60-75 min Trace the resurrection announcement through the women's witness and Jesus' appearance. Notice Matthew's honesty that some disciples worship while some doubt. Understand the Great Commission as making disciples through going, baptizing, teaching, and living under Jesus' continuing presence. Matthew began with Emmanuel, 'God with us.' It ends with the risen Jesus promising, 'I am with you always.' Between those statements lies the whole Gospel. The final chapter does not give us flawless heroes. Women run from a tomb with fear and joy. Guards become part of a counter-story. Disciples worship, and some doubt. Jesus sends this imperfect community anyway. God has raised the crucified Jesus, all authority belongs to him, and he sends imperfect worshiping disciples to make disciples among all nations with the promise that Emmanuel remains with them to the end of the age. 28:1-10: Fear, Great Joy, and 'Go Tell' Mary Magdalene and the other Mary come to the tomb, encounter the angelic announcement that Jesus has been raised, and are commissioned to tell the disciples. Jesus meets them on the way. Matthew gives women the first resurrection commission despite the limited public status women's testimony often held in that culture. 28:11-15: Competing Stories The guards report what happened, and leaders arrange payment for an alternative explanation. Matthew is candid that the resurrection announcement enters a contested world where events can be narrated differently when interests are at stake. 28:16-17: Worship and Doubt in the Same Group The eleven meet Jesus in Galilee. They worship, 'but some doubted' or hesitated. Matthew does not clean up the disciples before commissioning them. Faithful mission is entrusted to people who still have questions and growing edges. 28:18: All Authority The commission begins with Jesus, not the church: 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.' Mission derives its legitimacy from the risen king and therefore must reflect his character rather than coercive domination. 28:19-20: Make Disciples of All Nations The central command is to make disciples, expressed through going, baptizing in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching people to obey everything Jesus commanded. The promise of presence completes the Gospel: Emmanuel is not a childhood title left behind in chapter 1. Resurrection God's raising of the crucified Jesus from death into transformed embodied life, vindicating him as Lord. Great Commission Jesus' command to make disciples among all nations through going, baptizing, teaching, and obedience under his authority. All nations The universal horizon of Matthew's mission, completing a Gospel deeply rooted in Israel's story and now extending blessing outward. Do not wait to become a flawless disciple before faithfully witnessing to Jesus. Make disciples rather than merely collecting decisions; Jesus includes teaching people to practice his commands. Let mission methods resemble the crucified and risen King whose authority they claim to serve. Carry Matthew's final promise into ordinary obedience: Jesus is with his people in the mission he gives them. Why is the role of the women important in Matthew's resurrection account? What do you make of worship and doubt appearing together in 28:17? How is making disciples larger than evangelistic proclamation alone? How does the final promise connect back to Emmanuel in chapter 1? Do not shame learners who identify with the hesitant disciples. Keep baptismal language Trinitarian and connected to lifelong teaching and obedience. End by tracing Matthew's arc: Abraham and the nations, Emmanuel, kingdom, cross, resurrection, all nations, presence. R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, Matthew 28. Craig S. Keener, A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew 28. Ulrich Luz, Matthew 21-28. Empty tomb, resurrection appearances, worship and doubt, Great Commission, and presence Read Matthew 28 slowly in two translations and mark repeated words, quotations, and narrative transitions. Read the nearest Old Testament texts echoed by the chapter and compare the Synoptic parallels where available. Resurrection and history Matthew presents the resurrection as an event involving an empty tomb and appearances, while also shaping the account theologically. Historical inquiry and theological confession should be distinguished but not artificially separated. The Great Commission The command is to make disciples of all nations by going, baptizing, and teaching obedience. Mission is not merely conversion or cultural domination; it forms communities under Jesus' teaching and presence. What two forms of evidence does Matthew present for resurrection? An empty tomb and appearances of the risen Jesus. What response occurs when the disciples see Jesus? They worship, though some doubt or hesitate. What makes the Great Commission possible? Jesus' universal authority and his promised presence with disciples until the end of the age. The Risen Lord and the Mission to All Nations Write 700 to 900 words synthesizing the resurrection, the commissioning of imperfect disciples, and the promise of Emmanuel to the close of the age in Matthew 28. Analyze the narrative significance of women as the first witnesses and messengers of the resurrection. Reflect on the honest presence of worship and hesitation among the disciples in 28:17. Explain the universal authority of Jesus and how making disciples involves going, baptizing, and teaching obedience. Connect the final promise ("I am with you always") back to Emmanuel in Matthew 1:23. Ensure your pastoral application encourages genuine care and protection for vulnerable people, refusing interpretations that justify abuse or prejudice. Demonstrates deep theological integration across the entire Gospel, combining exegesis, historical sensitivity, and thoughtful pastoral application. Read Matthew 28 as part of the Gospel's developing narrative rather than as an isolated chapter. Where Synoptic parallels exist, differences in wording or placement can illuminate Matthew's theological emphasis without assuming contradiction. R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, discussion of Matthew 28. Donald A. Hagner, Matthew (WBC), relevant section. Share the good news of Jesus' resurrection with someone this week through encouragement, witness, or gracious conversation. Live with the daily confidence that Emmanuel is with you always. Risen Lord, all authority in heaven and on earth belongs to you! Fill us with the joy and courage of the women at the empty tomb. Send us into our neighborhoods and into all nations to make disciples, baptizing and teaching obedience, resting in your promise that you are with us always, even to the end of the age. Amen.