Matthew 28:18 - What Did Jesus Mean When He Said, "ALL Authority Has Been Given Me"?

(Some have misconstrued this Scripture by using) the term "all" as if it was all inclusive and meant that there was absolutely no authority greater than what Jesus now has. It should be obvious that this view is not correct since repeatedly the Bible shows that Jesus is less than Almighty God even after he received "all authority" (Matt. 20:23; Jn. 20:17; Mk. 13:32; 1 Cor. 15:27,28; Rev. 3:2,12).

The Greek word "all" is many times used in a limited or general way. There are many examples but a one good one to demonstrate this is 1 Cor. 15:24 which says that Christ will "abolish all rule, authority and power." Will he destroy the Kingdom of God or God's authority and power? No, that is why various translations have added "other" (Phillips; Wey.; AT; Twentieth Century; Williams; Becks; Kleist and Lilly).

Another is Heb 2:8-9 where it first states that "All things you subjected under Christ's feet" but then says that "we do not yet see all things in subjection to him."

Obviously the word "all" can be used in a limited way. This is very clear when Paul stated that even although "ALL things were subjected under Christ" this statement "excluded God who subjected all things under Christ" (1 Cor.15:27).

Jn. 5:26 says the Father had to "give" or "grant" Jesus the power to give life (NKJV, NRSV, NIV). The Son does not naturally possess the ability to save or give life within himself. Christ did not have the power or authority to even "save" himself (Jn. 12:26-27, Heb. 5:7-10).

GOD gave us life and granted his son to be the "agent" or "prince" by whom we gain salvation. The ability to be "savior" was a position that Jesus had to be EXALTED to by God "AS A PRINCE," not as the Almighty (Acts 5:31; Jn. 17:2 (prince: Heb 2:10). If Jesus were all-powerful, why would he have to be "exalted" to the position of savior?

In Acts 5.31, we see that Jesus became God's "Prince" (ARCHEGON) at God's right hand–not God Himself!

So yes, by Christ's own testimony and the explicit teaching of Scripture, Christ's power is limited. Jehovah God has given him "all authority" that will be necessary to carry out God's judgment upon wickedness, in heaven and on earth. But Christ's authority and power is ALWAYS less than that of Almighty God. Every thing he does is done only because his God and Father allows him to do them. No one has to (or can) give The Almighty God such power or authority.

Explicit Scriptures show that Jesus was less than Almighty God at every point of his existence (Jn. 14:28; 20:17; Mark 13:32; 1 Cor. 15:27,28; Rev. 3:2,12). At the highest position he will ever attain, Jesus is still "subject" to GOD the same way we are "subject" to him. Jesus cannot be Almighty God.

Christ always taught that he was given authority (power, KJV) by his God Jehovah (Mt. 28:18; 11:27; Jn. 5:22; 17:2; 3:35; 2 Pt. 1:17). Jesus said: "the Son can do nothing of his own accord" and, "For I have not spoken on my own authority; the Father who sent me has Himself given me commandment what to say and what to speak" (Jn. 5:19; 12:49).

There are dozens of Scriptures which explicitly show that Jesus had to receive power and authority from God–even after he returned to heaven: (Dan. 7:13,14; Matt. 22:42-44; 28:18; Acts 2:34-36; 1 Cor. 15:27,28; Eph. 1:17, 19-22; Heb. 1:13; 2:5,8; Rev. 2:26-27; 5:12). God also had to subject all things under Jesus even after he was elevated to heaven. This alone shows that Jesus cannot be Almighty God since the Almighty would never have to be given anything.

So Jesus receives commands and obeys God (Jn. 12:49; 14:31; 15:10; 12:49; 10:18). Christ recognized that he only did his work because he was given authority by his God Jehovah (Mt. 28:18; 11:27; Jn. 5:22; 17:2; 3:35; 2 Pt. 1:17).

Jesus' power and authority are not his own but he came "in the Father's name" (Jn. 5:43) just as an angel was given similar power and authority (Ex. 23:20, 21).

"Jesus is not God but God's representative, and, as such, so completely and totally acts on God's behalf that he stands in God's stead before the world.... The gospel clearly states that God and Jesus are not to be understood as identical persons, as in 14:28, ‘the Father is greater than I'" - Jacob Jervell, Jesus in the Gospel of John, 1984, p. 21

(Source: This is the Best Answer given by Bar_Anerges to a question posed on Yahoo Answers.)