Matthew 28:16-20 (2023)
Trinity Sunday
Rev. Alan Taylor
+ In Nomine Jesu +
Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The message on this Trinity Sunday is from Matthew 28. It’s a short reading, and yet, volumes have been written about it. It is commonly referred to as the “Great Commission.” Jesus called His disciples and the Church to go and make disciples of all the nations of the earth.
Matthew’s Gospel, like all the other books of the Bible, was written as a whole. Chapter and verse numbers are a nice addition for study purposes, but they weren’t part of the original text. I say that because they can sometimes cause us to read the books of the Bible in a bit of fragmented way, perhaps even missing themes and the central point of a given book. Our lectionary, the readings for each Sunday, as valuable as it is, can do the same thing. For instance, one of the central themes of Matthew’s Gospel is Jesus as the New Israel, the One who walked perfectly obediently before His Father, who accomplished everything that Israel of old was unable to accomplish.
In Matthew 3, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, and in that moment He took upon Himself the sins of Israel, as well as the sins of the whole world. In your baptism, you received the purity and righteousness of Jesus. In Jesus’ baptism, He received your sin and guilt. As Luther said in a sermon that he preached in 1540, “Is not this a beautiful, glorious exchange, by which Christ, who is wholly innocent and holy, not only takes upon himself another’s sin, that is, my sin and guilt, but also clothes and adorns me, who am nothing but sin, with his own innocence and purity?” Jesus takes upon Himself your sin and He gives you His righteousness.
In a similar fashion, in Matthew 4, Jesus was lead out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. For forty days and forty nights He was tempted to give the devil power over His life and to deny the promises of His Father. Jesus’ victory in the wilderness though does not simply give us a moral lesson in how to withstand temptation. Rather, it sets Jesus before us as the true Israel, the righteous child of God, who defeated the devil for us, for YOU. Regarding Jesus’ temptation, a New Testament scholar from our St. Louis seminary, wrote, “given Jesus’ identity as the Son of God in place of the failed, fallen, sinful nation, both (in His baptism) and (here in His temptation), the primary message of (Jesus’ temptation) must be that He is Victor over Satan on behalf of the nation and ultimately on behalf of all people.”
Jesus is revealed as the New Israel and as the Second Adam throughout Matthew’s Gospel. Not only was He given as a ransom for the sins of the world in His death, He was also given as our perfect substitute in life. And so, the message is simple, and yet profound. What you are unable to fulfill in regard to the Father’s will, Jesus has already fulfilled in your place, for YOU. As I said in a sermon a couple of weeks ago “Everything Jesus did, He did for YOU.”
This little section of Matthew 28, begins with a rather subtle reminder that, like Israel of Old, we continue on in this life with our sins and shortcomings as the people of God. In other words, though we are righteous and holy in the sight of God, we continue to struggle with the old nature, succumbing to temptation, even the temptation to doubt God and to doubt His word.
“Now the eleven disciples (says Matthew) went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.” Tragically and very noticeably missing is the twelfth disciple, Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus for a handful of silver coins. Israel, in this case Judas, was still failing to get it right. But even of the eleven disciples who were left, Matthew says, “when they saw (Jesus) they worshiped him, but some doubted.” No wonder St. Paul came to the conclusion he did about his own life in Romans 7. “There is nothing good that dwells within me, that is, in my sinful nature.”
God’s commission to the Church is to bring the nations into life’s new reality in Christ Jesus. “Baptize the nations, (Jesus says), in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” I saw an add the other day on my Facebook page. Imagine that! Seeing an add on Facebook. At any rate, this ad said, “Increase your congregation’s membership by 200 in 100 days.” First, I wondered if they had cleared that strategy with God, since the Church grows “when and where it pleases Him.” But I also wondered if our way of bringing people into the Church is still faithful and true to God’s way, which is to baptize and to teach. Or, have we lost trust in the power of God’s word to do what it says it will do?
“Teach them (Jesus says) to observe all things I have commanded you.” The Gospel cannot be reduced to a few short, pithy sayings. Nor can the full counsel of God be given if the Law or the Gospel is missing, or if they are confused in such a way that they affirm those whose hearts are hardened and they trouble those whose consciences are seeking grace and forgiveness. Frankly, this puts the Church in the position of being counter-cultural in virtually every age. It puts the Church in the position of having the only true hope for the life of the world. “Teach them to observe all things I have commanded you.” Our commission is to give them Jesus! As the Apostle said, “We preach Christ crucified!”
“And lo (says Jesus), I am with you always to the very end of the age.” The New Israel came to be the life of the nations, to give His righteousness to the unrighteous. He also gave us an incredibly personal sense of God. Whereas the people of Old would not so much as speak the name of God, lest they offend Him in some way, Jesus, the great I am, Yahweh in human flesh, says to you and to me, “I am with you always to the very end of the age.” What a profound gift God has given us in His Son, Jesus Christ! His is with you in the trials and temptations of life, even as He is with you in life’s celebrations and joys. And even more, He is here for you at table to give you what He alone can give, forgiveness, life and salvation.
“We thank You, Christ; new life is ours,
New light, new hope, new strength, new powers.
This grace our every way attend
Until we reach our journey’s end.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.
+ Soli Deo Gloria +