Well, we have come now to the final paragraph of Matthew's Gospel, a climactic finale. And as you can imagine, he packs a lot of material into these last five verses. Last week we looked at a sermon I called The Great Conspiracy by the Jewish Leaders to Subvert the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. But according to scholar William Hendrickson, there are three more greats to be seen here at the end, namely what he calls the great claim in verse 18 whereby Jesus claims to possess all authority in heaven and on earth followed by the great commission in verses 19 and 20 whereby It prescribes the mission of the church, and then finally the great comfort at the end of verse 20, where Jesus tells the disciples in Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Now, to blast through these three features all at once would not only be irresponsible, but I believe it would leave us feeling rushed and empty. And so as much as I know that you are dying to get through five verses today, it's just not going to happen. Today I do want to look, however, at the first of these greats presented here, the great claim, and we're going to do so in a message that I'm titling, The Authority of Christ. And so with that, I would invite you to turn with me to Matthew 28 at the very end, Matthew 28, Now, as we've seen throughout this gospel, the Lord Jesus is born sinless to the Virgin Mary. He lived righteously on earth. He ministered to the people of Israel. He preached the kingdom. He healed the sick. He helped the poor. And yet, he was opposed and he was persecuted by the religious elite in Israel. And by their hands, he was arrested, accused, and condemned and turned over to the Romans. who then tortured, crucified, and killed him on the cross. Scriptures teach us that he was also buried, and the third day he rose from the grave. Now at the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he gave marching orders to the disciples, and so in the wake of all of that, we're gonna pick it up here in Matthew chapter 28, verses 16 through 18. This is the very word of God. But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshipped Him, but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Now Matthew's conclusion here begins with the events of the disciples returning to the northern region of Galilee. So Israel is comprised of three major regions. Judah's in the south, Samaria in the middle, and then Galilee to the north. Way back in chapter 26 verse 32, Jesus prophesied that he would see them again in Galilee. And even immediately after the resurrection, both the angel that was at the tomb and then later on Jesus himself commanded the women that were at the tomb to go and tell the disciples to go and meet him in Galilee. And so in verse 16, now we see the fulfillment of it. That's where they go. They all travel from Jerusalem, the capital city. They go about 120 miles north to the region of Galilee. Now why Galilee? I think there are several reasons. Number one, that's where it all began. Jesus was raised in Nazareth, a tiny village in Galilee. All the other disciples are from that region as well. It only made sense that they would begin their new mission in the same place that He began His mission. Of course, we don't know when they arrive back in Galilee. According to John chapter 20, they're still in Jerusalem up to a week later after the resurrection, but then by the time you get to Acts chapter 1 verse 3, they're all back again 40 days later in Jerusalem. So this trip took place somewhere in a few weeks after the resurrection, at least later than a week, but earlier than six weeks, so somewhere in that month time period following the resurrection, that's where they all go to Galilee. Of course, they didn't all arrive in Galilee. There was one who was noticeably absent their friend-turned-traitor, Judas Iscariot. He had betrayed Jesus Christ, which had led to his arrest and subsequent death. At the remorse of all this, Judas had taken his own life. But for three years, the disciples were known as the Twelve. the twelve. In fact, eight times in Matthew alone we read about the twelve, this band of disciples who would later become apostles. And now, however, sadly it is only the eleven who arrive in Galilee. In the 11, they gather at the mountain which Jesus had designated the one. We don't know which one. There's no marker in Galilee right now that says this is the mountain that they went to. But it is interesting, however, that Moses received the law on a mountain, Mount Sinai. Jesus taught His first major sermon in Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount. His transfiguration took place on a mountain. Even His prophetic vision of the future in Matthew 24 and 25 takes place on the Mount of Olivet. So we see this reoccurring theme and now we see that he's going to commission the disciples who would become apostles on a mountain in Galilee. And so we read in verse 17, when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some were doubtful. They were all together there on this mountain. They finally again see Jesus. Verse 17 says, Again, a reoccurring theme of believers seeing the risen Christ and then falling down in worship at His feet. Even as far back as Matthew chapter 14, when the disciples see Jesus walking on the tops of the water, they realize that He's the Son of God. And then Matthew 14, 33 says, those who were in the boat worshiped Him. Even then they were worshipping Him for who He is. Yet later on, after He was raised, the women in Matthew 28 and 9 see Christ again at the tomb and they come up and they take hold of His feet and they worshipped Him. The Greek word is proskuneo. It literally means to pay homage or show reverence or worship. Of course, we know that this is more than mere reverencing. This is more than mere homage. This is worshiping Jesus as God and not as an earthly king. Because even in other places in scripture we see that people are trying to worship created beings, they're trying to worship the apostles when they come, or they're trying to worship angels when they see them, and each time they're refused and they're rebuked. We are to worship no one, no thing, nothing on earth, nothing in heaven except the Lord God. He is the only one worthy of worship. And Scripture says in the words of the Lord that he will not share his glory with another. But to worship Christ as God is perfectly good and perfectly right, because that's who Jesus is. Jesus is God in human flesh. Even Thomas in John chapter 20, who struggled at first to see this clearly, once he realized Jesus is the risen Lord, the Bible says in Matthew 20, 28, that he said to him, my Lord and my God. He worshiped him rightly. And yet Matthew records even here that that very day, some were doubtful. Some were doubtful. Scholars have wrestled with this. Well, number one, which one of the disciples are doubtful? Is it the 11 or is it the others that are there? I mean, could this be the spot where this is Jesus appearing to the 500 at once? We don't know. We don't know who are the ones that are doubting here. And they reason this way, well, surely at this point, None of the disciples could have doubted. After everything they'd seen, after everything they'd been through, who could possibly doubt? But we forget that even in this early stage, full belief is not immediate. It's easy for us, we come to Christ, we see him for who he is, we worship him, and it's a very clear distinction. Either he's God in human flesh and we worship him rightly, or we don't believe and we don't worship. But we forget that at this time in biblical history, there was this sort of growing period where they're trying to figure out who is this? Already we've talked about doubting Thomas before he accepted Jesus as Lord and God. According to Luke 24, verses 10 and 11, the first response of the women who were at the tomb, they saw the empty tomb and it says that it was not faith, it was unbelief. But that all dissipated when they beheld the Lord Jesus Christ. Even some of the disciples in Mark 16, 11, when they first got word that Jesus was alive again, the Bible says they refused to believe it. But I tend to think of this here, when it says some doubted, I believe that this is an instance of situational doubt. What do I mean by that, situational doubt? I believe that when the disciples are doubting, it's not because they're faithless, but rather it's because they're cautious. Because when they see Jesus finally at this point, some of them don't quite see exactly who he is yet. It's similar to what happens in John chapter 21, when the disciples are fishing in the Sea of Tiberias, and Jesus is on the shore, walking back and forth, and he's talking to them, and they don't exactly know who he is yet. They see him walking around, but they don't know it's him. He yells from the shore and says, put down the nets. and they put down the nets, and they pull up 153 fish, and as soon as that miracle's repeated, Peter says, it's the Lord! He recognizes the miracle, he sees the glory, and then he takes off his clothes, he jumps in the water, and they go to the shore, and then they all behold the risen Christ. And so here they are, they're on the mountain in Galilee, they're waiting for the Lord, he appears at a distance, many of them see him, and they begin immediately to worship. But then some are hesitant. Some are doubting. But then we read in verse 18 that Jesus came up and He spoke to them. He came up and He spoke to them. And once He did that, once He began to speak, all doubt disappeared. Why do I say all doubt disappeared? Because nothing else is mentioned in Matthew about problems of faith. Furthermore, the next appearance that Jesus makes, the next time we see the disciples interacting with Jesus is Acts chapter one, and all of them are full of faith and waiting for the kingdom. And so this issue of uncertainty or potential doubt, it didn't last very long. Very quickly they understood who he is, and they worshiped him rightly. But what does Jesus say when he comes to them on the mountain? Now, we understand that just in the nature of biblical narrative that this is probably a longer conversation, that the gospel writers tend to record smaller or truncated versions of larger conversations, and so certainly more is said here, but this is what the Lord intends for us to focus on today. What does he say when he approaches the disciples? He says to them in verse 18, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. And that's what I want to focus on today. We're going to see that this statement becomes a driving force for the rest of this end of Matthew's gospel here. And it's one of the most important things that Jesus ever says. But I want to look at this and break it down. He uses this word here, authority, authority. The Greek word in the original is exousia, exousia. What does that mean? Well, there's a lot bound up in that word, exousia. It can refer to freedom or power to act or the freedom to exercise force. In other words, you could define exousia as absolute power, absolute power. And so this is the power of authority. But there's also another sort of segue into meaning in this word, and it refers to jurisdiction or dominion. It's the scale or the realm of the authority. In other words, where a person may exercise that authority. Let me give you an example. In former days, it's not as much today because now it's more of a constitutional monarchy in England, but in older days, the King of England had authority to do essentially whatever he wanted. The King of England had absolute power, but the dominion of that power only went so far as the nation's border. You see the difference here. The King of England has no authority in China or India or Spain. He has absolute authority in his realm of jurisdiction, but he does not have full dominion everywhere. So his authority is limited in that regard. And yet Jesus declares that he possesses all authority. All authority. He has, number one, the absolute power to act, as we'll see, and full dominion of authority as well. All authority, this becomes very important, even when we get into terms of application, how this applies even into our lives. Full and complete authority. In fact, when Jesus is in Pilate's custody in John chapter 19, and he doesn't answer all of Governor Pilate's questions, Pilate says to him, sort of snarkily I could imagine, do you not know that I have authority to release you, and I have authority to crucify you? He gets testy with Jesus, to which the Lord Jesus replies, you would have no authority over me unless it had been given to you from above. Even the ruler who holds Jesus' life in the balance possesses no inherent authority over him. Yet even in that exchange, Jesus notes that the ultimate source of all authority rests with God in heaven. All authority belongs to God and yet Jesus again in verse 18 declares that all authority has been given to me. He possesses all authority. Why? Because it has been granted to Him. By whom? By God the Father. John chapter 5, 26, 27, for just as the father has life in himself, even so he gave to the son also to have life in himself. And listen to this, and he gave him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man. Jesus in that passage, he cites the source of his authority as being from the heavenly father. We also see this in his high priestly prayer in John chapter 17 verse 2. He says, that to all whom you have given him, he may give eternal life. So Jesus discusses, he explains here that he has all authority to judge, he has all authority to save, he has all authority over all humanity. But more than this, Matthew 11, 27, all things have been handed over to me by my Father. All things. And so this isn't some new revelation that Jesus is now making known here in Matthew 28. This is not brand new. He's been saying this all along. He's been saying this for the last several years of his ministry, that the Father has given authority to him. Now, you might be tempted to wonder why does the Father grant all authority to the Son? Why must it be granted? The answer is, it is to demonstrate His co-equality with God the Father. It is not that Jesus did not possess authority, all authority, before the Incarnation, but when He says over and over again that the Father has given it to Him, it's because He's dealing with humans. He is the incarnated Son of God and now he's telling the people he's interacting with that this is given to him by the Father. He's making the connection between heaven and earth, between the Father and the Son. See, when you see Jesus demonstrating his ability to speak and act with authority, he's doing so as God. And he is showing that he himself is the very incarnation of the living God. Because again, that's who he is. He is God in human flesh. Therefore he declares, all authority has been given to me. And then he qualifies. He qualifies that. He says, in heaven and on earth. Once again, if authority can refer to both power and dominion, Jesus is expressing both here. In other words, His authority isn't just earthly. where he can exercise power only here. It's not as though he was just some great world leader. He's not like Alexander the Great or a Caesar. He's not like that. He's not the king of the world, so to speak. That's not the only place that he possesses that authority. He also possesses all authority in heaven, in the spiritual realm, in the heavenly realm as well. What do both of these realms look like, or how do we see Jesus' authority expressed in heaven and on earth? Well, let's look at this together. Let's start by working from earth to heaven here, because that's where we begin, right? We're here on earth. While we're on earth here, we see that Jesus is giving examples of how he exerts his power and authority over nature. You read in the Gospels alone, what does he do? How does he express his authority? Well, he calms the storm he sees. He exerts authority over the seas. He walks on water, subverting the creation. He turns water into wine. He fed thousands out of thin air. He healed every kind of disease and illness. He even exerted authority over death by resurrecting those who had died. He exercises divine power over the creation. But then we also see that he taught with God's authority on earth. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, we read in Matthew 7, 28, that when Jesus had finished these words, the crowds, they were amazed at his teaching. Why? Why were they amazed? Is it because he was just really skilled and gifted in his delivery? Is it because he was passionate? Is it because he was insightful or intuitive? No, the reason that's given why they were so astonished and amazed is because they recognized that he was teaching as one having authority, and not as their scribes. He's not like other teachers. He doesn't come to earth and say, Rabbi so-and-so says this, or Moses says this, or the Bible says this. He says, I say to you, He is the source of authority. That's authority, the divine revelation coming from Him, originating from Him, and He possesses the ability to command obedience. Of course, as I say that, we recognize that when the Bible speaks, we know that it's the voice of God speaking to us. So for God to say, for Christ to say, the Bible says, He's saying I'm saying. So those are meant to be seen synonymously here, but I want you to understand the point that I'm making. That the onus, the origination of authority resides from within him. He possesses all authority. But again, those are examples of Jesus demonstrating his authority on earth. On earth while he's here. What about the heavenly authority? What about his spiritual authority? Well, even when he was here, there were times he exerted spiritual or heavenly authority. For example, Luke 4.36, he makes note of how he was able to cast out demons. After casting out a demon from one man in particular, the crowd looks on with amazement and says, with authority and power, he commands the unclean spirits and they come out. So Jesus doesn't just deal in earthly realms here, he's dipping into the spiritual and he begins to command demons and unclean spirits to be purged. He casts them out, he commands over them. And not just demons, even Satan himself. By his authority, Jesus expels Satan when he's undergoing temptation in the wilderness. He says, be gone, Satan, leave my presence. And Satan obeys. Revelation 12.10 speaks of this kind of power. This is at the end here where it says, now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ has come for the accuser of the brethren, that's Satan, has been thrown down. The Bible prophesies a day when Christ will exert His final authority to cast down Satan and destroy him forever. What about in matters of salvation? We know that He can flex His power with created beings, even angelic beings or demonic beings. We know that. But what about even beyond that? Matthew 9, when the paralytic is brought to Jesus, He's in obvious need of healing, physical healing, to which Jesus pronounces to him, kind of curiously, when he sees this man who has been brought to him on a bed, he says, your sins are forgiven. Your sins are forgiven. And the Jewish scribes that are standing there, they balk at this. And Jesus says, why are you thinking evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say that your sins are forgiven or to say rise and walk? But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. He said to the paralytic, rise and take up your bed and go home and he rose and he went home. Jesus demonstrates even through the miracle as affirmation that he has the authority to forgive sins. I know that's Christianese because we say those kinds of things all the time, but I want you to comprehend this. You and I don't have the ability, the authority to forgive one another's sins. We can forgive so far as it impacts us. You hurt my feelings and you apologize and I forgive you. I alleviate the burden from you directly, interpersonally, but I don't have any authority to say, oh yeah, God forgives you for that. I can't do that, I have no authority and neither do you. Who has the authority to lift the penalty and lift the burden, the cosmic burden of sin off of individuals? Nobody here. No priest can do it, the Pope can't do it, nobody can do it except God himself, who is the only soul offended party, who possesses the authority to forgive sins, to remove guilt and shame and condemnation. Only God. And yet Jesus himself tells the man, your sins have been forgiven. This is amazing authority. He has the authority to forgive sins. How? Why? Because of what he says in John 10, 18. That he also has the authority to lay down his life and the authority to take it back up again. A commandment, he says, that he receives from the Father. And so it is by Jesus' own authority that He goes to the cross. It's by Jesus' own authority that He resurrects again. Romans 14, 9 says, For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord, both of the dead and of the living. Because that's ultimately what this is all about. When we talk about the authority of Christ, what we're really getting into now is His Lordship. His Lordship, that Jesus Christ is Lord. There's an old saying in evangelicalism, when people come to the altar and they make a profession of faith, the old evangelist will say, it's important that you don't just make Jesus their Savior, but you make Him Lord of your life. Well, I got something very shocking to say about that. You don't make Him Lord. He is Lord. The issue is whether or not you want to acknowledge it or not. That's the question, and that's what they're saying, understand that. But it betrays our understanding of who Jesus really is. You don't have the right to tell him whether or not he's Lord. He is Lord. He is master. He is the possessor of all authority in heaven and on earth. Does Christ possess the authority as sovereign Lord over the creation? Ephesians 1.20, when God raised Jesus from the dead, He seated Him at the right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come. Ephesians 1.22, and He put all things in subjection under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church. Colossians 2.10, He is the head over all rule and authority. All things for all time. Which is why Jude 25 declares, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen. That's who He is. He is the possessor of all authority. He is the possessor of all glory, dominion, majesty. He is all and in all. Now on one level, I think these verses are hard to comprehend because I think they can feel too fantastical. They're almost too mystifying for us. The language is so grand, it almost feels like make-believe. I think part of the reason for this is because we, especially as Westerners, are so used to bathing our brains and our imaginations in media of mythical figures and superheroes that possess all authority. And we watch movies about these creatures and these so-called gods blasting each other with insurmountable authority and taking over worlds and galaxies. But I think it only demonstrates our woefully deficient view of God. We've lost something of the awe and the majesty of God. We lose sleep when we consider the seemingly all-encompassing power of a president or a world leader. We tremble at the perceived omniscience of the federal government or the incorruptible wealth of a bureaucrat or a billionaire. Or we fear the extensive control of technology or the so-called deep state. But we don't give a single thought to the God who is over all of those things. We're more afraid of the creation and we do not fear the creator. This is error. This is a huge mistake. Not to look and see the authority and the majesty and the grandeur of God. We sell him short. We trust him with our future salvation someday, but we don't trust him with our lives today. We're okay with Him being God later when I die. What about now? Do you acknowledge and recognize Him as Lord now? Whether you do or not doesn't change the reality of the fact that He is. But do yourself the favor. Make your life a little easier as a Christian by bowing the knee. Because the more you resist Him, the more He's going to exert His authority and He will eventually crush you. Don't do that, friends. Don't fight and spurn the Lord. It never goes well. Submit to Him. Humble yourself before the mighty hand of God, Scripture says, and at the proper time, He will exalt you. All who fight and spurn and stiff-arm the Lord lose in the end. We forget that all authority in heaven and on earth belongs solely to Jesus Christ. He has the power to save. He has the power to condemn. He has the power to destroy governments. He has the power to appoint leaders and parties. He has the power over pandemics. He has the power over wars. He controls earthquakes. Landslides, tornadoes, tsunamis, wildfires. He controls the sun and the moon and the stars and the climate. He can humble the proud and he can exalt the lowly. Christ has more knowledge than Stephen Hawking, more money than Elon Musk, more power than Donald Trump. We forget that. He is king of all kings. Lord of all lords. And there is coming a day, 1 Corinthians 15, 24, that the end will come when Christ delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. All of these little tiny empires, all these little tiny microscopic governments and dictators and authorities and rulers, they think they're something, but there's coming a day when Christ descends from His throne on the back of a horse with a sword coming out of His mouth and He subjects all rule and power and authority and makes it nothing. and exalts himself and declares himself to be the king over all creation, once and for all, and every eye will see him. This is only temporary. The benefit is that you and I have the opportunity by faith with spiritual eyesight to see him for who he really is. The world doesn't know him yet. They don't know who he is. If they had even the faintest thought, they would bow down and worship right now. But they don't even know. They don't see Him. They mock Him openly. But you, you and I, we can see Him. By faith in the Scriptures, our hearts can resonate with the power of the Spirit. We can acknowledge who He is. We can fall down and worship Him and bring Him glory and honor and majesty. We can conform our lives and subject them to the power of God and the blessing of God. We can live for His kingdom here and right now. All the powers and the authorities of this world are temporary. Christ is forever. Are you living your life as though that were true? Do you recognize that? That Christ is forever. Is your faith, hope, trust, heart, bound up in temporary rulers and authorities? Or worse, is your hope in what you can do? Well, maybe if I can do enough good, maybe if I can accomplish much, are you so naive to believe that you are your own Lord or your own Savior? Are you so foolish My friends, I'm here to tell you that all of that is impossible. Can you stand before the throne of God? Can you offer him a perfect righteousness? Can you dodge his judgments and oppose his wrath? Can you control your own life? You can't even control when you get a cold. How will you control and have sovereignty over your life? Things happen every day, right? Your future, your finances, your health, everything. The more that we live as Christians, the more we recognize that we have no control, no control, no authority. But here's the thing, you can worship and serve the one who has all authority. You can know him and the power of his resurrection. You can know the one who has authority to forgive your sins. He can remove the burden, friends. You can come to him by faith and in repentance and say, Lord, I've sinned against you. I've done things in my life that are awful, that I hate, that are detestable. My past is a mile long. I hate it. Lord, please forgive me." And he has the authority to forgive sins. All of them. It doesn't matter how deep, how dark they are. He can forgive every single one of them. He has the authority to give you new life in Christ. He has the authority to bless you. He has the authority to curse you. He has the authority to command obedience and He does. He has the authority to punish disobedience. He's the one who's in control. All authority belongs to Him in heaven and on earth. How do you get right with this God? You believe the gospel. You believe that Jesus Christ is God in human flesh who came to earth and lived a perfect life here. That he suffered and died on the cross for the purpose of paying for your sins so that they could be forgiven. My sins are so bad. Lord, yes, He knows. That's why it took the death, the blood, being cursed in your place. That's why He did that. But as an act of love to die for you and rise for you, you can have forgiveness. The Bible says turn away from your sins. Don't just ignore them and pretend like they never happened. No, confess your sins. Repent. Ask Him to forgive you, and He will. And you will find new life in Christ. And He is your Lord, and He will be your Lord. But He is a good master. He cares for His sheep. He loves us. He's tender with us. He walks with us. He shepherds us. And even in the valley of the shadow of death, we don't fear. Why? Because He is with us. Isn't that what He says at the very end? Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. He has the authority to be with you forever. Do you know Jesus? Because there's coming a day when every eye will see Him. The Bible says, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. the authority of Christ. He is Lord. He is Savior. He is God. Let's pray. O Lord, we bow our heads before You. We lower our hearts beneath You. We subject our lives to You. And Lord, we confess that in our mind, in our hearts, we don't always Dare I say often, acknowledge who you really are. We don't ascertain, we don't comprehend the depths of your authority. We don't live as though you are sovereign, even though you are. We don't live as though we have a master. We think that we are our own master. And yet, Lord, when we do this, we are in folly and error. You are the master. And so we plead with you, we ask you to help us. Help us to understand and grasp these truths. Help us, O Lord, to confess our sins, to lower ourselves before you. The Bible tells us, O Lord, that those who seek their own life will only lose it. But if we lose our life in humility, in surrender, you say that in you we will find it again. So help us, oh Lord, to yield to your authority in our lives. And not just yield with sort of a somber bow, but rather enjoy and exuberance and thankfulness and awe. Lord, restore awe to us. To recognize that you are worthy of our worship. That you are wonderful. That you are glorious and majestic. That in you we are safe. In you we are exalted in your name. In You we are secure and comforted and protected. In You we are loved as little children. And so, Lord, help us to find joy and rest in Your authority. We thank You, O Lord, that we don't have to do this on our own, that we can't do this on our own. We thank You that You possess all authority and You know how to wield that very well. Give us grace, O Lord, show us mercy, and help us to live our lives under the benevolent authority of who you are. We pray all these things in Jesus' name, amen.