The Risen Lord’s First Word to His Disciples: “Hi!” (Matthew 28:8-10).Thursday April 30, 2026
Main Point: The risen Jesus meets His people as their friend and brother, which enables them to go out in the joyful mission to preach the good news of His resurrection.
Mat 28:8 And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples
Fear and joy:
This was not the paralyzing terror of danger. It was good fear — the reverent awe that comes when you are entrusted with something infinitely valuable.
This good fear is closely related to the fear of the Lord. The joy of resurrection does not remove it — it actually heightens it to something like awe.
The risen Jesus is going to ground them. And the results are amazing.
Point 1: The Tender Greeting of the Risen Lord
Mat 28:9 And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them.
Main Point: The risen Jesus meets His people as their friend and brother, which is now going to enable them to go out with His mission with joy and focus.
They need to be grounded so they can spread the word, He is risen.
What Jesus says next is wonderfully surprising. In the original Greek, He greets them with the word Chairete — the common, everyday street greeting. It’s the equivalent of our casual “Hi!” or “Hello!”
The NASB does not translate the sentence as Jesus saying anything. However, the ESV (English Standard Version) and the NIV do:
Mat 28:9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" [ESV, NIV]
After all He went through, after surviving the physical torture of the scourging and the cross, after enduring the loneliness of standing in the darkness of hell on His own, and by so doing, defeating sin, death, and the devil in one incredible act of sacrifice and love, and after gloriously rising and exiting the tomb in His resurrected body manufactured of the Spirit and from heaven, and now presenting Himself to His followers for the first time in His glorified state: He says, “Hi.”
It is as if His victory was simply natural. His resurrected life needs to be our natural, everyday lives.
Whenever you struggle to live like you know God has willed you to, look to Christ.
2Ti 2:8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead,
Point 2: The Bodily Resurrection – They Took Hold of His Feet
The women’s response is powerful:
Mat 28:9 And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
This single verse strongly emphasizes the bodily resurrection of Jesus as well as the hypostatic union [HU].
The truth of the HU, enables them (and us) to go out in the joyful mission to preach the good news of His resurrection.
Jesus "at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man". [Council of Chalcedon, 451 AD]
They grabbed His feet - truly human. They worshiped Him - truly God.
The grabbing of His feet is yet another solid claim to the bodily resurrection of Christ.
Our bodies will also be transformed in the same way, but they will be our bodies.
Then Jesus sends them on a mission. This is always the case after the disciples become solidly aware of the reality of the resurrection of Christ - Go and tell it.
Point 3: From Fear to Forgiven
Mat 28:10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me."
Said to them twice, it would seem that their good fear is tempted to enter into bad fear. Good fear makes us wise.
Pro 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
Jesus gently calms them with the words “Do not be afraid.”
Fear blocks good news. Fear jams up the gospel on the tongue. Preaching and teaching or sharing the gospel should always be confident and bold.
The gospel must not be hindered by fear and the way to overcome fear is to know that the Lord Jesus is right with you the whole time. To know that when you are speaking His words, the one who has authority over all things (Mat 28:18) is your defender - the battle is the Lord’s.
There in another slight change to the message from the angel.
Mat 28:7 “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead”
Mat 28:10 “take word to My brethren”
“Disciples” to “brothers” is warmer, which fits also with the greeting that the angel does not give.
We remember that they all fled. Peter denied Him. Yet, He calls them brethren, not cowards or “little-faith-ones.” “Go tell My brothers” is victory over death as well as the forgiveness of sins.
Fulfillment of Psa 22
Psa 22:1 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Psa 22:22 I will tell of Your name to my brethren;
The next difference with the angel’s message is the invitation to “come to Galilee.” He first forgives them and then invites them to follow Him, and if they do, He will give them their commission.
The invitation to Galilee was both a test of faith and a gracious promise: “Come, all you faithful. I have not given up on you.”
Closing & Application
Let the resurrection of the Lord fill your every day with a common but abundant life. Fear the Lord but never fear those who join the counter mission.
Remember that the Lord is with you as God and, yes, as a man. Distance is not the problem for Him as it is for us.
Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead (2Ti 2:8).
If (?) you have failed to go quickly and tell others, if you have failed to live in fear and joy knowing that you possess the most precious of things, His life, then receive His forgiveness.
Jesus Christ is a man after His resurrection as He was before.
He is your risen Lord. Fear not and go with joy to tell them. |