Matthew 28:18

‘And Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.” '

‘Jesus came to them.' They had seen Him at a distance, but now He approached them and their doubts vanished. We are not told where Jesus had been meanwhile, apart from the fact that what He now says confirms that He had been in His Father's presence. For He spoke to them and said, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.” Here He is expanding on the authority that He has constantly revealed throughout His life so that this is a powerful and strong statement. It is declaring that He has been openly proclaimed as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16), that nothing now remains outside His control (Ephesians 1:19), that He is Lord of Heaven and earth (compare Matthew 11:25; and see Acts 17:24) and that He has received again the glory which was His before the world was (John 17:5). Paul thus tells us that He rose above all the powers of the heavens and that all principalities and powers in heavenly places were made subject to Him (Ephesians 1:21). As regards earth His Kingly Rule, which had been revealed especially in His power over evil spirits (Matthew 12:28), has been established and confirmed. The picture is thus of the Son of Man who as Israel's king has come out of suffering to the throne of God to receive His worldwide and eternal Kingly Rule and glory and dominion (Daniel 7:14). The child Who was born and the Son Who was given has had the government put on His shoulders so that He might reign over the whole sphere of His Kingly Rule (Isaiah 9:6). God has highly exalted Him and given Him the Name which is above every Name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, with the result that He has been declared to be ‘Lord' (YHWH) (Philippians 2:9). Men had refused Him that authority, but God has confirmed it and it is now to be manifested so that all men will be shortly made aware of it (compare Matthew 26:64), and never more so than when the wind and fire descended on His disciples in the Temple area (Acts 2). For Kingly Rule belongs to the Lord, and He rules over the nations (Psalms 22:28), and YHWH has set His king upon His holy hill (Psalms 2:6). Thus the world will never be the same again, for Jesus is King and is at work among men. He Who refused Satan's offer of all the kingdoms of the world if He would rule them in his way (Matthew 4:8) has received something greater than even Satan could have imagined. He is King of both Heaven and earth.