What does Matthew 28:16 Mean?

Verse Meaning

"But" (NASB) is too strong a contrast for the Greek word de that occurs here and means "then" (NIV). However the action of the Eleven contrasts with the action of the guards ( Matthew 28:15). We do not know the mountain to which Jesus had directed them and to which they went (cf. Matthew 26:32; Matthew 28:7; Matthew 28:10). Galilee, of course, was where Jesus began His ministry, and it had Gentile connotations because of the presence and proximity of many Gentiles. What Jesus would tell His disciples in Galilee would continue His ministry and teaching that they had already experienced. [source][source]

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Context Summary

What absurdity in this mendacious explanation! How could the soldiers know who stole the body, if they were asleep? Skeptics have to believe greater marvels than believers. Was it likely that Christ's friends would have wished to unwind the clothes that covered that sacred body? Would His enemies have taken the time, or forfeited the rich shroud that Joseph's love provided? Men will believe any lie rather than God's truth, because their hearts are evil.

This mountain at the conclusion of our Lord's life corresponds to the mountain of temptation at the beginning. There He was offered the empire of the world, if only He would take the easy lower path; here He is acknowledged King of the world, because He took the harder one of obedience unto death. This glorious charge to His Church has the ring of universality. It combines the herald and the shepherd, and assures each humble disciple that the day will never dawn, however stormy, on which his Lord will not be near.

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Chapter Summary: Matthew 28

¹  Christ's resurrection is declared by an angel to the women
⁹  He himself appears unto them
¹¹  The chief priests pay the soldiers to say that he was stolen out of his tomb
¹⁶  Christ appears to his disciples,
¹⁸  and sends them to baptize and teach all nations