Grab It – Matthew 28:16-20

A text – Matthew 28:16-20

¹⁶ Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him, but they doubted. ¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore 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 that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

A reflection:

What strikes me sharply in this text maybe jumped out at you, too – still, “they doubted.” I guess Thomas was not alone – it bothers me that Thomas has been given that nickname “doubting Thomas” when there was plenty of doubt to go around. But my guess is that if they doubted the risen, transformed Jesus was the man they had spent the past three years with, they had sharp and clear memories of what he had done in his time with them – always siding with the lowly and the poor, challenging the scribes and Pharisees on adherence to traditions and practices that kept the lowly low. Jesus sends them out there to make disciples – students, learners of the practices of serving one another to lift one another.

My former colleague and New Testament scholar Matt Skinner writes that “we can see an implicit confession that all of God—all of God’s ways of being revealed, known, and experienced—demonstrate a divine commitment to extending mercy…a concern for those who struggle in life.” All three persons of the Trinity are intent on raising and blessing those on the margins, those otherwise left out of power. God the Creator in all our Old Testament stories repeatedly chooses very flawed folks to embody God’s creative work. Jesus heals people no one would touch. And now the Holy Spirit empowers the disciples, with a new title – apostles – to extend Jesus’s story and mercy to the forgotten ones, to the ends of the earth until the end of the age.

If the disciples could not wrap their minds around the resurrection of Jesus, at least they had clear marching orders. “Love all the kinds of people I loved. Help all the kinds of people I helped. Tell my story of being sent by my heavenly Father to show love and mercy to everyone who needs compassion.” To do this, they had the promise of his being with them, his Holy Spirit accompanying them wherever and whenever they went. We who believe in Jesus have that promise too. When we feel challenged and alone, we only need to remember this promise: “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” I know. We, like the eleven, we doubt. But our doubt doesn’t make the promise less true. It just means we don’t reach out and grab it. This week, let’s grab it.

A prayer:

Lord God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for sending us out, just as you did your disciples in this story. Help us to remember that you are with us always, that your Holy Spirit is whispering to us every day, giving us our mission. Help us to grab it. Amen.