“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18, NIV).
Has anyone ever uttered a more sweeping declaration of authority than the risen Jesus did in Matthew 28? I guess it’s possible, but has anyone ever truthfully uttered a more sweeping declaration of authority than the risen Jesus did in Matthew 28? The answer is emphatically, no!
Recently I’ve been thinking about why I’ve yet to give a lot of my time to thinking about and reflecting on first the straightforward meaning of Jesus’s declaration in Matthew 28:18 and second the implications of that declaration. I think, in part, the reason is because anytime I’ve heard that statement referenced it’s always been accompanied with the following couple of verses: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Mt. 28:19-20, NIV). Now, I am in no way intending to say that we ought to be dividing up the statements of Jesus from the very next statements he makes in order to really understand what they mean—I want that to be clear. However, I am saying that, because verse 18 is often treated as merely the “introduction” to what we should be doing in verse 19, we can find ourselves missing the impact of what verse 18 has to offer.
Jesus did not say that most of the available authority has been given to Him. He didn’t say that the important authority has been given to Him. He didn’t even say that all of the meaningful authority has been given to Him. What he said was that all authority in both heaven and earth has been given to Him. This means that there does not exist a space within heaven or earth where Jesus’s authority does not reign supreme. In other words, no one or no thing in all of creation is able to force Jesus to do anything. Jesus is the one who is in command. Jesus is the King.
It would be nearly impossible to list all of the existing “authorities” in the world that bow down (whether they admit it or not) to Jesus, but a list showing a good number of them might be helpful in beginning to see the scope of His authority.
The authority of the City of Hastings bows down before Jesus.
The authority of Barry County bows down before Jesus.
The authority of the State of Michigan bows down before Jesus.
The authority of the United States of America bows down before Jesus.
The authority of the United States Military bows down before Jesus.
The authority of all the past, the present, and the future presidents of the United States of America bows down
before Jesus.
The authority of all rulers in the world bows down before Jesus.
The authority of all households bows down before Jesus.
The authority of all judges bows down before Jesus.
The authority of all ailments in the world bows down before Jesus.
The authority of all cancers bows down before Jesus.
The authority of all sin bows down before Jesus.
The authority of all pastors and elders bows down before Jesus.
The authority of the Apostles bows down before Jesus.
The authority of the Church bows down before Jesus.
The authority of all created galaxies bows down before Jesus.
The authority of the changing seasons bows down before Jesus.
The authority of all minds bows down before Jesus.
In the end there is one person in existence who has claim to ultimate authority over everyone and everything that has ever existed or ever will exist and that person is Jesus Christ.