Matthew  28;18, 19.

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.”

Matthew and his ten fellow disciples made their way to that mountain in Galilee, a friendlier environment than hostile Jerusalem. It was there and then that Jesus came to them.

They had no idea of why they were there except the fact that the Easter angel told them to do so.  Jesus now, on that mountain top, had their full attention.  He shared his heart and opened their eyes to a new future.  The exciting new Kingdom of God, he told them, is now here and the door into it is for all who believe, yes, all!

Jesus had conquered the power of death and Satan in the way we have already described. The Scriptures were being fulfilled.  They therefore listened carefully to Jesus as he spoke, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.” v 18  That was the same Jesus who had so recently cried out, “My God, why have you forsaken me?” The leap from that to his sharing now with his disciples that “all authority has been given to me” is not easy to comprehend. Either Jesus was deluded or he was telling the truth. Knowing Jesus, his disciples believed!  All authority on earth and heaven has been given to him, so be it.

On the basis of that fact Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.”  That was the climax of it all – the atoning work of Jesus extends to all who believe, to Greek, Gentile, Chinese, African, rich, poor.  The door into the new Kingdom stands ajar – all who believe go in and find the others, all astounded that they love Jesus, that he loves them and that they really do love one another. That is the mystery of the KIngdom of God – on earth and heaven.