Matthew 28 Questions

Icebreaker question in pairs:   What are some of your fondest family or church memories of Easter?

Matthew 28:1-7

1. What do we learn about Mary Magdalene from Luke 8:2? Jesus cast 7 demons out of her, and she became one of his followers.
2. What do we learn about the other Mary from Matthew 27:56? She was the mother of James and Joseph.  She was also in the group that followed Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem.
3. What does Mark 16:1 tell us about why these women actually came to visit the tomb? Brought spices to anoint the body of Jesus.
4. Was there another earthquake associated with the death and resurrection of Jesus?   Read Matthew 27:51-53 to see what else happened when Jesus died.
5. Did the angel roll away the stone so Jesus could get out or so the disciples could see that he had risen? With this resurrected body, Jesus didn’t need for the stone to be rolled away.   It was for the benefit of others.
6. Were angels associated with any other part of Jesus’ life? Yes, at his birth.  See Matthew 1:20 and 2:19.
7. How shook up were the guards? The word in the original language is seio which is the root of seismos, from which we get the word seismology.   They were “earthquake” shook up.
8. Has there ever been a time in your life when you were “earthquake shook up”?
9. The angel said to the women that Jesus had risen just as he had said he would do. What did Jesus say in these verses about his resurrection?   Matthew 12:40, 16:21, 17:9,23; 20:19 and 26:32?   Have group members to read aloud as time allows.
10. When the angel told the women to go tell the disciples, why do you think he included the words “go quickly”? There has always been a sense of urgency about the work of the Lord. Time is running out for us and for others.   As has been said by others, “Good news is only good if it gets there on time.”

Matthew 28:8-10

1. According to 28:8, did the women follow the angel’s instructions?    It says they departed “quickly” and “ran” to tell the disciples.
2. What is the significance of the women encountering Jesus? One possible answer is that their meeting Jesus was an added bonus for being obedient.   If they had not gone quickly and ran, they may have missed Jesus.   Are their times in our lives that we have “missed Jesus” because we were not obedient?   Very likely.
3. If Jesus were not God, would he not have rebuked the women for worshipping him? Most likely.   Discuss further.
4. Is this the first time Jesus referred to the disciples as “brothers”? It is the only time in Matthew’s gospel.  See also John 20:17 and Psalm 22:22.

Matthew 28:16-20

1. There were two responses from the disciples when they saw Jesus for the first time since his resurrection: worship and doubt.   Why might some have doubted?    Even though Jesus was recognizable, his resurrection body was different.   By the way, our new bodies in heaven will be different but recognizable.   We will recognize those we loved who will be in heaven.
2. Before giving what is called the great commission, why did Jesus mention that he had all authority in heaven and on earth? The task he was assigning to them was huge.   Therefore, the disciples needed to be reminded that Jesus had such authority.   Do we need to be reminded that Jesus has that authority as we have gospel conversations?
3. In groups of two to four, discuss this question: Of the key words in the great commission-go, make disciples, baptizing, teaching-which is the most important one and why?   If anyone has the ability to diagram the sentence(s), it would be most helpful.   After 3-4 minutes, ask the groups to come back together and discuss their answers.