Matthew 28:9
Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" They came to Him, grasped His feet, and worshiped Him.
Sermons
Surprise - WorshipR. Tuck Matthew 28:9
Lessons of the ResurrectionMarcus Dods Matthew 28:1-10
How the Risen Christ is SeenBishop HuntingdonMatthew 28:9-10
Meeting with JesusC. H. Spurgeon.Matthew 28:9-10














Canon Liddon, in an impressive sermon on this text, asks, "How did these women receive Jesus when thus (suddenly) he met them? The fear and great joy with which they had come out of the sepulchre must surely now have been intensified: fear, - for here, beyond all question, was he who was so lately a tenant of the tomb, who had traversed the unseen world, the world of the dead; and great joy, - for here was indisputable proof of the truth of the angel's message, 'He is risen.' He was here himself, the same figure, the same form, the same gracious countenance, lately marred and bruised, now lighted up with an unearthly radiance, the pierced hands, the pierced feet. What did they do? They came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. There are three features in this action of these humble and deeply religious women that are especially deserving of our attention.

1. Their forgetfulness of themselves.

2. Their reverence.

3. Their tenacity of purpose;" this is taken as being suggested by their act of holding him by the feet. Attention may also be fixed on the fact that the women were taken by surprise, and that revealed much concerning them.

I. THEIR ACT UNDER SURPRISE SHOWED THAT THEIR FEELINGS TOWARDS CHRIST WERE GENUINE. Men are constantly found out by being "taken at unawares." But a man who is thoroughly genuine never minds being "taken at unawares." These women were sincere. In an instant genuine feeling worthily responded to the Christ revelation.

II. THEIR ACT UNDER SURPRISE SHOWED THEIR EMOTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS. Notice particularly what they did under impulse. It was what women would do under such circumstances, not what men would do. Women get round to Jesus by the heart rather than by the head; but he accepts the worship of emotion as freely as the worship of intellect. Let woman serve Christ woman's way.

III. THEIR ACT UNDER SURPRISE NEEDED DIVINE CORRECTION. It was dangerously impulsive; it was unspiritual; it was a satisfaction in material presence; it lacked thought. - R.T.

And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail.
It is not supposed that the impartial Christ, or the Christianity of His gospel, literally prefers one sex to the other. But He respects the nature of each, and does not abrogate the laws of that nature. To that one, therefore, that has the clearer spiritual eyesight, Christ will disclose the first radiancy of His glory. In that sex that loves most, and therefore, suffers most, and is perhaps capable of sinning most, He finds the faith-faculty most ready to recognize Him, and on that, therefore — as if in a kind of compensation for the first sin, and the tender sensitiveness to all injury — He bestows the blessing of the earliest benediction of His resurrection voice. The general distinction thus drawn between the sexes reappears, in its measure, between individuals of each of the two; and there is thus a similar advance of clearness in the other succeeding manifestations. The circle gradually enlarges from the solitary Mary to a great company of men as they are gradually prepared to see and believe.

I. This is the certification afforded by our Saviour's resurrection TO THE FACT OF HIS DIVINITY. "They came and held Him by the feet and worshipped Him." They worshipped, and He did not check it. Was He not the one that teaches of what their worship is? The resurrection had transfigured, and as it were had divinized all his mortal signs. It had never been heard before that a man lifted himself, by his own will, out of the grave, and asserted his superiority to all the forces of destruction. Surely here must be nothing less than the Creator's majesty. In the glorified form the " Son of God" stood revealed not less than the " Son of Man." They worshipped Him. Place beside this truth another. These faithful believers were not believers in a one-sided or ultra-spiritualism — "They held Him by the feet, and worshipped Him." Here were two signs of a living faith, the touch and the bended knees. Both were welcome to Him who knows every secret spring of the soul's strength, and who replaces the dead formalism of the Law with the vital forms of a spiritual kingdom. Again, a supreme value is set here, for the Christian life, on the Saviour's personal presence. To the Church for eighteen hundred years it has been spiritual, not corporeal, yet literal and real. Men of action and thought, if you do not feel anything real about this I know not how to reason with you about it. We can only tell you what we have seen or felt. Those institutions and movements in the world, however active and religious, seem to have no permanent life in them, which are without this living conscious connection with the person and presence of Christ, so as to draw their constant supplies of power from Him. They seem like streams, however full, which run from a cistern and not from the fountain in the hills. He does not say to them "All hail." I am sure that Christ is with me and has for me all the power and love I need; He lives greatly in me and for me. As it was then, so now; they who are spiritually best prepared by affliction, earnestness, sympathy, with the spirit of His life and laws, and by love for Him, have the clearest and earliest disclosures of His Deified presence.

(Bishop Huntingdon)

All that concerns our Lord after His resurrection is calm and happy. A French writer calls the forty days on earth, "The life of Jesus Christ in glory"; truly it was glory as full as earth could then bear. His tomb was empty, and consequently the disciples' griefs would have been over, had they fully understood what that vacant grave meant. Then was their choicest time for living fellowship with their risen Lord, and He did not fail to grant them the privilege on many memorable occasions. Since our Lord is risen, we also may have happy communion with Him. These are days in which we may expect Him to manifest Himself to us spiritually, as He did for forty days to the disciples coporeally. Let us not be satisfied unless it is often said of us, "Jesus met them."

I. Is THE WAY OF SERVICE JESUS MEETS US "As they went to tell," etc.

1. He may come at other times, as He did to those who visited the sepulchre, to those walking out to Emmaus to others fishing, and to the eleven assembled for mutual consolation.

2. He is likeliest to come when we are doing His work, since

(a)we are then most awake, and most able to see Him;

(b)we are then in special need of Him;

(c)we are then most in accord with Him.

3. But, come when Jesus may, it will be a blessed visitation, worthy to be prefaced by a "Behold!" Oh, that he would come now!

II. WHEN JESUS MEETS US HE HAS EVER A GOOD WORD FOR US. The fittest motto for resurrection fellowship is "All hail!"

1. A word of salutation.

2. A word of benediction.

3. A word of gratulation.

4. A word of pacification.

III. WHEN JESUS MEETS US IT BECOMES US TO AROUSE OURSELVES. We ought at such times to be like the disciples, who were —

1. All alive with hopeful energy. "They came." In eager haste they drew near to Him. What life it would put into preachers and hearers if the Lord Jesus would manifestly appear unto them! Dulness flees when Jesus is seen.

2. All aglow with happy excitement. They " held Him by the feet," hardly knowing what they did, but enraptured with the sight of Him.

3. All ardent with reverent love. They " worshipped Him." What heartiness they threw into that lowly adoration!

4. All amazed at His glory. They were prostrate, and began to fear.

5. All afraid lest they should lose their bliss. They grasped Him, and held Him by the feet.

IV. FROM SUCH A MEETING WE SHOULD GO ON A FURTHER ERRAND.

1. We must not plead spiritual absorption as an excuse for inactivity, but must "go" at our Lord's bidding.

2. We must seek the good of others, because of their relation to our Lord. He says, "Tell My brethren."

3. We must communicate what our Lord has imparted — "Go, tell."

4. We must encourage our brethren by the assurance that joy, similar to ours, awaits them — "There shall they see him." Thus shall we best realize and retain the choice benefits of intercourse with the Lord. Not only for ourselves, but mainly for the benefit of others, are we to behold our Lord. Then let us go to holy work hoping to meet Jesus as we go. Let us go to more holy work when we have met Him. Let us labour to abide in Him, looking for His promised appearing, and exhorting others to do the same.

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

People
Eve, Jesus, Mary
Places
Galilee, Jerusalem
Topics
Behold, Bow, Bowing, Bring, Clasped, Disciples, Glad, Greeted, Greetings, Ground, Hail, Hands, Held, Hold, Homage, Laid, Meet, Met, Peace, Rejoice, Saying, Suddenly, Worship, Worshiped, Worshipped
Outline
1. Christ's resurrection is declared by an angel to the women.
9. He himself appears unto them.
11. The chief priests pay the soldiers to say that he was stolen out of his tomb.
16. Christ appears to his disciples,
18. and sends them to baptize and teach all nations.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Matthew 28:9

     2018   Christ, divinity
     2369   Christ, responses to
     5151   feet
     5328   greeting
     7110   body of Christ

Matthew 28:1-9

     6650   finding

Matthew 28:1-10

     1436   reality
     2555   Christ, resurrection appearances
     5745   women

Matthew 28:8-9

     2039   Christ, joy of
     8629   worship, times

Library
Public Use of the Version.
We have now traced the external, and to some extent the internal history of Revision from the time, some fifty years ago, when it began to occupy the thoughts of scholars and divines, down to the present day. We have seen the steady advance in Church opinion as to its necessity; its earliest manifestations, and the silent progress from what was tentative and provisional to authoritative recognition, and to carefully formulated procedures under the high and venerable sanction of the two Houses of
C. J. Ellicott—Addresses on the Revised Version of Holy Scripture

February 4. "Lo, I am with You Alway" (Matt. xxviii. 20).
"Lo, I am with you alway" (Matt. xxviii. 20). This living Christ is not the person that was, but the person that still is, your living Lord. At Preston Pans, near Edinburgh, I looked on the field where in the olden days armies were engaged in contest. In the crisis of the battle the chieftain fell wounded. His men were about to shrink away from the field when they saw their leader's form go down; their strong hands held the claymore with trembling grip, and they faltered for a moment. Then the old
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

August 16. "I am with You Alway" (Matt. xxviii. 20).
"I am with you alway" (Matt. xxviii. 20). Oh, how it helps and comforts us in the plod of life to know that we have with us the Christ who spent the first thirty years of His life in the carpenter shop at Nazareth, swinging the hammer, covered with sweat and grimy dust, physically weary as we often are, and able to understand all our experiences of drudgery and labor! and One who still loves to share our common tasks and equip us for our difficult undertakings of hand and brain! Yes, humble sister,
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

September 11. "Lo, I am with You all the Days, Even unto the End of the Age" (Matt. xxviii. 20).
"Lo, I am with you all the days, even unto the end of the age" (Matt. xxviii. 20). It is "all the days," not "always." He comes to you each day with a new blessing. Every morning, day by day, He walks with us, with a love that never tires and a blessing that never grows old. And He is with us "all the days"; it is a ceaseless abiding. There is no day so dark, so commonplace, so uninteresting, but you find Him there. Often, no doubt, He is unrecognized, as He was on the way to Emmaus, until you realize
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

May 9. "All Hail" (Matt. xxviii. 9).
"All hail" (Matt. xxviii. 9). It was a stirring greeting which the Lord of Life spake to His first disciples on the morning of the resurrection. It is a bright and radiant word which in His name we would speak to His beloved children at the commencement of another day. It means a good deal more than appears on the surface. It is really a prayer for our health, but which none but those who believe in the healing of the body can fully understand. A thoughtful friend suggested once that the word "hail"
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Risen Lord's Greetings and Gifts
'And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail.'--MATT. xxviii. 9. 'Then the same day at evening ... came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.' --JOHN xx. 19. So did our Lord greet His sad followers. The first of these salutations was addressed to the women as they hurried in the morning from the empty tomb bewildered; the second to the disciples assembled in the upper room in the evening of the same day. Both are ordinary greetings.
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Prince of Life
'In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 3. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: 4. And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. 5. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

On the Mountain
'Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17. And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him: but some doubted.' --MATT. xxviii. 16, 17. 'After that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once.'--1 COR. xv. 4 To infer an historian's ignorance from his silence is a short and easy, but a rash, method. Matthew has nothing to say of our Lord's appearances in Jerusalem, except in regard to that of the women in the early morning of Easter Day.
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Tomb of Jesus
"His cross, his manger, and his crown, Are big with glories yet unknown." All his weary pilgrimage, from Bethlehem's manger to Calvary's cross, is, in our eyes, paved with glory. Each spot upon which he trod is, to our souls, consecrated at once, simply because there the foot of earth's Saviour and our own Redeemer once was placed. When he comes to Calvary, the interest thickens; then our best thoughts are centered on him in the agonies of crucifixion, nor does our deep affection permit us to leave
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

Christian Unity.
Trinity Sunday. S. Matt. xxviii. 19. "In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." INTRODUCTION.--An ancient writer informs us that when the Egyptians named their Greatest God who was over all, they cried thrice, "Darkness! Darkness! Darkness!" And when we come to speak of the great mystery of the Holy Trinity, the utmost we can do is to repeat their cry, and say, "Darkness! Darkness! Darkness! In the name of the Father--Darkness, and of the Son--Darkness; and of the Holy
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

Beginning at Jerusalem
The whole verse runs thus: "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." The words were spoken by Christ, after he rose from the dead, and they are here rehearsed after an historical manner, but do contain in them a formal commission, with a special clause therein. The commission is, as you see, for the preaching of the gospel, and is very distinctly inserted in the holy record by Matthew and Mark. "Go teach all nations,"
John Bunyan—Jerusalem Sinner Saved

Thoughts Upon the Mystery of the Trinity.
THOUGH there be many in the World that seem to be Religious, there are but few that are so: One great Reason whereof is, because there are so many Mistakes about Religion, that it is an hard matter to hit upon the true Notion of it: And therefore desiring nothing in this World, so much as to be an Instrument in God's Hand to direct Men unto true Religion, my great Care must, and, by the Blessing of God, shall be to instil into them right Conceptions of him, that is the only Object of all Religious
William Beveridge—Private Thoughts Upon a Christian Life

The Christian Service
Scripture references: Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 10:1-17; Matthew 25:14-30; 23; 13; John 13:4-17; Hebrews 12:1-3; Matthew 5:16; 1 Corinthians 3:13-15; James 2:14-26. THE CALL TO SERVICE All Christian belief must culminate in service or else the belief itself will wither away. Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16); again, in giving His parting instructions to His disciples,
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

The Earliest Christian Preaching
1. THUS far we have confined ourselves to the words of Jesus. The divine necessity of His death, indicated in the Old Testament and forming the basis of all His teaching regarding it, is the primary truth; the nature of that necessity begins to be revealed as the death is set in relation to the ransoming of many, and to the institution of a new covenant -- that is, a new religion, having as its fundamental blessing the forgiveness of sins. I do not think this view of our Lord's mind as to His own
James Denney—The Death of Christ

Angels Announce the Resurrection to Certain Women. Peter and John Enter The
Empty Tomb. (Joseph's Garden. Sunday, Very Early.) ^A Matt. XXVIII. 1-8; ^B Mark XVI. 1-8; ^C Luke XXIV. 1-8, 12; ^D John XX. 1-10. ^c 1 But ^a 1 Now late on the sabbath day, ^b 1 And when the sabbath was past, ^c on the first day of the week, { ^a as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week,} ^c at early dawn, ^d while it was yet dark, cometh { ^a came} ^d Mary Magdalene early ^a and the other Mary ^b the mother of James, and Salome, ^c unto the tomb, bringing { ^b brought} ^c the spices
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Some of the Guards Report to the Jewish Rulers.
^A Matt. XXVIII. 11-15. ^a 11 Now while they were going [while Joanna and the group of women with her were on their way to tell the apostles that they had seen Jesus], behold, some of the guard [not all] came into the city, and told unto the chief priests all the things that were come to pass. [Esteeming it folly to guard an empty tomb, the soldiers went to their barracks, while their officers returned to those who had placed them on guard to report what had happened. They rightly judged that the
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Great Commission Given.
(Time and Place Same as Last Section.) ^A Matt. XXVIII. 18-20; ^B Mark XVI. 15-18; ^C Luke XXIV. 46, 47. ^a 18 And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. ^b 15 And he said unto them, Go ye ^a therefore, ^b into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation. ^a and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: 20 teaching them to observe all things
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

First and Second Appearances of the Risen Christ. The Resurrection Reported to the Apostles.
(Jerusalem. Sunday Morning.) ^A Matt. XXVIII. 9, 10; ^B Mark XVI. 9-11; ^C Luke XXIV. 9-11; ^D John XX. 11-18. [The women, having received the message of the angels, and remembering that the message accorded with the words of Jesus himself, made haste.] ^c 9 and returned from the tomb, ^b 9 Now when he was risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. [Mark here agrees with John that Mary separated from the other women. As to
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

On the Third Day He Rose Again from the Dead; He Ascended into Heaven'
GREY dawn was streaking the sky, when they who had so lovingly watched Him to His Burying were making their lonely way to the rock-hewn Tomb in the Garden. [6241] Considerable as are the difficulties of exactly harmonising the details in the various narratives - if, indeed, importance attaches to such attempts - we are thankful to know that any hesitation only attaches to the arrangement of minute particulars, [6242] and not to the great facts of the case. And even these minute details would, as
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Corinth
Christianity had been profoundly changed by its passage from Galilee to Jerusalem. Whereas the teaching of Jesus had been the announcement of the kingdom of God, the illustration of its character, and the insistent call to men to repent, the central teaching of the disciples in Jerusalem became the claim that Jesus was the Messiah. But the passage from Jerusalem to Antioch had produced still greater changes. After all, the teaching of the disciples in Jerusalem contained no elements foreign to
Kirsopp Lake—Landmarks in the History of Early Christianity

Introduction to the De Trinitate.
Since the circumstances in which the De Trinitate was written, and the character and object of the work, are discussed in the general Introduction, it will suffice to give here a brief summary of its contents, adapted, in the main, from the Benedictine edition. Book I. The treatise begins with St. Hilary's own spiritual history, the events of which are displayed, no doubt, more logically and symmetrically in the narrative than they had occurred in the writer's experience. He tells of the efforts
St. Hilary of Poitiers—The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers

Baptism
Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them,' &c. Matt 28: 19. I. The way whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemptions, is, in the use of the sacraments. What are the sacraments in general? They are visible signs of invisible grace. Is not the word of God sufficient to salvation? What need then is there of sacraments? We must not be wise above what is written. It is God's will that his church
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

John Bunyan on the Terms of Communion and Fellowship of Christians at the Table of the Lord;
COMPRISING I. HIS CONFESSION OF FAITH, AND REASON OF HIS PRACTICE; II. DIFFERENCES ABOUT WATER BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION; AND III. PEACEABLE PRINCIPLES AND TRUE[1] ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Reader, these are extraordinary productions that will well repay an attentive perusal. It is the confession of faith of a Christian who had suffered nearly twelve years' imprisonment, under persecution for conscience sake. Shut up with his Bible, you have here the result of a prayerful study of those holy
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

A Table of the Chief Things.
A. ABRAHAM's Faith, [284]34. Adam; see Man, Sin, Redemption.-- What happiness he lost by the fall, [285]96. What death he died, [286]97. He retained in his nature no will or light capable of itself to manifest spiritual things, [287]ibid. Whether there be any relics of the heavenly image left in him, [288]101, [289]144. Alexander Skein's queries proposed to the preachers, [290]401, [291]402. Anabaptists of Great Britain, [292]57, [293]373. Anabaptists of Munster, how their mischievous actings nothing
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

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