Do you have any sympathy for the detachment of Roman soldiers who were left to guard the tomb of Jesus? Guarding against escapes in a cemetery seems like a relatively easy job. Pilate may have known something though when he told them, “Take a guard and make the tomb as secure as you know how.” They were afraid the fishermen who followed Jesus would come and steal his body. Guarding against angels, earthquakes, and resurrection was probably not part of the Roman soldiers’ training. They made it as secure as they knew how. But it didn’t work.
When the risen Christ appeared to the women he told them to tell the disciples to meet him in Galilee. They obeyed Jesus by going to Galilee and worshipped the risen Lord when they saw him. But some of them doubted. There on the mountain, God gave them three things that still belong to us.
First, God gives his church the greatest power in all the world. “All authority in heaven and earth is mine . . .” Through Jesus we have access. How much power is available to the church today? Enough. Though the whole civilized world has a blackout, the church will never lose power. This power is available to do everything God wants us to do – to fulfill his purpose.
Second, God gives us the greatest purpose in the world: to make disciples of all nations. Going, baptizing, and teaching are participles that modify the main verb: make disciples. As we go, we make disciples, baptize, and teach them everything Jesus commanded. On Sunday, Alexis Mutabazi, the brother from the Congo, who translates my sermons so that others can hear in their own language, told me that he has four who are ready to be baptized. Others have called for baptism since Sunday. We have the greatest purpose in the world: to make disciples of all nations. We can do this right where we live. We may outsource the work of reaching unreached people groups, but the opportunity in Houston has never been greater.
Third, God gives his people the greatest promise in all the world: “I am with you always even to the end of the age.” Ponder the promise. Whatever we have to fear in this world, we need never fear being alone. God, who always keeps his promises says he will be with us. How often? Always. For how long? To the end of the age. The hymn captures it, “No, never alone. No, never alone. He promises never to leave me. No, never alone.”
