Whatever Happend in Verse 17

ENGAGE

Good morning Church! Its great to be back with you again today.

Today I want to start off by telling you about my first time traveling to New York City.

I was about 30 and my coworker and I were sent on a trip to New Jersey for a training for work. We had some free time after the training, so he suggested that we go over to New York, and since it was around Christmas time we could go see the lights and festivities of Times Square.

It was evening so we didn't have a whole lot of time, but it was one of those once in a lifetime opportunities so we went for it.

Now the training was in New Jersey, which is right across the river from New York. So we parked on the New Jersey side at a paid parking lot with a gated entry/ exit so the car would be safe, and walked across a short bridge to the big city of New York.

My coworker was almost 10 years younger than me, but he was my manager, so there was a weird dynamic going on, but we were friends and it was a fun trip....for the most part.

We hit some of the highlights of New York as best we could in the roughly 5 hours that we had, because we had to get back to the car by midnight, or they lock the gate and you cannot get your car out until the next day. Just a little bit of pressure there, but we figured we could do it.

We were heading back to our car at about 11:00 and it was really cold, and we had traveled to so many places and crossed into different sections of town, I was completely lost, and this is back in the very early days of smart phone GPS systems, so we didn't have that to help us either.

But we did have my co worker.

Even though he was way younger than I was, he had an almost photographic memory.

There were several times as I was following his lead that night, that I thought we were going the wrong way and I had so many concerns with why I had even gotten myself into this position coming up on midnight where I may be spending then night on the streets of New York or New Jersey. In spite of all these concerns, I ran anyway.

I knew that my coworker had a really good memory, but I still doubted him. I still thought that maybe I knew better than he did, even though it was painfully obvious that I had no clue where I was or where I needed to be.

In spite of my doubts in him, I continued to follow him and I ran anyway.

We were running from New York to New Jersey, with less than an hour to find out where we were, and how to get to where our car was without getting mugged, shot, killed, etc.

In spite of all my fears, I followed him, and I ran anyway.

We did make it before midnight, and we were able to make it back to our hotel rooms safely that night.

TENSION

There were several times that night that I felt that we were not going to make it, but I continued on anyway, following the one who had the ability to rescue me from myself.

I know there have been times in my life that I have felt the same way about my relationship with God, and I am pretty sure that if you take a minute and reflect on it, there have been times in your life that you have felt the same way.

You hit that point where you are running across an unfamiliar city, trying to get to where you need to be, but your mind and spirit keep telling you that your not going the right way, and that it would be better to go a different way, or even worse, when your self keeps telling you that you are not going to make it.

But you ran anyway.

Today, we are going to look at an example from Mathew where the disciples felt the same way in their walk with Jesus, and how it gives us comfort and freedom to doubt and still follow.

Turn with me to Matthew chapter 28- starting at verse 1.

TRUTH

Matthew 28:1–10 ESV

1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

Now I don't know about you, but it looks to me like the disciples were running from New York to New Jersey and have hit an intersection where they are not sure that they are on the right path.

Verse 8 tells us that the two Mary’s ran from the tomb with fear and great joy.

I get the whole being afraid because of what they had seen. You just don't experience an earthquake, then see an angel standing in front of you and an empty tomb, with them looking like lightning in super white clothing, in a scene so bright you cant look at it without shielding your eyes.

And of course there are the guards who had passed out or at least were laying on the ground curled up in a ball because they are so afraid.

The women ran to the other disciples to tell them what had happened. I cant imagine what was going through their minds as they were running.

Were they trying to put words together to sum up what had happened? Do you think they were talking to each other, trying to get the story to make sense enough to tell someone else?

They finally get to the other disciples and tell them what had happened, and they tell the others that they need to go to Galilee.

I can imagine the other disciples, after hearing the two women, who were probably all sweaty and out of breath from running, and I am sure the other disciples did not 100% trust that this story they were telling was true, because it sounds like something so far fetched, something so outrageous that it couldn’t possibly be the truth.

But they ran anyway.

And upon following the directions from God’s messenger angel, the group of disciples was now face to face with the risen Christ.

Verse 9 tells us that the disciples were on their way to Galilee as the angel had told them to, but Jesus had met them on the way. They met with him, and fell at his feet and worshipped him.

Verses 11-15 are a side story about the guards and their fabrication of what had happened to help paint the disciples in a bad light, and then we get to verse 16.

Matthew 28:16–17 ESV

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.

Here is the disciples at their absolute....well I dont know if its really their best, or if its really their worst.

Im going to go with this is their absolute humanest.

This is the disciples showing that they are running as fast as they can, but they really are not sure that they are going in the right direction. They are running. They are attempting to get to the right place, but they are still doubting and allowing their own minds and reasoning to get in the way and throw them off course.

They saw Jesus and worshipped him again, but this time we find out that some doubted.

Now we cannot be one hundred percent sure what “but some doubted” meant.

It could mean that some of them doubted that Jesus had truly risen from the dead, maybe some doubted that this was real, maybe they thought it was all just a dream and soon they would wake up and go about their days.

I can’t help but wonder though, if they were thinking the same things that I was on my sweaty mid-winter’s run through the dirty streets of New York on my way to New Jersey at nearly midnight.

Is this really the street I need to be on at this time of my life?

Is this the person I really want to be following, and laying my whole life on, trusting that we will make it in time and without getting hurt or killed?

Or maybe....

just maybe, they were doubting themselves?

Maybe they are realizing that this really is Jesus, and the things he said really are truth, and I have been running with all my self doubts, running with self-centeredness and pride.

APPLICATION

This is one of the questions that I will ask when I see the disciples, just what exactly happened here in verse 17, because whatever happened in verse 17, sounds a whole lot like what happens to me just about every time I fall at the feet of Jesus and worship him.

I realize that I have been running, running with all my doubts and fears. Running toward something I don’t even really know with 100% accuracy looks like, smells like, or even where it really is located.

I realize that I have been running with someone I have never met in person, I can not deny that I have met him, he has changed every aspect of my life for the better, but still I have doubts and fears about my belief in Jesus, but I still run.

I have doubts and concerns about things on page one of the Bible. I believe in the Creation, but I don’t really understand how it all worked.

I believe in the Trinity, but I really don’t understand how that works. I know what God’s word says about it, but I don’t understand it.

But that is ok, do you know how I know that is ok?

Because I know that whatever happened in verse 17, Jesus answered with verse 18.

Matthew 28:18 ESV

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Jesus had lived his life demonstrating this. He had control of the elements, turning water into wine. He had control of sickness and health. He had control of the wind and the waves, he had control of casting out evil, he even had control of life and death.

And whatever happened in verse 17, Jesus knew exactly what it was, and he gives the disciples the reassurance that they have been running with exactly who they had needed to be running with. In spite of all their doubts, and fears and concerns, He was indeed the one who will lead them home.

He is the one how has all authority on heaven and on earth. Given to him by the Father God, and he goes on in verse 19 to tell them what that means.

Matthew 28:19 ESV

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,

He tells them that they are to lead others to the Triune God. The mystery of the one God who is three but still one.

From the very first page of the Bible, we see the Trinity active in creation and here in Matthew, just after the resurrection of Jesus, where the Father had sent the Son to lead us to victory over death, evil and ourselves, and the Holy Spirit who the disciples will soon learn about as they go on to the book of Acts, which we actually celebrated last week during Pentecost.

INSPIRATION/REFLECTION

This statement in verse 19 is a mystery to us. How can one God still be three yet just be one. We don’t fully understand, we may not even partially understand.

Still we run.

And thats ok.

Verse 20 records the scariest and the most comforting words of Jesus.

Matthew 28:20 ESV

20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

We are to take everything that we have learned from Jesus and God’s Word in the Bible, and live it, so that others will follow. We are to run even though we still have doubts. Even though we still have fears. Even though we are sometimes not sure about this God that we worship.

We still run. Even if running is hard. Even if running is full of doubt. We still run. Its OK.

Its OK because Jesus tells us that we need to look, we need to behold what is going on, and we will know that He is always with us, even to the end of the age, or the completion of all things.

We need to keep running.

Even if we have fears.

Even if we have doubts.

Even if we fell like we are lost on the streets of New York City, trying to get to New Jersey before midnight.

We need to run with the one who knows the way, and with be with us at all times.

ACTION/NEXT STEPS

So if you are sitting here today, and you have this feeling down in side like you have been running and running, maybe even for years and years, running with a backpack full of doubts. A suitcase full of fears, maybe even a whole armload of thinking we know better than he does, keeping you from fully obeying Jesus.

This is your verse 17.

And I’m here to tell you that its ok.

You can carry all that stuff with you and still run with Jesus.

But you don’t have to.

He tells us that he has all authority in heaven and on earth.

That means that he can take all those doubts, he can take all those fears, and he can take all of our thinking that we know better than he does- and he can help us to either get rid of it, or he can help us to keep running until we are able to fully trust in Him, and even though we have these doubts we can go ahead and teach others to run with Jesus, because he is always with us.

We just have to run.

We just have to worship him, even though we still have doubts.

We have to remember that whatever happens in verse 17, there is always verse 18, which leads us to verse 19 and 20.