Matthew 28:16-18: Faith and Doubt in Galilee

This picture, taken April 2012, is of the Sea of Galilee and shows the mountains (or hills) near Galilee.  

And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.   Matthew 28:17

“I see doubt as a confirmation that someone is a true believer. If we believed completely, if we didn't have any doubts, we would be incapable of loving God volitionally... If we got to the point where we knew everything about Him and we had no doubts at all, love wouldn't be love. It would be like looking out your window at the tree outside; you'd just take it for granted.”   (Chuck Colson’s response to the question, “What do you see as the role of doubt within religious faith?” as posted at www.slate.com on October 20, 2010.) 

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them (v. 16).   Immediately before his arrest, Jesus told his disciples, “But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee,” (26:32).   And after his resurrection Jesus directed the women, “tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me,” (v. 10).   

But why Galilee?  Why meet the disciples in a far away place?  Why not right there in Jerusalem?  If Jesus met his disciples in front of Pilate’s headquarters, or on the temple steps at the end of the first Easter Day parade through the streets of Jerusalem, then the world would have seen him resurrected and known he is Lord!  But we don’t know why Jesus chose Galilee; Scripture is silent on this question.  But from the pages of the Bible, we can make some assertions.

Jesus never was one to “perform for the masses.”   He refused to jump off the temple (see 4:5-7) and he refused to perform a sign on demand (16:1-4).   In Nazareth Jesus did not do any miracles “because of their unbelief,” (13:58).  

Maybe Jesus chose Galilee because it was his home (see Matthew 4:13, Mark 2:1; Capernaum is a city along the north shore of the Sea of Galilee.)  The choice of Galilee makes sense when one reads Isaiah as recorded in Matthew 4:15-16: “…Galilee of the Gentiles – the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light…” Also, Galilee is symbolic of the “new tenants” (see 21:43), and the New Covenant, which allows Gentiles equal access to God (see Romans 15:8-12).

And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted, (v. 17).  Who doubted Jesus?   Was it the eleven mentioned in verse 16?  Or had a broader crowd gathered with Jesus and the eleven in Galilee?   (Some commentators connect this gathering with the 500 witnesses of Christ’s resurrection mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:6)  And what was it that they doubted?   Did they not recognize Jesus?  (Others did not recognize the resurrected Jesus: for example, Mary in John 20:11-16; the two on the way to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35).  Or did they expect a Jesus in Transfigured glory?  

Regardless, doubt was there as Jesus gave his final instructions. (And Jesus received their worship, a sign of Christ’s deity.) But Jesus never rebuked their doubt.  In fact, Jesus came closer to them, (v. 18).  He moved toward them, not away. I also believe that this mention of doubt is a mark of authenticity of Matthew’s gospel.    The disciples are not presented as hyper-spiritual.  They are presented as they really were, as you and I are: worshipful but frequently plagued by our doubts and failures.   Still, Christ does not abandon us.  He comes to us; He moves toward us.   

Doubt is common for the spiritual sojourner.    Even Mother Theresa, in her book Come, Be My Light, spoke of how she wrestled with doubt.   There is a difference, however, between disbelief and doubt.    Disbelief is a refusal to believe in spite of the evidence at hand.  The elders and the guards at the tomb were guilty of disbelief (vv. 11-15).  Doubt, on the other hand, is what genuine believers encounter in their pursuit of God.    Jesus never rebuked the father who cried, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24); in fact, the next thing Jesus does is act on the father’s behalf and heal his son.   

The tri-themes of “Galilee,” “worship” and “doubt” in these two verses here all tie into a deeper theme that runs the breadth of Scripture: the value of faith.  “He [Abraham] believed the LORD and he counted it to him as righteousness,” (Genesis 15:6).   Paul tells us that we are “justified by faith” (Romans 3:28).    Peter says our faith is “more precious than gold,” (1 Peter 1:7).  The writer of Hebrews tells us “without faith it is impossible to please him,” (Hebrews 11:6).   

Our sufficiency is in Christ who was crucified, dead, buried and raised.     He beckons us; He comes to us.  Even when we doubt.  Therefore, draw near to him.  For Scripture says, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” (Psalm 118:22). Whoever believes in this cornerstone “will not be disappointed,” (Romans 10:11, NASB).