FEBRUARY 9 READING…Matthew 28
It was on the first day of the week (Sunday), after Jesus was in the tomb for three days and three nights that the women headed for the tomb to take care of the body of Jesus. They had to wait until after the Sabbath to do their ministering work. Matthew tells us of an earthquake, and an angel of the Lord coming and rolling away the stone that had sealed the tomb. The Romans guards were completely paralyzed with fear. But the angel told the women that they had nothing to fear…and tells them that though they had come for Jesus, He was not there, for He had risen from the dead. He then instructed them to go quickly and share this with the disciples of Jesus. As the women left, Matthew records for us that Jesus appeared to them…He too sent the women to share with the disciples the events of that morning. Interestingly, the Roman guards from the tomb of Jesus…there to make sure His body was not taken by the disciples and then they could claim that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead, just like He said He would…went first to report what had happened to the Jewish religious authorities and not the Roman governor. The Jewish religious authorities bribed them lie and say they had fallen asleep and Jesus body was stolen. These guards where also promised protection by the Jewish leaders, for it was a death penalty for them to fall asleep on duty. So, the lie was perpetuated…and like today, when it comes to lies…if it is told enough, people start to repeat it as fact.
The disciples of Jesus had left the area of Jerusalem and returned to the area of the Galilee, to the place where Jesus had instructed them to go. When Jesus appeared to them there, some worshiped Him…and incredibly some doubted. It was here that the Risen Jesus gave His disciples, and us, the commission as His followers. This commission was based first upon the authority of Christ. Remember brothers and sisters, we never go out on our own authority…but solely on the authority of Jesus. For it is not our message…that is, it did not come from us…but it comes directly from the Lord Jesus. Our commission it to go and make disciples, which of necessity means we must evangelize. But the commission tells us that evangelism is not enough, we are to make disciples of Jesus…note again, its not disciples of ourselves, but disciples of Jesus. We do this by teaching them to observe all the teachings of Jesus…that is to teach them what Jesus taught, and teach them to obey the teachings of Jesus. Finally, Jesus promises His followers this truth…that He would be with us, even to the end of the age. There are those who teach this commission was exclusively given to the original disciples of Jesus…this last phrase (the end of the age), makes it clear that the commission is for every follower of Jesus, for all times.
Please share your thoughts from today’s reading.
TOMORROW'S READING…Mark 1
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