Matthew 28:16-17 meaning

The parallel Gospel account of Matthew 28:16-17 is John 20:26-29. Another possible parallel of Matthew 28:16-17 is 1 Corinthians 15:5b.

Matthew 28:1-15 details Matthew’s account of what took place on the day Jesus rose from the dead. Matthew 28:16-20 details his account of things that took place after that day.

Matthew’s account of these events thematically pertains to his Gospel’s intended purpose. The purpose of his Gospel was to demonstrate to his primary audience (Jews) that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God. Matthew does not describe things chronologically like Luke does, and he does not give extended dialogues like John. Instead of mentioning and/or condensing these events, Matthew focuses on the risen Messiah’s instruction for His disciples and the current stage of His kingdom’s establishment. Matthew writes:

But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated (v 16).

Notice how Matthew now refers to the core group of Jesus’s disciples as the eleven disciples. The reason he no longer calls them “the twelve” is because Judas, who was one of the original twelve, had hanged himself for betraying Jesus (Matthew 27:3-5). The twelve disciples are named in Matthew 10:2-4 and Luke 6:13-16.

The historical setting for Matthew 28:16-20 is Galilee.

Galilee was the district where Jesus’s Messianic ministry had been headquartered (Matthew 4:12-17). Galilee was the district where several if not all of the eleven disciples were from (Matthew 4:18-21). The mountain where Jesus had designated for the disciples to gather was located somewhere in Galilee. Matthew does not specify exactly where the mountain was in Galilee, but his narrative implies that the disciples knew where it was and/or were familiar with this location.

When Matthew writes The eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had designated, he is informing his readers that the disciples obeyed Jesus’s directive to follow Him to Galilee after His resurrection.

Jesus issued this directive to the eleven disciples shortly before His arrest, condemnation, and crucifixion as they walked to Gethsemane from their Passover Seder, shortly before His arrest, condemnation, and crucifixion (Matthew 26:32, Mark 14:28). At that time, the disciples seem to have largely overlooked this instruction.

Instead of paying attention to Jesus’s directive, the eleven disciples obsessively took issue with the fact that Jesus claimed they would abandon Him that very night (Matthew 26:31-35, Mark 14, 27-31).

From their response, it is apparent that none of the disciples expected Jesus to allow Himself to be arrested, condemned, and killed despite being told by Him many times that He would be killed:

• John 2:19-22
• Matthew 12:38-40, Mark 8:11-12, Luke 11:29-30
• Matthew 16:4
• Matthew 16:21, Mark 8:31, Luke 9:22
• Matthew 10:38, 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23
• Matthew 17:22-23, Mark 9:31, Luke 9:44-55
• Matthew 19:17-19, Mark 10:32-34, Luke 18:31-33
• Matthew 26:31-32, Mark 14:27-31
• John 12:23-24

The disciples were deeply shocked and traumatically horrified when Jesus was crucified (John 16:20a). In their bewildered fear, grief, and doubt, they did not anticipate Jesus to rise from the dead even though He told them He would rise from His grave. (See many of the scriptures listed directly above). The Gospels also report that most or all of the disciples (with the exception of the Apostle John in John 20:8), constantly doubted every report that Jesus had risen until they could physically see and touch Him for themselves (Mark 16:11, 16:13, Luke 24:11, 24:41, John 20:24-28).

When the women encountered the angel in the empty tomb, he gave them an important message to deliver to the disciples. The message was a reminder for the eleven disciples to follow Jesus’s directive to proceed to Galilee where they would see Jesus:

“and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”
(Matthew 28:7b—see also Mark 16:7)

The disciples did not immediately obey Jesus’s directive because they did not believe the women’s claims and they were afraid.

When the women returned to the empty tomb and personally encountered Jesus (Matthew 28:9-10), He asked them again, to “take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me” (Matthew 28:10b). This was the third time the eleven disciples were instructed to proceed to Galilee.

Even then it seems that the eleven disciples did not immediately obey. Instead, they hid in fear of the religious leaders and remained inside a closed room within the city of Jerusalem (Luke 24:33, John 20:19a). It was not until Jesus appeared to ten of the eleven disciples (Thomas was not present) inside that room that they finally believed that He had risen (Luke 24:36-44, John 20:19-24).

After this encounter, the eleven disciples eventually proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated as the place for them to gather. While the eleven disciples were in Galilee, they saw Jesus.

When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful (v 17).

This verse likely describes Jesus’s sixth recorded appearance and second with His disciples. 

See: How Many Times Did Jesus Appear after His Resurrection?

John 20:26-29 gives a more detailed description of this sixth recorded encounter. Some of the previous encounters follow:

• Jesus encountered the women who returned to the empty tomb (Matthew 28:9-10) (encounter #2),

• Jesus appeared to Peter (Luke 24:33-35, 1 Corinthians 15:5) (encounter # 3),

• He appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Mark 16:12, Luke 24:13-32) (encounter #4),

• and to all the disciples (minus Thomas and Peter) (Mark 16:14, Luke 24:36-43, John 20:19-25) (encounter # 5).

All of those encounters took place in or near Jerusalem and they occurred on the same day which Jesus rose from the dead.

It seems Thomas was the only disciple who did not see Jesus that first day in Jerusalem. And he refused to believe his fellow disciples’ testimony that Jesus had risen, “unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side” (John 20:25b).

John recounts that it was eight days after Jesus had first appeared to His disciples in Jerusalem when they saw Him again (John 20:26). This next time they saw Him, Thomas, who was doubtful, was with them (John 20:26). And harmonizing John’s account with Matthew 28:16-17 this encounter took place in Galilee at the mountain Jesus had designated.

This Galilee encounter took place inside (John 20:26), which indicates that there was a building structure near that mountain. This may have been the first time Jesus appeared to all of His core disciples together at the same time (1 Corinthians 15:5b).

When the eleven disciples saw Jesus, Matthew writes, they worshipped Him. This means the disciples recognized Him as God and began to gain a deeper understanding of why He had to be crucified and rise again. Jesus explained these things to them during (what was likely) another encounter (Luke 24:44-47).

Matthew also writes: but some were doubtful, which most likely referred to Thomas (John 20:24-25), while politely not naming him.

The expression but some were doubtful provides the clue which informs us that Jesus’s appearance and interaction with doubtful Thomas (John 20:26-29) took place in Galilee. If Jesus appeared to Thomas in Jerusalem and removed his doubts, it does not make sense that the eleven disciples would still be doubtful when they saw Him again in Galilee. Therefore Matthew 28:16-17 and John 20:26-29 appear to be describing the same appearance, unless Matthew is simply speaking in generic terms when he wrote but some were doubtful.

If Matthew was writing in generic terms when he wrote but some were doubtful, and Jesus encountered Thomas while the disciples were still in Jerusalem and not Galilee eight days after His resurrection, then Matthew would likely either have been referring to the disciples’ previous skepticism and doubt or to a broader group of disciples. Jesus appeared to five hundred brethren at one point, indicating that Jesus witnessed to a broader group than just the eleven (1 Corinthians 15:6).

The disciples’ persistent doubtfulness portrays them in an honest but unflattering light which further underscores the authenticity of their accounts. Historical writers often try to make themselves look good wherever they may be involved in the narrative. However, the Gospels consistently minimize the disciples and the writer’s positive features and often point out their own failures. Instead of giving an edited version that romanticizes themselves, the Gospels honestly portray events as they happened even when it makes the writers look foolish.

The disciples’ doubtfulness also shows how the Gospel bearers themselves had to overcome doubt and be convinced of its truth before they went into the world as disciple-makers of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20). While Jesus says there is a special blessing for those who are quick to believe in Him without seeing, the Bible does not demand that people believe in Jesus and His resurrection without any merit or evidence (John 24:29, Romans 10:16-17).

To learn more about the evidence for Jesus’s resurrection, see The Bible Says article: “Did Jesus of Nazareth Rise from the Dead?”

Before moving on, there is one final question concerning Matthew 28:16-17 and how it relates to John 20:26-29.

Recall how John said “eight days” had passed between Jesus’s encounter with the disciples in Jerusalem and His appearance to the disciples with Thomas in Galilee (John 20:26).

Why was there an eight-day hiatus between His fifth and sixth recorded appearances?

There are several things to consider about this question.

First, it is always possible that Jesus appeared one or more times between these events (but not to Thomas) which are not recorded in the Bible. But this seems unlikely given the things the Gospels include.

Second, the most apparent reason for why Jesus did not appear to His disciples for eight days after He first visited them in Jerusalem (Mark 16:14, Luke 24:36-43, John 20:19-25) was because He was waiting for them to obey His directive to go to Galilee.

Jesus issued this directive three times.

• He personally told the disciples to go to Galilee (Matthew 26:32, Mark 14:28).
• The angel commissioned the women to remind His disciples about it (Matthew 28:7b, Mark 16:7).
• Jesus commissioned the women who returned to His empty tomb to remind His disciples about it (Matthew 28:10).

The city of Capernaum in Galilee was located approximately seventy miles north of Jerusalem. This was the city Jesus chose as the headquarters for His ministry. If the disciples took the most direct route, through Samaria, then it would have most likely taken them two to four days to make the journey.

If the disciples took the longer route, avoiding Samaria as Jews often did, then it would have taken them three to seven days to travel the hundred plus miles to Galilee.

If the disciples took seven days to travel or delayed the start of their journey from Jerusalem for a few days, they would have likely paused their journey for a day in observance of the Sabbath.

In any event, soon after the eleven disciples had fulfilled Jesus’s command to proceed to Galilee, they saw Him.