06102020 – Matt. 28. 16-20
“The Holy Trinity”
“The arrest and the crucifixion of Jesus” was a DEEPLY DISORIENTING experience for JESUS’ followers, ruthlessly DASHING in “a matter of mere hours” the GREAT HOPES and DREAMS they all shared.
WHY to him?
WHAT did he DO that was SO WRONG?
HOW did this HAPPEN?
HOW did WE even GET here?
WHAT did WE do that was so WRONG?
WHY did everything have to END, as it did?
In a moment of time, everything came crashing down around them.
How do you PICK UP THE PIECES when there are NO PIECES left to pick up?
There was nothing. Everything was in shatters…destroyed…gone.
They feared for their very lives.
They were MORE than devastated, dazed, stunned, dumbfounded, and traumatized…
They had lost the one they loved and admired to a BRUTAL, BARBARIC, and HORRIFIC execution.
To see Jesus ALIVE after his DEATH, which they “naturally assumed” had ended EVERYTHING, must have been UTTERLY and COMPLETELY ASTONISHING, BEWILDERING and MIND-BLOWING. Devastating, really.
Nothing in their HISTORY or in their Jewish FAITH or in all-of-LIFE itself had prepared them for what was about to occur and happen.
To say THEY STRUGGLED with all kinds-of-things is an UNDERSTATEMENT.
Our Gospel text for this evening provides “the narrative” of the LAST recorded ENCOUNTER between Jesus and his disciples and it is “HIS final words” that close out the Gospel.
The eleven were directed to return to GALILEE where Jesus would “hook up with them,” the disciples followed-yet- again-being-ever-obedient-not-knowing WHAT they would encounter. And, WHAT any of this even might mean.
How could WE see him there?
He is dead.
Dead and buried.
Gone. His body missing.
Galilee was where it all began and Galilee, it seems, would be the place of some kind of a NEW BEGINNING.
It is difficult to imagine what their JOURNEY must have been like, or their conversation for that matter, but it must have been “strange.”
It was the “ULTIMATE ROAD TRIP,” filled with long conversations that focused upon attempting to MAKE SENSE of the MIND-BOGGLING events that had transpired, wondering aloud WHAT would/or/could happen to them NEXT.
Would they really SEE him?
Would it be some kind of a VISION?
Would he SPEAK to them?
Would they SEE his GHOST?
Were they about to have an encounter with “the supernatural?”
THIS MOMENT with Jesus would be an all-important-time-for-them.
They had lost everything in the CATASTROPHIC EVENTS that preceded this, and they were “on their way” to discover WHAT if anything would be NEXT.
They had lost ALL sense of direction.
They had lost all MOTIVATION.
They had lost the WILLINGNESS to go on. They had LOST the desire to continue to share his word.
It is safe to say, GONE was their enthusiasm, their eagerness, their determination, their inclination to DO practically anything.
What is the USE?
What is the POINT?
GONE was their hunger, their thirst, their itch, their burning and yearning sensation, their ache, or their desire to help anyone.
They were lost.
They were alone.
They felt abandoned.
They were in self-survival mode. They were still scared, very scared.
And then it happened. He appeared. He stood before them. He blessed them. He encouraged them. He sent them out.
He gave to them a NEW direction. And he assured them they were not alone. Not now, not ever.
Did you really think I would abandon you?
Did you think GOD the Father would abandon and forsake you?
Did you really think that the Spirit of the LIVING GOD would not abide with you?
What were you guys thinking?
Just exactly where does this garbage come from?
When I tell you I am with you to the end of the age that is exactly what I mean. To say.
The Father is with you.
I am with you.
The Holy Spirit is with you.
Understand this: WE will NEVER under ANY circumstances ever –
Abandon, desert, leave, renounce, withdraw, depart from or ever leave you stranded. We love you.
And we are in this thing together, for the long haul, to the end of the age, until the time is no more…
Don’t doubt, just believe, please!
Amen.