Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 28

Pseudo-Chrysostom: After the mockings and scourgings, after the mingled drinks of vinegar and gall, the pains of the cross, the wounds, and finally after death itself and Hades, a renewed flesh rose again from the grave. A hidden life returned from confinement, and health, once chained up in death, broke forth with fresh beauty from its ruin.¹

St. Augustine of Hippo: A question arises concerning the hour when the women came to the tomb, and it should not be overlooked. Matthew here says, “On the evening of the Sabbath.” What, then, does Mark mean by, “Very early in the morning, the first day of the week” (Mark 16:2)?²

Indeed, Matthew, by naming the first part of the night—that is, the evening—is referring to the entire night, at the end of which they came to the tomb. Since the Sabbath prevented them from doing this earlier, he designates the whole night by its earliest part, which was the first time it became lawful for them to carry out what they had planned to do during the night.

Therefore, the phrase “On the evening of the sabbath” is the same as if he had said, “On the night of the sabbath”—that is, the night following the Sabbath day. This is sufficiently proven by the words that follow: “As it began to dawn toward the first day of the week.” This interpretation would not be possible if we understood “evening” to mean only the first part of the night, its beginning. The beginning of the night does not “begin to dawn toward the first day of the week”; only the end of the night, which concludes at dawn, does so.

This is a common way of speaking in Holy Scripture: expressing the whole by a part. Therefore, by “evening,” he meant the entire night, at the end of which they came to the tomb.

The Venerable Bede: Alternatively, it may be understood that they began their journey in the evening, but it was the dawn of the first day of the week when they reached the tomb. That is, they prepared the spices for anointing the Lord's body in the evening but brought them to the tomb in the morning. Matthew describes this so briefly that his account is not entirely clear, but the other Evangelists present the sequence of events more distinctly.

The Lord was buried on the sixth day of the week. The women, returning from the tomb, prepared spices and ointments as long as it was lawful to work. On the Sabbath, they rested according to the commandment, as Luke plainly declares. Then, when the Sabbath was past and evening had come, the time for work returned. With zealous devotion, they went to purchase the spices they still needed—this is implied in Mark's words, “when the sabbath was past”—so that they might go and anoint Jesus. It was for this purpose that they came early in the morning to the tomb.³

St. Jerome: Alternatively, this apparent discrepancy among the Evangelists regarding the times of their visits is not a sign of falsehood, as wicked men claim. Instead, it shows the diligent duty and attention of the women, who were often coming and going, unable to endure being away from their Lord's tomb for long.

Remigius of Auxerre: It should be known that Matthew intends to hint at a mystical meaning: how great a dignity this most holy night received from the noble conquest of death and the Resurrection of our Lord. With this purpose, he says, “On the evening of the Sabbath.” For whereas in the usual succession of hours, evening does not dawn into day but rather darkens into night, these words show that the Lord, by the light of His resurrection, shed joy and brilliance over this entire night.

The Venerable Bede: From the beginning of the world's creation until now, the course of time has followed this arrangement: day has preceded night, because humanity, having fallen by sin from the light of paradise, has sunk into the darkness and misery of this world. But now, most fittingly, night precedes day, since through faith in the resurrection, we are brought back by Christ's bounty from the darkness of sin and the shadow of death to the light of life.⁴

St. Peter Chrysologusⁱ: The Sabbath is illuminated, not taken away, by Christ, who said, “I am not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfil it” (Matthew 5:17). It is illuminated so that it may brighten into the Lord's day and shine forth in the Church, whereas it had until now burned dimly, obscured by the Jews in the Synagogue.⁵

St. Peter Chrysologus: The text continues, “Came Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary,” and so on. The woman who ran early to sin now runs late for pardon. In paradise, she embraced unbelief; from the tomb, she hurries to embrace faith. She who once snatched death from life now hastens to snatch life from death.

And it is not “they came” (plural), but “came” (singular), for it is a matter of mystery, not accident, that the two came under one name. She came, but she was changed—a woman transformed in her life, not in her name; in her virtue, not in her sex. The women go before the Apostles, bearing to the Lord's tomb a type of the Churches—namely, the two Marys.

For Mary is the name of Christ's mother, and one name is repeated for two women because this represents the Church, which comes from two peoples—the Gentiles and the Jews—and yet is one. Mary came to the tomb as to the womb of the resurrection, so that Christ—who had been born of her womb according to the flesh—might be born a second time from the tomb of faith. Just as a virgin had borne Him into this present life, so a sealed tomb would bring Him forth into eternal life. It is a proof of His deity to have left a womb virgin after birth, and no less a proof to have come forth in the body from a closed tomb.

St. Jerome: “And, behold, there was a great earthquake.” Our Lord, who is at once Son of God and Son of Man, according to His twofold nature of divinity and flesh, gives a sign sometimes of His greatness and at other times of His humility. Thus, although it was a man who was crucified and a man who was buried, the events surrounding it show Him to be the Son of God.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: The earthquake represents the power of the resurrection. When the sting of death is blunted and its darkness is illuminated, a quaking is stirred up among the powers beneath as the Lord of the heavenly powers rises again.

St. John Chrysostom: Alternatively, the earthquake was meant to rouse and awaken the women who had come to anoint the body. Since all these things were done in the night, it was likely that some of them had fallen asleep.

The Venerable Bede: The earthquake at the Resurrection, as at the Crucifixion, signifies that worldly hearts must first be moved to repentance by a wholesome fear that comes from believing in His Passion and Resurrection.

St. Peter Chrysologus: If the earth quaked this way when the Lord rose for the pardon of the saints, how will it quake when He rises for the punishment of the wicked? As the Prophet says, “The earth trembled when the Lord rose again to judgment” (Psalm 76:8). And how will the earth endure the Lord's presence when it was unable to endure the presence of His angel? “And the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven.” For when Christ arose, death was destroyed, and communion with heaven was restored to things on earth. And woman, who long ago communicated with the Devil leading to death, now communicates with the angel leading to life.⁶

St. Hilary of Poitiers: This is an example of the mercy of God the Father, who supplied the ministry of heavenly power to the Son at His resurrection from the grave. The angel is therefore the proclaimer of this first resurrection, so that it might be announced by an accompanying sign of the Father's good pleasure.

The Venerable Bede: Because Christ is both God and man, the acts of His humanity are not lacking the ministrations of angels, which are due to Him as God. “And came and rolled back the stone”—not to open the door for the Lord to come out, but to give evidence to people that He had already come out. For He who, as a mortal, had the power to enter the world through the closed womb of a Virgin, was able, having become immortal, to depart from the world by rising from a sealed tomb.

Remigius of Auxerre: The rolling back of the stone signifies the revealing of Christ's sacraments, which were covered by the letter of the Law. Since the Law was written on stones, it is represented here by the stone.

St. Peter Chrysologus: He did not say “rolled,” but “rolled back,” because rolling the stone to the tomb was a proof of death, while rolling it back asserted the resurrection. The order of things is changed: the tomb devours death, not the dead. The house of death becomes the mansion of life. A new law is imposed upon it: it receives a dead man and gives up a living one.⁷

The text continues, “And sat on it.” He sat down, though He is incapable of weariness. He sat as a teacher of the faith and a master of the Resurrection. He sat upon the stone so that the firmness of his seat might assure the steadfastness of the believers. The angel rested the foundations of the faith upon that rock on which Christ was to found His Church.

Alternatively, the stone of the tomb may represent death, under which we all lay. The angel sitting on it shows that Christ has subdued death by His power.

The Venerable Bede: And the angel who proclaimed the Lord's coming into the world rightly appeared standing, to show that the Lord would come to vanquish the prince of this world. But the herald of the Resurrection is described as being seated, to show that now that Christ had overcome him who had the power of death, He had ascended the throne of the everlasting kingdom. He sat upon the stone that had been rolled back, with which the mouth of the tomb had been closed, to teach that by His power He had burst the bonds of the tomb.

St. Augustine of Hippo: It may trouble some that according to Matthew, the angel sat on the stone after it had been rolled back from the tomb, whereas Mark says that the women, having gone into the tomb, saw a young man sitting on the right side. We may suppose either that they saw two angels—and that Matthew did not mention the one they saw inside, nor Mark the one they saw outside the tomb—or that they heard from each one separately what the angels said concerning Jesus.⁸

Alternatively, the words “entering into the tomb” (Mark 16:5) may mean entering an enclosed area, which likely existed in front of the rock out of which the tomb was carved. In that case, it could be the same angel they saw sitting on the right side whom Matthew describes as sitting on the stone he had rolled back.

St. Peter Chrysologus: The splendor of his face is distinct from the shining of his clothing. His face is compared to lightning, his clothing to snow, for lightning is in heaven and snow is on the earth. As the Prophet says, “Praise the Lord from the earth, ... fire and hail, snow and vapors” (Psalm 148:7-8). Thus, the splendor of his heavenly nature is preserved in the angel's face, while the grace of human interaction is shown in his clothing. The appearance of the angel who talked with them is arranged so that human eyes could endure the quiet splendor of his robes, yet because of his shining face, they would tremble before the messenger of their Maker.⁹

But what is the meaning of this clothing where there is no need for a covering? The angel represents our dress, our shape, and our likeness in the Resurrection, when a person is sufficiently clothed by the splendor of their own body.¹⁰

St. Jerome: The angel in white clothing signifies the glory of His triumph.

St. Gregory the Great: “Lightning” inspires terror, while “snow” is an emblem of fairness. Just as Almighty God is terrible to sinners and gentle to the righteous, so this angel is rightly a witness of His resurrection. He is shown with a face like lightning and clothing like snow, so that by his presence he might terrify the wicked and comfort the good. And so it follows, “And for fear of him the keepers did shake.”¹¹

Rabanus Maurus: Those who did not have the faith of love were shaken with panic, and those who would not believe the truth of the resurrection themselves “became as dead men.”

St. Peter Chrysologus: For they kept watch over Him with cruel intent, not with loving concern. And no one can stand who is forsaken by their own conscience or troubled by a sense of guilt. For this reason, the angel confounds the wicked and comforts the good.¹²

St. Jerome: The guards lay like dead men in a trance of terror, but the angel speaks comfort not to them, but to the women, saying, “Fear not ye.” This is as much as to say, “Let those fear in whom unbelief remains; but you who seek the crucified Jesus, hear that He has risen again and has accomplished what He promised.”

St. Peter Chrysologus: For their faith had been shaken by the cruel storm of His Passion, so they still sought Him as one crucified and dead. The angel says, “I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified.” The weight of the trial had bent them to look for the Lord of heaven in the tomb, but, “He is not here.”¹³

Rabanus Maurus: That is, His physical presence is gone, for His spiritual presence is absent from no place. “He is risen, as he said.”

St. John Chrysostom: This is as much as to say, “If you do not believe me, remember His own words.” Then follows further proof when he adds, “Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”

St. Jerome: This means, “If my words fail to convince you, may the empty tomb do so.”

St. Peter Chrysologus: Thus the angel first announces His name, declares His Cross, and acknowledges His Passion, but immediately proclaims Him risen and their Lord. An angel, after such sufferings and after the grave, acknowledges Him as Lord. How then can any person judge that the Godhead was diminished by the flesh, or that His power failed in His Passion?¹⁴

He says, “Which was crucified,” and points out the place where the Lord was laid, so that they would not think it was another, and not the same person, who had risen from the dead. And if the Lord reappears in the same flesh and gives evidence of His resurrection, why should anyone suppose that they themselves will reappear in different flesh? Why should a servant disdain his own flesh, seeing that the Lord did not change ours?

Rabanus Maurus: And this good news is given not to you alone for the secret comfort of your own hearts; you must extend it to all who love Him: “Go quickly, and tell his disciples.”

St. Peter Chrysologus: This is as much as to say: “Woman, now that you are healed, return to the man and persuade him to faith, just as you once persuaded him to treachery. Carry to man the proof of the Resurrection, to whom you once carried the counsel of destruction.”¹⁵

St. John Chrysostom: “And, behold, he shall go before you,” that is, to save you from danger, so that fear does not prevail over faith.

St. Jerome: Mystically, “He shall go before you into Galilee,” that is, into the “wallowing place”ⁱ of the Gentiles, where before there was wandering and stumbling, and the foot had no firm and steady place to rest.

The Venerable Bede: The Lord is rightly seen by His disciples in Galilee, because He had already passed from death to life, from corruption to incorruption. For the interpretation of “Galilee” is “transmigration” or “passage.” Happy are the women who were worthy to announce the triumph of the Resurrection to the world! Even happier are the souls who, on the day of judgment, when the reprobate are struck with terror, will be found worthy to enter the joy of the blessed resurrection!

St. Hilary of Poitiers: After being comforted by the angel, the women were immediately met by the Lord, so that when they proclaimed His resurrection to the disciples, they would be speaking from Christ's own mouth rather than from an angel's.

St. Augustine of Hippo: “They departed... out of the tomb”—that is, from that spot in the garden which was in front of the tomb carved into the rock.¹

St. Jerome: Two feelings possessed the minds of the women: fear and joy. They felt fear at the greatness of the miracle, and joy in their desire for the One who had risen. But both feelings added speed to their steps, as it follows, “And they did run to bring his disciples word.” They went to the apostles so that through them the seed of the faith might be spread. Those who so desired, and who ran in this way, deserved to have their rising Lord come to meet them, and so it follows, “And behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail.”

Rabanus Maurus: By this, He showed that He will meet with His help all those who begin on the paths of virtue and will enable them to attain everlasting salvation.

St. Jerome: The women ought to be the first to hear this “All hail,” so that the curse on the woman Eve might be removed in these women.

St. Peter Chrysologus: That these women contain a full figure of the Church is shown by this: Christ convinces His disciples when they doubt the Resurrection and confirms them when they are in fear. When He meets them, He does not terrify them with His power but anticipates them with the passion of His love. And Christ, in His Church, salutes Himself, for He has taken it into His own Body.²

St. Augustine of Hippo: We conclude that they spoke with angels twice at the sepulcher: once when they saw one angel, of whom Matthew and Mark speak, and again when they saw two angels, as Luke and John relate. And they spoke with the Lord twice as well: once when Mary supposed Him to be “the gardener” (John 20:15), and now again when He met them on the way to confirm them by this repetition and to restore them from their faintness.

St. Peter Chrysologus: Then Mary was not allowed to touch Him; now she has permission not only to touch but to hold Him completely: “they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.”

Rabanus Maurus: It was said above how He rose while the sepulcher was closed, to show that the body which had been shut up in it, dead, had now become immortal. He now offers His feet to be held by the women to show that He had real flesh, which can be touched by mortals.

St. Peter Chrysologus: Those who hold Christ's feet are those in the Church who represent the model of Gospel preaching, earning this privilege by running to Him. By faith, they hold onto the Savior's steps so that they may arrive at the honor of His perfect divinity. She who mourns her Lord on earth—seeking Him as dead in the tomb, not knowing that He reigns in heaven with the Father—is rightly told, “touch me not.”

This contrast—that the same Mary is at one moment exalted to the summit of faith, touching Christ and holding Him with complete and holy affection, and at another moment is cast down in the weakness of flesh and womanly infirmity, doubting and undeserving to touch her Lord—presents no difficulty for us.

For the first is a matter of mystery, the second of her human nature; the first is of divine grace, the second of human nature. So it is with us: when we have knowledge of divine things, we live for God; when we are wise in human things, we are blinded by ourselves.

They held His feet to show that the head of Christ is the man, but that the woman is at Christ's feet, and that it was given to them through Christ not to lead, but to follow the man. Christ also repeats what the angel had said, so that what an angel had confirmed, Christ might make even more certain.³

It follows: “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Fear not.’”

St. Jerome: This can always be observed in both the Old and New Testaments: when a majestic person appears, the first thing done is to banish fear, so that the tranquil mind may receive what is said.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: The same ancient order is now followed in the reversal of our sorrow: just as death began with the female sex, so a woman should now be the first to see the glory of the Resurrection and be made its messenger.

This is why the Lord adds, “Go tell my brothers that they are to go into Galilee; there they will see me.”

St. Peter Chrysologus: He calls them “brothers” whom He has made relatives of His own body; “brothers” whom the generous Heir has made His co-heirs; “brothers” whom He has adopted as sons of His own Father.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The fact that the Lord, both by His own mouth and by the angel, directs them to look for Him in Galilee—and not in the place where He was to show Himself first—makes every believer anxious to understand the mystery of this statement. Galilee is interpreted as “transmigration” or “revelation.”ⁱ⁴

According to the first interpretation, what other meaning presents itself but this: that the grace of Christ was to pass from the people of Israel to the Gentiles? The Gentiles would not believe when the apostles preached the Gospel to them unless the Lord Himself first prepared the way in their hearts. This is the meaning of, “He will go before you into Galilee. There you will see him.” It means you will find His members there; you will perceive His living Body in those who receive you.

According to the other interpretation, “revelation,” it is to be understood that “you will see him” no longer in the form of a servant, but in the form in which He is equal with the Father. That revelation will be the true Galilee, when “we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). That will be the blessed migration from this world to that eternity.

St. John Chrysostom: Of the signs that were shown around Christ, some were common to the whole world, like the darkness. Others were unique to the guards, such as the wonderful appearance of angels and the earthquake, which were performed for the sake of the soldiers so that they might be stunned with amazement and bear witness to the truth. For when the truth is proclaimed by its adversaries, it shines even brighter. ¹

Then, some of the watch came into the city and showed the chief priests all the things that were done.

Rabanus Maurus: Simple minds and uneducated country folk often reveal the truth of a matter plainly and without deception, just as it is. On the other hand, crafty wickedness carefully studies how to promote falsehood with flattering words.

St. Jerome: Thus the chief priests, who should have been turned to repentance by this and sought the risen Jesus, instead persisted in their wickedness. They used the money given for the temple to purchase a lie, just as they had previously given thirty pieces of silver to the traitor Judas.

St. Peter Chrysologus: Not content with having put the Master to death, they plotted how they might destroy the disciples and use the Master's power as a charge against them. The soldiers indeed lost Him and the Jews missed Him, but the disciples carried Him away—not by theft, but by faith; by virtue, not by fraud; by holiness, not by wickedness; alive, and not dead.

St. John Chrysostom: How could the disciples have carried Him away secretly? They were poor men of no social standing who scarcely dared to show themselves. They fled even after they saw Christ alive; how much more would they have feared such a large group of soldiers when He was dead?

How were they to move the stone from the tomb’s entrance? Perhaps one person could have done so without the guards noticing, but a large stone, requiring many hands to move, was rolled to the entrance. Besides, was the seal not on it? And why did they not attempt it on the first night, when no one was at the tomb? For it was on the Sabbath that they asked for the body of Jesus.

Moreover, what is the meaning of these linen cloths that Peter saw lying there? If the disciples had stolen the body, they would never have stripped it. Doing so could have damaged the body and would have caused unnecessary delay, exposing them to capture by the guards—especially since the body and clothes were covered with myrrh, a sticky spice that would have made them adhere.

The allegation of theft, then, is improbable. Therefore, their efforts to conceal the Resurrection only make it more obvious. For when they say, "His disciples stole the body," they confess that it is not in the tomb. And since they thus confess that they did not have the body, and since the guards, the seal, and the disciples' fear make the theft improbable, the evidence for the Resurrection becomes undeniable.

Remigius of Auxerre: But if the guards were sleeping, how did they see the theft? And if they did not see it, how could they testify to it? Therefore, what they desire to prove, they cannot prove.

Glossa Ordinaria: So that fear of the governor might not prevent them from telling this lie, they promised them impunity. ²

St. John Chrysostom: See how all are corrupted: Pilate is persuaded, the people are stirred up, and the soldiers are bribed. As it follows, And they took the money, and did as they were instructed. If money prevailed with a disciple enough to make him betray his Master, is it any wonder that the soldiers were overcome by it?

St. Hilary of Poitiers: The concealment of the Resurrection and the false allegation of theft are purchased with money, because the glory of Christ is denied for the sake of this world's honor, which consists of money and desire.

Rabanus Maurus: But just as the guilt of His blood, which they called down upon themselves and their children, weighs them down with a heavy burden of sin, so the purchase of this lie, by which they deny the truth of the Resurrection, charges them with this guilt forever. As it follows, And this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

St. Peter Chrysologus: "Among the Jews," not among the Christians. What the Jew in Judea concealed with gold is, by faith, proclaimed throughout the world.

St. Jerome: All who misuse the money of the temple and the contributions intended for the church, purchasing their own pleasure with them, are like the scribes and priests who bought this lie and the blood of the Savior.

The Venerable Bede: After Saint Matthew has confirmed the Lord's Resurrection as declared by the Angel, he recounts the vision the disciples had: Then the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.¹

For as He was approaching His Passion, the Lord had said to His disciples, After I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee (Matthew 26:32); and the Angel said the same to the women. Therefore, the disciples obeyed their Master's command. Only eleven went, for one had already perished.

St. Jerome: After His Resurrection, Jesus is seen and worshiped on the mountain in Galilee. Though some doubted, their doubting confirms our faith.

Remigius of Auxerre: Luke tells this more fully, recounting how when the Lord appeared to the disciples after the Resurrection, in their terror they thought they saw a spirit.

The Venerable Bedeⁱ: The Lord appeared to them on the mountain to signify that by His Resurrection, He had exalted the Body which He had taken at His birth from the common dust of the human race, raising it above all earthly things. He also appeared there to teach the faithful that if they desire to see the height of His Resurrection, they must strive in this life to pass from lowly pleasures to high desires.²

He goes before His disciples into Galilee because Christ is risen from the dead, the firstfruits of them that slept (1 Corinthians 15:20). And those who are Christ's follow Him, passing in their turn from death to life while contemplating Him as He appears in His own Divinity. This also agrees with the fact that "Galilee" is interpreted as "revelation."

St. Augustine of Hippo: But we must consider how the Lord could have been seen bodily in Galilee. It is clear that this was not on the day of the Resurrection, for He was seen that day in Jerusalem at the beginning of the night, as Luke and John clearly agree. Nor was it during the eight days that followed, after which John says the Lord appeared to His disciples. This was when Thomas, who had not seen Him on the day of the Resurrection, saw Him for the first time.³

For if the eleven had seen Him on a mountain in Galilee within those eight days, then Thomas, who was one of them, could not have seen Him for the first time after the eight days. Unless, perhaps, the "eleven" mentioned there were from the larger group of disciples and not the eleven Apostles.

There is another difficulty. After recounting that the Lord was seen by seven disciples who were fishing not on the mountain but at the Sea of Tiberias, John adds, This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead (John 21:14).

Therefore, if we understand that the Lord was seen by eleven of the disciples within those eight days, this appearance at the Sea of Tiberias would be the fourth, not the third. Indeed, to understand John's account, it must be observed that he does not count each individual appearance, but each day on which Jesus appeared, even though He may have appeared more than once on the same day, as He did three times on the day of His Resurrection. We are therefore compelled to understand that this appearance to the eleven disciples on the mountain in Galilee took place last of all.

In the four Evangelists, we find in all ten distinct appearances of our Lord after His Resurrection.

1. To the women at the sepulcher. 2. To the same women on their way back from the sepulcher. 3. To Peter. 4. To two disciples as they went into the country. 5. To many together in Jerusalem; 6. when Thomas was not with them. 7. At the Sea of Tiberias. 8. On the mountain in Galilee, according to Matthew. 9. To the eleven as they sat at a meal, because they would not eat with Him again on earth, as related by Mark (Mark 16:14). 10. On the day of His Ascension, no longer on the earth but lifted up in a cloud, as related by both Mark and Luke.

But not everything was written, as John confesses, for Jesus had much conversation with them during the forty days before His ascension, being seen by them, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3).

Remigius of Auxerre: The disciples, then, when they saw Him, knew the Lord and worshiped Him, bowing their faces to the ground. And their affectionate and merciful Master, so that He might remove all doubt from their hearts, came to them and strengthened their belief, as it follows: And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.

St. Jerome: Power is given to Him who, just a little while before, was crucified, was buried, but who afterward rose again.

The Venerable Bede: He says this not with respect to His Deity, which is co-eternal with the Father, but with respect to the Humanity He took upon Himself, according to which He was made a little lower than the angels (Hebrews 2:9).

St. Peter Chrysologus: The Son of God conveyed to the Son of the Virgin—the God to the Man, the Deity to the Flesh—that which He had always possessed together with the Father.⁴

St. Jerome: Power is given in heaven and on earth, so that He who previously reigned in heaven should now reign on earth through the faith of believers.

Remigius of Auxerre: What the Psalmist says of the Lord at His resurrection, You made him to have dominion over the works of your hands (Psalm 8:6), this the Lord now says of Himself: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.

And here it should be noted that even before His resurrection, the angels knew they were subject to the man, Christ. Christ, therefore, desiring it to be known to humanity that all power in heaven and on earth had been committed to Him, sent preachers to make the word of life known to all nations. From this follows the command: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.

The Venerable Bede: He who before His Passion had said, Go not into the way of the Gentiles (Matthew 10:5), now, rising from the dead, says, Go and teach all nations.⁵

By this, let the Jews who say that Christ's coming is for their salvation only be put to silence. Let the Donatists also blush, who, by seeking to confine Christ to one place, have said that He is in Africa only and not in other countries.

St. Jerome: They are, therefore, to first teach all nations, and when they have been taught, to dip them in water. For the body cannot receive the sacrament of Baptism unless the soul first receives the truth of the Faith. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, so that they whose Godhead is one should be conferred at once; for to name this Trinity is to name one God.

St. Peter Chrysologus: Thus, all nations are created a second time for salvation by that one and the same Power which first created them into being.⁶

St. Jerome: And if someone has such a contrary spirit as to baptize in a way that omits one of these names, thereby contradicting Christ who ordained this as a law, his baptism will accomplish nothing. Those who are baptized by him will not be delivered from their sins at all. From these words, we gather how undivided the substance of the Trinity is: that the Father is truly the Father of the Son, the Son is truly the Son of the Father, and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of both the Father and the Son, and also the Spirit of wisdom and of truth—that is, of the Son of God. This, then, is the salvation of those who believe, and in this Trinity is forged the perfect expression of ecclesiastical discipline.⁷

St. Hilary of Poitiers: For what part of human salvation is not contained in this Sacrament? All things are full and perfect, as proceeding from Him who is full and perfect. The nature of His relation is expressed in the title "Father," but He is nothing other than Father. For He is not Father in the way humans are, deriving His fatherhood from something else. He is Himself Unbegotten, Eternal, having the source of His being in Himself, and known to no one except the Son.⁸

The Son is the Offspring of the Unbegotten, One of the One, True of the True, Living of the Living, Perfect of the Perfect, Strength of Strength, Wisdom of Wisdom, Glory of Glory, the Image of the Unseen God, the Form of the Unbegotten Father.

Neither can the Holy Spirit be separated from the confession of the Father and the Son. This consolation for our longing desires is absent from no place. He is the pledge of our hope in the effects of His gifts, He is the light of our minds, He shines in our souls.

Since the heretics cannot change these truths, they introduce their own human explanations. For example, Sabellius identifies the Father with the Son, thinking the distinction is one of name rather than person, and so presents one and the same Person as both Father and Son. Or Ebion, who, by deriving the beginning of Christ's existence from Mary, makes Him not a Man from God, but a god from man. Or the Arians, who claim that the form, power, and wisdom of God were derived from nothing, and in time. What wonder is it, then, that people hold diverse opinions about the Holy Spirit, when they so rashly create and change the Son—by whom that Spirit is bestowed—according to their own pleasure?

St. Jerome: Observe the order of these commands. He bids the Apostles first to teach all nations, then to wash them with the sacrament of faith, and after faith and baptism, to teach them what they ought to observe: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.

Rabanus Maurus: For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also (James 2:26).

St. John Chrysostom: And because the command He had laid upon them was great, He adds this to lift their spirits: And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. It is as if He were saying, "Do not tell Me about the difficulty of these things, for I am with you, and I can make all things easy."

He often made a similar promise to the Prophets in the Old Testament—to Jeremiah, who pleaded his youth, and to Moses and Ezekiel, when they tried to avoid the office imposed upon them. And He says He will be not only with them, but with all who will believe after them. For the Apostles were not going to live until the end of the world; rather, He says this to all the faithful as one body.

Rabanus Maurus: From this, we understand that until the end of the world, there will not be lacking those who are worthy of the divine indwelling.

St. John Chrysostom: He brings the end of the world before them so that He might draw them onward all the more, encouraging them not to look merely at present difficulties, but at the infinite good things to come. It is as if He were saying, "The grievous things you will undergo will end with this present life, since even this world will come to an end; but the good things you will enjoy shall endure forever."

The Venerable Bede: The question is raised how He can say here, I am with you, when we read elsewhere that He said, I go unto him that sent me (John 16:5).⁹

What is said of His human nature is distinct from what is said of His divine nature. He is going to His Father in His humanity, but He remains with His disciples in His divinity, in which He is equal with the Father. When He says, to the end of the world, He expresses the infinite through the finite. For He who remains with His elect in this present world to protect them will also continue with them after the end to reward them.

St. Jerome: He, then, who promises that He will be with His disciples to the end of the world, shows both that they will live forever and that He will never depart from those who believe.

St. Leo the Great: For by ascending into heaven He does not desert His adopted children, but from above strengthens for endurance those whom He invites upward to glory.¹⁰ May Christ, who is the King of glory, God blessed for ever, make us partakers of that glory.