Matthew 28:16–20 Even Christ’s presence will never eliminate our struggles of faith. Both worship and doubt are part of Easter.
‘But some doubted’
Easter’s claims about the resurrection of Jesus are some of the most contested in history. Even some Christians find the resurrection of Jesus the most challenging of Bible miracles to believe. Skepticism about the resurrection on the part of non-Christians is to be expected. But for Christians to doubt whether Jesus really rose from the dead is awkward, embarrassing, unthinkable.
Fortunately, the liturgical year gives us 40 days of Lent to prepare for Easter and then 50 days of Easter to reflect on the resurrection. Perhaps, we may think, it would be easier for us to believe in miracles such as Jesus’ bodily resurrection if we were given the chance to witness the resurrected Jesus for ourselves.
What would have happened if we had been there two millennia ago to see the resurrected Jesus? You would think that seeing the resurrected Christ would be the most desirable of experiences for Christians. Seeing the risen Lord should erase all doubts.
Post-Easter discipleship
Matthew suggests otherwise. According to Matthew 28:16–20, the disciples who saw the resurrected Christ were not spared disbelief and uncertainty. This passage, which contains the Great Commission, is widely quoted. It is not surprising to read in this familiar passage that when the disciples saw the resurrected Jesus, they worshiped him (v. 17). What is surprising — and puzzling — is that Matthew tells us in the very same verse that some of the disciples, if not all of them, doubted.
Doubted?
What a disappointing description of the disciples. Having been with Jesus during his ministry and now seeing their risen Lord before them, how could they both worship and doubt?
The Greek verb for doubt is used only one other place in the New Testament. In Matthew 14:31 Jesus asks Peter why he doubted as he miraculously walked on water. This text suggests that Peter’s doubt is related to fear, hesitation and uncertainty. In other words, Peter’s doubt was not an absence of faith; his faith may have been inadequate, but it was nevertheless there.
Amid the joy of Easter, three of the Gospels (cf. Mark 16:14; Luke 24:38, 41) record a seemingly negative aspect of the story — the disciples’ response. Perhaps the story would be more surprising if the disciples had not been incredulous at Jesus’ appearance among them in Galilee after the crucifixion. After all, their master had only recently been brutally executed. They were upset, unable to make sense of anything. Surely their doubt is understandable.
The positive aspect of Matthew’s account is that the disciples’ first response to the risen Christ is worship (v. 17) — exactly what the two Marys did after finding the tomb empty and being greeted by Jesus (v. 9). Worship is the proper and expected response to such an encounter.
But it is heartening also to observe the humanness of the disciples. These followers of Jesus, who would go on to become the cornerstones of the church, were anxious, unsure, even doubting as they worshiped the resurrected one among them.
No exemptions
Not only does Matthew tell us the disciples doubted, he leaves their doubts unresolved. It’s as if he is saying that the struggles of faith endured by many generations since were already present with the first disciples. The message is profound: the church’s worship will be offered by faithful members who are not exempt from doubt. Even Christ’s eternal presence among Christians, promised in verse 20, will never eliminate doubt. Both worship and doubt are part of Easter.
Here, as in many other passages, the Bible proves more realistic and gracious than its readers tend to be. Puzzlement, confusion, indecision, uncertainty — even in the presence of the resurrected Lord — are present in the earliest church and embraced by the Gospel itself. For it is precisely to the worshiping-doubting disciples that Jesus entrusts the Great Commission.
Even if we struggle with disbelief over the amazing claims of the resurrection, it is comforting to know that the Great Commission invites us into the same baptism as Jesus’ first incredulous disciples. |
