1Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2Behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from the sky and came and rolled away the stone from the door and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4For fear of him, the guards shook, and became like dead men. 5The angel answered the women, “Don’t be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who has been crucified. 6He is not here, for he has risen, just like he said. Come, see the place where the Lord was lying. 7Go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead, and behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.”
8They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. 9As they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!”
They came and took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.
10Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go tell my brothers that they should go into Galilee, and there they will see me.”
11Now while they were going, behold, some of the guards came into the city and told the chief priests all the things that had happened. 12When they were assembled with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave a large amount of silver to the soldiers, 13saying, “Say that his disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept. 14If this comes to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him and make you free of worry.” 15So they took the money and did as they were told. This saying was spread abroad among the Jews, and continues until today.
16But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had sent them. 17When they saw him, they bowed down to him; but some doubted. 18Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Make Disciples
A Hand Holding a Stack of Money
As a pastor, I have seen more than one instance of the person described in this parable. The recipient of the word gladly and quickly receives it, but sometimes, almost with immediacy, they stumble. The worst case I remember was a young lady about 14 years old. She visited our congregation several times with one of our youth group members. After maybe her third visit, she approached me and asked if she could speak with me. I met with her, and she told me that over the past few weeks, she had heard the message of Jesus dying for her sins on the cross, and she wanted to believe in Him; in fact, she had already believed. She was joyful at the opportunity to reboot her troubled life. She asked me if she could be baptized and share her decision with the whole church. Well, I did what any other gospel preacher would do. I congratulated her, hugged her, and arranged for her baptism during our next Sunday service. Well, Sunday came, and she showed up, and I baptized her early in the service. She then returned to her seat to sit with her friends.
After the service, I was approached by several of the youth group who were very upset. They told me that near the end of the service, when the offering plate was being passed around, she had helped herself to all the bills lying there. Wow! I was stunned. She had already left, so I wasn’t able to find her to confront her about this. I wasn’t too worried about the money because very few people leave loose bills in the plate. Most use giving envelopes in which they place a check in the plate. Wednesday night came, and she wasn’t there. The following Sunday morning, she didn’t come either. I never saw her again. As Jesus said, “Some receive it with joy. They have no root in themselves.” She immediately stumbled. I would have loved to have met with her and told a penitent person that she was forgiven, but as Jesus summed it up, she was “short-lived.”
I don’t really know if I could have done anything to prevent such a sordid thing from happening, but I think we should understand that some will receive the gospel with joy and then head for the door. Don’t be discouraged, keep sharing Jesus. As we share the gospel with others, we should also do our best to ensure a safety net of follow-up. Some have no root in themselves. We should take the time to flesh out this new faith for them and help them find a root within themselves. Discipleship-making is a little different from just “getting people saved.” It entails gently and carefully leading those who come to Him in a path of obedience. It includes teaching them who they are in Christ and how to learn to be Christ followers. Jesus’ last words on earth included, “19Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you.” (Matthew 28:18-19a WEB) Let’s get involved in making disciples.