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Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw Him they worshiped Him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20)
It makes me laugh, that second sentence: “And when they saw [Jesus] they worshipped Him, but some doubted.” Apparently there were still disciples who couldn’t believe their eyes, even after forty days of spending time with the risen Jesus! That’s kind of a pity, don’t you think?
I’m sure Jesus knew about their doubts, but it didn’t stop Him from going on to the next thing. Which was sending His people out into the world to spread the story of what Jesus had done to save us all. These followers would go to their own people, the Jews; to their neighbors and sometime-enemies, the Samaritans; and then to “the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8b) to tell every last person in the world what God has done.
And what has He done? He has come Himself into our world as a human being, born among us as one of us, to be our Savior. He came and served and healed and preached and cared about people during the years of His public ministry; and when the time was right, He allowed Himself to be betrayed by a friend, arrested by His own people’s leadership, handed over to foreigners, flogged, mocked, and put to death on a cross. Jesus did all this in order to break the power of death, sin, and evil over us—not just for humanity in general, but for each one of us in particular. It was you He suffered and died for, you He rose from the dead for. He came to make you God’s own dear child, forgiven, blessed, and wanted forever.
Jesus has done it all. And now He gives this free gift of salvation, love, and adoption into God’s family to everyone who trusts in Him. And He sends His people out—even you!—to share that message with others who haven’t heard it yet. He sends us out—even the ones who doubt! Even the ones who haven’t quite got their faith or life straightened out yet. And in some ways, that’s everybody, isn’t it?
Jesus knows our weaknesses, but He won’t have us sit around waiting till we get it right. He says, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” That’s good enough to compensate for all our weaknesses. Jesus Himself will use us, and work through us, and where we are weak, He is strong. We can ask Him for whatever we need. Understanding? He can give that. Courage and willingness? He can give that, too. The right words? Jesus will provide. We can ask Him to work through us, trusting Him to bring about the results. Because we can’t do it—but He can, and will.
WE PRAY: Lord, I’m not much, but I’m Yours. Use me so that others will believe in You. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
- What specific worries do you have about sharing your faith?
- Can you ask Jesus to help you with those specific things?
- Will He help, do you think? Why do you think so?
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