Matthew 28: The Great Commission

Matthew 28:16-20 is the most preached Great Commission text in modern evangelicalism. Most of the preaching skips verse 17 — "but some doubted." That detail changes the sermon.

Historical context

The chapter closes Matthew's gospel. After the resurrection narrative (vv. 1-15), the disciples meet Jesus on a mountain in Galilee for what has been called the Great Commission (vv. 16-20). Matthew's gospel began with Jesus as "Emmanuel, God with us" (1:23); it ends with "I am with you always" (28:20). The bookends are intentional.

Three sermon arc options

• Empty tomb to Great Commission. Walk the whole chapter as one unit. The empty tomb (1-15) → meeting on the mountain (16-17) → commission (18-20). The resurrection makes the mission possible; without 1-15, there is no 18-20.
• Three verbs of the Commission. 18:18-20. Go (or "as you go"), make disciples, baptizing, teaching. The verbs of the Commission. Most sermons emphasize "go"; the main verb in Greek is "make disciples." Adjust the emphasis accordingly.
• "But some doubted". Verse 17. Matthew tells the truth about the first witnesses. The mission goes forward through doubting disciples — a pastoral comfort. The doubter is also commissioned.

Original language notes

Mathēteusate ("make disciples," v. 19) — the only finite verb in the Great Commission. "Go," "baptizing," "teaching" are all participles modifying the main verb. The Commission is to make disciples; the other three are how. Edidasken ("teaching") — present participle, ongoing. Discipleship doesn't end.

Five illustration hooks

• A doubt that doesn't disqualify (v. 17). Some worshiped, some doubted. The mission went forward through both.
• A "therefore" that connects authority to mission. Christ's resurrection isn't a private comfort; it's a global mandate.
• A Commission ending on the personal: "I am with you always." Even the most missional verse ends in presence.
• Matthew's bookends — "God with us" at the beginning, "I am with you" at the end. The whole gospel is about presence.
• A church's mission scope set by the resurrection — not by demographics or strategy.

Cross-references

• Mark 16:15 — Mark's shorter commission.
• Luke 24:44-49 — Luke's commission account.
• Acts 1:8 — Same theology, different setting.
• John 20:21 — "As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you."

Pastoral application

For Easter Sunday, this chapter is the natural text. For sermons on church mission, this is the foundational passage. Preach both halves — empty tomb and Commission — together. The mission flows from the resurrection.