Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Matthew
Chapter 28: He Is Risen, as He Said
Matthew 28 is the triumphant close of the Gospel: the empty tomb and the risen Lord. At dawn on the first day of the week, an angel rolls back the stone, and the women hear the greatest news ever spoken: 'He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.' The risen Jesus meets them, and they hold His feet and worship Him. The guards are bribed to spread a lie, that the disciples stole the body, but the truth cannot be buried. Then, on a mountain in Galilee, the eleven see Him and worship, and Jesus gives the Great Commission: 'All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' He seals it with a promise that answers the name Immanuel with which the Gospel began: 'lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.' The chapter proclaims the risen Christ, sends the church into all the world, and assures us of His abiding presence to the end.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Matthew chapter 28, the final chapter. For each section you will find the KJV text, word studies that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Here Jesus rises from the dead, the guards are bribed to lie, and the risen Lord sends His church into all the world. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
He Is Risen
The angel rolls back the stone; the risen Jesus meets the women.
They Bribed the Guards
The rulers pay to spread a false report, but truth cannot be buried.
Go Ye Therefore
All power is His; the church is sent to all nations to make disciples.
I Am with You Alway
Immanuel, God with us, promises His presence to the end of the world.
He Is Not Here: For He Is Risen (Matthew 28:1-10)
At dawn the stone is rolled away, the angel proclaims the resurrection, and the risen Lord meets the women who came to His grave.
Come, See the Place Where the Lord Lay
"In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me."
Word Study
"he is risen," Greek egerthe (ἠγέρθη). The verb is passive in form, "he was raised", and aorist, pointing to a completed, once-for-all event. The resurrection is not a fable or a feeling but a fact accomplished at a point in history: God raised Jesus from the dead. The angel adds "as he said", it happened exactly as Jesus had repeatedly foretold, proving His every word true. The empty tomb is the Father's public "Amen" to the finished work of the cross, the receipt that the ransom was paid in full and death is conquered.
Explanation
At dawn the earth quakes, an angel rolls back the stone -- not to let Jesus out but to let the witnesses in -- and the guards fall as dead men. "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said" is the hinge of history: the crucified Christ is alive. The women, told to go quickly and tell, run with "fear and great joy," and Jesus Himself meets them with "All hail," letting them hold His feet and worship Him. The resurrection is not a rumor to be argued but a living Lord to be embraced, and the first heralds of it are the faithful women who came to a grave and found a King.
Gospel Focus
This is the hinge of history and the foundation of our faith. The women come "to see the sepulchre" in grief, expecting only a sealed grave, but God has other plans. "A great earthquake" and "the angel of the Lord" announce that heaven has broken into the tomb. The mighty Roman guard, set to keep Christ in, "became as dead men" before the glory of one angel, while the angel speaks tender comfort to the trembling women: "Fear not ye." Then come the words that changed the world: "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said." The tomb is empty, not because the body was stolen, but because death could not hold the Author of life. And the invitation, "Come, see the place where the Lord lay", the evidence is open to inspection; the grave is vacant. The resurrection is the proof that the cross worked. Had Jesus stayed dead, He would have been just another martyr, and our sins would still be on us; but "he is risen," and His rising declares that sin is paid for, death is defeated, and He is all He claimed to be. Then the risen Lord Himself meets the women on the road with a simple, glorious greeting, "All hail," and they fall and "held him by the feet, and worshipped him." Note this: they worshiped Him, and He received it, for He is God, now risen in glory. He calls the disciples who had forsaken Him "my brethren", grace beyond all deserving, restoring the very ones who failed Him. The first heralds of the resurrection are these faithful women, sent to tell the good news. And that good news is for us: Christ is risen, our debt is paid, death is beaten, and the risen Lord meets and restores His failing people still.
Say Ye, His Disciples Came by Night (Matthew 28:11-15)
Faced with the empty tomb, the rulers do not repent but pay to bury the truth under a lie.
They Took the Money, and Did as They Were Taught
"Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day."
Word Study
"stole him away," Greek eklepsan (ἔκλεψαν). The rulers invent the theory that the disciples "stole" the body, and pay "large money" to spread it. But the story collapses on itself: the soldiers were to say the theft happened "while we slept", yet sleeping men could not witness who took the body. Frightened, scattered disciples could not have overpowered a Roman guard and moved a sealed stone. The very lie the enemies of the resurrection had to concoct testifies that the tomb was truly empty; they could not deny the empty grave, only try to explain it away. Unbelief does not lack evidence; it suppresses it.
Explanation
While the women carry the good news, the guards carry the truth to the priests -- who respond not with faith but with a bribe, paying the soldiers to say the disciples stole the body while they slept. The lie is self-defeating (sleeping men cannot testify to a theft) yet it reveals the hardness of unbelief: confronted with the very witnesses of the empty tomb, the leaders choose deception over repentance. Evidence alone does not save; the same fact that fills the women with joy is buried by the priests under a purchased story. Men believe or refuse not for lack of proof but by the bent of the heart.
Gospel Focus
Set side by side, the two groups who left the tomb tell the whole story of how people respond to Christ risen. The women depart "with fear and great joy" to proclaim the truth. The soldiers report the facts to the chief priests, and the rulers, confronted with undeniable evidence, harden rather than repent. They had watched Jesus do mighty works and had plotted His death; now, hearing "all the things that were done," they do not fall on their knees but reach for their purse, giving "large money unto the soldiers" to spread a lie. Consider how telling this is. These men had the best access to the evidence: their own guard, their own seal, the empty tomb. If anyone could have produced the body of Jesus and ended Christianity in a day, it was they. Instead they pay to circulate a story so weak it refutes itself, that sleeping guards saw the disciples steal the body. Their response exposes the true nature of unbelief: it is not finally a problem of insufficient proof but of an unwilling heart. Men do not reject the risen Christ because the evidence is lacking, but because they love their sin, their position, their pride, more than the truth. The rulers' bribe is a warning to every generation, for "this saying is commonly reported... until this day", the same tired attempts to explain away the empty tomb still circulate. But no lie has ever accounted for the transformed disciples, the empty grave, the birth of the church, and the millions who have met the living Christ. The question this passage presses is not whether the evidence is enough, but whether you are willing to bow. Will you, like the women, run to worship, or, like the rulers, harden your heart and pay to keep the truth at bay?
Go Ye Therefore, and Teach All Nations (Matthew 28:16-20)
With all authority in heaven and earth, the risen Lord sends His church to make disciples of every nation, and promises His presence to the end.
Lo, I Am with You Alway
"Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 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."
Word Study
"in the name," Greek eis to onoma (εἰς τὸ ὄνομα). The word "name" here is singular, "the name," not "the names." Jesus does not command baptism in three names but in the one "name" of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. What is that one name? The apostles, who heard this command, answer it in the book of Acts: they baptized "in the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts 2:38), "in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 8:16; 19:5; 10:48). Jesus is the name in which the Father is revealed, for Jesus means "Yahweh saves" and the Son came "in my Father's name" (John 5:43); Jesus is the name of the Son; and the Holy Ghost is sent "in my name" (John 14:26). The one saving name of the one God is JESUS.
Explanation
The risen Christ claims total authority -- "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" -- and on that basis sends His church to disciple all nations, baptizing and teaching. He commands baptism "in the name" -- singular -- "of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost": one name for the one God revealed in these manifestations, the name the apostles knew and invoked as "the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts 2:38), "for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." The Gospel that opened with "Emmanuel, God with us" (1:23) closes with His pledge, "lo, I am with you alway" -- the same divine presence, now poured out by the Spirit, never to leave His people until the end of the world.
Gospel Focus
The Gospel that opened with "Immanuel... God with us" closes with the risen Christ commanding His church and promising, "I am with you alway." The eleven meet Him on the mountain and "worshipped him", the only right response to the risen Lord, though even here Matthew honestly notes "but some doubted," reminding us that worship and lingering doubt can wrestle in the same heart until faith is confirmed. Then Jesus speaks with the voice of God: "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." The crucified One is now the exalted Lord of all, and on the ground of that absolute authority He sends His people out. The Great Commission has four parts held in one command: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations", the mission is to every people on earth; "baptizing them" in the saving name; "teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded"; and the promise, "lo, I am with you alway." Here is the marching order of the church until He comes. And here is the pattern of how disciples are made: they hear the gospel, they are baptized, they are taught to obey Christ. On the baptism, note carefully what Jesus said and what the apostles did. He commanded baptism in "the name", singular, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. The apostles, filled with the Spirit and carrying out this very command, understood that one saving name to be the name of Jesus, and so they baptized every convert "in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:38), and did so throughout the book of Acts. This is not a contradiction of Jesus' words but the fulfillment of them: the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are the one God, and His revealed, saving name is Jesus. To be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ is to obey the Great Commission exactly as the apostles did. And crowning it all is the promise that answers Immanuel: "I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." The One who is present with His people everywhere at once is God Himself. The risen Jesus, Immanuel, God with us, will never leave His church; He goes with us into all the world, to the very end. Go therefore, in His name and His presence, and make disciples of all nations.
Chapter 28 in Review
Matthew 28 crowns the Gospel with the resurrection and the commission. At dawn the angel rolls back the stone and proclaims, "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said," and the risen Jesus meets the women, who "held him by the feet, and worshipped him." The rulers, unable to deny the empty tomb, bribe the guards to spread the lie that the disciples stole the body, exposing that unbelief is a matter of an unwilling heart, not lack of proof. Then on a mountain in Galilee the risen Lord declares, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth," and sends His church: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." And He seals it with the promise that answers the name Immanuel: "lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
For the Apostolic reader this final chapter gathers the whole Gospel into a burning point. The resurrection is the Father's public verdict that the cross succeeded, sin is paid for, death is conquered, and Jesus is all He claimed to be, the Son of God, God come in flesh, now risen and worshiped. The Great Commission is the church's abiding task: to carry the gospel to every nation, to baptize, and to teach obedience to Christ. And Matthew's careful record of the baptismal command, in "the name", singular, of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is fulfilled precisely in what the apostles did: they baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for that one name is the revealed name of the one God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. To be baptized in Jesus' name for the remission of sins, and to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, is the Apostolic obedience to this command. And over the whole mission stands the promise that opened the Gospel and now closes it: Immanuel, God with us, "I am with you alway." The Jesus who was born to save His people from their sins, who died as their ransom and rose in triumph, is the ever-present Lord who goes with His church into all the world. He is risen; He is Lord of all; He is with us to the end. Go, therefore, and make disciples in His name.
- "He is risen": the resurrection is a real, historical event and the proof the cross succeeded (28:6).
- The risen Jesus received worship, for He is God risen in glory (28:9).
- Unbelief suppresses the evidence rather than lacking it; the rulers paid to spread a lie (28:12-13).
- All authority in heaven and earth belongs to the risen Christ (28:18).
- The church is sent to all nations to baptize and teach obedience to Christ (28:19-20).
- Baptism is in the one "name" (singular) of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, which the apostles obeyed by baptizing in the name of Jesus Christ (28:19; Acts 2:38).
- Immanuel's promise: "I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (28:20).
Questions for Reflection
- Does the risen Christ have your worship, as He had the women's?
- Are you willing to bow to the truth, or, like the rulers, to keep it at bay?
- Have you obeyed the Great Commission's call to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ?
- Are you sharing in Christ's mission to make disciples of all nations, trusting His presence "alway"?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. The resurrection accounts: Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8. The importance of the resurrection: Romans 1:4; 1 Corinthians 15:14-20. Apostolic baptism in the name of Jesus: Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5. Jesus the saving name and the Father revealed in Him: Matthew 1:21, 23; John 5:43; 14:9, 26; Colossians 2:9. Christ's abiding presence: Matthew 1:23; 18:20; Hebrews 13:5. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The resurrection and the risen Lord's appearance to the women: Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-11; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-18.
- The bribing of the guards: Matthew 28:11-15.
- The Great Commission and the promise of His presence: Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:44-49; Acts 1:8; 2:38.