Read Matthew 28 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
Mat 28:1-20 makes a Chiastic Structure:
It doesn’t seem at first that 1A and 2A ought to be paired. What does Resurrection have to do with Authority?
God had said to Adam, the first man:
“Let Us make man in our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Gen 1:26
God gave Adam all authority in earth. When Adam rebelled against God, he invited death, which did not exist in creation before, into God’s perfect creation, for God had told him, in the day that he disobeyed Him, he would invite death into the creation (Gen 2:16-17). Adam also abdicated his authority in the earth when he ceased to conduct himself as one under authority. When he bowed the knee to the lying word of the serpent, who is the Devil and Satan (Rev 12:9), he ceded his authority.
Adam’s seed through Mary, the Son of Man, defeated death in the Resurrection. The Son of Man reversed the effect of death by His sinlessness, and therefore all the authority of earth was restored to Him. Furthermore, He gained above the authority which rested with Adam, all authority in heaven also. Because YHVH raised Yeshua from the dead – resurrection – He now exercises all authority in heaven and on earth.
His next instructions to His disciples were, “Go therefore.” What is the ‘therefore’ there for? Yeshua now wields all authority both in heaven and on earth, and therefore has authority to command His disciples to accomplish His work in the earth through them. That work consists of making disciples, and of rescuing and redeeming all the nations who had rebelled against God at Babel, to restore them to Himself. And, He has authority not just to command, but also to provide for the ability to accomplish His work in the earth through them. If we read ahead to Acts 1, we see that Yeshua provided the ability in the Holy Spirit.
Yeshua parted from them with the admonition to observe all things that He had commanded them to do. Obedience to commandments has not passed away (Mat 5:17-19, Mat 7:21-23), despite what some men say. And the last and most important thing to remember:
“Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” Mat 28:20
If there are questions, these are good resources:
Matthew 28:1-20 Expanded Chiasm pdf – Christine Miller
The Book of Matthew Chiastic Structure pdf – Christine Miller
Obedience has not passed away – Christine Miller
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