath furnished for his people, every evidence that God can give or man receive, to the truth of the resurrection of Jesus. By signs in heaven from above; and wonders in the earth beneath, was my Lord’s triumph over death, hell, and the grave manifested. Every witness calls upon me, like the Angels to the women at the sepulchre; Come! see the place where the Lord lay. Yes! I would answer. My soul desires to take the wing of faith, and light down at the memorable sepulcher, and see the sacred spot! Yes! I would flee there, but, not stay there, but hasten to look upwards after a risen and ascended Savior! Yea! I would seek grace to pursue my researches after Jesus, until I beheld him in that bosom of Jehovah, where he hath lain from all eternity!
And now my honored Lord! my soul would lay low at thy footstool, and hail thee Lord of heaven and earth! Glorious, gracious, Almighty Head of thy Church and People! It is for thee to send forth thy servants, to call thy sons from far and thy daughters from the ends of the earth! Thy kingdom of grace shall be established until thou hast brought home all thy ransomed to thy kingdom of glory. Not one shall be left behind: but shall be brought under the baptisms of thy Spirit to the joint praise and honor of the holy Three in One, Father Son, and Holy Ghost. Lord! hasten thy gracious purposes; and confirm the sacred promises of thy will.
Farewell Matthew, faithful recorder of my Lord’s history! Thanks to God the Holy Ghost, for thy services in his Church in those written memorials of the conception, incarnation, birth, baptism, fastings, temptations, ministry, miracles, parables, prophecies, agonies, conflicts, sufferings, death, resurrection, and return to glory, of our Lord Jesus Christ! Blessed be my God and Saviour, in calling thee from the receipt of custom to be an Evangelist! Oh! may the ministry of thy word be made blessed to my soul, and to the souls of thousands. And then as thou broughtest home the Lord Jesus to thine house, and then madest him a feast with publicans and sinners; so ere long Jesus will take thee and me, and all his redeemed home, to the marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven; and feast our ravished souls, with the enjoyment of himself; and in him and through him, the whole persons of the Godhead in one unceasing banquet of holy joy forevermore. Amen and Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Ver. 20. To observe all things ] Our obedience must be entire; as for subject, the whole man; so for object, the whole law, that perfect law of liberty. The gospel requireth, that in our judgments we approve, and in our practices prove, what that good and holy and acceptable will of God is. Those are good Catholics, saith Austin, qui et fidem integram sequuntur, et bones mores. But let carnal gospellers either add practice, or leave their profession; renounce the devil and all his works, or else renounce their baptism. As Alexander the Great bade one Alexander, a coward in his army, change his name, or be a soldier.
I am with you alway ] viz. To preserve you from your enemies, prosper you in your enterprises, and to do for you whatsoever heart can wish or need require. When Christ saith, “I will be with you,” you may add what you will; to protect you, to direct you, to comfort you, to carry on the work of grace in you, and in the end to crown you with immortality and glory. All this and more is included in this precious promise.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
20. ] Even in the case of the adult, this teaching must, in greater part , follow his baptism; though as we have seen (on Mat 28:19 ), in his exceptional case, some of it must go before . For this teaching is nothing less than the building up of the whole man into the obedience of Christ. In these words, inasmuch as the then living disciples could not teach all nations , does the Lord found the office of Preachers in his Church, with all that belongs to it, the duties of the minister , the school-teacher , the scripture reader . This ‘ teaching ’ is not merely the of the gospel not mere proclamation of the good news but the whole catechetical office of the Church upon and in the baptized.
] These words imply and set forth the Ascension , the manner of which is not related by our Evangelist.
, I, in the fullest sense: not the Divine Presence , as distinguished from the Humanity of Christ. His Humanity is with us likewise. The vine lives in the branches. Stier remarks (vii. 277) the contrast between this ‘ I am with you ,’ and the view of Nicodemus ( Joh 3:2 ) ‘no man can do these miracles except God be with him .’
. ] mainly, by the promise of the Father ( Luk 24:49 ) which he has poured out on His Church . But the presence of the Spirit is the effect of the presence of Christ and the presence of Christ is part of the above the effect of the well-pleasing of the Father. So that the mystery of His name (with which, as Stier remarks, this Gospel begins and ends) is fulfilled God is with us . And all the ( appointed ) days for they are numbered by the Father, though by none but Him.
. . . ] that time of which they had heard in so many parables, and about which they had asked, ch. Mat 24:3 the completion of the state of time . After that, He will be no more properly speaking with us , but we with Him ( Joh 17:24 ) where He is.
To understand only of the Apostles and their (?) successors, is to destroy the whole force of these most weighty words. Descending even into literal exactness, we may see that , makes into , as soon as they are . The command is to the UNIVERSAL CHURCH to be performed, in the nature of things, by her ministers and teachers , the manner of appointing which is not here prescribed, but to be learnt in the unfoldings of Providence recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, who by His special ordinance were the founders and first builders of that Church but whose office, on that very account, precluded the idea of succession or renewal .
That Matthew does not record the fact or manner of the Ascension , is not to be used as a ground for any presumptions regarding the authenticity of the records of it which we possess. The narrative here is suddenly brought to a termination ; that in John ends with an express declaration of its incompleteness. What reasons there may have been for the omission, either subjective, in the mind of the author of the Gospel, or objective, in the fragmentary character of the apostolic reports which are here put together, it is wholly out of our power, in this age of the world, to determine. As before remarked, the fact itself is here and elsewhere in this Gospel (see ch. Mat 22:44 ; Mat 24:30 ; Mat 25:14 ; Mat 25:31 ; Mat 26:64 ) clearly implied .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 28:20 . ., teaching them, present participle, implying that Christian instruction is to be a continuous process, not subordinate to and preparing for baptism, but continuing after baptism with a view to enabling disciples to walk worthily of their vocation. : the teaching is with a view not to gnosis but to practice; the aim not orthodox opinion but right living. : the materials of instruction are to be Christ’s own teaching. This points to the desirableness for the Church’s use of an oral or written tradition of Christ’s words: these to be the rule of faith and practice. , introducing an important promise to the missionaries of the new universal religion to keep them in courage and good hope amid all difficulties. , I the Risen, Exalted, All-powerful One, with you my apostles and representatives engaged in the heroic task of propagating the faith. , am , not will be, conveying the feeling of certainty, but also spoken from the eternal point of view, sub specie aeternitatis , for which distinctions of here and there, now and then, do not exist. Cf. Joh 8:58 , “before Abraham was I am”. In the Fourth Gospel the categories of the Absolute and the Eternal dominate throughout. , all the days, of which, it is implied, there may be many; the vista of the future is lengthening. , until the close of the current age, when He is to come again; an event, however, not indispensable for the comfort of men who are to enjoy an uninterrupted spiritual presence.
This great final word of Jesus is worthy of the Speaker and of the situation. Perhaps it is not to be taken as an exact report of what Jesus said to His disciples at a certain time and place. In it the real and the ideal seem to be blended; what Jesus said there and then with what the Church of the apostolic age had gradually come to regard as the will of their Risen Lord, with growing clearness as the years advanced, with perfect clearness after Israel’s crisis bad come. We find here (1) a cosmic significance assigned to Christ (all power in heaven and on earth); (2) an absolutely universal destination of the Gospel; (3) baptism as the rite of admission to discipleship; (4) a rudimentary baptismal Trinity; (5) a spiritual presence of Christ similar to that spoken of in the Fourth Gospel. To this measure of Christian enlightenment the Apostolic Church, as represented by our evangelist, had attained when he wrote his Gospel, probably after the destruction of Jerusalem. Therein is summed up the Church’s confession of faith conceived as uttered by the lips of the Risen One. “Expressly not as words of Jesus walking on the earth, but as words of Him who appeared from heaven, the evangelist here presents in summary form what the Christian community had come to recognise as the will and the promise of their exalted Lord” (Weiss-Meyer).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
always = all the days.
unto = until.
the end of the world = the completion, or consummation, of the age: i.e. that then current dispensation, when this apostolic commission might have ended. See App-129., and note on Mat 13:39. But as Israel did not then repent (Act 3:19-26; Act 28:25-28), hence all is postponed till Mat 24:14 shall be taken up and fulfilled, “then shall the end (telos) of the sunteleia come”. This particular commission was therefore postponed. See App-167.
world = age. Greek. aion. App-129.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
20.] Even in the case of the adult, this teaching must, in greater part, follow his baptism; though as we have seen (on Mat 28:19), in his exceptional case, some of it must go before. For this teaching is nothing less than the building up of the whole man into the obedience of Christ. In these words, inasmuch as the then living disciples could not teach all nations, does the Lord found the office of Preachers in his Church, with all that belongs to it,-the duties of the minister, the school-teacher, the scripture reader. This teaching is not merely the of the gospel-not mere proclamation of the good news-but the whole catechetical office of the Church upon and in the baptized.
] These words imply and set forth the Ascension, the manner of which is not related by our Evangelist.
, I, in the fullest sense: not the Divine Presence, as distinguished from the Humanity of Christ. His Humanity is with us likewise. The vine lives in the branches. Stier remarks (vii. 277) the contrast between this I am with you, and the view of Nicodemus (Joh 3:2) no man can do these miracles-except God be with him.
.] mainly, by the promise of the Father (Luk 24:49) which he has poured out on His Church. But the presence of the Spirit is the effect of the presence of Christ-and the presence of Christ is part of the above-the effect of the well-pleasing of the Father. So that the mystery of His name (with which, as Stier remarks, this Gospel begins and ends) is fulfilled-God is with us. And -all the (appointed) days-for they are numbered by the Father, though by none but Him.
. . .] that time of which they had heard in so many parables, and about which they had asked, ch. Mat 24:3-the completion of the state of time. After that, He will be no more properly speaking with us, but we with Him (Joh 17:24) where He is.
To understand only of the Apostles and their (?) successors, is to destroy the whole force of these most weighty words. Descending even into literal exactness, we may see that , makes into , as soon as they are . The command is to the UNIVERSAL CHURCH-to be performed, in the nature of things, by her ministers and teachers, the manner of appointing which is not here prescribed, but to be learnt in the unfoldings of Providence recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, who by His special ordinance were the founders and first builders of that Church-but whose office, on that very account, precluded the idea of succession or renewal.
That Matthew does not record the fact or manner of the Ascension, is not to be used as a ground for any presumptions regarding the authenticity of the records of it which we possess. The narrative here is suddenly brought to a termination; that in John ends with an express declaration of its incompleteness. What reasons there may have been for the omission, either subjective, in the mind of the author of the Gospel, or objective, in the fragmentary character of the apostolic reports which are here put together, it is wholly out of our power, in this age of the world, to determine. As before remarked, the fact itself is here and elsewhere in this Gospel (see ch. Mat 22:44; Mat 24:30; Mat 25:14; Mat 25:31; Mat 26:64) clearly implied.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 28:20. , them) The disciples had been instructed in order that they might instruct others.-, to observe, to keep) as it becomes the baptized to do by virtue of faith, not merely as a legal performance. John often speaks thus. This verb deserves especial attention, from its occurrence in this solemn place.-, I have commanded) These commandments are to be found in Matthew 5; John 15 etc.- , with you) even when you shall be scattered apart through the whole world. This promise belongs also to the whole Church, for our Lord adds, even to the end of the world.- , always) literally, all the days, i.e., every single day. A continual presence, and one most actually present; see Mar 16:17; Mar 16:19-20.[1236]- , unto the end of the world) For then we shall be with the Lord [as He is even now with us]. [To Him, therefore, Reader, commit thyself, and remain in Him; so will it be best for thee in time and in eternity.-B. G. V.]1237]
[1236] Therefore the Christian Church will never entirely expire.-B. G. V.
[1237] Bengel, J. A. (1860). Vol. 1: Gnomon of the New Testament (M. E. Bengel & J. C. F. Steudel, Ed.) (J. Bandinel & A. R. Fausset, Trans.) (403-490). Edinburgh: T&T Clark.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
end of the world
consummation of the age.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
them: Mat 7:24-27, Deu 5:32, Deu 12:32, Act 2:42, Act 20:20, Act 20:21, Act 20:27, 1Co 11:2, 1Co 11:23, 1Co 14:37, Eph 4:11-17, Eph 4:20-32, Col 1:28, 1Th 4:1, 1Th 4:2, 2Th 3:6-12, 1Ti 6:1-4, Tit 2:1-10, 1Pe 2:10-19, 2Pe 1:5-11, 2Pe 3:2, 1Jo 2:3, 1Jo 2:4, 1Jo 3:19-24, Rev 22:14
I am: Mat 1:23, Mat 18:20, Gen 39:2, Gen 39:3, Gen 39:21, Exo 3:12, Jos 1:5, Psa 46:7, Psa 46:11, Isa 8:8-10, Isa 41:10, Mar 16:20, Joh 14:18-23, Act 18:9, Act 18:10, 2Ti 4:17, Rev 22:21
unto: Mat 13:39, Mat 13:40, Mat 13:49, Mat 24:3
Amen: Mat 6:13, 1Ki 1:36, 1Ch 16:36, Psa 72:19, Rev 1:18, Rev 22:20
Reciprocal: Gen 28:15 – I am Exo 3:14 – I AM hath Exo 4:15 – and I Exo 6:29 – speak Exo 7:2 – General Exo 8:27 – as he shall Exo 12:50 – as the Lord Exo 17:10 – Joshua Exo 18:16 – make Exo 18:19 – God shall Exo 18:20 – work Exo 20:24 – in all places Exo 21:1 – which Exo 33:14 – My presence Exo 34:9 – let my Lord Exo 34:11 – Observe Exo 34:32 – he gave Exo 35:29 – the Lord Exo 36:1 – according Exo 38:22 – all that the Lord Exo 39:5 – as the Lord Exo 39:32 – according Exo 39:42 – according Exo 40:16 – according Lev 8:4 – General Lev 10:11 – General Num 1:54 – General Num 9:5 – according Num 20:11 – smote Num 29:40 – General Num 36:10 – General Deu 1:18 – General Deu 4:1 – unto the statutes Deu 4:5 – General Deu 11:32 – General Deu 26:16 – This day Jos 1:8 – observe Jos 6:27 – the Lord Jdg 6:12 – The Lord Jdg 6:16 – General Jdg 13:14 – all that I 1Sa 10:7 – God 1Sa 16:18 – the Lord 1Sa 18:14 – the Lord 1Sa 20:13 – the Lord be 1Ki 8:57 – General 2Ki 18:7 – And the Lord 1Ch 22:11 – the Lord 2Ch 1:1 – the Lord 2Ch 4:4 – three 2Ch 17:3 – the Lord 2Ch 17:9 – the book 2Ch 20:17 – for the Lord Ezr 1:3 – his God Ezr 7:6 – the law Psa 23:4 – for thou Psa 42:5 – for the help Psa 49:1 – inhabitants Psa 65:5 – the confidence Psa 73:23 – Nevertheless Psa 91:15 – I will be Psa 103:18 – remember Psa 119:4 – General Psa 143:10 – Teach Pro 8:1 – General Son 6:2 – gone Son 7:5 – the king Son 8:13 – dwellest Isa 4:5 – upon every Isa 8:10 – for God Isa 41:4 – with the Isa 62:12 – not Isa 66:22 – so shall Jer 1:7 – for thou shalt Jer 1:8 – for I am Jer 11:4 – Obey Jer 26:2 – all the words Jer 28:6 – Amen Jer 30:11 – I am Jer 42:11 – for I Jer 43:1 – all the words Jer 46:28 – for I am Eze 2:7 – thou Eze 34:30 – General Eze 43:7 – where I Eze 43:11 – and do Eze 44:5 – concerning Eze 46:10 – General Dan 11:33 – understand Amo 5:14 – and so Mic 4:2 – for Hag 1:13 – I am Zec 2:10 – and I Zec 9:14 – seen Zec 10:5 – because Mat 5:19 – do Mat 11:1 – commanding Mat 11:29 – and learn Mat 23:34 – I send Mat 26:11 – but Mat 26:29 – until Luk 14:23 – Go Luk 24:53 – Amen Joh 3:13 – even Joh 13:1 – unto Joh 14:16 – abide Act 10:42 – he commanded Act 15:35 – teaching Act 23:11 – the Lord Rom 9:5 – Amen Rom 15:33 – be Rom 16:26 – according 1Co 5:4 – when 1Co 14:16 – Amen 1Co 16:24 – Amen 2Co 12:9 – the power 2Co 13:14 – Amen Gal 1:5 – Amen Gal 3:27 – as many Eph 6:24 – Amen Phi 4:9 – with Phi 4:20 – Amen 2Th 3:4 – that 2Th 3:16 – The Lord be 1Ti 1:17 – Amen 1Ti 5:21 – that 1Ti 6:3 – the words 2Ti 4:22 – The Lord Tit 2:12 – Teaching Heb 13:21 – Amen Jam 1:22 – be 2Pe 3:18 – Amen Rev 2:1 – walketh Rev 12:17 – which Rev 19:4 – Amen
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE PRESENCE OF THE RISEN LORD
Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
Mat 28:20
I. The presence of Christ as our priest.Christ is present with us as our Priest. In dark and troublesome days, when persecution and disaster threatened the infant Church, St. John saw Him in vision at Patmos. Clothed in the vesture of the priest of old He was seen moving amongst the lamps of the sanctuary to light, to feed, and to trim their flame. Christ is still with His Church as its Priest, to light human souls, to feed them with His grace, to cleanse them from all that hinders their clear and bright shining as His light-bearers. Our Risen Lord is ever present with us to keep the lamp of His Church and of its members bright and clear even in the days when the thickest mists threatened to hide it and the angry gusts of stormy winds seemed likely to put it out.
II. The presence of Christ as our prophet.Christ is present as our Prophet. The Risen Christ appeared to the disciples on the way to Emmaus, and went with them. Our Lord Himself is the interpreter to His Church. He will show us in His own way and in His own time that all the teachings of science, and all the discoveries of research, and all the changing lights of the twentieth century will only in the long run illuminate and verify that wonderful Book, the older part of which was His Bible and His final court of appeal.
III. The presence of Christ as our king.Christ is present as our King. On the shore of the Sea of Galilee the Risen Lord had fed and revived the seven fishermen. He had restored St. Peter to the apostleship. He was slowly climbing the rough and narrow path that led from the shore to the top of the cliff. His disciples were following. And, pointing to St. John as they go, St. Peter asks: Lord, and what shall this man do? And He replied: If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou Me. If I will. He tells us that He controls the future, that nothing happens but what He wills. He directs alike the course of nations, the destinies of His Church, the steps of His servants. Without His Will nothing can happen to them or to us. In His Will is our peace. In such a transition age as ours we may be looking with anxiety into the future of (a) our Church, (b) our country, and (c) ourselves. He would have us take no anxious thought for the morrow. The Lord sitteth upon the water-floods. Christ is with us, as well as for us and in us, and His Presence is our birthright and the secret of our strength, our hope, and our peace.
Bishop F. J. Chavasse.
Illustration
I have to do with its personal application; and from this point of view let me ask you to notice that it adds to the simplicity, and therefore the beauty of the power of Christs undertaking, that He will always be with us (if we translate that word as it is, more literally) all the days. Lo, I am with you all the days to the end of the world. All the dark days, and all the bright days. Joys come by days, and sorrows come by days. Life is only so many days, till eternity come, in which there will be no days. But just as the needs come day by day, so the sympathies come, and the voices come, and the hand comes, and the cheer comes,the little destined time, all the days. Lo, I am with you all the days to the end of the age. Amen. And I know nothing which can make life so good and pleasant, and death so little a thing to die as this. And when those short days of life and health are past, it will be only as the scattering of a mist or the lifting of a veilThe Presence of faith will be the Presence of sight, and that Presence will be Heaven!
(SECOND OUTLINE)
CHRISTS PROMISE
Archbishop Magee said of this text that the whole life, history, and character of the Church are summed up in it. To the eleven apostles these words brought the comfort of the hope of the Lords abiding Presence. They were a final and conclusive attestation of His Divinity. We know, from nineteen centuries experience, how in the power of His risen life, Christ lives and worksEmmanuel, God with us.
I. The full extension of the promise.It is a stream which runs unbroken to futurity, and it is an effective presence now making for our great nations righteousness. May we seek to draw the bonds of Church and nation closer still, seeking that the promised Christ may more and more shine through the Church into the nations life.
II. Let us look onward.We make to-day what with His presence in her still the Church shall be. It is easy to look backso hard to prophesy, but the true guarantee of prayers is the promise of Christ. With whatever change the future comes, let us cling to these principles:
(1) The Church must first of all be spiritual.
(2) The Church must ever be the keeper of Holy Writ, which is the only standard of true righteousness.
(3) We must reverence His Day.
III. May each of us go forth to his work assured that Christ is in the midst of us, the Head, the King, the Ruler of His Church, and that His Presence may be in every one of us.
Bishop Creighton.
(THIRD OUTLINE)
A FIXED AXIOM OF LIFE
To none whom we have known was it ever given to say, I am with you alway. The contrasts of this world are essential to the setting forth of the eternity of the resurrection-life of Christ and the value of His abiding Presence.
I. I am with you.He spake these words after He had Himself passed through Death, after He had proved and tasted the bitterness of separation. But some will say, Oh! that that Presence were but visible! It requires strong exercise of faith; that other sense added to the natural facultiesa gift of Godto be prayed for and cherished. But that invisible Presence once apprehended, it is more real, more precious than a visible. For a visible must come and go, as Christ did in the flesh. But now, always and everywhere, we carry it along with us. After our Lords resurrection He never once showed Himself, or uttered a single word, to unbelievers; all that He said and did was for believers only.
II. All the days.But observe the full meaning of the words more literally rendered. Lo, I am with you all the days, unto the consummation of the age. What force and beauty there is in those words, all the days. They convey that before the mind of the Speaker all the days lay ranged in order, to the end of time. He saw The Changeless Presence in the midst of the changeable and changingthat constant, lasting Presence. We are always stepping out into an unknown future; but the foot cannot fall outside the Presence of Jesus.
III. The promise.The Promise as a twofold application.
(a) It applies to us when we are assembled together (as His people, in His appointed Place) on the Lords Day. How should you and I be encouraged, at this very moment, to pray or praise, to preach or hear, if we realised that Jesus was actually in our midst! And yet this is Gods own truth, and everything that questions it a lie (St. Mat 18:20).
(b) The undertaking is not for one day (nor for a congregation only): it is for all the days (and for each individual). Now, conceive that you carry about with you every day the actual sense of the nearness, the compassion, the co-operation of Christ. What a perfected existence would you be leading from that moment! What a path of life would stretch on before you up to the realms of glory! Where, then, would be solitude? Where suffering, weakness, fear, or death? Did ever living thing suffer or die, when He was not near?
If you have not the feeling of His Presence, then, whatever else you may have, life is still a failure and a blank. Let it be a fixed axiom of life, Christ is with me everywhere.
The Rev. J. Vaughan.
Illustration
Of all the common mistakes upon this subject of Christs Presence with His Church, the greatest is that of thinking it is something quite different from His Presence with His Disciples of old, and with His Redeemed hereafter. The only difference is in the manner of the Presence. When you come to meet your Lord in Holy Communion you come to meet the self-same Christ who taught those two Disciples on the road to Emmaus, Who discoursed to the Apostles on the night before He suffered. Who raised up Lazarus from the dead. When you come to meet your Lord at His Altar, you come to meet the same Christ who is now the joy of Saints at rest, and who will be the eternal joy of the Saints in Glory. The only difference is in the manner of the Presence. But the Person is the same, and exactly as Christs heavenly Presence will be all in all to Saints in Glory, so from out of His Sacramental Presence to us now there flows a complete supply of everything needful to illuminate our path while militant on earth. I do not say that Christs Sacramental Presence gives to us now all that it will give to the members of the Church Triumphant. But it gives us all that we are capable of receiving. It gives us all that our present state and condition admit of our receiving. It gives all that our present circumstances require.
(FOURTH OUTLINE)
ALIVE FOR EVERMORE
No empty grave? No universal Comforter? If the story of the empty tomb and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a fable, then we are of all men most miserable: but if it be true, then it has been a wondrous gain to the whole world.
I. An incentive to Christian work.The words which the risen Christ left with those few helpless disciples of His, Lo, I am with you alway, have become the grand incentive for all great Christian work. How comes it that poor men, and weak men, and helpless women have had some mysterious power given to them whereby they were able to stand fearless and courageous while the lions met them in the open arena, and that they could stand and smile while the fires were lit about their burning feet? The secret of this matter is told us in our text. The risen Saviour has promised to go with His disciples whereer they might find themselves, and be with them.
II. Christianity centres in a person.The genius of Christianity which has turned the world upside down is a Personality, a presence, a very real presence, unseen to the eye of the world, but blessedly real and eternally beautiful. There is no excuse for us when we give way to temptation, because He says that with every temptation He has provided the way to escape, and we have to look to Him, and not to ourselves, to help us. We are all of us blind by nature. Are we ready to be led by the Great Guide? He is not going to drive us: He is going to lead us. Lo, I am with you alway. The Eternal Son of God is going to be our Friend. How can we know what Christ commands? Only by reading His Word and praying to Him to make it come true in our experience.
III. Christianity builds character.Character is better than knowledge. The Christian religion makes for principles, and principles are better than traditions. We shall be judged by our character, by our principles, we shall be judged here and there too more by what we are than what we profess, more by what we do than what we say, just as the world is our jury now and sums us up more by our actions than our profession. So Christianity teaches us that He comes hour by hour to put things right, and to square our character with the commands of His Word, to bring us up to that high standard of perfection without which we can never hope to see God.
The Rev. A. J. Poynder.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
8:20
Teaching is from DIDASKO and means to instruct in general. The ones to be instructed were those that Christ had commanded. In order that no mistake would be made, the Comforter (Holy Spirit) was to be sent to “bring all things to their remembrance” (Joh 14:26). I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. The .authority of the apostles was to be in force to the end of the world. Christ is not with them in person any more than he is with all Christians in person. But the words of the apostles are written in the New Testament and they are as binding on us now as if they were here in person and as if Jesus also had remained on earth in person. So there can be no successors to the apostles in this world because they are still in their own proper place of authority under Christ and will be until the end.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 28:20. Teaching them. This teaching is a continued process, which partly precedes and partly follows baptism. As the eleven Apostles and their companions could not do all this, we find here the institution of a continuous baptizing and teaching. That this involved an office, arises not only from the necessity of the case, but from the fact that the Apostles are addressed primarily, though not exclusively.
All things whatsoever I commanded you. The doctrines and precepts of Christ, nothing less and nothing more, are the proper subjects of Christian faith and practice. In these, however, are included the Old Testament which He repeatedly confirms, and the further revelations He made to those personally commanded by Him, including the Apostle Paul.
And, lo. To encourage them.
I am with you. A proof of Christs Divinity. By His Providence, His Spirit, His life; for the idea of vital union with Him had already been declared (Joh 14:20; Joh 15:5; Joh 16:22). The simple language of the passage, as well as the facts of Christian history, forbid our limiting this promise to one set of men, claiming to be successors of the Apostles. There is, of course, involved a special promise to those engaged in the fulfilling of the previous command. The Apostles, the organizers of the Church, arranged about the appointment of those who should perform this service. But in their peculiar office they could have no successors, and in the organization of the Church they were governed not so much by formal rules as by the exigencies of the case. The promise of Christs abiding presence is to His people as individuals constituting a whole, those in responsible stations receiving special grace only as they have special needs which they present on the plea of this promise.
Alway. Literally: all the days. Never absent a single day, however dark, until the last when He shall come again.
Unto the end of the world. This does not set a term to Christs presence, but to His invisible and temporal presence, which will be exchanged for His visible and eternal presence at His coming. Now Christ is with us; then, when He shall appear in glory, we shall be with Him where He is (1Jn 3:2). The fact of the Ascension is clearly implied here, as well as in other passages of this Gospel, as chap. Mat 22:44; Mat 24:30; Mat 25:14; Mat 25:31; Mat 26:64. The word Amen was added afterwards. The Gospel does not end abruptly, but appropriately; simply and yet majestically. Evidently this interview is recorded by the Evangelist, as implying the institution of the Christian Church, distinct from Judaism,an important point for readers of Jewish origin. If men now seek for the Apostolic Church, let them remember Christs words as recorded by an Apostle: and they will find it where Christ is. This glorious fact of the unbroken succession of Christs life through all ages of Christendom is the true doctrine of the Apostolic succession, and is not only an irresistible evidence of Christianity, but an unfailing source of strength and encouragement to the believer.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Mat 28:20. Teaching them to observe all things, &c. Here we have, 1st, The duty of the apostles and ministers of Christ, which is, to teach his disciples to observe all things that he has commanded; that is, they must instruct them in all the doctrines and precepts taught by Christ, and inculcate upon them the necessity of understanding and believing the former, and obeying the latter; and must assist them in applying Christs general commands to particular cases. They must teach them, not their own or any mans fancies and inventions, but the truths and institutions of Christ; to them they must religiously adhere, and in the knowledge of them must train up his followers. As Christ does not here command any thing to be taught which he himself had not taught, we may infer that every thing fundamental and essential to salvation may be found in the gospels, and that even the apostles themselves had not a right to teach any thing as necessary to salvation which Christ himself had not asserted to be Song of Solomon 2 d, The duty of Christs disciples, of all that are dedicated to him in baptism; they must observe all things whatsoever that he has commanded, and in order thereto, must submit to the teaching of those whom he sends. Our admission into the visible church is in order to something further; namely, our being prepared for and employed in his service. By our baptism we are obliged, 1st, To make the doctrines of Christ the rule of our faith, and his commands the directory of our practice. We are under the law to Christ, and must obey, and in all our obedience must have an eye to the command, and do what we do as unto the Lord. 2d, To observe all things that he hath commanded without exception; all the moral duties, and all the instituted ordinances. Our obedience to the laws of Christ is not sincere if it be not universal; we must stand complete in his whole will. And, lo, I am with you alway Here our Lord gives his apostles, and all the ministers of his gospel, truly sent by him, an assurance of his spiritual presence with them in the execution of this commission unto the end of time; and this exceeding great and precious promise he ushers in with , Lo! or behold! to strengthen their faith and engage their regard to it. As if he had said, Take notice of this; it is what you may assure yourselves of and rely upon. I am with you; I, the eternal Son of God; I, who have the angels at my command, and make the devils tremble by my frown; I, who in your sight have caused the storms to cease, the blind to see, the lame to walk, the dead to rise, only with the word of my mouth; I, who have all power in heaven and earth committed to me am with you; not, I will be with you, but, I am with you, and that alway, Gr. , all the days, or every day: Wheresoever you are, and whensoever you do any thing toward the executing of the commission which I have given you, I am with you in the doing of it, and that too to the very end of the world: that is, so long as I have a church upon earth, which shall be till my coming again to judge the world, all this while I promise to be with you, and consequently as long as the world shall last. Bishop Beveridge, On Christs Presence with his Ministers. Some would translate , until the conclusion of the age; understanding by the expression the dissolution of the Jewish state. But as Christs presence with his surviving apostles and other ministers was as necessary after the destruction of Jerusalem, and the overthrow of the Jewish commonwealth, as before these events, nothing can be more unreasonable than to limit these words by such an interpretation. Nor indeed can they with any propriety be interpreted in any other than the most extensive sense; the influence of Christs Spirit being essentially necessary to the success of the gospel in every age and nation; and our Lord, in the last discourse which he delivered to his disciples before his passion, having graciously promised it, saying, I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter to abide with you; , for ever. Our Lord could not mean that this other Comforter should abide merely with the persons to whom he then spoke, they being to die quickly: but that he should abide with them during their lives, and with their successors afterward; or with them and all the ministers of the gospel in the several ages of the church; with all to whom this commission extends; with all, that, being duly called and sent, thus baptize and thus teach. When the end of the world is come, and the kingdom is delivered up to God even the Father, there will then be no further need of ministers and their ministration; but till then they shall continue, and the great intentions of the institution shall be answered. This is a most encouraging word to all the faithful ministers of Christ; that what was said to the apostles was, and is, said to them all. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. May this gracious promise cause us to gird up the loins of our minds, and increase our zeal, fervour, and diligence; inducing us to account no labour too great, no service too much, no suffering too severe, so that we may but finish our course with joy, and fulfil the ministry we are engaged in!
Two solemn farewells we find our Lord Jesus giving to his church; and his parting word at both of them is very encouraging; one was here, when he closed up his personal converse with them, and then his parting word was, Lo, I am with you alway; I leave you, yet still I am with you. The other was, when he closed up the canon of the Scripture by the pen of his beloved disciple, and then his parting word was, Surely I come quickly. I leave you for awhile, but I will be with you again shortly, Rev 22:20. By this it appears that his love to his church continues the same, though she is deprived of his visible and bodily presence; and that it is his will we should maintain both our communion with him, and our expectation of him. The word amen, with which this gospel concludes, is wanting in four MSS., and in the Vulgate, Coptic, and Armenian versions. It is probable, however, that it was inserted by the evangelist, not only as an intimation of the conclusion of his book, but as an asseveration of the certain truth of the things contained in it. And, considering the connection of the word with the preceding promise, which was undoubtedly the greatest strength and joy of St. Matthews heart: it is very natural, says Dr. Doddridge, to suppose that it has some such reference as this to that promise: Amen! blessed Jesus, so may it indeed be; and may this important promise be fulfilled to us and to our successors to the remotest ages, in its full extent! St. John uses the like term in more express language, in the last verse but one of the Revelation: Surely I come quickly, Amen! Even so come, Lord Jesus.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you {g} alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen.
(g) Forever: and this refers to the manner of the presence of his Spirit, by means of which he makes us partakers both of himself and of all his benefits, even though he is absent from us in body.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Discipling also involves teaching followers everything Jesus commanded His disciples. Notice that the content is not the Old Testament law but Jesus’ commands. This does not mean that the Old Testament is unimportant. Jesus validated the whole Old Testament during His ministry (Mat 5:17-20). However the focus now becomes Jesus as the source of revelation rather than secondary sources such as the Old Testament prophets (cf. Heb 1:1-4). Likewise the revelation of the rest of the New Testament came through Jesus and is therefore also authoritative (Act 1:1-2). All of this teaching remains authoritative forever (Mat 24:35).
Disciples must not just understand what Jesus has commanded, as foundational as that is. They must also obey it.
". . . Matthew uses this command to weave the final thread of his argument. The purpose of his Gospel was to prove to Israel that Jesus is the Messiah. The inquiring Jew would ask, ’If Jesus is our King, where is our kingdom?’ Matthew has indicated that the kingdom was offered to Israel, rejected by them, and postponed by God. At the present time and until the end of the tribulation the kingdom is being offered to the Gentiles (Romans 11). Therefore, the disciples are to disciple all nations. At the end of the age the kingdom of Israel will be inaugurated by the return of Israel’s King." [Note: Toussaint, Behold the . . ., p. 319.]
This Gospel ends not with a command but with a promise, or rather a fact. Jesus will be with His disciples as they carry out His will. This is His great commitment. Immanuel is still God with us (Mat 1:23; cf. Mat 18:20). The expression "to the end of the age" (Gr. pasas tes hemeras) literally means "the whole of every day." [Note: Moule, p. 34.] Jesus promised to be with us every day forever. It does not mean He will cease being with us when the present age ends and the messianic kingdom begins. Throughout the present age (Gr. sunteleias tou aiovos) Jesus’ disciples are to carry out His Great Commission. [Note: See D. Edmond Hiebert, "An Expository Study of Mat 28:16-20," Bibliotheca Sacra 149:595 (July-September 1992):338-54; and L. Legrand, "The Missionary Command of the Risen Lord Mat 28:16-20," Indian Theological Studies 24:1 (March 1987):5-28.]
Jesus began each of the preceding major sections of Matthew’s Gospel with ministry and concluded each with teaching. However in this one He concluded with a command that His disciples continue His ministry and teaching. Thus the book closes with the sense that the ministry and teaching of Jesus are ongoing.