The Living Lord

GOLDEN TEXT: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” —John 11:25

MATTHEW 28:1-10, 16-20

ONE of the very significant statements Jesus made to his disciples after his resurrection, when by appointment, he met with them in a Galilean mountain was, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Prior to his crucifixion he did not possess “all power.” True, he had healed the sick and raised the dead, but he did this through the power of his Heavenly Father.

But now it was different. He had been “sown” in the “weakness” of his human body, but had been raised in the “power” of the divine nature. He was now a life-giving Spirit. (I Cor. 15:43-47) After his resurrection, Jesus possessed the needed power to accomplish all the wonderful things which had been foretold concerning him by the prophets, including the raising of the dead. Many of these promises await the time of Christ’s mediatorial reign for their fulfillment.

But the disciples almost immediately came in contact with the “all power” characteristics of the resurrected Jesus. The fact that he could appear to them seemingly from nowhere, would impress upon them how vastly different he now was from the Jesus with whom they had been associated. He sent word to them to go into Galilee, that he would meet them there, and he did; but where was he meanwhile? They did not know!

Jesus was now “born” of the Spirit, and was able to go and to come as the wind, just as he had explained would be possible with those who attain the Spirit birth. All of his appearances to them after his resurrection were of this sort. Previously, he had stated that in a little while the world would see him no more. But to his disciples he said, “Ye [shall] see me: because I live, ye shall live.” (John 14:19) Now they were enjoying a partial fulfillment of this promise.

The complete fulfillment of this promise will be experienced by the Spirit-born disciples who, in the “first resurrection,” are made like him. The Apostle John wrote, “It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”—I John 3:2

Also of importance to us in considering the account of Jesus’ resurrection and of his first contacts with his disciples thereafter are the instructions to them, “Go quickly, and tell.” These were the words spoken by the angel to the women who were early at the tomb. They departed in haste to fulfill this commission, and Jesus met them. They paused to worship him, but he reminded them of their commission, saying, “Go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.”

Jesus’ brethren went into Galilee “into a mountain where he had appointed them,” and there he appeared. To his disciples Jesus then said, “Go ye, … and teach all nations.” Thus three times in this one brief account we are reminded that while it is a glorious thing to rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus, and to meditate upon all that it means of hope for us and for the world, there is something more than this to be done about it.

We are to “go quickly, … and tell.” The women were instructed to bear the glad tidings of the resurrected Christ to his brethren and they, in turn, were commissioned to tell it out among all the nations. This commission has never been revoked.

Jesus did not mean that all the people in every nation would become his disciples. His commission to go to all nations was intended, rather, to remove the limitation which previously he had placed upon the ministry of the disciples when he said, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”—Matt. 10:5,6

Jesus knew that actually the disciples would not be prepared to begin their missionary work until they received the Holy Spirit, which they did at Pentecost. Just prior to this, and on the occasion when he appeared to them for the last time before he returned to his Heavenly Father, this commission was renewed, with the further detail that they were to begin at Jerusalem. (Acts 1:1-12) If they began their work at Jerusalem, he knew that in the ordinary course of events when they later reached the Gentiles, it would be the “due time” for them to hear.

Our Golden Text reminds us that because Jesus was raised from the dead there is a hope of life for all. “Though he were dead, yet shall he live [in the resurrection].” “And whosoever liveth [in the resurrection] and believeth in me shall never die.”—John 11:25,26

QUESTIONS

Explain the importance of Jesus’ statement, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”

When will we see Jesus as he is?

What important command did the disciples receive from Jesus after his resurrection?

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