Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew28:16-18
Most of us assume that Jesus' words at the end of Matthew are things that He said just before ascending, but the geography of the Ascension and this passage are not the same. Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, but in this passage He is on a mountain in Galilee... (think Joburg and Free State) and so it seems that Jesus issued this "Great Commission" a while before He ascended into heaven.
When one thinks about it, this makes perfect sense. The Great Commission was to be the disciples' mission and vision from here on. It is impractical and improbable that Jesus waited until the very last day before He gave them their instructions. I am sure He repeatedly reinforced the task that lay ahead of them during the forty days of Resurrection Appearances.
To that end we need to look at the passages at the end of all four gospels as part of Jesus' Training Programme for the disciples and learn to appreciate that these "vision talks" came to them at various times and in various settings so that they had time to chew and digest what they were being called to do.
Today we will look at just one thought from this passage: "but some doubted."
I am disturbed and comforted by this passage: Disturbed because if people had actually witnessed the resurrected Christ and still doubted, then what hope do I have? But maybe the existence of doubt is common and expected, and that I should not fear doubt, but overcome it.
I am comforted in the way that Jesus deals with their doubt:
1. He reminds them who He is - "All authority has been given to me."
2. He still entrusts them with a mission - in spite of their doubt.
3. He promises to be with them.
More on this tomorrow...
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
