Matthew 28:18

Matthew 28:18

The Omnipotence of Jesus on Earth.

The power of Jesus in heaven is revealed to us that we may know that to Him is also given all power on earth. He whom God hath highly exalted, who is the Lord of glory and the Prince of the kings of the earth, who is head over all things to the Church, and under Whose feet the Father hath put all things, rules and governs in silence and calm omnipotence, unknown and unrecognized by the world. All earthly events and historical movements, all triumphs of skill and knowledge, all discoveries of science and developments of human life are under His government and the power of his sceptre; all things are subservient to the great purpose of His death, and preparatory to His second Advent.

I. Jesus has power on earth to forgive sin. He who has entered into the Holy of Holies by His own blood is now before the Father, the advocate in righteousness of sinners who trust in Him. And He has power to forgive sin on earth, and the conscience is at peace, the heart that was heavy-laden is at rest. And Jesus exerts this power with tenderness, as gently as the light comes down from heaven, and as the dew falls on the flowers of earth. We look upon Him, and we are healed.

II. Jesus has power to renew the heart, Jesus only. It is His dying love that melts the heart. While the wintry and keen blasts of the law make us wrap the cloak of self-righteousness and opposition to God more firmly round us, the Sun of righteousness, the mercy of God, moves us to lay aside our pride, our sin, our hatred and forgetfulness of God.

III. Jesus has power on earth to quicken the dead. It is His Divine prerogative to give life. Who but God can kill and make alive again? Jesus is not merely a teacher or prophet; He is not a restorer of law. It is not instruction merely or principally that we need. The Lord came that we might have life, not by His doctrine, nor by His example, but by His death the erring, lost sheep were saved and brought into the fold of peace.

IV. All power is given unto Jesus on earth to keep His people in faith and love amidst all their temptations and afflictions, conflicts and struggles, giving them the victory over their enemies, and presenting them finally unblamable in body, soul, and spirit before the Father. The Good Shepherd, whose own the sheep are, by the election of the Father, by the self-sacrifice of His infinite love, by the indwelling and sealing of the Holy Ghost, keeps His people to the end. He guards them, and protects the new and tender life against the hostile and adverse influences by which it is surrounded. In heaven He is continually inteceding on our behalf, that our faith fail not; on earth He is continually shielding us with the power of His love, and keeping us by the influence of His Spirit.

A. Saphir, Christ and the Church, p. 17.

References: Matthew 28:18 . H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. viii., p. 100; G. T. Coster, Ibid., vol. xvi., p. 108; Preacher's Monthly, vol. ix., p. 143; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. vi., p. 276. Matthew 28:18 , Matthew 28:19 . Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vii., No. 383; B. Bird, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xiv., p. 241.Matthew 28:18-20 . Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xx., No. 1200; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xix., p. 140; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iv., p. 266; A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 536.