This chapter records that Jesus is risen, describes the actions of the first witnesses to this event, and ends with the Great Commission.

2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: 4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.

12 And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, 13 Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.

The greek "εις μιαν σαββατων" literally reads "toward [the] first [day] of the sabbath", but is usually translated "first of the week.

In the third section,[4] verses 16-20, Jesus appears to the disciples in Galilee and issues the Great Commission ending with a trinitarian formula which is much disputed by modern scholars.

[7][8] Henry Alford notes that the Ascension of Jesus is not recorded in Matthew's Gospel, but suggests that it is implied in the words "I am with you always", in the final verse.

Some scholars thus believe that the authors of Matthew and John may have been working from a shared source on the resurrection that wasn't used by the other two gospel writers.

This section is clearly apologetical, meant to address anti-Christian allegations that were current at the time of its writing.

The Didache (7.1), written at the turn of the 1st century, borrows the baptismal Trinitarian formula found in Matthew 28:19.

The seventh chapter of the Didache reads "Having first said all these things, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit".