Galilean Rendezvous

Galilean Rendezvous

The following is a rough translation and some initial comments on Matthew 28:16-20, the Revised Common Lectionary gospel reading for the Sunday after Pentecost, also called “Trinity Sunday.”

Matthew follows Mark in saying that Jesus had – before his death - planned a meeting with the disciples at a specific place in Galilee. In Mark’s original ending, the women at the tomb are to tell Peter and the disciples to meet Jesus there, but they say nothing to anyone because they were afraid. Later Markan scribes added to the story, presumably because that is such an unsatisfying ending. Matthew has a different ending, with the eleven meeting Jesus as they had planned.

The context of c.28 seems important to me. Verses 1-10 have the resurrection story, ending with Jesus telling Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to go and tell the disciples to meet him as they planned. Verses 11-15 have (IMHO) an interlude, to deal with the matter of the soldiers’ lie that the disciples had removed Jesus’ body. Verse 15 shows that the rumor continued to be an issue for Matthew’s community many years later. Then, verses 16-20 tell of the meeting itself. My point is that vv. 16-20 read in continuity with vv.1-10.

For a sermon based on vv. 11-20, emphasizing this text's connection with Easter, you can read what I preached in 2013 here. 

¹⁶ Οἱ δὲ ἕνδεκα μαθηταὶ ἐπορεύθησαν εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν εἰς τὸ ὄρος οὗ 

ἐτάξατο αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς,

Yet the eleven disciples went into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus appointed to them,

ἐπορεύθησαν: API 3p, πορεύομαι, 1) to lead over, carry over, transfer 1a) to pursue the journey on which one has entered, to continue on  one's journey

ἐτάξατο: AMI 3s, τάσσω, 1) to put in order, to station 1a) to place in a certain order, to arrange, to assign a  place, to appoint.      

1. The verb τάσσω (appointed) suggests that this place and meeting is a rendezvous. Verse 7 and verse 10 have an angel then Jesus telling the women to tell the disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee. All of this seems pre-arranged.

2. The verb πορεύομαι (went) here is the root of the participle in v.19 (having gone) that I will reference below.

 ¹⁷ καὶ ἰδόντες αὐτὸν προσεκύνησαν, οἱ δὲ ἐδίστασαν.

and having seen [him] they worshiped [him], yet they doubted.

ἰδόντες: AAPart npm, ὁράω, 1) to see with the eyes 2) to see with the mind, to perceive, know 

προσεκύνησαν: AAI 3p, προσκυνέω, 1) to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence 

ἐδίστασαν: AAI 3p, διστάζω, 1) to doubt, waiver

1. Of which verb is αὐτὸν (him) the object, ἰδόντες (having seen) or προσεκύνησαν (worshiped) or both? Obviously in the meaning of the verse the ‘him’ is the object of both the seeing and the worshiping. My question has to do with the more strict translation question of where to place the ‘him’ or whether to duplicate it.

2. Many translations make this “they saw” and “but some doubted.” The “they” is the implied subject of the 3^rd person plural verb προσεκύνησαν (worshipped). The “some” is the curious translation. There is a pronoun here and it is οἱ, which is an extremely common substantive pronoun, the antecedent of which is ‘the eleven disciples’ of v.16. It seems like a bit of a stretch to reduce the pronoun and its fairly clear antecedent to “some.” Kudos to the New American Bible (translated by the US Council of Bishops), which renders: “When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.” That, to me, seems to be the meaning, not that some of them were all in and some of them were not.

3. Worship and doubt are coexistent in this verse. Again I say, worship and doubt are coexistent in this verse.

 ¹⁸ καὶ προσελθὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς λέγων, Ἐδόθη μοι πᾶσα ἐξουσία ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ [τῆς] γῆς.

And having approached, Jesus spoke to them while saying, “All authority in heaven and on [the] earth was given to me.

προσελθὼν: AAPart nsm, προσέρχομαι, 1) to come to, approach  2) draw near to  3) to assent to

ἐλάλησεν: AAI 3s, λαλέω, 1) to utter a voice or emit a sound  2) to speak  2a) to use the tongue or the faculty of speech 

λέγων: PAPart nsm, λέγω, 1) to say, to speak  1a) affirm over, maintain  1b) to teach  1c) to exhort, advise, to command, direct

Ἐδόθη: API 3s, δίδωμι, 1) to give  2) to give something to someone  2a) of one's own accord to give one something, to his advantage

Mt 28:18 - ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ [τῆς] γῆς; Mt. 6:10 ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς·

1. The two aorist participles followed by aorist verbs in vv.17-18 seem to be staging the story: “Having seen him, they worshiped and doubted” then “Having approached, he said.” It could be that in v.17, they see Jesus ascending the path up to their rendezvous spot and that is when they worship and doubt. Then, in v.18 Jesus gets to the spot and speaks.

2. I’m not sure why the simple aorist passive Ἐδόθη (was given) gets translated as if it were in the perfect tense (has been given) in many translations. Perhaps it just reads more smoothly that way.

 ¹⁹ πορευθέντες οὖν μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς 

εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος,

Therefore, having gone, disciple all the nations, while baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit,   

πορευθέντες: APPart, nmpl, πορεύομαι, 1) to lead over, carry over, transfer  1a) to pursue the journey on which one has entered, to continue on  one's journey  1b) to depart from life  1c) to follow one, that is: become his adherent  1c1) to lead or order one's life  

μαθητεύσατε: AAImp 2p, μαθητεύω, 1) to be a disciple of one  1a) to follow his precepts and instructions  2) to make a disciple

βαπτίζοντες: PAPart npm, βαπτίζω, 1) to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge (of vessels sunk) 

1. “Disciple” (aorist active imperative, μαθητεύσατε) is the only imperative in this verse. The word “Go” is not an imperative, but another aorist participle followed by an aorist verb, the same pattern as in vv.17-18. Young’s Literal Translation is the only one I know of that follows this pattern over these three verses.

2. Matthew uses the verbal form of “to disciple” three times: 13:52 (“every scribe having been discipled into the reign of God”), 27:57 (Joseph of Arimathea, who was also himself disciple to Jesus”), and here. The only other instance of the verb in the NT is in Acts 14:21.

 ²⁰ διδάσκοντες αὐτοὺς τηρεῖν πάντα ὅσα ἐνετειλάμην ὑμῖν: καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ 

μεθ' ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος. 

while teaching them to attend to all that I commanded to you; and behold I am with you all the days even to the completion of the age.

διδάσκοντες : PAPart npm, διδάσκω, 1) to teach  1a) to hold discourse with others in order to instruct them,  deliver didactic discourses

τηρεῖν: PAInf, τηρέω, 1) to attend to carefully, take care of  1a) to guard  1b) metaph. to keep, one in the state in which he is  1c) to observe  1d) to reserve: to undergo something

ἐνετειλάμην: AMI 1s, ἐντέλλομαι, 1) to order, command to be done, enjoin  

συντελείας: gsf, συντέλεια, 1) completion, consummation, end; 2) a bringing to one end together; the combination of parts to one end, marking the unity, perfection, and accomplishment of a scheme

1. If the disciples are to teach all that Jesus had commanded them, the question arises: What has Jesus “commanded” (ἐντέλλομαι) them?  Mt. 17:9 is only use of Jesus ‘commanding’: “And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.” My suggestion would be that this is a reference to the teaching on the mountain in chapters 5-7 (the so-called Sermon on the Mount). That setting on a mountain, in cc.5-7 and in this text, places Jesus in a similar position to Moses, who went up onto the mountain to receive instruction from God that was given in the law.

2. The infinitive “to attend to” (τηρέω) is the same word used to describe the work of the guards who were watching over Jesus’ tomb (28:4). The NIV has “obey.”

I don’t know why this text gets privileged as “the Great Commission.” It is captivating as Jesus’ last words to the disciples in Matthew’s gospel, but for three reasons I think it is best not to refer to it as the Great Commission.

1. Almost every translation makes the verb “go” in v.19 into the command or the imperative of this “commission.” The problem, per the translation of v.19 above, is that the verb there appears as a participle, not an imperative. It should read, “As you go …” or better “Having gone …” (since it is an aorist participle). Throughout this chapter the verb πορεύω (to go) appears in vv. 7 (2x - “having gone,” aorist participle and “he goes” active indicative), 11 (“as they were going”, present participle), 16 (“they went,” aroist), and here. If it is translated as if it were an imperative, “Go …” then this indeed sounds like a commission. The imperative of v.18, however, is not “go” but the verb “disciple.” For a longer argument on this point, see my book Talking About Evangelism, c.2.

2. I believe that the way Matthew tells of this event points to the priority of the “Sermon on the Mount” as the text that ought to be privileged. The very intentional meeting place, set on the mountain, seems to reinforce the priority of that teaching, to me. Otherwise, if the point of discipleship is simply to make more disciples – without the radical vision of a new way of life as described in the Sermon on the Mount – then there is no ‘there’ there. The zeal of evangelism would simply be to accumulate the largest team, or to simply ensure life in heaven after death. That would be completely contrary to the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount.

3. By calling this “the Great Commission,” I think we miss what this text about Jesus. The words “All authority in heaven and on [the] earth was given to me” and “behold I am with you all the days even to the completion of the age” bracket the words to the disciples. It raises what I hope is a meaningful question: Is the primary point here that we are commissioned and, therefore, Jesus’ words about himself are encouraging for us? Or, is the primary point here that Jesus even now has all authority in heaven and earth and even now is with us to the end of the age, so that to disciple others by perpetuating his teachings is how we respond to his authority and presence? I think calling this text “the Great Commission” shows a preference for the first alternative, while I think the second is preferred.