The journey through the gospel of Matthew has been a true joy for me. I have lovedevery moment. We have lived out together the joy of chapter-by-chapter, line-by-line,bible study, and biblical expository preaching.We conclude the exposition of Matthew in the final chapter. This chapter shares the joy,the fear, the excitement, and the doubts of the witnesses to Jesus' resurrection. God'sWord blesses us and grants us the privilege of reading the resurrection account throughMatthew's eyes.Matthew shows us a common theme throughout his gospel in the relationship betweenJesus and his disciples. From the first calling of Peter & Andrew (brothers) along withJames and John (also brothers) [Matthew 4:18–22]. Jesus called and the disciplesfollowed. This theme reached a climax in the hours after Jesus' resurrection. Thewomen at the tomb ran with joy. The remaining eleven of the original twelve discipleshid in fear. Jesus led. He called. Then the disciples (both men and women) followed toGalilee where they met Jesus. Then Jesus taught them. Then the Apostles waited..At this point of the resurrection narrative, the inner circle of twelve were not yet grantedthe apostolic office. They were disciples, students, of Jesus although the twelve (bythen only eleven) hid in Jerusalem. The fear of facing their own crucifixions was mingledwith intense grief.But the lesson in this passage concerning the resurrected Jesus interacting with thefaithful women who came to his empty tomb will show us the tension between Jesus'lead in calling his disciples to 'go' and their obedience to 'wait.' Go and wait. This is atension even now in the life of the Christian. This is how the Christian follows.

Jesus calls all of his beloved to 'go' and tell the truth of the resurrection that leads torepentance and forgiveness of sin. But then he calls us to 'wait' ... wait and follow ratherthan running ahead of the lead of our LORD.Let's dig into Matthew 28:5-10 today and glean the intent of our LORD in calling hisfaithful to "go and follow."