The next day everyone in Jerusalem knew that the tomb was empty. What had happened? Clearly something had happened. It would be interesting to know what the chief priests and elders thought had actually happened. They felt they had to invent a fake story about it. But the disciples, eventually, knew that Christ was risen from the dead. In the days that followed, they saw him alive on several occasions; he talked with them in both Jerusalem and Galilee; and he commissioned them to go and tell the world. Which they did. 

Did you notice all the ‘all’s in the final verses? All authority (v 18), all nations (v 19), all I have commanded (v 20) and always (v 20). The Lord Jesus Christ is not to be limited or under-valued. There is nothing we face in heaven or earth that he does not have authority over. There is no nation or people group that is outside the scope of his good news. He deserves the loving obedience of all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength. He doesn’t just send you and me into the future; he comes with us all the time. 

Lord, thank you that your Word is truth and that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Help me to live today rejoicing in him.

Manipulation and injustice dominated everything the religious authorities did to Jesus. William Barclay says that they used treachery to lay hold on him, illegality to try him, slander to charge him to Pilate and bribery to silence the truth about him – but, despite all their efforts, they failed. The false story about the theft of Christ’s body folded, as the Holy Spirit communicated the power of Christ’s resurrection to hearts across the world. Over the past two millennia, billions of people have believed through God’s Word and have based their hope on Christ’s victory over sin and death. God’s truth triumphs over the lies of Satan, and those in bondage to evil. 

When Jesus gave his commission to followers gathered in Galilee, he told them to make disciples of all nations and teach them the way of Christ. It must have seemed an incredibly tall order to a small group of Jewish men who had spent their entire lives within a small part of the earth. Christ spoke to both those who believed and those who doubted; his commission was not based on the strength of faith of his followers, but on his own power.

Without Christ’s power, the disciples could accomplish nothing. We know that ourselves, as God commissions us afresh to continue the work passed down to us. We do not rely on our strength and we are not disqualified by our doubts, because all power in heaven and earth is given to Jesus. Our weakness is made perfect in Christ’s strength, even when evil seems to flourish and truth brings persecution, but we need to hold on to the promise he made to his disciples, for it is true for us today. Christ will indeed be with us always, even to the end of the world. His love will sustain us. 

May God be with you and bless you as you seek to serve him in the work he has given you, or as you are being prepared for something new.