Dear Friends,
At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Matthew 28:16-20, Jesus gathers the disciples on a mountain in Galilee for a final farewell. Matthew tells us something both beautiful and deeply human: “They worshipped him; but some doubted.” In English, this sounds as though the disciples are divided into two groups, some worshipping while others doubt. But the Greek suggests something more complex: the same people may be doing both at once. They are worshipping and doubting simultaneously. That small detail matters. Too often it is taught that doubt is the opposite of faith, something to suppress or hide. Yet Matthew’s Gospel ends by reminding us that uncertainty has always been part of discipleship. Even those closest to Jesus wrestled with questions. And still, Jesus entrusted them with the future of the church. Perhaps faith is not the absence of doubt, but the courage to keep walking even when certainty feels out of reach. Perhaps some of us need this reminder, this encouragement.
Jesus then declares that “all authority in heaven and on earth” has been given to him. In a world where authority is often associated with control, exclusion, or power over others, Jesus embodies something radically different. Throughout Matthew’s Gospel, his authority is shown through healing, forgiveness, compassion, and justice. It is authority used not to dominate, but to restore. And from that authority comes the commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” The scope of that vision is striking. Matthew’s Gospel begins with foreign Magi seeking Christ, and it ends with a mission embracing all nations, cultures, and peoples. Christianity, at its best, is not about erasing difference but recognizing the image of God in every person. The familiar words about baptising “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” remind us that, as one writer beautifully puts it, ‘the whole of God is for the whole of the world.’ This here is surely about more than a formula or a doctrine and in this context, it has to be speaking to us about the universal and inclusive love of God.
Finally, Jesus tells the disciples to teach everything he has taught them. Everything: mercy, justice, welcome, peace-making, compassion for the vulnerable, love for neighbour. And that mission now belongs to us! So, in anxious and divided times, perhaps we as the church are called not to project certainty, but to embody grace, becoming communities where questions are welcomed, diversity is celebrated, and love is lived boldly. After all, it looks like the church began with people who were both worshipping and doubting. And Christ sent them anyway!
Every blessing,
