From Easter to Pentecost (The Commission in Matthew - Matthew 28:11-20)

The members and friends of Sligo Presbyterian Church are discussing the time after the resurrection. We meet on Thursday evenings, at 6:30 p.m., to consider passages that deal with the time between Easter and Pentecost. During this series, we’ll consider the following topics:

• April 23 - Easter (Mark 16:1-8; Matthew 28:1-10; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-18)
• April 30 - Two Endings in Mark (Mark 16:9-19)
• May 7 - The Commission in Matthew (Matthew 28:11-20)
• May 14 - Two Appearances in Luke (Luke 24:13-49)
• May 21 - The Coming of the Spirit in John (John 20:19-31)
• May 28 - The Commission in John (John 21:1-25)
• June 4 - From the Ascension to the Spirit in Luke and Acts (Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:1-26)

In our third session, we looked at the commission in Matthew (Matthew 28:11-20). The discussion and passages are below.

Matthew 28:11-15 [New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition]

While they were going, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened. After the priests had assembled with the elders, they devised a plan to give a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, "You must say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.' If this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story is still told among the Jews to this day.

Matthew 28:16-20 [My own translation]

And the eleven disciples went into Galilee, onto the mountain to which Jesus directed them. And after they saw him, they knelt before him, but they doubted. And Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and upon earth was given to me. When you go, disciple all nations by baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and the Holy Spirit, and by teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And behold, I myself am with you all the days until the completion of the age.”