Matthew chapter 28
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The resurrection
1 After the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
2 And there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.
3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.
4 For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men.
5 But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
6 He is not here, for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
7 And go quickly, tell his disciples that he has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you into Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”
8 And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring word to his disciples.
9 And as they went to tell his disciples, Jesus met them, saying, “Greetings.” And they came and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.
10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go, tell my brothers to go into Galilee, and there they will see me.”
The report of the guard
11 Now while they were going, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened.
12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,
13 saying, “Say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept.’
14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him and keep you out of trouble.”
15 So they took the money and did as they were taught, and this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.
The commission
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them.
17 And when they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All jurisdiction1 has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to keep all that I have commanded you. And see, I am with you all the days, even to the end of the age. Amen.”
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1 Note — v. 18, “All jurisdiction has been given to me.” Most English translations render ἐξουσία (exousia) as “authority” or “power,” but the root sense is closer to a legal grant of right: the sanctioned standing to act, decide, and enforce, not mere strength. It is the word used for the authority a governor holds over his province (Luke 20:20), the jurisdiction Pilate claims over Jesus’ case (John 19:10–11), and the delegated right a ruler exercises in a defined domain (Luke 4:6).
“Jurisdiction” recovers that legal texture: not “I am now powerful,” but “I am now the recognized court over the field, in heaven and on earth.” The claim in v. 18 is not raw ability. Jesus already had power. It is right, formally given, with real enforcement. The commission in vv. 19–20 then reads as it should: the disciples are not sent on their own initiative. They go as agents under a grant that now covers all nations.
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