Matthew 28:18

And Jesus came] RV 'came to them,' viz. to resolve their doubt by giving them a close view of His person. It is worthy of notice that in all the appearances after the resurrection, our Lord allowed the disciples either to touch or to come into very close proximity to His risen body. His anxiety to remove all reasonable doubts as to the cardinal fact of His bodily resurrection, is especially evident in Luke 24:39; John 20:20; John 20:27.

All power (authority) is given] lit. 'was given,' viz. at My resurrection. 'There was given Me, says Jesus, as man, the power which I before possessed as God' (Euthymius): cp. Ephesians 1:20. 'Human nature, which was before condemned, now sits in heaven personally united to the Divine Word, and is adored by angels. For in truth human nature wjiich was before enslaved, now in Christ rules the Universe' (Theophylact).

The view, which dates the glorification of Christ, not from the Ascension, but from the Resurrection, is safely grounded on this passage. It is the view of St. Augustine, of most of the fathers, of Albertus Magnus, of the schoolmen, and of many modern authorities. Von Gerlach correctly says, 'The Resurrection of Jesus, and not His Ascension, was His entrance into the new eternal, divine, and heavenly life, as in it all power in heaven and upon earth was already given to Him.' Similarly Milligan, 'The glorification of Jesus began at His Resurrection, not at His Ascension'; and Westcott, 'After the Resurrection our Lord belongs already to another realm, so that the Ascension only ratifies and presents in a final form the lessons of the forty days in which it is included.' The only really doubtful point is the locality of Christ's body during the forty days; whether it was in heaven at God's right hand (Theophylact, Milligan, Rothe, etc.), or on earth (Aquinas). In either case, the heavenly reign and glory of Christ had begun.