King of the World
Passage Matthew 28:16-20
Speaker Jeremy Taylor
Service Morning
Series Jesus the King
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16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
This transcript has been automatically generated, and therefore may not be 100% accurate.
Do have please your bibles. Open what we've just heard. Read to us page 1007. Let's pray together.
Paul encouraged Timothy to rightly handle the word of truth. So let's pray this morning that we may rightly handle that word, that it may be truth for us. Amen.
In the last four weeks of this service, through the end of Lent and through Holy Week, through Good Friday and Easter day, we've been following a series about King Jesus. The king on the mountain at the Transfiguration, the king on a donkey riding into Jerusalem, the king on the cross and then the risen king a week ago. And now in these last five verses of Matthew's gospel, we look at the king of the world. Well, that's the title given to it. We might have a bit more to say about that later.
Well, let's look first at verses 16 and 17. Matthew, the great storyteller was a very structured writer. He wrote in ways that held together. So first question is, when did this happen? Well, it happened sometime during the seven weeks from the weekend where Jesus died at the jewish Passover, our Good Friday and Easter, through 50 days.
In Greek that's pentecost. And there's a clue. Till seven weeks later when the Holy Spirit came. And in those seven weeks, the first week, the Sunday, was when the tomb was found empty, when the disciples walked to Emmaus, when Jesus joined the eleven disciples in the upper room, actually ten because Thomas wasn't there. A week later, still in Jerusalem, he appeared again.
And this time Thomas was there.
Then there's three weeks, three to five. They seem to have spent the time in Galilee and that's where our story comes. It's also the time in John chapter 21 of the barbecue on the beach and of Peter being restored. And this story on a mountain in Galilee. We also know from Paul's writings that he met on one occasion 500 disciples.
We don't know when or where or what he said. And there's also this little insight that during those three weeks he met his brother James. His family had rather drawn away from him during his public ministry and rejected him. But Jesus had a one to one with his brother and that led to his brother James becoming the leader of the church in Jerusalem. Wouldn't it have been good to have ear dropped on that?
But we can't.
And then in week six of these seven weeks, the disciples seem to have gone back to Jerusalem because it's there that they had their final meeting with Jesus. And then they go out to the Mount of Olives and then he leaves them to return to heaven. And then ten days later, on the feast of Pentecost, it's when the Holy Spirit came. So do you see where this fits? It's in weeks, three to five of those seven weeks.
And who was there? Well, eleven disciples were there. There had been twelve. But as you know, Judas, having betrayed Jesus, had committed suicide.
And where did this happen? Well, it happened on a mountain in Galilee. We don't know which one specifically, but mountains are always key points in Matthew's gospel. Think of the beginning of Jesus ministry when he preaches the sermon on the. Very good.
At least some of you are awake. Then, as we saw four weeks ago, he met in the middle of his ministry on the mount of transfiguration. And now this final great commissioning of the eleven disciples is also on a mountain. That mountain has overtones, doesn't it? Of Moses meeting with God on a mountain.
In the sermon on the mount, he's showing them the character of the kingdom of God and the lifestyle of its members. On the mount of transfiguration, there's a recognition that he is the Messiah and now he's commissioning them. He had made the arrangements we read in chapter 28, verse ten, that he said to them, don't be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee and there they will see me. That was said to the women who'd been at the tomb.
And so that's exactly what's happening here. Well, what happened on this mountain? Well, if you look at verse 17, youll see that Jesus joined them. It looks as though he came up to them and they were already there. And there are two reactions to them.
Do you see? Some worshipped them. Worshipped him? They were joyful in their response to the risen Lord. I guess they get a gold star for that.
But the others, it says they doubted. Now, this doesn't mean a permanent state of settled disbelief. That's not what the word means. What the word means literally is that they were in two minds. There was a hesitation about it.
There was uncertainty, rather, as Thomas had been. And then a slow, dawning recognition that this was indeed Jesus. There's a pattern of this, isn't there? Mary Magdalene in the garden thought it was the gardener, but it was Jesus. And it was only his voice that made her realise.
Think of the two disciples walking to Emmaus. They walked for some hours talking to this stranger, but it was only when he broke the bread in that familiar action that they recognised him. One of them was his uncle, but he hadn't recognised him till that moment. Think of the disciples on the beach in John 21. They were coming in from the sea and it wasn't until they were right up to him they realised it was Jesus.
Why was there this difficulty in recognising him? I think a psychologist, that's what I was a very long time ago, would call this cognitive dissonance. I'm sure you're all familiar with that means, but in case there's one or two who aren't, what it means is there's a conflict between what they saw and what their basic understanding was. Their basic understanding was that if you died, you stayed dead. Most of us are familiar with that concept, but here was Jesus manifestly alive.
And there's a conflict, there's a cognitive dissonance. And that's why I think they come slowly to their perception that this is really Jesus. James Dunn, who's a pretty good theologian, says this adds historical realism to it. This is how you would expect people to react. I think we can relate to that.
And so we come in verses 18 to 20 to Jesus last words, according to Matthew for his core disciples. And he says four things and theyre all linked by one word. Did you notice it as Val read it to us? What was the word that linked them all? Very good.
Ive seen lots of you spotting it. In each of these four things he uses the word all. So let's pick it apart in that way. First of all, in verse 18, Jesus says to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Now, this kind of authority is a strong theme in Matthew's gospel.
It's what marked out Jesus teaching. The people were amazed their rabbis didn't have authority. They were always, well, maybe this, maybe that Jesus stood out as having authority in his teaching. Think of his miracles where he had authority over illness, over the waves of the sea. Think of his authority to forgive sins.
All show his power and his authority. It was both that he can and that he may. That's what the word means. But he goes even further here. He talks about having authority in heaven and earth.
And he's quoting here from the book of Daniel, chapter seven, verse 14. It says this to him, that's a figure called the son of man, a term that Jesus even used to himself. To him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away. And his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
Well, thats Jesus own description of himself, that he had authority in heaven, on earth. So he is indeed the king of the world. But it's more than that. Remember that Satan had tried to tempt him with the offer of being the king of the world as one of the temptations, a bit like Boris Johnson wanting to be the world king. It's recorded in three biographies.
At least as a child, he saw himself as king of the world. Well, that didn't turn out terribly well, did it? But it's more than that. What does he say? He has authority in heaven and earth.
It isn't just kingdom of the world. That's where our title isn't enough. He is the kingdom of the world. But more than that, he's kingdom of the heaven. And what that means throughout the New Testament is of the whole of the universe and of all the cosmic realms beyond.
Our language rather falls apart here. But if you read throughout the New Testament, it talks about heaven and earth. Earth is this world, we're familiar with it, but heaven is the spiritual realm beyond it. So this is what he's saying. All authority, in a cosmic sense, in a universal sense, is his.
And therefore he says, going on to verse 19, his job for the disciples is that they should go to all nations, the people of all the nations. I think we need. We're used to phrases like that, but we need to see how revolutionary this was. Throughout the Old Testament, they've been looking for a king who would come, a messiah who would reestablish the kingdom of Israel. They were thinking just of the Jews.
That was who the whole of the Old Testament is looking to, just a few exceptions. Daniel had begun to see more than that, hadn't he, in the verse I read to you. And now Jesus is quite specific that his kingdom was not just for the Jews, but for the Gentiles as well. The phrase all people, all nations refers to the Gentiles, and that is what's so new here. And that's who Jesus said they should make disciples from.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, not just converts, not just people who fill a minute welcome card if they haven't run out, but people who will become disciples. And they would show that in two ways. First of all, by being baptised, this would be a public declaration of their faith, a public declaration of their repentance and of their desire to have their old life with its sins washed away. And notice how he says in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I think this is the first hint towards the idea of the trinity that we get in the Bible, that God is Father and Son and Holy Spirit all in one.
And so that carries on right through to baptisms to this very day. But more than that, as well as baptising them, they were to teach them. It's the first word of verse 20 and it's going to be our third point. But what this is saying is that they are to be disciples and it would change their lives. And that's why he goes on to his third all, which is teaching him to observe all I have commanded you.
Beginning of verse 20. These eleven disciples had spent three years with Jesus as his disciples, learning from him, absorbing his ways, experiencing the things he did, his power and his authority. And now these disciples were to become disciplers. They were the people who were going to carry on proclaiming the gospel and baptising and teaching people as they became christians.
It was a model of mission, not of maintenance. We need to remind ourselves this all the time. Churches have a natural inclination to just concern with maintenance, but churches are designed to be concerned with mission, with growth, with new people coming in.
And so our final all, it's in the second half of verse 20, is in the form of a promise. What? A promise? Where he says, I am with you always. Literally, it's two words in the Greek, for all time.
Remember the name he was given in chapter one, verse 23? Emmanuel, which means, God with us. Now it is God with us for all times.
And so it all begins. The final words of Franco Zeffirelli's film about Jesus of Nazareth. And so it all begins. How many disciples were there at this point? Just eleven.
There's an apocryphal story that means it's made up. You mustn't take it too seriously. It goes like this, that when Jesus arrived back at the gates of heaven, there were two archangels there to meet him. And they said, ah, it's good to see you. How did it go?
Did everything go according to plan? Well, yes, he said, well, who have you left in charge to carry on then? Is the emperor going to lead things? No, he said, well, are the generals in the army going to lead things? They'd be good people to keep things going.
No, he said, well, perhaps you've gone for the intellectuals, the people in the universes, and they will affect the sort of all the people. No, he said, well, who have you left? They asked. Well, he said, I just had twelve. And one of them didn't turn out too well.
Just ordinary meh. Fishermen, some of them. One was a collaborator, a tax collector. Others we don't know much about. Well, the angels just raised their eyebrows.
I don't know whether angels have eyebrows, but perhaps they flap their wings a bit.
But that was Jesus plan at that point. This new kingdom was just 1211 people.
Well, what has happened since? Well, you have to see through the great sweep of christian growth in every era and every continent till now. I think the estimate is that there are 2 billion people who reckon themselves christians across the world from eleven to 2 billion and lasting 2000 years. Think of this place. This church has been here or a church has been here on this site for 800 years.
As far as we know. Not all of us remember all of that, but in the last 50 years, that's how long I've been here. We've seen something of what has happened in the last 50 years from this church. I've been doing some research and 20 people have gone out to be ordained from this church and have gone to lead other churches. We've had 13 curates in that time and they've gone on to lead other churches.
Two of them have become bishops, one's being a dean of a cathedral.
We've had people go out as missionaries, I think to twelve countries. That needs a bit more research. But all around the world we have links with churches in every continent. Isn't it lovely when we pray week by week for our gospel contacts throughout the world? That's how it's gone from eleven to 2 billion.
Well, we haven't done all of that, but just our part of it shows how this has grown. And that was Jesus plan. That was his great commission for those disciples. A mixed group, a mixed bag. None very brilliant in any way.
Well, if he can do that with eleven, how more can he do it with us if we'll let him? Let's pray together.
Lord Jesus, we thank you for, for this story of your final commission to your followers. And we see how that worked out throughout history, since and throughout the world. We pray that you would use us as part of that plan. Like them, we're no one special, but we pray that you will use us to make disciples in every nation, in every country, in every street as we do it in your name, amen.