“And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.” — Matthew 28:9
Matthew closes with meeting, worship, command, and promise. Three received details are disputed: the women meet Jesus “as they went to tell his disciples”; the eleven worship him in Galilee; and the Gospel ends with Amen.
The Great Commission itself stands in every Greek text at issue. No manuscript debate removes baptism in the triune name or Christ’s promise to be with his church unto the end of the world.
On the road from the tomb
The Textus Receptus begins verse 9, “And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them.” The critical text starts with “And behold, Jesus met them.” Critics see the longer words as a natural bridge from the angel’s command in verse 7.
The bridge is natural because it tells what happened. The women are not wandering when Jesus meets them; they are obeying. Their errand and his appearance belong together. A run of short common words can fall, and the sentence remains smooth after their loss.
They worshipped him
At verse 17 the received Greek says προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ, “they worshipped him.” The critical text omits the pronoun, leaving “they worshipped.” The object is still Jesus, but the received wording names him.
Some witnesses vary the pronoun’s case, which critics take as a sign that it was added. Case variation can also follow restoration or grammatical smoothing. Matthew has used the same explicit construction when the women take Jesus’ feet. The repeated act links first witnesses and commissioned apostles: both meet the risen Christ and worship him.
“Some doubted” does not mean that another group worshipped an unknown object. It records hesitation or uncertainty within the encounter. The named object makes the contrast sharper, not safer.
The final Amen
The Textus Receptus ends with Ἀμήν. Many early witnesses stop after “the end of the world,” and modern editors omit the liturgical close. Because Amen often ends prayers, readings, and copied books, addition is easy to imagine.
Yet Amen is also an ordinary biblical seal: truly, so be it. Matthew’s final promise invites it. The risen Lord has all authority, sends his church to all nations, and remains with it through all days. The church answers not by improving the promise but by receiving it.
The word has broad and ancient ecclesiastical use. Its absence at the physical end of a codex can arise through damage or through a copyist’s treatment of a closing subscription. No doctrine hangs on the last four Greek letters, but a fitting word need not be dismissed because it later became liturgical.
Matthew’s received ending moves without ornament: the women obey and meet Jesus; the disciples worship him; the Lord commands; the church says Amen. The variants touch the frame. The heart of the resurrection commission remains whole, and the full frame belongs around it.
The women’s errand also answers their fear. They leave with fear and great joy, then move toward obedience before Jesus meets them. The longer transition shows that resurrection faith is not paralysis before wonder. They carry a word, and the risen Lord confirms it on the road.
The worship scene holds doubt and homage together without explaining every individual. Resurrection appearances are not myths produced by a group unable to imagine questions. Matthew records the hesitation within the same company that sees and worships. The explicit pronoun keeps Christ as the object before the command is given.
The final promise is literally “all the days” unto the consummation of the age. The Amen receives a presence that covers ordinary days, hostile days, and mission across nations. The church does not finish Matthew by supplying its own strength. It answers the authority and presence of Jesus with assent, then goes because he spoke.
Sources and further reading
- Matthew 28:1–20; Luke 24:36–53; John 20:19–29.
- Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, notes on Matthew 28:9, 28:17, and 28:20.
- Westminster Confession of Faith 2.3, 25, and 28.